Lucky Bag #12

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go then -

Lucky Bag #12


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #11

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what in the wide, wide world of sports you're talking about.

Yep, bring it on! = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #11


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #10

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #10


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #9

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am ready for some Internet shenanigans. = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #9


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #8

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go - (you probably need to sign up though)

Lucky Bag #8


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #7

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #7


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #6

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #6


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #5

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, erm...wha...what are you talking about?

Yes I am. = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #5


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #4

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go -

Lucky Bag #4

And here's an extra one, just because I like you!


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #3

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am. = Here you go.

Lucky Bag #3


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag #2

So, are you ready for the next lucky bag?

No, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yes I am.

Here you go =

Lucky Bag #2


Leave me a comment (but no spoilers please!)

Lucky Bag

I'm going to be away from my blogging desk for a little while but I'm going to leave you with some special treats!

When I was a kid we used to get lucky bags from the local corner shop. For a few pence you got a bag full of mysterious treats to eat and play with!

Well I'm going to leave you with a mystery link everyday.
It could be fun, interesting, annoying, enlightening - who knows?
Not you, unless you click on the link.

Once you've clicked come back and leave a comment and let me know what you think - WITHOUT TELLING EVERYONE ELSE WHAT THE SURPRISE IS!

Now just to reassure you I won't link to anything nasty. Because I am told there are some nasty things somewhere on the Internet. But I won't link to any of those. Promise.

So, are you ready?

Here is the first one.

Lucky Bag #1



You clicked on the nasty link didn't you. Admit it.

The Album Is Dead

...at least in the form we know it.




Music sales have declined massively over the last eight years, and though the record industry would have us believe that illegal downloading is largely to blame, I think a big factor is more and more people are buying single tracks rather than albums.

This is not necesarily a bad thing (unless you're a money grabbing major label, or a prog rock band creating three hour concept albums) - it's a byproduct of spending years having to buy albums where the majority of tracks are more 'filler' than 'killer'.

But is there a future for anything bigger than single song downloads?



Radiohead think EP's are the way forward.

Image by Manohead


Thom Yorke, speaking to The Believer magazine said,

"None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again. Not straight off, I mean, it's just become a real drag. It worked with [2007 album] In Rainbows because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we've all said that we can't possibly dive into that again. It'll kill us."

He added that Radiohead "need to get away" from releasing albums in the traditional format...hinting that the band may release new music via EPs or online (as they did with new song 'Harry Patch')

Doing EP's would also free them up to experiment without having to commit to a way of working for an entire album like their plan for

"writing songs for orchestra and orchestrating it fully... and then doing a live take of it and that's it - finished. That's one possible EP because, with things like that, you think do you want to do a whole record like that? Or do you just want to get stuck into it for a bit and see how it feels?"

Image by SuperPimp

Weird Al is another fearless pioneer (You can even paste yourself into one of his recent videos!).

He is releasing Internet Leaks, a 5-track digital EP, on Aug 25. Unusually he pre-released the tracks one by one, with the final one, Ringtone, being released the same day as the EP.

But then all the tracks will appear on his next full album some time next year and those who've bought it on iTunes will be able to use the 'Complete My Album' function to "painlessly add the missing tracks [with] the price of the EP [being] deducted from the cost of the album".


Others, rather than subtracting from the album, are adding to it. Yahoo reports that

"Apple and the four major labels are working on launching...a music offering code-named "Cocktail" that aims to add value to digital albums sold [in the] iTunes Store." The rumours are that "the new package will include liner notes, artwork and potentially cell phone ringtones and music videos in a unified software package that the labels hope will boost sales of albums"

In a similar vein Apple and EMI unveiled an 'iTunes Pass' in February, "which gave music fans...access to early release singles, a new album upon its release and exclusive videos, remixes and other content".

Reuters, in an otherwise turgid report on Apple's attempt to wring the last bit of money from music lovers via varible pricing, posited this interesting concept

the lowest price tier may also give labels the flexibility they need to develop digital products other than the album. For example, if a popular new single sells for $1.29, labels or retailers could identify four other songs from similar but unknown acts and sell them as a bundle.

Creative as some of these solutions may be, the greatest hope for the good old 'long player' surely rest in the 'music like water' model predicted in the outstanding book The Future of Music and starting to come about in

new digital business models...such as Nokia's Comes With Music model and the kind of collective licensing being pioneered by Choruss, both of which would bundle the cost of music into other services or products. Both rely less on a revenue-per-unit model and more on revenue-per-user. Or "pricing the consumer versus pricing the content," as one label digital executive puts it. "We think the real story around price as it relates to the audience for digital music is with respect to the new business models that are user-based as opposed to wholesale price-based."

In other words, when we're playing a flat fee to get access to all the music we want, perhaps we'll find more and more people going back to enjoying whole albums.


Related Posts: Get serious like Weird Al
Trent gives it away

Bob Kauflin: Ineffective Tunes

Here's Bob Kauflin at last year's Desiring God conference having some fun with inappropriate music settings. The whole session is well worth a look.

Watch, listen, or download the whole thing here.

Related Posts: Worship God '08 seminars part one and two
Band on the run

Jamie Brown saw it first

How Do They Do That?

Ever wanted to see what a DJ does up close and personal?

Weeeeell...what Beastie Boys collaborator Mix Master Mike does is absolutely nothing for the first 1:48 but thereafter is amazing.

Check it out!




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I Wanna Be Like You - oo - oo

Is it just me or does anyone else feel a migraine coming on just watching this thing, let alone using it?


I have this crazy, out of the box, blue sky alternative -

JUST LEARN TO PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT!

Get some CD's or some sheet music and try to figure it out with out someone chewing it all and pre-digesting it for you. Who know? You might even up sounding like yourself.

'Sigh!'

I remember Steve Taylor singing a long time ago about how 'Cloneliness is next to Godliness'





Related Posts: Too much monkey business

Everybody Knows The Pentatonic Scale

Now this is truly incredible. Firstly because everybody seems to know the rest of the notes without being told. How do they do that? And, secondly, it's amazing to see Bobby McFerrin, a man who obviously eats, sleeps and breathes music, doing what comes naturally. You'd never guess what he's capable of by listening to "a little song he wrote..."

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale

Zach Nielsen saw it first


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Free songs by Matt Blick

Son & Daughters

No, it's not the return of a cheesy Australian daytime soap.
It's Sovereign Grace's new CD. Bob Kauflin has the skinny...

The songs are primarily meant for congregational worship, and focus on themes related to 1 John 3:1:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us,
that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The project came out of a perceived lack of songs that help us meditate on the unfathomable love God has shown us in adopting us through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5).

(Hey! Wait a minute...what "percieved lack"? I've written a song based on 1 John 3:1! Sorry, carry on Bob...)

We are now part of God’s family - in Christ we will forever be the objects of God’s particular and passionate mercy and love. We are not only forgiven, we are co-heirs with Christ, and never again have to doubt God’s care for us. That biblical reality, rather than leaving us focused on ourselves, drives us once again to proclaim the greatness of the God whose grace turns hopeless rebels into the precious children.

You can preview the album and download free sheet music at the Sovereign Grace Music site.



I'm pretty sure the songs are better than this one (Though it does have a catchy PDI era key change!)


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If I Close My Eyes They Can't See Me

Worthily Magnify, by Virginia resident Jamie Brown, is one of the best new blogs I've seen on worship (when I finally get around to doing a blogroll it'll be on there!).

Here's a few extracts from an excellent post on that most difficult of worship leader skills - leading with your eyes open!

if you’re leading worship and your eyes are tightly shut, no one can communicate with you. Your pastor might need to signal to you that he wants to say something after the song. The sound engineer might need to motion to you to plug in your guitar. Your band members might need to tell you that you’re in the wrong key. Check in visually every once in a while with various people who you know might need to catch your eye.

The challenge for worship leaders is how to be 100% engaged in worship, while at the same time being 100% aware of the band, the people, what’s coming up next, the clock, and where the Holy Spirit is leading in the midst of it all.

(read the whole thing).


Related Posts: How high and how wide (finding the right key)
Small band arrangements

Behind The Song: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Bob Kauflin recently did a post on the story behind Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Thomas Chisholm...spent the majority of the rest of his life as a life insurance agent in New Jersey. He died in 1960 at the age of 93. During his life he wrote over 1200 poems, most of which no one will ever hear.


But back in 1923, at the “beyond his prime” age of 57, he sent a few of his poems to William Runyan at the Hope Publishing Company. One of them was Great is Thy Faithfulness, based on Lamentations 3:22-23.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Runyan was particularly moved by Great is Thy Faithfulness and sought to set it to a melody that would reflect the response of wonder and gratefulness to God’s faithfulness conveyed in the lyrics. Apparently, he succeeded.

The song quickly became a favorite Moody Bible Institute, and later George Beverly Shea sang it at Billy Graham crusades. Now it’s known all over the world and has been used to encourage millions of Christians to trust in a faithful God.

Pretty impressive spiritual fruit from a life insurance agent.

Read the whole thing



Great Is Thy Faithfulness by Selah


Related Posts: Behind the song: The Weight Of Glory
Behind the song: God Is Our Refuge

Downloads Milestone!

The number 241 is a regular prime, a twin prime, a lucky prime and a Proth prime.

241 is a repdigit in base 15 (111).

It's the title of a song by Reel Big Fish and the short form of the phrase "Two for One".

It's also the number of times my songs have been downloaded from this blog!

Let's forget all this piffling 'breaking the 200 barrier' nonsense and join with me in celebrating this wonderful milestone.

By The Way. Someone left a comment about 'stealing' my songs, so just to clarify - I'm giving them all away! For FREE! You can download them, file share them, email then to friends, sing them to your dog, burn them onto a disc for your grandma, print off the lyrics and make an amusing paper hat out of them - anything you like. I want you to!

If you're interested, this is how the numbers break down -

Rise - 20
Son Of God/God The Son - 23
More Than I Could Say - 33
Song Of The Redeemed - 33
The Eglon Song - 49
The Weight Of Glory - 83


As you can see The Eglon Song is is tantalisingly hovering just below 50 (which of course is the smallest number that can be written as the sum of two squares in two distinct ways) so the next person to download it and leave me a comment on the Eglon page will recieve a personal email from me (if you leave an address ;-) with 5 facts about Matt that hardly anyone knows! Exciting no? I'm working hard at making them up...I mean remembering them...now.

Related Posts: The story so far...

Related Fact: I don't understand any of the maths stuff in this post. I'm a musician. I only need to be able to count up to four...

O Twitter, Where Art Thou?

My friend Rob Grant on yesterday's Twitter outage...

[I] sensed a great disturbance in Twitter.
As though a million voices were crying out in pointless comments and were gratifyingly silenced.

Related Posts: Don't Waste Your Tweet

Loud, Louder, Loudest

Rock music documentaries seems to be the cinematic soup du jour at the moment (ain't I talkin' fancy!)

First up here's one I really enjoyed Iron Maiden: Flight 666. I was impressed by the genuine camaraderie show by the band, and the mature attitude to personal space they have, playing golf, taking their kids along on tour, sight seeing and, yes, flying 757 jets.




Here's one not on release yet but looks fascinating, It Might Get Loud. Jimmy Page, The Edge & Jack White in an aircraft hangar, talking about guitars...





And last, one that looks funny and heartbreaking at the same time, The Story Of Anvil.
I wonder if the whole thing is a laugh at Anvil's expense, rather like the awful singers always set up to fail in the early rounds of The Pop Factor's Got Talent?

Related Posts: John Piper vs. Led Zeppelin
My top 5 weirdest gigs


Zach Nielsen saw one first.

Don't Waste Your Life

Here's another hot Piper-approved rap track from Lecrae.




[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).
This is so feedburner doesn't clog up your inbox with large files!]

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Don't waste your tweet

Justin Taylor saw it first.

Bench Press This!

Hey You!

Would you like to read Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology but just don’t have the time/perseverance/upper body strength?

Have I got news for you!

You can download a complete set of lectures by the Gruster from Christian Essentials covering every chapter of his massive tome, for the one time special price of FREE!

Yes FREE!

Let joy be unrestrained and let there be frolicking in the highways and byways. Sing along now: “Why this man is thematic, he’s charismatic, he’s systematic..."

Related Posts: The old is better

Blue Fish Project saw it first

Too Much Monkey Business

It’s not everyday a bunch of monkeys gives support to one of you ‘pet’ teaching theories but here it is.

Anytime you’re trying to learn something new musically you’re only truly practicing when you’re doing it correctly. If you’re getting it wrong 50, 40 or 30% of the time you are NOT practicing. (Other than practicing how to do it wrong, and chances are you already excel at that).

Prof Earl Miller from MIT, who has already spent more time than is healthy teaching monkeys how to use computers, found that monkey's neurons became more efficient when they made the right decisions but showed no change when they got it wrong. In short (neurologically speaking) you don’t learn by your mistakes.

So what should you do next time you pick up your guitar, or piano (my, you are strong!) and try to get the nice scientist to give you a banana?

Slow the music down till you can play it easily. Playing everything at top speed is one of the biggest errors that people make.

Play a smaller section. Most musicians practice as much music as they can manage till they make a mistake and then they start again.

Bad monkey!

What is happening? Simple.

Every single time you play you are making a mistake.

So what are you really practicing? Making mistakes.

No bananas for you Bonzo!

Isolate the one element that is causing the musical train wreck and just practice that.

It might be a physical thing - you just can’t get your fingers in the right place. So forget about the song, the groove, the tempo. Just get the chord.

It could be a mental thing. The reason you keep messing up is you don’t really know what you’re supposed to be playing in the 14^th bar. Learn it.

It could be stamina. Forget the song. Put on Season 2 of My Name Is Earl and play that riff till your arms go numb.

But remember you’re only practicing if you’re getting it right all the time. Listen to the monkeys.

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Tubthumping

The world is full of amazing, but unknown, musicians. Here's one more...

How come it never sounded this good when I played on my mum's pots and pans?

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Tom Porritt saw it first.