Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 The other day I was listening to some music while I was at work. It was an upbeat electronic mix/mash up that I play when I need to focus. The music keeps me from being easily distracted. Anyway, a grad student interrupted me to ask if I really liked the song that was on. When I stopped to actually listen to the words, I found them rather vulgar and disrespectful. During the subsequent week or so I started paying more attention to lyrics and found similar problems with lots of other songs that I like. The genre itself (made entirely of samples, best categorized as mash up, best exemplified by the artist Girl Talk) does not have a lot of songs with clean lyrics... I have not found any Christian artists that even attempt to make mixes with that sound. Part of me wants to go back to ignoring the words and just enjoy the music, part of wants to boycott artists that use vulgar samples. Girl Talk is amazing... I just wish he would use clean samples. sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I have went through this with hiphop for a long time now. Some artist I have continued to listen to after previously stopping are nas, 2pac, jay-z. Their great artist though and I think as a whole their music is ok for a mature listener. Some will disagree though. I dont know. It's tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Delivery Boy' post='1862905' date='May 9 2009, 02:28 PM']I have went through this with hiphop for a long time now. Some artist I have continued to listen to after previously stopping are nas, 2pac, jay-z. Their great artist though and I think as a whole their music is ok for a mature listener. Some will disagree though. I dont know. It's tough.[/quote] I can only listen to the "radio version" of a lot of hiphop music. It was easier for me to fil[font="Arial"]t[/font]er out the bad lyrics in Girl Talk songs because he would mix them in with clean cuts from other songs... so I just didn't notice them. I kinda wish that I never did. Have you ever listened ti Girl Talk? His stuff really is special. The dude has a gift. Edited May 9, 2009 by tgoldson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 no im going to check it out ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6TuMhYg89E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6TuMhYg89E[/url] okay - this is the most clean clip I could find. I'm still blown away by this guy. I never get tired of listening to his music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 wow that is pretty dope. i'm going to watch some more of these. he mixed those perfectly and then with the video on top of it... pretty neat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 does anything like this exist in Christian music? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 [quote name='tgoldson' post='1862949' date='May 9 2009, 03:54 PM']does anything like this exist in Christian music?[/quote] the closest I could find is this... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBlg1sVrTqQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBlg1sVrTqQ[/url] and not bad, but elementary compared to Girl Talk, Milkman and other secular artists... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I find it interesting that given the issue you have presented, that you have actually ended up promoting the artist... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 [quote name='Noel's angel' post='1862977' date='May 9 2009, 04:43 PM']I find it interesting that given the issue you have presented, that you have actually ended up promoting the artist...[/quote] It wouldn't be an issue if I didn't think the artist was incredible. I'm seriously blown away every time I listen to his music. The amount of talent, hard work, experience and dedication that it takes to create those mashups is immense - as I listen to the different elements working together I don't even hear the words in the song samples. If it wasn't for someone else pointing it out, I'm not sure that I would have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rose wrought of iron Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 [quote name='Noel's angel' post='1862977' date='May 9 2009, 05:43 PM']I find it interesting that given the issue you have presented, that you have actually ended up promoting the artist...[/quote] I think it's more lamenting the fact that someone with such talent is using it for such a purpose. I mean, there are a lot of artists out there who have a great sound but whose lyrics and music videos are filled with the degradation of women, abuse of alcohol, drugs, etc. It's really depressing that you have to scrutinize what you listen to that much. On one hand, you want to be a good Catholic/Christian and do what best glorifies God. On the other hand, you're surrounded with so much popular garbage it's hard to really stand up for what you believe and really live your faith. You know what road you should take, but it doesn't make it any easier. One of the bands I like is Lifehouse - I know it's not what you really listen to, tgoldson, but I like how I can pretty much get any cd listen to it around all my little siblings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrestia Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 [quote name='rose wrought of iron' post='1862988' date='May 9 2009, 04:57 PM']I think it's more lamenting the fact that someone with such talent is using it for such a purpose. I mean, there are a lot of artists out there who have a great sound but whose lyrics and music videos are filled with the degradation of women, abuse of alcohol, drugs, etc. It's really depressing that you have to scrutinize what you listen to that much. On one hand, you want to be a good Catholic/Christian and do what best glorifies God. On the other hand, you're surrounded with so much popular garbage it's hard to really stand up for what you believe and really live your faith. You know what road you should take, but it doesn't make it any easier. One of the bands I like is Lifehouse - I know it's not what you really listen to, tgoldson, but I like how I can pretty much get any cd listen to it around all my little siblings. [/quote] I do like Lifehouse. I have [i]way[/i] more Christian music than any other type. I'm a big fan of Crispin, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, Switchfoot, The Turning, Nichole Nordeman, Nicole C. Mullen, John Reuben, Third Day, Sundry and a bunch of others. I've seen Jars and AudioA in concert more times than I can remember. There's just a lack of Christian artists in the electronic mashup genre. Because of the way the music is made (samples of well known songs), it was easy for me to fil[font="Arial"]te[/font]r out the bad parts. It's not something that I do intentionally - the same thing happens with movies. I somehow forget about scenes that are risqué or indecent... my brain represses them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rose wrought of iron Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 And with music, there are occasions where you can change the context of the lyrics to make them acceptable, as I mentioned in Resurrexi's thread. You can take Keith Urban's Raining On Sunday and take it as they're married and went to church Saturday evening; nothing wrong with that. Matt Maher should totally be added to the above list. Yeah, I can see that with the movies. I do it too sometimes, and it's just something we need to work on. I think it's sad how Hollywood thinks that you have to sex everything up and ruin a good storyline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I've been listening to some Christopher Stevens today. I got "Hip Hope" for one of my kids for Christmas, and they really like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bus Station Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 [quote name='tgoldson' post='1863002' date='May 9 2009, 05:06 PM']I do like Lifehouse. I have [i]way[/i] more Christian music than any other type. I'm a big fan of Crispin, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, Switchfoot, The Turning, Nichole Nordeman, Nicole C. Mullen, John Reuben, Third Day, Sundry and a bunch of others.[/quote] I used to be a big Contemp. Christian music fan, though I've stopped listening to most of it altogether over the past couple of years (I've become a huge classical and traditional choral music fan). The only artists I still play every now and then are Caedmon's Call (imo the best cont. Christian band out there), Jars of Clay, and Bethany Dillon, and... (see below) [quote name='rose wrought of iron' post='1863007' date='May 9 2009, 05:10 PM']Matt Maher should totally be added to the above list. [/quote] You should definitely check him out. He writes heavily Catholic (and sometimes theological) lyrics, and his music itself is beautiful. For me, listening to Christian music is kind of a compromise because a lot of Christian artists (in my opinion) do not write genuinely original or interesting music, so I feel like I'm just listening for the lyrics. What's great about Matt Maher is that his music and lyrics complement each other beautifully and he is extremely talented at writing and performing both. Sorry this is kind of long... yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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