May 2010 Monthly Music Guide #3

Looking for something new? Here’s what I’ve been listening to lately…

Artist: Timbre
Album: Little Flowers (May 2010)
Style: Beautiful harp music dipped in a collection of lovely voices and instruments

From the opening notes of the harmonizing choir, you know you’re in for a treat. Timbre and her harp give us another round of lofty lullabies, but she finds a few more major chords this time around. Here she invites us to join her and her family and friends in a chorus of celebration complete with bells, toy pianos, strings, and a variety of percussion that occasionally shift into moving grooves more reminiscent of her friends mewithoutYou. The “little flowers” are a metaphor for our own fragile but slowly strengthening selves, and this is a garden you’ll want to visit this summer.
Standout Lyric: But pain can be beautiful, my dear / Roots that are deep do not fear winter / And spring has more joy when you’ve felt / The remnants of cold sorrows melt
Standout Lyric II: Watching the frail stems / Put forth their brand new leaves / And I find a love for them / In their honest weakness / And maybe you feel the same for me too
In Case It Interests You: Timbre is known as a Christian.
STREAM THE WHOLE ALBUM: timbre.bandcamp.com

Artist: As I Lay Dying
Album: The Powerless Rise (May 11, 2010)
Style: Powerful charges and challenges from modern metalcore’s finest

They’re not the only ones that rock the double-bass, the harmonic guitar riffs, or the screaming/singing combo, but these musicians fuse into a tight sound that’s simply intense, from the solo-worthy guitar action that hides under the verses to the diverse styles and emotions of Tim Lambesis’s vocal gruffs. Meanwhile, Tim’s lyrics continue to powerfully express his worldview in a way that is evident to anyone paying attention, yet without bashing it over anyone’s head. Whether it’s a perspective of suffering, a challenge against apathy, or a caution that freedom to one’s impulses is really slavery, this band is practically theological philosophy set to pounding metalcore. Nothing disappointing here.
Standout Lyric: We’ve focused so long on ideals of freedom / That it is this very belief that oppresses us / We all want to be free / Yet we find ways to forfeit liberty / To our own impulses / To our own consumption
Standout Lyric II: Simplicity is not a curse where strength is humbled / And the powerless rise / This is a kingdom born upside-down / This is a kingdom where the broken are crowned
In Case It Interests You: The members of As I Lay Dying are known as Christians.
STREAM SOME TRACKS: myspace.com/asilaydying

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