The Field: Looping State of Mind

in

The Field: Looping State of Mind came out today. When it started streaming free online recently I got my first listen and loved it. I just picked it up today and I'm listening as I do some work. It breathes wonderful, danceable, non-concentration breaking, atmospheric soundscapes. It fills up the room. I think you will like it a lot. Don't believe me? Ask Pitchfork, Drowned in Sound, CokeMachineGlow, and others.

I surprised many by choosing Four Tet's There Is Love In You as my album of year last year over Arcade Fire: The Suburbs and The National: High Violet. This year The Field is already making a strong argument for my best album of 2011. 

Looping

Review of Courageous & Christian Art

in ,

White Horse Inn posts a review from Anthony Parisi on the Courageous movie. I haven't seen the movie, but I resonate with the reviewer's take on the state of Christians and this kind of "art." If you have seen the movie, what are your thoughts on the review? Even if you haven't seen the movie, does the review reflect your concerns about how some Christians do art? Here's a teaser...

While surely produced with good intentions, Courageous is likely to further entrench the misguided culture wars and bring harm to the Christian witness in the world.

Cheap Kindle Books 10.5.11

in , ,

KW-slate-02-lg._V166950133_

Some good Kindle books for cheap right now...

Tim Keller | Exploring the Mysteries of the Gospel

in

From Tim Keller's forward to JD Greear's new book, Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary (via)...

It is one thing to understand the gospel but is quite another to experience the gospel in such a way that it fundamentally changes us and becomes the source of our identity and security. It is one thing to grasp the essence of the gospel but it quite another to think out its implications for all of life. We all struggle to explore the mysteries of the gospel on a regular basis, but we should strive to dive into it and allow its message to influence our thinking daily.

Read the rest, buy the book.

Tim Keller | "Gospel Polemics, Part 2"

in , ,

Tim Keller discusses 3 rules for Gospel Polemics in his new post that "will help us neither avoid polemics nor engage in them in a spiritually destructive way." Here are the rules, but go read his explanations.

1. Carson’s Rule – You don’t have to follow Matthew 18 before publishing polemics
2. Murray’s Rule – You must take full responsibility for even unwitting misrepresentation of someone’s views
3. Alexander’s Rule – Never attribute an opinion to your opponent that he himself does not own

Read "Gospel Polemics, Part 2," or start with "Gospel Polemics, Part 1."

$5 Albums for October

in

2795042241_0f37875786 Another month, another 100 $5 albums from Amazon. My favorites & some greatest hits albums...

GREATEST HITS

Music That Doesn't Break Your Concentration

in ,

Headphones

When I write, study for sermons, etc, I often like to listen to music to drown out other distrations and give my work some rhythm. If it's too lyric-driven (which is a lot of the music I like), it doesn't work. Here are a few of the albums I enjoy when I'm doing work that requires concentration and focus. Name in the comments some albums and artists you like to work to.

Wilco: The Whole Love is $5.99

in

Wilco's brand new album, The Whole Love, is out today and on sale for $5.99.

UPDATE: The Whole Love Deluxe Edition is also out on Amazon and it's $9.99. It's the regular album plus 4 songs, so if you purchased the $5.99 version, you can go here and download the other 4 songs and essentially pay the same price. If you haven't bought it yet, I would get the deluxe edition.

Wilco

Fresh Air: Maurice Sendak is Happy/Sad

in ,

Sendak

Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air interviews 83 year old, award winning author Maurice Sendak. You know him as the author of Where the Wild Things Are. He has a new book coming out, which is the point of the interview. But it turns into a talk with an author reminiscing about a life of art, being homosexual, therapy, losing loved ones, and ending life as an atheist in love with the world and feeling it slip through his fingers. Well worth a listen.

"I'm a happy old man, but I will cry my way all the way to the grave."

Lots-o-Links 9.22.11

in , , ,

Been a while since I did a links post. Some you need to check out...