Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Eye in the Sky

I first heard the Alan Parson’s Project in 1978 in a High School Music Class… He was also the Sound Engineer for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album, which of course is a brilliant album. I’ve been reminiscing… and gratefully appreciating the wide range of music that has been such a rich part of my life…

Firestarter

Nick Cave – Far From Me

The musician who has journeyed with me since my young adult years.

Like U2, Cave and his music / art attract academic papers, essays and engagement. The latest being The Art of Nick Cave: New Critical Essays, published in March of this year. It covers a great range of material. In February 2013, there was also the release of the latest album from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the very understated and brilliant Push the Sky Away. And in March 2014 we have the release of Mark Mordue's 446-page biography of Cave, Tender Prey: A Biography of Nick Cave to look forward too, if you're a fan.

Sigur Ros - Brimstone

Icelandic band Sigur Ros, one of the most enchanting, visceral and creative bands I listen to, have a new album out in June 2013. It’s titled Kveikur and features the following song – ‘Brennisteinn’ (‘Brimstone’) - very raw, a lot of energy, and a very different sound. I love it, and the video is awesome.

Also, watch them live on the Jimmy Fallon TV show, which aired 22nd March 2013 and featured the title track of the new album. A soaring, beautiful soundscape.

Here’s Brennisteinn live

Gratitude Beyond Loss

Today, a blend – a mixing together if two different, but for me, related things

“…We receive and we lose, and we must try to achieve gratitude; and with that gratitude to embrace with whole hearts whatever of life that remains after the losses…”

- Andre Dubus II, Broken Vessels.

And, Thom Yorke:

Glen Hansard

David Bowie – Where Are We Now

I read an interesting piece in a newspaper a couple of weeks ago – a big piece on David Bowie. It reminded me why I’ve always appreciated his music. Reminded me of seeing him live. I think I’m looking forward to his new album, and to re-listening to albums from his Berlin years. They somehow feel really relevant again.

Here’s the video for his latest single

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away / Roland S. Howard & Autoluminescent

The promo for the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album is out, together with the first single – We Know Who U R (thanks to Barry Taylor for the "heads up"). The Album is released Feb. 2013.

And related, I watched this film last night – Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard (2011). Here’s the official trailer. Howard died in 2009 (obituary).

The Church Has Lost Its Way…

Much resonated for me in a recent post by Barry Taylor. Here’s an excerpt: 

“…Young people are leaving because they have been in attendance at church services, Sunday schools, and other church events and instead of finding a community of spiritual depth and Christ-like love that truly cares about its community, they have found too many people over-concerned with gimmickry, social status, self-interest, and self-preservation. Instead of finding a community of authentic worship of God and sacrificial love for neighbor, they have found a community of fear, anxiety, and tepid pseudo-spirituality. I believe millenials are searching for authenticity and community and that the church today has, indeed, lost its way. 

But the problem is not just that the church has refused to accommodate millennials' moral shortcomings by "relaxing its commitments to make church more acceptable" -- it's that the millennials have come looking for a community passionately following Christ in all areas of life and - far too often - we (i.e. Christians) haven't given them what they're searching for. I am not surprised that millennials are leaving church because as I survey the landscape of American Christianity today I don't see that it has much to recommend itself to the next generation -- or any generation, for that matter… 

… In order to regain the trust of future generations, the church needs to regain its own spiritual vitality, but this will not come through gimmicks, ad campaigns, moral laxity, or any of the other "desperate measures" currently being pursued to stave off the church's decline. If there is to be any hope that the church will regain the next generation, what is really needed is steadfast obedience to Christ's call to sacrificial love and a commitment to be "good news" to our communities born out in concrete acts of service and radical hospitality. We need to be less committed to the "institution" -- our buildings, bulletins, budgets, and social status -- and more committed to Christ and the pursuit of the koinonia that Christ lived, died, and rose again to create…” 

You can read his whole post here.

p.s. I now have him to thank for introducing me to US musician/singer/artist Melody Gardot, the “Accidental Musician” (Youtube clips here, here, here, and here) 

Sigh No More… You’ll find the Beauty of Love as it was Meant to Be!

An artist/theologian friend, thinking of me, gifted me a song by London-based Indie Folk Band Mumford and Sons. The song is titled: Sigh No More 

Serve God love me and mend

This is not the end

Lived unbruised we are friends

And I'm sorry

I'm sorry

 

Sigh no more, no more

One foot in sea, one on shore

My heart was never pure

And you know me

And you know me

 

And man is a giddy thing

Oh man is a giddy thing

Oh man is a giddy thing

Oh man is a giddy thing

 

Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,

It will set you free

Be more like the man you were made to be.

 

There is a design,

An alignment to cry,

Of my heart to see,

The beauty of love as it was made to be (x4)

 

And a prayerful New Year hope: “I hope the newness of this year be filled with gentleness, kindness and grace that yields what you need in order to walk the precious path your feet tread … God walks it with you.”