PCR Podcast Episode 06: Mike Condo of Superfan Vinyl on DC Talk's Jesus Freak & What It Takes To Get a Record Made On Vinyl

I am relaunching the PostConsumer Reports Podcast and the first episode back is a good one. It features Mike Condo, general manager of the record label and music store Superfan Vinyl who has just released DC Talk's Jesus Freak on vinyl for the first time (http://www.superfanvinyl.com/). 

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Hymnals = Vinyl Records: The case for and against hymnals in worship

For music lovers there has been a resurgence of vinyl sales over the past decade. (Or so they say.) The story goes that once tape cassettes and CD's were introduced into the music industry artists put their music on records at a steeply decreasing rate. Now, through illegal downloading services, itunes, Youtube, and through all the many streaming services even the compact disc has become obsolete. But in the midst of the binary age (some) people realized they love their music in a physical form, loved the "warmer" sound of "analog" recordings, and loved spending lots of money on audio equipment. Records are back baby! From used record stores, to remastered reissues of classic albums, to entirely new albums, people are buying and listening to music on records again.

Happy PostConsuming!: The Best Music of 2015—Part 2

2015 was a boring year for new music with me.

I am coming to the realization I am an old dad now in my mid-30's and it is a struggle to keep up with new sounds and new releases. On top of that I am continually discovering old music that I find more compelling and worthy of me purchasing (more on that in a bit).

So, in many ways 2015 was a failure as far as listening to what was released. Nonetheless, I continued to seek out "new" music, even if it was decades or perhaps centuries old.

Therefore, my best of 2015 list contains only a few new releases, and instead is more a chronicle of my listening tastes over the past year.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (RELEASED IN 2015)
Let's start with what I think are the greatest works released this past year that I spent a significant amount of time listening to. (You can read a more comprehensive end of year list here: Part 1 of the Best Music of 2015, written by Aubrey England here.)

Happy PostConsuming!: The Best Music of 2015—Part 1

My friend Aubrey England listens to a lot more new music than I do. And his tastes are a lot more exploratory. For that reason I asked him to write up a "Best of 2015" music list for PostConsumer Reports. Aubrey plays electric guitar during worship at my church and he also dabbles in some singer-songwriter stuff himself (perhaps one day he will put out some music of his own). Lately, (based off of pre-worship practice sound checks) Aubrey has been challenging himself to learn some of the more difficult Radiohead songs (e.g. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi") and some of the more iconic U2 hooks (e.g., "Bad"), and I hope him and I have many more music discussions in the future. (You can read my own year end albums list here)

The Best Music of 2015—Aubrey England (in no particular order)

Unanswerable Questions 3C.1: General Sufjan Inquiries

As part of the "Unanswerable Questions" series, my ongoing epic "interview" with Sufjan Stevens continues. 

I am serious though—how does one get an interview with Sufjan? As he asks on his new album "What's the point of singing songs if they'll never even hear you?" That's how I feel about these questions. I truly want to be able to ask them to Sufjan and I am truly interested in his answers.

Today begins a segment within a segment, simply called "General Sufjan Inquiries." These are questions that do not pertain to any particular album but instead to him as a person or to his work as a whole.

Some people have questions for God when they die. Me, I just have questions for Sufjan.