jonnybaker

if you like dubstep

if you like dubstep i am enjoying pipedown's guest mix...

fever ray live album free

one of the most original albums i have enjoyed this year is fever ray - well today for a short period only there is a free download of a live album via the guardian...

listening to...

so what's anyone listening to at the moment?...

recent new plays for me are

• the invisible
• xx - pipedown called this one and also link to a really nice 30 minute mix you can download from one of xx
• fat freddy's drop new album - so love joe dukie's voice - [ht pipedown again!]
• chillout lounge vol 3
• new kruder and dorfmeister ep
• massive attack single and i am still loving proost's...
• dubh - fractured broken and beautiful
• dubb - rhythm and poetry

dubb - debut album rhythm and poetry

i am very excited to announce that dubb's first album rhythm and poetry (rap) is out. dubb is none other than harry baker who crafts words that are fun, poignant and high energy. the album is 9 tracks mixed by jon birch, the godfather (well his godfather!). the beats are provided by the human beatbox tyte who if you haven't come across is brilliant. it's available to download from www.proost.co.uk for only 4.99. it includes be yourself and the legendary superman shoes which you may have heard before. you can have a listen to samples of the album in the media player (right window on proost). i am of course totally biased but it is a wonderful debut.

our other release this month is espresso scriptures from ben norton, a collection of short reflections on scriptures. here's what i wrote for the foreword...

Ben’s a surprise! When you meet him you think he can’t be a vicar in the Church of England. He doesn’t seem the type with his tattoos and piercings and spiky hair of whatever colour it happens to be that week. But then you find out he is one of these new pioneer ministers who get to create something from nothing, to share the Christian faith with people who aren’t in church. The church has realised that business as usual works for insiders but there are whole groups of people for whom church is like another planet, a different world. And it is going to take some different people to go on an adventure of the imagination to connect the Christian story with their stories in a way that makes sense. So Ben hangs out chatting to people, sharing the faith whether at school gates in the pub, on youtube online or out surfing gently growing a spiritual community or two that doesn’t require visiting another planet called church.

Espresso scriptures has naturally emerged out of that – framing the scriptures as a daily short reflection that is sent via e-mail to people who are interested in spiritual things. They are straightforward, direct and creative – perfect for the morning to get you going for the day. It’s Proost’s first bible reading book I guess though it doesn’t quite feel like a set of bible study notes in that sense. It’s also Ben’s first book, the first of many we are sure.

So make yourself an espresso, rip out a page and digest it as you go. We’re delighted Ben brought it to us as an idea and now the idea has legs.

maybe the poet - review of big chill 09

there's something about poetry that is close to themes of justice, truth, liberation and 'maybe the voice of the spirit'. it's true of art in general that it has that strain but somehow i'm beginning to think that the poet gets to it quicker or more intensely. maybe because it's just words or maybe because it's more marginal or maybe because you have to say something... i am so convinced about this that i have decided that if you move to an area and want to connect with people into spirituality and justice find the local poets and it won't be far away. i chatted with a guy in lancaster earlier this year about exactly this theme and idea.

this year at the big chill i spent a few hours in the words in motion tent once more hearing the astonishing jean binta breeze. she is the closest i have met to what i imagine a full on prophet/ess to be. and ursula rucker was also inspirational and equally hard hitting. but what amazed me in the tent once again was how many of the poems touched on deep themes from everybody even in the open mic slots... when i was at school poetry was inaccessible - i just didn't get it (how does school manage to make music and poetry a turn off?! weird). but now i'm thinking that walter brueggemann's thesis that it is the language of the poet that we need to hear to voice counter imagination  is more directly about poetry than i was thinking before. i had thought of it as a tone of speech. but no - unleash the poets in your midst or seek them out. if anyone has any favourite poems or poets do add a comment - i'm keen to expand my ignorance.

all that is by way saying a highlight of the big chill was the poetry/spoken word - words in motion. i have added a few photos (i really didn't take many this year) to flickr of this year's big chill. it was a treat to see david byrne - surprisingly i have never seen talking heads. two discoveries were erik truffaz and the white tree - both of whom i'll be seeking out some more music of. listening to laura b play on a stage in the enchanted garden whilst sitting in a hammock was sublime. lamb, norman jay, hexstatic, bonobo, orbital, basement jaxx and so on was all wonderful. seeing a few thousand people dressed as zombies for a film shoot the night before the festival was fairly amusing and harry and joel duly obliged. mr scruff's tea tent proved to be a great hang out with 'music for grown ups' as he described it and great tea - music for the old folks?! seeing sky lanterns going up in droves was also typically magical big chill. but mostly it was nice just to unwind, enjoy glorious unbroken sunshine, hang out with jen for our 22nd wedding anniversary at her first visit to the chill.

the only downer was chris cunningham - the man is a film genius no doubt technically but his opening music video was an assault on the senses so violent and abusive between a man and a woman that i felt physically sick and left - what is going on his head to create that kind of a narrative i have no idea. i looked on the big chill forum and several people cited him as a highlight which i just found bizarre - maybe it got a lot better or maybe i turned into mary whitehouse overnight - i hope so (that it got better) and i hope not (the mary whitehouse part). if anyone in the audience had experienced violence or abuse i dread to think what they felt. there are a lot of families with kids there at the festival - it just wasn't in keeping with the spirit of the festival imho. but hey - we left and recovered though the images have haunted me a several times since...

love the chill. thanks to the organisers who know how to create the most amazing festival. it all ended with a huge zombie bonfire - the purging of demons or something?! this was my fifth year in a row so i guess i'm a regular now...

simon who came with us along with joel and harry has posted a review here

emergent psalter and agents of future podcast

isaac everett has written an emergent psalter - no mean feat! this is an example for me that shows that many in the emerging church are looking to re-connect with and improvise out of the tradition rather than move away from it. he is also running a podcast that takes a pslam from the lectionary and interviews someone about it playing related tunes. the latest podcast features an interview with todd and angie fadel of agents of the future including a track from their mini album which is on proost.co.uk . you can link to the book and listen to the interviews from the emergent psalter page. i am looking forward to agents of future being at greenbelt this year! isaac of course also has two albums on proost...

purple radio set by cntrst

a few people on the big chill forum are involved in purple radio. well joel/cntrst played a set recently that you can download - the set list is over at pipedown. i have recently been getting a few tunes for this summer from joel on my ipod - very much liking the sounds of this summer...

fractured broken and beautiful - dubh

dubh (pronounced "duv") is irish for dark (and a bit dubby). it's also the guise for ikon's own jonny mcewen who has recorded his first solo album fractured broken and beautiful. you couldn't get a more honest title - it sums up the music perfectly. made on a laptop, a couple of synths, a kaos pad and samples this instrumental electronica is dubbed out, trippy, warm, mellow, chilled, gorgeous, ambient, almost dub step in places. it's hard to know what to compare it to. it's a very unique sound with a real edge, an instant proost favourite!

somewhat confusingly the title of ikon's album was
dubh but this time round the artist is dubh!! and just to confuse you a little more we also have an album coming out on proost shortly by dubb :-)

there is a dubh facebook group you can join and listen to a few tracks online. go say hi to jonny and become a fan! this is the sort of release that reminds me why proost exists. it's hard to imagine any christian record label releasing anything like this!

it's currently available just as a download in the audio section of the site though a physical product is in the pipeline in time for greenbelt in a cardboard recycled sleeve as proost gets eco friendly. (if you subscribe you get access to it in the downloads area as part of your subscription).

spotify collaborative playlist - worship trick 67

matt who co-ordinates the DJs for the grace cafe each month came up with a fun idea for last week. he created a collaborative playlist on spotify and then invited a few of us to contribute in the week. you simply drag and drop tracks into it. then at grace the soundtrack in the cafe was that playlist on random play... collaborative DJing! worship trick 67 series 3. apologies if you are in a country where spotify isn't licensed!

in the spirit of collaboration i have created a jb blog readers collaborative playlist. so if you are a blog reader of mine and want to drop some tunes you are listening to on spotify in there then here's the http link and the spotify url

pipedown

well you never know when a new blog starts if it will actually get going, especially if it's a blog run by a few people, but it seems like pipedown could be here to stay reviewing new music, adding mixes and urban graphics. seizing the opportunity of the G20 summit the guys made a banner saying pipedown to wave in the crowd in any riots that erupted - photos here! i particularly like this one...

if you are going to the big chill... or even if you're not

have a listen to bands that will be playing - simple but ingenius

heaven UNKLE

UNKLE heaven with spike jonze

update: thanks to darren wright - download the movie here

if you were at spring harvest...

if you came to the teaching that joy and i were doing on the theme of apprenticeship/discipleship i have uploaded our slides for you to download as a pdf file apprentice. i really enjoyed working with joy - we were very different stylistically (- spot the difference in our slides!) but i think that difference brought very different edges.

if you came to the sessions i led on prayer, my wife jenny is better in this area than me. a few resources you might like that she has written are tune in chill out, and heart soul mind strength. you can download the breathing prayer here and there are a couple of examens here. sleeping with bread was the book i mentioned on the examen.

if you came to the worship we led, we loved having you there. grace has an archive of prayers and liturgies some of which we used - see wounded and slow for example. and i run a series of worship tricks - 1 | 2 | 3  which you can scroll through for ideas. if you had to describe the worship i guess it was contemplative but it comes out of a movement known as alternative worship. i have co-written a book or collated a book called alternative worship. and in recent years proost is a web company i help run that has a ton of resources - music, books of liturgies, and movies. harry was amazing this week and people loved his poetry, half of which was written on site. he goes under the name dubb and is on myspace here. i think we invented a new genre of worship mixing chants with rapped invocations! we will be putting an album out on proost of his stuff in the summer. laurence keith goes under the artist name harronell - his music is beautiful and he has an album harronell on proost that you can buy to download. listen to the track archangel on his myspce - one of my favourite tracks of last year.

if there was anything else we did that you want to know where to find it let me know in a comment or e-mail.

i work with cms and chatted to lot sof people about the current exciting shift to community

it's the first time i have been at spring harvest for 7 or 8 years i think. for those of you who haven't come across it, spring harvest is an evangelical mainstream christian festival. it caters for families really well with a very good childrens and youth programme. then there's a mix of bible teaching, seminars, and a celebration in the big top with lots of singing, preaching and all that (i was in the bar last night having my own celebration as chelsea beat liverpool so brilliantly at anfield!!). it won't surprise those of you who know me if i say it's not where i am most at home these days. in fact i feel like i hardly connect with this world - i don't even know any of the songs. and it seems pretty similar to when i was last here. the worship we were doing was on the edge, an alternative - always a place i feel more at home. called reflective readings we attracted a crowd who really didn't like the big top either because of taste, or because it was simply too noisy. we ended up with an older crowd but we so enjoyed them - they didn't have any of the usual postmodern angst!! a highlight was an evening where we went and lit a fire and built a cairn on the beach...

agents of the future - alt worship gets out of its laid back soundtrack

agents of the future are part of the bridge community in portland, oregon in the usa. their debut mini album of 6 tracks has a fantastic raw energy. none of the usual laid back alt worship electronica for the old alt worship folks! you can listen to samples in the media player on the proost site. they are our latest unusual suspects on proost. this is what they say about themselves

We are a bunch of Jesus-loving, jalopy-gospel way-backers who get together and do creative things: Shrieking, speaking, flailing, failing, storytelling, fear-quelling. In the process, songs and stories are smithed and written, friendships and families are stretched and shaken, stirred and strengthened. Genre-gender-class-past-death-defiers and town-crying demystifiers of mystery history lead these pacifistic, full-frontally ballistic missives. Best of all, on frequent occasions, we see entombed voices raisin’ and we peek through the haze.

i raved about andli mac's sea parable before on the blog and even went and bought it myself. well i'm delighted to say that you can now get that on proost as well. it's a beautiful animation that tells a tale of sailors who live to rescue people drowning in the sea. their mission keeps getting subverted by the lure of the comfort of the boathouse. sound familiar?!

one of my personal favourite movies on proost is jon birch's manga style 12 stations. if you've not come across it take a look. this year he has taken some of the still images from it and worked them into a meditation for easter 12 stations meditation. it is a flash file where each page has an image associated with a station and a written reflection. when you are ready click the button to move onto the next page. it's perfect for good friday (though skip the resurrection station at the end - which was never part of the traditional stations anyway!)

i know i have said it a few times but if you subscribe you can download all our stuff and get a year's worth of new content. and every time i say it there's more there :-)

pipedown

a new music blog pipedown is launched today by joel and 3 friends - jack , simon and matt. there are 4 mixes of ten tunes - one mix from each of them, a soundcloud drop box where you can place a tune you'd like them to hear and the promise of a buzz about music and culture so i assume tunes, reviews, club nights and so on.

the design (as you might expect) is very neat. they've taken up the notion of web presences through icons which i picked up on my blog in my redesign - but stripped it back. i particularly like the icon stream next to each name. in my view the header's too big - on a lot of computers it will fill half the screen... but it looks likely to be a good space for music. i doubt it will be just be on a dance tip either though that will be the main flow - jack brings a different edge with a love of alternative bands and song writing. the challenge will be whether a group blog works for them - not many i know out there keep the momentum. but if you launch on april 1 i guess it's a sign of not taking yourselves too seriously! (which reminds me that was the date i started my current job ;-)  )

so follow along in whatever online presence you are accustomed to hanging out in...

what about me? - tracked it down...

well i finally tracked down the 1 giant leap new double cd to download. i have kept an eye on 1 giant leap's site since the dvd what about me? came out -the site is unbelievably lame and lacking in news for a project with such a huge investment! it was darren wright who mentioned it was out and got me looking again - it doesn't even seem to be on itunes yet...

it is wonderful - such a profound, celebratory window into global culture, humanity and spirituality. it's one of the best pictures of god aside from jesus that i know of - in the sense that all these people and cultures  image god...

i wish i could have voted for barack obama

i wish i could have voted for barack obama, originally uploaded by jonnybaker.

on friday jen and i went to the late opening at the tate (amongst other things i was trying out a new camera in low light - the ISO is unbelievable - so little noise at 1600). soweto kinch was playing in one of the galleries. he has done a project with the gallery to take 6 pieces of art and create interventions and put a ghost in the machine. you can get a set of headphones from the desk and listen to his interventions (music, poetry) which riff off the pieces of art. he did his usual brilliant free styling though his VJ was possibly the most hopeless i have seen in my entire life! this was a temporary installation - a new one is being added each week in response to the altermodernity exhibition.

so spotify isn't going to have it quite so easy...

spotify (if you don't know what i am talking about sign up!) is putting noses out of joint or so it seems...

spotify

spotify - like early napster only legal. consider yourself invited

[update: the invitation to use the free version only works if you are in certain countries - see the comments on this post]

k7! sampler

k7! sampler - free music... [ht mike]