iRecommend: Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing by The Welcome Wagon [+Free Album Download]

if You Like:  The White Stripes, Sufjan Stevens, The Cranberries, The Civil Wars and Regina Spektor

Okay this is weird! Cause this is like the weirdest music I have ever tried on iRecommend. Honestly, Last week, I posted a status on Facebook that went something like this about this band

"Been listening to 'Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices' by The Welcome Wagon. Honestly I must say, I have never heard anything like this before and I don't mean it's super by that. I just mean it feels like learning a new language listening to this album. Go for it only if you have an eclectic taste for music, want to try something you've never tried before or simply bored of 'normal' . . . or who knows ; if you want to learn a new language. LoL! "

Now that was about their latest release 'Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices', so you wouldn't know how excited I was when I discovered that they gave ever an EP of un-released  songs for a Fair-Trade charity cause set to help 'liberate and empower' women escaping the sex trade in Calcutta, India. I was excited cause I wouldn't be alone in this 'learning of a new language'.

A little about the band before we go on. The musical duo is a married couple — the Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique—grew up in the same Midwestern town. She’s an artist by trade, having once worked as a craft-maker for Martha Stewart. He’s a Presbyterian minister and currently the senior pastor at Resurrection Presbyterian, a church he planted in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.

That's has cool as it gets, now ready for the out of the world music? Click here

Connect: Okay I haven't found them on twitter so in case you do let me know.

And did I mention I've been stuck on 'The Strife is O'er' From their new album? :o

 

Ponder:

"The dream isn't what you see when you sleep at night, the dream is what doesn't make you sleep at night"

iRecommend: Freedom Music by Evin Amiri [+Free Album Download]

if You Like: Chris Brown, Brandy, 21:03, Adam Lambert, Ne-Yo, Jason Derullo, Frank Ocean

If you have never heard the name 'Evin Amiri', you need to click here and check out The Prelude to this album which I blogged about some weeks back. On 'Freedom Music' Evin serves a taste of everything you can term good music. Also get ready for surprises and guest appearances from artist such as Onitsha Shaw, Brandy, Francesca Battistelli and Natalie Grant.

What I love about this album is how Evin Amiri breaks boundaries and bring different genres and styles of various you wouldn't mention on the same page on just one album. You do not want to not get into the 'Freedom Music'.

Click here to download

Ponder:

 "'Come to the edge' he said. They said, 'We are afraid.' 'Come to the edge,' he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew. " - Guillaume Appolinaire

You can also follow Evin on twitter @EvinAmiri

In An Ideal World.

[Image Via Pinterest]

In an ideal world we will all be on vacations, enjoying what life is, enjoying how life is.

Loving what we do and doing what we love.

If you find me in an ideal world, I would be caught with a mug of hot sweet cocoa (If it be a cold cold cold weather) or sipping iced sugar saturated juice (on a hot sweaty day) while writing and writing. Writing words to make the world a better place. 

Remember it’s an ideal world and there are no distractions and we have all we need. I would write until I want to read and read books so good till I want to write. I would take long walks in the evening with shoes so comfy they make me want to walk around the world. I would practice with a band on the nights forming songs that remind us all who we are and why we came to being in the first place. We would sing our songs to those who wish to hear, to friends and strangers who long for a tune like ours over fine food and ginger beer. 

In an ideal world there would also be days you would find me amongst friends who love me for who I am and not just what I do. We would all come with the works of our hands; a poem, a song, a business idea or even an idea as crazy as to skate on the sun. We would listen, analyze, criticize, and strategize. We would tell ourselves hard truths on how we are ‘unidealizing’ our ideal world, on how stupid, crazy, great and cool we have been lately and encourage ourselves how to make it more ideal.

In an ideal world I would do that I long for from my heart. Cause there are no distractions and side attractions and my heart can come out of its cage and dance round the room called world. In an ideal world I would be who I always longed to be before I found out who I could not be.

But the true story about ideals is that they tell us how things are supposed to be. So I ask you today, how are things supposed to be? If money problem, ego preservation and past hurts weren’t available what would you be? what would you do? 

Step into the ideal world and draw on paper with words or fine art what you would be doing in such a world then stare and let it consume you. Cause the secret about ideals is that they never exist on their own, we bring them into being.

You Are More Real

[Image via Pinterest ]

Today I woke up, opened the door and walked out
Got to half of the day before I remembered you
You are not real

Today I woke up with a thought of you.
In my mind were questions of who you are
At the end of the day, a friend asked a question if you cared of the matters of men, of the pain millions lived in in our world, if our personal individual stories matters to you,
I asked the same in silence explaining crammed theologies
Are you real?

Today I sat down in the park near the office
My heart was broken was all I could remember, and somehow you came
like a miracle you reassured me of peace and a future synonymous to a dream
You are real.
The alarm went off at 5:00am
I got out of bed at 6:30am
I said a prayer in the shower

Read the rest over here at The Bible Dude's Place

iRecommend: 'Who is KB?' by KB [+Free Album Download]

if You Like: Lecrae, Lil Wayne, Tinie Tempah, Souljah Boi, Tedashii, Andy Mineo

Kevin Burgess ( a.k.a KB ) is the latest addition to Reach Records (Lecrae, Tedashii, Trip Lee, Pro). I got a chance to review his new upcoming album for a site recently and I must say it was totally amazing music, pure awesomeness! So I thought it would be a GREAT idea to share his mixtape which he released a while back with you all. Enjoy!

Click here to download
 
You can also click here to  download a single titled 'Zone Out' from his Upcoming Album 'Weight
 & Glory'

KB's new album 'Weight & Glory' releases tomorrow 17th of July 2012.  You can click here to read a review of it

You can follow KB on twitter @KB_HGA

 

Ponder:

Comparing yourself to others is dangerous. You risk becoming discouraged your not where they are or prideful that they aren't where you are. - KB

iRecommend: A Prelude to Freedom Music by Evin Amiri [+Free Album Download]

if You Like: Jason Derullo, Chris Brown, 21:03, Ne-Yo, Frank Ocean, J. Moss, Trey Songz

Honestly I have waited for this moment for weeks! I was so excited a few weeks back when Evin Amiri ( member of the Grammy nominated group 21:03) announced on twitter he will be giving away a prelude to his upcoming album 'Freedom Music'. I was opportune to have heard a track titled 'Yeah 3x' before ( a track I'm sure you would love from the album) the announcement. So today without much ado, I hereby present Evin Amiri free Prelude to you which has 8 tracks!
Things to look forward to: Unexpected surprise feature from the eclectic rare band named 'Gungor' and also lead singer of the veteran four times Grammy award winning band 'Third Day' Mac Powell.

Click here to download
You can also follow Evin on twitter @EvinAmiri

Ponder:  

  "When I became honest about my trouble, my reputation went out the window, but i became the freest man in the world" - William P. Young

The Leader Amongst Us.

Who are the leaders amongst us?
Those who see the BIG picture and are agitated when we dwell in small circles?

Who are the leaders amongst us?
Those who have a glimpse of how it is meant to be and wail like prophets of old at us?

Honestly in real leadership, there's a tendency to be mistaken, a tendency to be judged by your actions and not your heart.
But wait ain't it better to 'spank' up to hear the alarm of devastation, obscurity, 'mundaness', oblivion and all things that can go wrong with a system when we resist change than to 'sing' a lullaby to ourselves till we arrive at the place no one wants to be? Ain't it?

I believe real leadership isn't 'autocratic' and domineering but it is the ability to inspire and woe until we arrive at a better place and most times not mincing the truth which could be hard on us at times.

So I ask once more, who are the leaders amongst?

Those who get frustrated by the status quo and do what ever it really takes to bring about a better change even if it cost them themselves.

Note, I never said leaders are afraid of confrontation or truth telling even when hard.

What conversations and confrontations have you been avoiding? Are you a leader amongst us? If yes, can we have them today cause we need you.
So STAND UP!

Question.
I think great leaders are selfless, aren't afraid to stand up for truth and confront issues hands-on; letting go of their fear of being misinterpreted by the hard actions they take.
What characteristics do you think GREAT leaders possess? Would love to read your thoughts :)

Photograph.

[The above picture is Katie Torwalt's. A singer and worship pastor from California and I love it so much I saved it from her twitter (@katietorwalt), I plan using some of the concept at my next photo-shoot]

Photograph is like prayer

Prayer like a photograph

We freeze time

We have an experience

A celebration with the divine

Wait before I indulge you with heavy poetry

Are your times with Him moments to remember or moments to endure?

Do you nod it off with a doze or look at the time several times to see how long you’ve been there

This is the idea of photograph; that those moments of communion are frozen on some blind spots of our hearts illuminating the inner room with bright colors

Life lights up, soul is at absolute UN-understandable peace and you can’t wait to go back.

Have you had a photograph you wanted to tear up, burn and throw into a bottomless sea

Have you? Cause I have

And have you had a photograph you just wanted to keep, treasure, love cause it reminds you of love in its purest form

Have you? Cause I have too

But wait if we have these two types of photographs we will notice that the difference isn’t the material but the people and faces in the picture.

In prayer we take photographs with God

And if we want to keep them or burn, it all hinges on this:

The photograph you took last with God; who was background and who was the camera focused on?

Cause the answer determines a picture kept and a picture torn.

Question:

When the idea of prayer like a photograph came to me, honestly I found it quite hilarious. Have you ever seen prayer like a photograph before? And what makes a great picture (or prayer) ? :)

 [Images via Pinterest]

The Pieces

Keep the pieces
Never let them go
For a long time I was frustrated by the only shards I was able to glean after a laborious day of lingering in the writing room
I would grind my teeth at the prospect of not having to finish a particular piece
But I forgot that all works of art are pieces, little fragments telling a whole story
That even a complete work is in-complete
The worker or artist just rested, stopped or passed it on
Most times I tore sheets of poetry because they were incomplete
Other times I broke jars of prose because I couldn't fill them with enough water until I heard our real job as people of art is to keep the pieces.
Imagine God who is the greatest artist discarding and throwing into the bin of heaven every broken parts of our lives, you and me. Imagine cause I don't want to imagine that.
But he chooses to tell a complete story even with all these things, (at least for those who bring all their broken pieces,) that story he tells not discarding the pieces leaves the whole all in awe.
It's always a nonsensical story, foolish to the wise and wise to the foolish.
This we must see
This we must learn
That the best works of art aren't ' 'perfect' but they are more like mosaic: little shards, broken pieces held by glue that can't be broken and that very thing is the artist effect
These days I have (concurrently running) at least ten word documents open at the same time
Little drops I will put down
Little shards I will keep
Cause when clay is in my hands, I must remember whose hands I'm in and how he handles me
We like to throw away the pieces, to clear space and live clutter free which is a good thing if we aren't discarding heaven's treasure.
If your courts are overflowing, pray to heaven for an expansion of territory. Treasures are given for a reason. There is an outlet and an idea cash flow for every abundance.
And really this is it: we are quick to recognise seeds for seeds but what if, just what if the little notes, the little ideas, the little words, the little everything being sent your way are seeds. What if they are to test to see how you would handle the tree that is meant to be in your garden.
And if you are a writer I hope you aren't seeing trees for trees. Cause your tree is the book, books, that masterpiece you are meant to leave for a broken but yet beautiful world
Ever wondered why there are pieces in masterpieces? Please keep the pieces.
Question
Have you had a situation where you went back to a left over or abandoned work or project which latter turned out GREAT? I would love to hear from you in the comments