Robin Parrish of Infuze Magazine is so darn good that finding great articles and news that sometimes borders on being geeky. But I got no problem with that.

In this Illinois webzine article, writer Steve Arney takes a look at the side of Christian music that is subconciously blocked out for most. Some might think of it as "the dark side" of Christian music, but many, including myself, find the artists mentioned in this article to be "the real side" of Christian music.

The latest thing to hit my desk is the party rock of Family Force 5. They're crazy. There's definitely a lot of '80s influences, but it's mostly rockin' guitars with rap vocals, but much less electronic than Earthsuit. So what's my first impression? It's great for music to pump you up. Does it have any value besides fun music? Not really, but it's not bad.

Probably the biggest music news of the week is that Mute Math has filed suit against Warner Bros./Word Records for their handling of their debut EP. You can read the Reuters story and the comments at Shlog.com for more information.

What I have to say is that I wholeheartedly support the band. Why? Because I think they have a point.

Another release I was listening to yesterday was the debut album from House of Heroes. It's been out for about six months, and it's pretty darn good.

I remember the old House of Heroes when they were played on RadioU during the indie days. Actually, I think really early they were called "No Tagbacks", which obviously is a kiddie pop-punk band. But with their major-label debut release, they've transformed into an amazing art-rock band. If you want to check it out, find their video for "Serial Sleepers". Great stuff.

So today I took a first listen to Chris Tomlin's Live From Austin Music Hall. And, well, it's a pretty good live disc. The extra touches were, of course, the guest spots. Seth Walker, a Texas blues artist, helps Tomlin out with a more soulful "On Our Side". David Crowder adds his signature voice to "This Is Our God". And, surprisingly, the crowd is miced fairly well for a live disc.

So today's new release that I listened to was Kutless's Hearts of the Innocent. And, well, it's exactly what I expected.

I liked Kutless because it was fairly good rock. Sea of Faces was good too, but a bit softer. Strong Tower was fairly disappointing, although the rock mixes of some worship songs are nice. But this new one is just too much of the same. There's no growth; no progress.

This week I'm gonna start trying to comment on pre-releases I get in the mail. Well, at least the ones worth commenting on. And since the Cindy Morgan album doesn't fit on the list of ones worth commenting on, I'll give you a little bit on Sanctus Real's The Face of Love.

Last night I went out with my parents and saw the Third Day/David Crowder Band concert. It was pretty chill.

Although we didn't really get there until 7:10, if they started right at 7 Crowder's set was just too short. It was great, though. They did a great job with their "rock opera", "You Are My Joy". And, of course, we had fun with "Foreverandever Etc..". They only played 40 minutes or so, though, but oh well. The opening band never gets any respect.

Where have I been? Well, that will probably be the discussion of the next couple blog posts. But first, where have I been in music?

Well, the last three days or so I've spend lots of music listening to my Paste Magazine samplers. I've got the entire collection, and it's not easy to randomly go through some 400 songs. But it's an eclectic ride, to be sure. I've definitely been listening to more country and classic music than in a long time. And it's pretty darn fun.

Speaking of rock 'n' roll, just a side note that May 2nd is going to be a great day. Not only do we get the long-overdue rock 'n' roll release from The Elms (I mean, who wouldn't want a rock album called The Chess Hotel?), but I just noticed that the album a year and a half in the waiting, mars ILL's Pro*Pain is finally gonna be released. That is, unless the EMI good music Nazis have their way....