Just about the most awesome thing on the internet today. Footage of the Altar Boys reunion show at Cornerstone in 2000.

Did I say something about taking a "fast" from video posts outside of church? Well, if so, consider me officially lapsed ...

Over the Rhine is just too tempting and this version of the song is beyond incredible.

That aside, a whole lotta workin', a little writing, and a dab of graphic designin' going on over here.

Because it just doesn't work the same on Monday ...

First up was the intro:

My quick take is as follows: Michael Hodge + Ebow = Magnificent!!! Why did I ever NOT get one of those things?

I got a hot stock tip on the opening during the week, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Problem #1 was that I get to church Saturday in a rush. And there's work to be done for a soundcheck upstairs. I opt to play hooky from church and think I'll catch the live feed on the big screen ... which is kindofa cool thing to do if you must play hooky. As luck would have it, there was more sound work to be done, so I had all the pleasure of watching the visuals of the entire service, but only the sound of something like a song and a half, plus maybe the final 10-15 minutes of the sermon.

It wasn't all a loss. I did get to learn a thing or two about the sound system. But it kinda meant that my "optional" attendance on Sunday was a bit less "optional." Besides, I could get into church early on Sunday, camp out for a good seat, catch up on some long overdue reading, and enjoy everything a little bit more knowing there wasn't a lick of work to be done immediately afterwards.

Unless you consider ripping video like this "work."

Next sample is of a vocal treatment of "Amazing Grace," done by the entire ensemble lineup that Lakewood has to offer ... plus Joel Camey up front on guitar.

Of course, I'm also obligated to point out some background appearances by the likes of Aimee Beard and Fiona Mellett, both of whom we don't get to see often enough on the big stage. And the splash of red they have to offer is another side benefit. But seriously, when's the next Aimee Beard special???

Speaking of special, here's how it's done at Lakewood. You take four All-Star musicians, throw them on stage, and say "Go."

That's our version of "In Christ Alone," of which there are numerous versions available (I'll plug Steve Green's just for the heck of it).

So that's how we celebrate the risen Savior. Naturally, there was a pretty darn good sermon afterwards. I'm sure it'll be one that Joel's critics fail to catch, but those who do will be far better for hearing it.

Two notes for now: I've thoroughly mixed up the usual order of my blogging week here. Instead of Monday Video and YouTube Tuesday, I've got YouTube Friday and Sunday Video. Ya know what? I'm going to just leave it that way and see if the vast, open space of a non-video week might get me motivated to do some more blogging around here. No telling what might happen if I run across a video clip that warrants blogging about. I'll just cross that bridge when I arrive at it.

For now, enjoy the music. It's even better in person, so if you missed out this past weekend, next weekend is another opportunity.

Because this really doesn't work on Tuesday ...

A little swamped for the day, so a minimum of chit-chat. But here's my belated YouTube entry for the week ... some more Over the Rhine. This one's off their latest CD and I'm really kicking myself harder for missing them on their last Houston stop.

There's better songs by them if I wanted to pick something more theologically deep, but I stand by this choice.

Let's see. Last week, I opted for a band selection from someone else. This time, we go back to my archives. That's right ... back to the 80s. The guitars. The hair. The shredding. The even more hair. Simply put: this is what music was meant to be. Well, Ken Tamplin's music, anyway.

Truth be told, I much prefer the first Shout CD (witness: "Winners and Losers") to the one that this was off of. But the video production, wardrobe, equipment, and overall sense of musical self-indulgence cannot be beaten (irregardless of whether they should).

And here, we have the "Marie" portion - or "A little bit country ..." version of YouTube Tuesday.

Another artist I have to blame on my Koinonia cohorts. I've been looking for some stray tunes to get into by Kim Hill ever since Todd began bringing his live CD to Koinonia. Kim's got a great voice and her's is more or less the style of country that I tend to get into. Check it out for yourself ...

A band recommendation, courtesy of my favorite sheep-tossing Admin. Asst. at Lakewood ...

Figured I'd do a little "Donnie & Marie" moment with the YouTubes. Consider this one "A little bit rock & roll ..."

Work is a bear this week, so I'm woefully behind on everything. But a few items of interest to pass on before the weekend ...

One, Larry Norman has passed away. that's a big loss for those of us old enough to recall his influence in music. I wasn't into the genre back when Norman was at his prime, but one of the more influential discs I've spun was Geoff Moore's The Distance with his take on "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music." Norman was on the track as well. It's been one of my fave tunes from Moore ever since.

Consider this an homage to the modern classics. In this case: Hillsong United, from their DVD, "More Than Life."

A little bit of context before we get to video ... I've been on a kick for Over the Rhine's music as of late. And it's definitely an eclectic mix of tunes they've got in this phase of their career. What I'm noticing, however, is that the songs I prefer most have a bit more country vibe to them. In their case, lots of pedal steel. Fast forward to this weekend's purchase, Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken's "Ampersand" EP. Similarly eclectic, but still keeping in line with what any fan of the two might expect. Well, sure enough, there's a bit of a country vibe to the songs I'm loving. Maybe it's just the more folksy style that Sandra adds to the mix.

But still, not your usual hard-rocking musical fare coming out of my speakers these days.

So with that in mind, why not pick out a video that adds another wrinkle to the mix. Here's T-Bone Burnett doing a countrified version of "River of Love" ... a tune his ex-wife, Leslie Phillips would record.

Having soaked up Leslie Phillips' version for years, this has a nice alternate feel to it. Be sure to take note of Jerry Douglas on dobro here ... he's one of the best there is.

I was really hoping to find a video with Stephen back in his dreadlock days. This one will suffice, however ...

And if you really love the song, the MP3 is dirt cheap.

A little non-musical interlude for this week's installment. I wanted to revisit these video clips shown as part of last Thanksgiving's service. The Lakewood techies were gracious enough to post these two segments, so why not encourage that a little?

Bobby McCullah Testimony

Gabriella's Testimony

So, I finally get around to experimenting with Last.fm ... run a search on Derek Webb and let the site play a setlist of related artists. Just needed a little something in the background while I worked and figured this would be a rather mellow option. I had to stop what I was doing when it got a song that caught my attention, though. So now I'm discovering the band, Over the Rhine. Nothing like "discoving" something that's been out there for decades. But I'm just awful at locating new stuff sometimes. Hopefully, you've got no excuses.

The music is definitely not your typical praise & worship tunage. Lots of different styles they beg, steal, and borrow from ... which is only making me love their stuff all the more. For now, here's a very small sample:

This is the week that Stellar Kart & Co hit Houston Saturday night, so I thought I'd roll out some video of their stuff:

There's also a new album coming out in February. At least one of the new tunes can be heard on the band's MySpace page.

From an episode of Logan Show. Too dang funny ...

I don't claim to catch The Logan Show ... ever, really. So I'm not sure how old this episode is. Don't blame me if it turns out to be something like 3 years old.

My bad for the delay, but it's technically still Tuesday, so why not run with some YouTube? In this week's episode, I'm going with a band that Marie @ Lakewood clues me in on. It struck me as a good one, so that's why I chose it.

What? ... you were expecting a more elaborate lead-in?

Well, I don't know that Whiteheart ever made a video to speak of for this song, but the version they recorded has always been one of my favorite alterations to a Christmas Carol. Merry Christmas, and rock on ...

Just hammered with work. You know it's bad when YouTube Tuesday falls in the middle of the day ... Wednesday! Meh, rock on anyway. Still back in the 80s. Still getting my punk groove on. Altar Boys rock.

Still dwelling in the 80s here. It seems that a YouTube user posted some more clips from the Altar Boys' DVD, so I thought I'd brag a bit on one of my favorite tunes from the later years of the band: "Hearts Lost in Nowhere." This is from the "Against the Grain" CD, which I felt was a more musically mature effort. Not that I didn't appreciate the rawness of the earlier stuff, but you really felt as if the band had come of age with this release.

And again, this is one of those tunes that stayed in my MP3 player's heavy rotation once I started going to Lakewood. I think it stayed there for a good solid year, in fact. So feel free to see if it does anything for you.

And on that note: 1-2-3-GO ...

Back to the 80s we go. And yes ... this is how we rolled back in the day. Sad, but true.

My own interest in Idle Cure was due to the fact that Chuck King went on to form a far more favorable band for my taste, Shout, with Ken Tamplin. Otherwise, IC would have very well slipped under my radar as just another cheesy pop band. Still, when you're looking for quality selection in a Christian record store in the late 80s, early 90s, the pickings get thin before you end up settling for something like this. It could be worse, really. My sense was that much of the music on Christian labels wasn't really to blame, so much as the production. Consider this a potential case in point.

It's not like I need much of an excuse to post anything Stryper-related here, but check out my excuse for this one. The movie Noelle opens Friday and Michael Sweet (the singer of the aforementioned band), has a track in the movie. In this case, a pretty nice cover of "The First Noel" reworked for the movie. Check it out and if the trailer fuels you any further, check out the movie. Oh, and consider this a fitting kick-off of Christmas music season while you're at it.

On another note, Michael's newest CD comes out this week, also. I'm hesitantly optimistic over it ... I generally love his vocal styling on many of the covers he's done, but I'm a bit worried that I haven't heard much with any loud crunchy guitars in it. The CD was done during the time his wife battled ovarian cancer, so I guess I can just take one for the team if I sense the tunes are just a bit sappier than normal. There's a free download available of the Stryper classic, "Together As One" while you're thinking it over.