the tindog coffeehouse

Recently, the extraordinarily obscene gansta rap duo known as Insane Clown Posse made headlines when they “came out” as evangelical Christians. In an F-bomb-laden interview with The Guardian, they explain how for 20 years, they’ve just been tricking their audience into believing they were the scum of the earth so that they could at some point spring it on them that no, they’ve actually been Christians all along.

ICP’s, um, “unorthodox” method of spreading the Gospel begs a number of questions, not the least of which is whether they’re really saved or if this some sort of publicity stunt. I mean, after all, when was the last time anyone has even heard of them much less give them any attention?

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I don’t want the Father, I want a vending machine
I don’t want the Father, I want a vending machine
I know what I want if you know what I mean
I don’t want the Father, I want a vending machine

– Derek Webb, “The Spirit Vs. The Kickdrum”

A lot happens between Chapters 5 and 6 of the Gospel of John. By the time we get to John 6:1, Jesus has attracted a huge following. At least 5000, and that was likely just counting adult males. Including women and children, that number could’ve been 10 or 15,000.

Jesus took the time to feed them all, and He didn’t just give them each a small ration of fish and bread. They had so much food, they couldn’t eat all of it, leaving twelve basketfuls of leftovers.

But that wasn’t enough for them.

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There’s been a lot of talk on the Interwebs lately about the “controversial” new album from Christian musician Derek Webb, Stockholm Syndrome. The controversy seems to be primarily over one particular song on the album, “What Matters More”, due to the song’s use of the word “shit”.

I don’t really do music reviews, but after listening to the album for several days, I did want to weigh in with a few thoughts on it.

First, lyrics aside, let me make a comment about the music. I would describe the style as experimental, synth-heavy electronica with moments of dissonance and incongruity. (See, this is why I don’t do music reviews.) Some have compared it to Wilco and Radiohead, which is probably a fair comparison. Sometimes the music works (“Black Eye”, “What You Give Up To Get It”) and sometimes it severely gets in the way (“The State”, “American Flag Umbrella”).

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