| Wednesday, January 23, 2008 |
| Technical difficulties & chart-busting eepees |
Friends:
As you may have noticed, our message boards and our online magazine lowercasepeople.com are both temporarily unavailable due to server issues. Please bear with us, we are working on getting these sites back online even as we speak. Thank you,
Meanwhile, we have exciting news: Jon Foreman's Winter EP has peaked at #9 on iTunes' Top Albums chart, and #2 in the "Rock" category. The rousing reception of this EP propelled Fall EP to #10 in the "Rock" category, too. The power of word-of-mouth?
Click here to read absolutepunk.net gush about the EP. Excerpt:
Winter walked right into my heart, sat down inside and made itself at home. (You know I wouldn't write a sentence like that unless I truly, truly meant it.) These six, lightly orchestrated acoustic songs will be with me forever. The amazing thing is I knew my connection would be special upon first listen. That just doesn’t happen to me anymore. And to be honest, I’m not really sure if I want you to be happy or sad for me. The only thing I am sure about is what you’ve no doubt already deduced: you need Winter.
I will be extremely surprised if someone releases a better song than “Somebody’s Baby” in 2008. Foreman’s voice is gristly and weathered as he tells the story of a young, drug-addicted woman. Lines like “All of her nightmares grew fingers / And all of her dreams grew a tear” literally chilled me to the bone. A mournful violin paints a picture of grey skies and hopelessness. But the true message of “Somebody’s Baby” is one we forget all too easily: everyone has someone who loves him or her, no matter what. We pass by those in need everyday, and I can only speak for myself on this one, but I push these people out of my mind almost immediately. I just don’t want to deal with it, because, you know, I’ve got my own “problems.” Who am I kidding? I’ve got it great. So do you, I reckon. As I write this, another anonymous person is dying of hunger/thirst/broken dreams. But remember this: “She’s somebody’s baby, somebody’s baby girl / And she’s somebody’s baby still.”
“Learning How To Die” begins with a breathy woodwind instrument (an Oboe, perhaps?). Foreman speaks about the inevitability of passing on from this life. Even with slightly regal trumpets in the background, the song has an admittedly somber feel. I think, however, that the song is quite cheerful. Yes, we aren’t going to be around too long. But we must remember to use our time well.
You can read the whole thing here. cheers, |
posted by phil @ 3:43 PM  
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| 8 Comments: |
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Jon's winter Ep is totally amzing.
& i hope that hte boards begin working again. :)
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I've heard Jon say that the woman brushing her teeth is a symbol of hope in "Somebody's Baby." The fact that she cares enough to take care of herself in that small way shows her hope for tomorrow.
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Hey Phil, thanks for the update. Hope everything works out and the boards will start working again ASAP. Glad to hear the news about the EPs and reviews.
Once again, thanks! =)
-Sfooter aka Ejay-
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The beginning set this one up!
I’m not sure how this will go, so bear with me.
I Love Jon Foreman. It doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would to finally see that in print. It’s not that I even love Switchfoot. The album everyone else and their God-fearing mother loved (The Beautiful Letdown) is the only one I enjoy by the group. Still, his lyrics have always been good. He is a fine musician. But did I Love him? Of course not, that would be silly. I don’t know him. I’m not a 14-year old girl. He isn’t in Plain White T’s. You know what? Forget those girls for making it cliché to love a musician. Why are they the only people allowed to profess their true feelings for a particularly gifted songwriter? Winter walked right into my heart, sat down inside and made itself at home. (You know I wouldn't write a sentence like that unless I truly, truly meant it.) These six, lightly orchestrated acoustic songs will be with me forever. The amazing thing is I knew my connection would be special upon first listen. That just doesn’t happen to me anymore. And to be honest, I’m not really sure if I want you to be happy or sad for me. The only thing I am sure about is what you’ve no doubt already deduced: you need Winter.
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Hey people,
Jon's Fall & Winter CD Combo debuted at No. 24 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers charts!
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Gracias for the update Phil. Glad to hear that the boards haven't suffered an irreversible death.
Winter is amazing.
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i love reading this. ap.net has so many young, impressionable readers. they need to be encouraged to listen to these kinds of albums by someone they already think is cool. very good. (and of course, strongly agreed with his article)
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YAY Phil!! You fixed hte boards!! Thank you so much!!! You ROCK!!! :)
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Jon's winter Ep is totally amzing.
& i hope that hte boards begin working again. :)