Podcast of the Week: Peeping Thomist

The hosts of the podcasts I've subscribed to have the nasty habit of referencing or suggesting other podcasts they enjoy and it leads me to accumulate more subscriptions than is reasonable for an average 8-to-5er. As such, I've gotten to the habit of listening to these shows at 2x speed (also a weird and not altogether advisable practice) in order to get through my weekly downloads.

All of this is to say that I encounter a lot of podcasts with good content worth highlighting for those unaware that such information exists. So I'd like to tack on another weekly segment, "Podcasts of the Week", that would help this blog become more than just an avenue for entertainment.

The first episode I'd like to promote comes from Catching Foxes and is titled "Interview with Peeping Thomist Brian Jones". This was one that I had to listen to twice at 1x speed because of all of the heady and philosophical content: St. Thomas Aquinas and Thomism, the Regensburg Lecture, positive psychology and medieval views on Islam. It felt like a fun graduate lecture replete with movie references to the Hail, Caeser!, The Royal Tenenbaums, Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters II.

Link to "Interview with Peeping Thomist Brian Jones".

Link to Catching Foxes.

Houston's best-kept Catholic secret,

Kelvin

P.S. - I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the recent Art of Manliness episode, "C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien, and the Inklings Mastermind Group", since it was the first spark of inspiration for starting this new segment.

Song of the Week: Caricias

I first heard of Carrie Rodriguez a couple of weeks back from Alt.Latino showcasing a song from her upcoming album, Lola. Said album dropped two Fridays ago and it is a very heart-on-the-sleeve portrayal of the struggles of love, family, identity and acculturation that comes with being a Hispanic immigrant to the US communicated through a poignant melding of Texan americana and Mexican ranchera.

"Caricias" by Carrie Rodriguez

Las quiero más que tus palabras,

Kelvin

Song of the Week: Tibetan Pop Stars

I was so enamored by last week's discovery of Basement that I wanted to hear more of artists like them and discovered Hop Along. With a very eclectic and idiosyncratic approach to freak folk, the band's 2012's Get Disowned delivers an unparalleled listening experience that melds the pronounced hard-and-soft dynamics of the Pixes ("Gigantic"), the layered sonicality of Dinosaur Jr. ("Feel the Pain") and the accentuated vocal intonations of Fall Out Boy ("The (After) Life of the Party").

"Tibetan Pop Stars" by Hop Along

My love is average / I obey an average law,
Kelvin

7QT: New Year Discoveries

I've heard so much good music in just the past day that I couldn't boil it down to one song for the week. So I'm upgrading to a "7 Quick Takes" this week to showcase the awesome bands and albums that I've come across since the start of the year. A good chuck of this list are 2016 releases, but a few are simply albums from the past year that have flown under my radar.

1. Audrey Assad - Inheritance [12 February 2016]

It is with great joy that I announce today's (Friday's) official release of the fruit of Audrey Assad's hymns project, Inheritance! Since I helped support her through PledgeMusic way back when, I was able to get an advance download of the songs two weeks ago. Because she is covering various hymns for different types of worship the album is not as thematic as her other independent releases, but that does not take any bit away from the beauty of the songs and the reverence with which they were approached.

"Even Unto Death" by Audrey Assad

Song of the Week: Un Si Y Un No

Ironically enough, I caught a nasty cold following the blessing of the throats for the Feast of St. Blaise. During the long hours of recovery I was able to listen to a CD loaned to me by a good friend of mine, 2011's Tu Es Christus which is a compilation of speeches by Pope St. John Paul II coupled with the backdrop of sacred chant and world music. It seemed a perfect and timely prayer companion at a point where I would have rather sulked in my own debility.

"Un Si Y Un No" by Pope St. John Paul II

Es muy sencilla,
Kelvin