Let's Talk About: Music! {+ Giveaway!}

{Giveaway at the end of this post!}

Hi y’all!

  A while back I was asked about what music I listen to. And if I could recommend some artists I liked. And then an opportunity to review one of my favorite band’s new CD happened!  And to be able to give away a copy! Whoo-hoo! Let’s get started! 

 Well, I only—{PAUSE! “Freedom” just came on Pandora!}—Sorry, I’m back! As I was saying, I only listen to Christian music. (Which, sadly, for about a year (three years ago) that was not the case for me—I truly urge y’all to listen and to test the lyrics of your favorite song(s) to Philippians 4:8!)

  And I’d like to add that my favorite genre of Christian music is Dubstep. Yes, there is such a thing as Christian Dubstep. ;)

 Get ready. ‘Cause there’s going to be a lot of awesomeness in this post. :)

  First, in case anyone doesn’t know, Pandora is an app where you put your favorite artist (or song) and it becomes a radio station. It will play music close to that main artist (or song). Example: My Britt Nicole Radio sometimes plays Moriah Peters. My Joy Williams Radio might play BarlowGirl. Or my Freedom Radio {“Freedom” by Warr Acres…linked later in this post} plays “I Am Second” by Newsboys. It’s a neat app. {Just a note, it does have ads, but normally there aren’t that many. Ads are for local colleges, Plato’s closet, and Pandora ads. But you can pay to take them off, I believe.}

Favorite Genres? (All under the Christian umbrella of music)

 Dubstep. Folk influences. Extensive vamping (close to Dubstep). Acoustic rhythm guitars. Rap influences. Gospel influences. Hip-hop influences. Upbeat lyrics. Lightcore. Jonathan Thulin {He deserves his own genre.}

{*Notice the absent of country—I may be from Texas but I do not like country music!}

Favorite Artists? (List of some of the artists I have music from on my laptop. (At least two songs each) My top-top favorites are Bolded; list in ABC-order. :) )

Abandon. Anberlin. Andy Cherry. Anthem Lights. Ashes Remain. Audio Adrenaline. B. Reith. BarlowGirl. Beckah Shae. Bethel Music. Brandon Heath. Britt Nicole. Bryan & Katie Torwalt. Building429. Capital Kings. Christian Lightcore. Danny Gokey. David Dunn. David Thulin. Disciple. Ellie Holcomb. Everfound. Family Force 5. Fireflight. Flyleaf. For KING & COUNTRY. Francesca Battistelli. Group 1 Crew. Hawk Nelson. Hillsong. Hillsong UNITED. Hillsong Young & Free. Jamie Grace. Je’Kob. Jonathan Thulin. Joy Williams. Kari Jobe. Kerri Roberts. KJ-52. Lecrae. Manafest. Mandisa. Manic Drive. Mary Mary. Mat Kearney. Matt Redman. Matthew West. Me In Motion. MercyMe. Moriah Peters. NeedToBreathe. Newsboys (only with the Michael Tait ones). OBB. Plumb. Press Play. Rapture Ruckus. Rend Collective Experiment. Royal Tailor. Shawn McDonald. Shine Bright Baby. Skillet (sometimes). Steller Kart. Superchick. Switchfoot. Tedashii. Tenth Avenue North. The Afters. Thousand Foot Krutch. TobyMac. Unspoken. V. Rose. VERIDIA. Warr Acres. ZOEgirl.

Hahaha! Yeah…I have a lot of music on my laptop! Over 500 songs! ;D 

And now I’ll share some of my favorite songs from these Top-top artist!

{*Note:  BFCG is not responsible for any ads that show up on these videos.}

Beckah Shae – “Champion” is right now my favorite by her but it’s not on YouTube. Other favorites are “For Such a Time As This”, “Pioneer” and“Incorruptible”.

Bethel Music—“You Make Me Brave” hands down. But I also really like “Chasing You”.

Britt Nicole—“Amazing Life” and the Capital Kings Remix. “Gold” (favorite is the Wideboys Remix). “Ready or Not” & “Ready”.

Capital Kings—“Fireblazin’” (The Soul Glow Activatur Phenomenon Remix). “I Feel So Alive”. “Living for the Other Side”. “The Paradigm”. {Really, I like every song they’ve done.}

David Thulin—The King of Remixes. Brother to Jonathan Thulin {last name pronounced “Two-lean”. I say Jonathan in concert (Amazing!) and he had everyone hold two fingers up and rotate your wrist to the side. Two-lean.} David has his own music but my favorites are his remixes.

Linked in the remix of Manic Drive's "Good Times". “NY2LA” by Press Play and “#putyourloveglasseson” by Beckah Shae are my two other favorites, but they aren’t on YouTube. :(

Ellie Holcomb—Is a new artist to me but after listening to all her songs, my favorites are “Marvelous Light”  and “As Sure As the Sun”.

Hillsong Young & Free—“Wake” and “Alive”, but they have many great songs!

Jamie Grace—I’ve been able to see her twice in concert and she just gets better & better! From her new album my favorite is “Just a Friend”…but you really can’t go wrong with any of her music! She’s as close to country I’ll ever get! 

Jonathan Thulin—We already talked about his brother up there ^^^. “Masquerade” is my top favorite right now (and the Christian Lightcore version is amazing!) but I also like “Dead Come to Life” and “Coat of Arms”.

Joy Williams—“We”, “Hide”, “Stay”, “Child of Eden”, “One of Those Days”, and “Say Goodbye”. I really like a lot of her music. ;)

Mandisa—“Joy Unspeakable”. “Born for This”, “Free”, “Good Morning”, “Overcomer”, and “Stronger” are some other favorites. :)

I’ll come back to Manic Drive. :)

Me In Motion—“Losers” has to be my top song by them, but I’m a fan of many others. :)

Moriah Peters— Where to start, where to start…so you’ve most likely hear her song “You Carry Me”. I think my favorites are “Brave” (both versions, with and without the rap by Andy Mineo), “Stand Strong” (she played this song at the IStandSunday this past Sunday in Houston!), and “To Leave it All Behind”.

OBB—“Who Cares If We’re Dancing” is my top favorite by them, but that’s not on YouTube yet (what’s up with my favorite songs not being on YouTube?! ;) ). “All Eyes on You”, “That Kind of Faith” and all of their other songs are my favorites. ;)

Rapture Ruckes—“In Crowd” is the first song I had heard by them and I think that’s my favorite. :) But then there’s “In This Together”, “Everybody Get Up”, “All Things New”….

Royal Tailor—“Got that Fire” and “Make a Move” are two I really enjoy by them.

Shawn McDonald—“Through it All” is my second favorite song by him. My favorite is “We Are Brave”.

Verida—Every song! “Mystery of the Invisible” is right now my top favorite by them.  But I like all the songs on their EP.

Warr Acres—“Freedom” {Featuring our own Jonathan Two-lean} Hands down! I truly pause what ever I’m doing where I hear this song!

ZOEgirl—This was my band growing up. How I cried when they broke up! I went to my first concert at age two and it was seeing them! I still have all their CDs (the very first one’s case is taped together but still!) and yes, some are autographed. When “Dead Serious” came out, that was my song. Enjoy! :)

And now….drum-roll please!

Manic Drive!

I don’t remember how I found them, but I’m so glad I did! “Halo” was my favorite song of all time but then the new album “VIP” came out… Ten amazing songs! I was counting down the days till this album came out after I heard the song “VIP” (which I’m listening to as I type this!). Group 1 Crew fans will be happy because Manwell raps in it (favorite line “God is so good. Nah man, God great!”). Currently, the only song from this album on YouTube is “VIP” but you can listen to part of every song on iTunes & GooglePlay. My two other favorites are “Electric” and “Good News”. My poor neighbors should know “Good News” by heart because of how loud I play it! Hahaha! ;) 

And now, here’s a chance (or a few) to enter to win a copy of their new CD!

**US & Canada only please! Will be mailed by FlyBy Promotions.

 *Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. 

 Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE BAND:

Manic Drive has been widely known as a Canadian band who always delivers a great show, but over the past few years and project releases, they have added to their extensive touring of Canadian and US markets multiple Billboard Top 10 & 20 singles on CHR & Christian Rock Radio. Manic Drive is clearly very intentional about reaching their generation and inspiring them to pursue a deeper walk with Christ and to get involved in changing the world they are inheriting. And they are uniquely equipped to do so. The band members, all in their early-mid twenties, have made sacrifices to pursue God’s call on their lives. Their life experience, spiritual maturity and ministry have opened doors to speak into the lives of their own generation and that is perhaps the most defining characteristic of this group of guys.

Official Website- http://www.manicdrive.com/

YouTube Channel- http://www.youtube.com/manicdrive

Official Twitter-  http://www.twitter.com/manicdrive

Official FB- http://www.facebook.com/manicdrive

Thanks y’all! Giveaway will end on Monday, November^10th, 2014 at Midnight. 

See y’all tomorrow with a new review!

*BFCG is only recommending the songs listed, please note that it does not mean I recommend all songs by that artist. Please view videos with caution, as you never know what ads will pop up. :(