Features

For those of you that aren't Catholic(or Christian), it is currently Lent, the period of preparation for Easter. During this time, we will post a series of articles looking at christian music and its entrance into the "mainstream," from both secular and religious viewpoints. The first article traces the recent rise of Christian metalcore into the most secular of all music scenes, punk and metal. Enjoy the history.

Sometimes stories or interviews don't get used by the publisher they are initially intended for. What happens to these forgotten drafts and audio files? In this case, they end up published online after the fact. Two years after my interview in January of 05 with (now ex) bassist Jon Teves of A Wilhelm Scream at BB King's Bar and Grill in New York, the Q and A found its way to you, lucky reader.

These are the songs that music snobs are not allowed to listen to. These are the artists that you are supposed to turn your nose up at; it’s throw away culture, and you know that. But for some reason, probably because they are just so damn catchy, you find yourself secretly listening to these songs over and over again, rocking out in your apartment/dorm. These are guilty pleasures….shhhh, I won’t tell if you won’t.

From indie instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky to hardcore and reggae legends Bad Brains, Dim7 contributor Dan Berkman presents us with some of the most anticipated independent rock albums scheduled to be released in 2007. Perfect information for changing up the discussion at the water cooler.

From the ubiquitous $1.65 billion Google takeover of youtube.com to Time’s person of the year being “you,” coverage of and reference to bottom up driven media has become obligatory in pop culture journalism. In the audio realm, MySpace and youtube have re-invented the rules of song distribution and music videos. Doing our part to help you sift through the 100 versions of the Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” or the latest oh so clever emo parody, we submit for your approval 10 random videos on youtube worthy of your time. From live jazz and rock performances, to music videos, video editing, and flat out unintentional comedy, we hope you enjoy.

From youth orchestras to Herbie Hancock and your local punk band, every musician has played music written by someone else. Diminished 7th contributor's thought about their favorite covers, and after a series of complex calculations, a diverse list arose, both in genres represented (jazz to punk), and reasons behind the pics(sentimental to musical). Don't see your favorite cover? Let us know what is and why it should be on the list.

Sure, you are tired of hearing about K-fed and Brit breaking up, or how his album might be the worst piece of recorded music ever. We are too. But Sarah Steinberg unleashes her anger and wit, and gives you three even better reasons to hate Kevin Federline.

As you hammer out reports from your cubicle, you might fantasize about the rock ‘n roll lifestyle: A life marked by no worries, sex all the time, and a beautiful tour bus to cruise coast to coast. While you might never think past this, you must realize that this is indeed a fantasy, and that the real rock ‘n rollers -- not the idiots shredding metal riffs at Sam Ash in between dude-heavy conversations about the latest Lamb of God record -- work more days a year than you, put more effort into their product than you, and do not rest because the weekend has arrived.

I'm sure the majority of readers of this site are familiar with Live 8, a series of benefit concerts in 2005 created for the purpose of raising awareness about poverty in Africa. There is little question that such an end, taken on its face, is admirable. However, it is extremely questionable whether the means involved, and indeed the end ultimately obtained, were at all useful.

Nicholas Reville, co-director of downhillbattle.org, spoke to Diminished Seventh contributor Candida DeFonseca about the site and their vision. One of the music activist site's biggest projects to date, "Grey Tuesday" ended with tens of thousands of people having copies of DJ Danger Mouse’s “The Grey Album.” According to greytuesday.org, approximately 170 Web sites hosted a full copy of the album on Feb. 24, 2004.