From time to time it is nice just to share stuff you're into - get it off your chest, if you will. CS Lewis used to say that praising is just part of our nature; letting others know about stuff you enjoy completes the enjoyment cycle - hence our worship of God derives out of our knowing and enjoying our relationship with Him. You can't help but share his love, and in the course of this post, the good things he's brought into my world.

Musically, there is some good news from my favorite band, Radiohead. They are going to release their next album, In Rainbows, next Wednesday (Oct. 10th) from their own site digitally inrainbows.com. The cost? Up to you. You can pay as much or as little, or nothing at all for it. It will be downloadable mp3 format that will have no restrictions. This is true independence and I hope it works out for them. Check-out the website and you can pre-order the download.

Other things I've really enjoyed listening to:

1. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature. This is an excellent and sparse album of intricate classical guitar, minimal percussion and an awesome albeit understated voice. I am a sucker for double-tracked vocals. Check him out on You Tube to see how powerful just a guitar and voice can be live.

2. Rogue Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate. RW's latest is really solid stuff. I've seen these guys live a couple times and they bring the indie rawk like no one's business. This is a much denser affair musically than previous albums as they are exploring the sonic spectrum with a little extra money and time on their hands, so some fans of their earlier, more acoustic work may be disappointed. Roguewavemusic.com

3. Sovereign Grace's "Valley of Vision" project. Someone in my congregation just gave me this album last Sunday, so it may not be new at all, but I've really enjoyed many of these old puritan prayers set to music. Valley of Vision is a collection of prayers by a variety of puritan pastors on a wide variety of topics. They are all God-centered and Christ exalting. I've had this book for 15 years now and I never thought of putting any of them to music, so I'm really glad that the Sovereign Grace group did. The songs are not for everyone. There are a couple of 70's-ish piano ballads that wax a little too sentimental for my liking, but there are also a lot of great arrangements in there coupled with powerful lyrics and singable melodies that can be tweaked for any style. The cool thing is that SG provides chord charts for these songs. I plan on using a few of them in the future. Click here to listen/buy.

Fall is here and that means: The Office and Heroes are back on, which are my current favs (LOSTies have to wait until the new year). Additional shows that look promising: Chuck (good geek fun), Life (quirky but interesting), Bionic Woman (dark but very cool), and possibly Cavemen (I love the Geiko commercials, let's pray the show lives up to the hype).