ladies and gentlemen (and others), it’s that time to once again bring you another two in review.

if you’ve missed any past reviews, you can view the two in review archive.

this is one of those where it was really difficult to narrow down a long list of really great music. that’s why you’re getting this on the very last day of april. i’ve spent the last week (and particularly, the last 2 days) adding and taking away tracks from the final 20 you’re receiving today. a lot of great music didn’t make the final cut. nevertheless, i’m happy with the final result. i hope you are as well.

so without further ado, here’s the lineup for the march/april edition of two in review:

there’s little more i can add to the conversation surrounding monday’sboston marathon bombing. we’ve collectively mourned the loss of lives, searched for answers to why this happened and watched the explosion footage over and over in disbelief. when these senseless tragedies happen, we’re left with a lot of talk and very few answers.

it’s unlikely, then, that a comedian would add some worthwhile words of wisdom. but that’s exactly what patton oswalt did in a facebook post monday afternoon. quite frankly, i’m not that big of a fan of patton oswalt, but his words transcended whether or not i laugh at his jokes or watch his movies. i’m including his entire statement here. he writes,

yesterday morning, the theological wing of the twittersphere exploded when audio surfaced of rob bell affirming same sex marriage. while speaking at grace cathedral—an episcopal church in san francisco—he was directly asked about his stance on gay marriage and he offered the following response:

“I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.”

ladies and gentlemen (and others), we’re a couple months into a new year which means it’s that time to once again bring you two in review. believe it or not, this is year number 3 of this series, so i’m excited to still be plugging along. i hope you’re enjoying it as well.

if you missed the final post of 2012, you can find that here. (or you can view the two in review archive.)

typically, the start of a new year is a slow time for new music. this year was no different. with the exception of music from fiction family, frightened rabbit and the lone bellow (and a couple others), there weren’t a lot of major highlights in january. february, though, picked up and helped to make for a pretty good collection this month.

my favorite two in reviews are ones that offer a broad spectrum of music and this one certainly doesn’t disappoint. so without further ado, here’s the lineup for the january/february edition of two in review:

truth is everywhere.

so was i reminded yesterday when i happened upon a tweet from @Buddha_Insights (via damien echols):

https://twitter.com/Buddha_Insights/statuses/295849109473091584

file this tweet in the category, “shots fired”. in this case, (whether it’s intentional or not) the shots flew in the direction of christianity. and, quite frankly, the shots are fair. (as well as this one, but that’s another post altogether.)

a few weeks into 2013, good new music has been pretty slow to roll in. so it typically goes in the month of january. the shortage has me thinking about albums that i’m anticipating throughout the course of the year. there’s a number of albums that have confirmed release dates while others are likely releasing this year but have no hard date for release.

let’s start with the albums we know are releasing this year.

on march 25, 2003, derek webb officially flipped the switch on his solo career with the release of his debut album, she must and shall go free. the album was a call to action and critique of the modern church which signaled a solo journey that would be characterized by controversy and an unpredictable evolution.