Rudy Valdez does not look like the normal Crema artist. With dark curly hair and a full beard, Valdez looks like he should be a member of a motorcycle gang instead of playing music on a college campus. But he is nothing but calm and polite as he sits down and discusses his first EP, “Stories,” and his unreleased album, “Black Eye.”

Sitting at a seedy diner in Marion, Ind., Rudy Valdez fixes a cup of coffee to his liking. Holding the sugar dispenser over his cup for a full five seconds,Valdez adds more sugar after the first taste.

“A big part of ‘Stories’ and big part of ‘Black Eye’ all revolves around this little story I had written down on paper about a guy who just lost his wife, and he made a deal to go to a certain place to kill someone just to see his wife one more time,” said Valdez. “He finds out that it’s a lot bigger than that. He’s not just going to hurt one person. He’s going to hurt a whole town of people. So in the end he gives up and says, ‘The only way I’m going to see my wife again is if I join her,’ so he shoots himself, and that kind of echoes through all of the songs.”

“Black Eye” specifically focuses on the community affected by the man’s suicide. Valdez wrote many of the songs by putting himself in place of the town citizens.
Valdez emits an aged, reflective quality in everything he says like he’s lived a full life already. And in some ways he has – Valdez moved a lot as a child, his dad was in prison for a portion of his childhood, and his family was so poor that his parents had to buy food stamps from their relatives.

Although he’s only 20 years old, Valdez has been through numerous bands and band breakups accumulating an impressive catalogue of EPs and albums.

His most notable musical endeavor aside from his solo work is the band Mazatlan, which played radio-friendly power pop with a twinge of folk in 2009. Devin Hopwood (sr) was Valdez’s band-mate and songwriting partner in Mazatlan.

“Writing with Rudy was very sporadic. It was very fast,” recalled Hopwood, explaining that he and Valdez would sit on Valdez’s porch writing music for hours. Hopwood said they were much more focused on writing catchy hooks than cohesive, challenging music.

The band dispersed and Hopwood joined a new band called Desert Neighbor in 2010. He still admires Valdez’s creativity and the fact that he is never at a loss for what to write in a song.

“I think [music] flows pretty naturally from Rudy. I can rarely think of times when Rudy’s like, ‘Aw man, what am I going to put here?’ He’s always got something to say,” said Hopwood. “That kid’s got a lot going on in his head. All he does is think of these crazy ideas, and you’ve got to get those things out.”

What makes Valdez’s songs seem so strange is because, unlike most singer-songwriters, he doesn’t draw inspiration from personal experiences or relationships. He writes of depressing hypotheticals that he sees in other people. If he sees a stranger in a bad situation, he’ll put himself in the person’s shoes and put his imagination to work.

Due to the dark and admittedly twisted tones Valdez incorporates, he gets a wide variety of reactions from his audiences. He recalls after one show a woman approached him to ask how he could live with himself ripping off other folk greats like Bob Dylan.

At the same show, in the middle of a song Valdez wrote from the stance of a heroin addict, a man walked out exclaiming, “This is horse s–t!” to which Valdez responded by offering tongue-in-cheek humor to the crowd, saying, “That man is really mad about the song I just played and I’m sorry.”

On the opposite end of the reaction spectrum, Valdez has had senior citizens thank him for playing classic music, received tips for gas while playing at a rest area and had one woman admit to melting her ice cream with tears spurred by one of his songs.

Currently, Valdez is waiting for the right time to release “Black Eye.”  He’s also working with a backing band called “The Howling Bastards,” reworking songs from “Black Eye” to fit a full band’s performance. Valdez hints that, as opposed to his established acoustic sound, there will be a more electric tone with the new band.
Valdez will play Créma on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University on Feb. 22, 2012.

Alexandre Desplat provides the score for Eric Roth’s film, which was adapted from Johnathan Safran Foer’s book. The plot offers a family’s tale revolving around the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers on 9/11.

This score was my personal favorite of the three. It’s moody and brooding, sticking to piano and strings almost entirely. There are woodwinds present, but they are not featured as much as strings. There is even electric bass on “Oxymorons,” providing an even stronger rhythm.

Although the score is minor key all the way through, the second-to-last song, “Reconciliation,” is in a major key and light-hearted.

The entire score has a pulsing, defined meter that makes it amazingly listenable. This is one of the strongest attributes of the score.

Conducted by John Williams, the score for “War Horse” has a timeless element that is predicted before it’s even heard. Williams, who has worked with director Steven Spielberg in the past, is known for conducting the film scores for “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter” and “Jaws.”

The preconceived notion that the music will be classic is not undeserved. The score is triumphant and evokes pride in the hearts of listeners. It has an incredible, all-American tone that wouldn’t be out of place in an old western movie.

As per Williams’ style, there are easily recognizable motifs that recur throughout the score, making themes and moods unmistakable for listeners.

The final movement, “Homecoming,” encompasses a wide variety of emotions and themes from earlier before concluding with a flute solo over increasingly quiet strings.

Dario Marianelli’s score for Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “Jane Eyre” is different than the other two film scores. It’s eerie and creepy.

There are vocals featured throughout the score, providing an ethereal tone that raises goosebumps and puts listeners on edge.

The pieces are extremely short, which keeps the momentum of the score moving and compelling.

Instead of expressing moods through dynamic range or quickened tempos, Marianelli creates tension in the solos of violins. They repeat and grow more melodically frantic, which is a very effective tactic.

Personally, I found the score for “Jane Eyre” too ominous for enjoyment. There were very cool ideas presented, but ultimately, it was too abstract and fluid to latch onto.

A Sojourn staffer takes on the challenge of listening to Justin Beiber’s new Christmas CD track-by-track.

Going into this piece, I was challenged to rid my mind of all the biases I had against Justin Bieber. Really, I’d never heard a complete song by the artist until listening to his Christmas album. The only thing I could hold against him was the fact that I used to be told I had a “Bieber haircut.”
Anyway, here are my first reactions to Justin Beiber’s Christmas album, “Under The Mistletoe.”

Only Thing I Ever Get for Christmas
Nice little intro with acoustic guitar strumming accompanying Bieber’s voice.
Also, a choir singing “ooohs” in the background. Cue the electronic drums and melismas that lead into the the chorus!
Psychedelic synthesizers add a really cool feel to the bridge. I really wish there were more synthesizers in the entire song and less drum machine.
So many vocal tracks!
Intimate, slow ending with Bieber singing about mistletoe: “I’ll be waiting, kiss me there.”

Mistletoe
Jingle bells count the rhythm, then Jason Mraz-style acoustic guitar and finger-snaps come in.
The lyrics are all about evoking imagery of Christmas.
Bieber keeps singing about things he should be doing, but instead he’s under the mistletoe with “yooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oou.”
There are some pretty weak lyrics going on here. “Don’t you buy me nothing / ‘cause I am feeling one thing / Your lips on my lips.”
This song may as well be a Christmas cover of Mraz’s “I’m Yours.”

Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
Spacey intro of acoustic guitar, piano and some weird-but-awesome synthesizer in the back drenched in reverb.
This is a nice, slow and swanky version of this song. Finger snaps keep the rhythm, again. There is a pretty cool effect on the vocal echoes.
Anytime Bieber sings a high note, the auto tune becomes pretty obvious.
Hey, it’s Usher!
So many harmonies are happening right now.
I can hardly take the male-diva love going on right now.
Holy ‘80s guitar solo, Bieber! This is so cheesy.
I think the production of these songs is really hurting more than helping.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Funk! That is fun.
Bieber shouting, “Santa’s coming, girl! Whoo!”
This is what Christmas music is all about! Having fun and being happy in the season instead of trying to pick up girls!
There’s a choir in the back, a really appropriate organ, and Bieber almost sounds like he’s a member of the band instead of a celebrity who records his vocal tracks at a different time than the other musicians.
Did he just say it’s the time of year to, “Shake it, baby”? I’m not going to let that ruin this song for me.
Fun track.

Fa La La
Electric piano, drum machines and Bieber saying, “This is the time of year we can give it, give it, give it, give it all.”
Boys II Men is serving as Bieber’s backing choir?
The track so auto tuned, but I can’t tell whether or not it’s intentional. It’s kind of like Bon Iver’s “Woods,” except there is a ton of additional instrumentation. There’s a lot of cool counter-rhythms going on, too.
Man, that last little vocal solo was long. Awkward too.
Side note — the a cappella version of this song on the deluxe album is much more rewarding to listen to.

All I Want for Christmas
Strings, French horn and bells are the first thing you hear before Mariah Carey and Bieber enter.
Lots of wordless singing going on here.
Drums come in really strong and Carey begins singing.
This is upbeat! What a relief; I don’t know if I could handle another power ballad.
This is pretty enjoyable.
Wow, that was a really cool soul-infused bridge. Carey does some really cool whistle-tone stuff at the end.

Drummer Boy
Such a dramatic intro.
I feel like I’m trapped in a futuristic Christmas dream. Oh my, cue the dance party.
Bieber’s rapping. It’s not terrible.
What is happening?! Now Busta Rhymes is shouting.
Now Busta Rhymes is rapping. His lyrics are terrible, but there was just a huge swell of synthesizers and everything but his voice and drums dropped out after that.
It sounds really cool, but his lyrics are still lame. He just gave a shout-out to his Twitter followers, haha.
Oh, another chorus, then Bieber raps the last verse about donating to charity and thinking about less fortunate families. A good message? Yes. A good verse for a rap song?
No way, Biebz. That song just blew my mind.

Christmas Eve
Nice, pretty piano introduction. Of course it can’t remain that way.
Drum machines and hand-claps come in after. “I don’t need presents / girl, you’re everything I need.”
Apparently, that message wasn’t delivered enough in the first few songs?
Maybe it’s just because it follows “Drummer Boy,” but that song was painfully boring.

All I Want is You
Two fake intros? Bieber, you jokester. It’s a sappy, lonely winter ballad.
“Sitting here all alone watching the snow fall / looking back at the day we through them snow balls / I can’t believe I’m putting the tree up by myself / I need you and nobody else.”
It’s not bad. It’s pretty much the same idea as the first song on this album, but this song does a much better job of evoking the desperation of missing a loved one.

Home This Christmas
Immediately I can tell this is going to be a country ballad because of the big piano, mid-tempo and twangy country guitar.
The Band Perry’s presence is obvious.
Bieber and the Perrys’ voices compliment each other well. Maybe Bieber should do more country stuff. This is a really solid track.

Silent Night
Just Bieber’s voice and piano.
Pretty and relaxing. I’m really glad the second verse didn’t add any drum machines or other instrumentation. It would have tainted a classic.
In general, this Christmas album wasn’t too bad. There were too many ballads and all the original songs that Bieber helped write were sappy love songs that all revolved around the idea of kissing girls under the mistletoe or only wanting a girl’s love for Christmas. The covers were fun and most of the guest musicians attributed nice variety to the songs.

Rubies and Rations never thought playing would be an ongoing occurrence.

Founded by Daniel Rife (alumnus ‘11), Rubies and Rations came together after Rife was put in charge of Exalt and needed a band.

“I grabbed some people I knew could play and sing and they liked it and we just kept going and going,” Rife said.

The seven-member band consists of Rife on accordion and vocals, Abby Nelson (sr) on keyboard, Josh Tuttle (sr) on banjo, Audrey Corliss (jr) on vocals, Maggie Hubbard (jr) on guitar, Emily Fussner (jr) on violin and Matt Heer (jr) on cajon.

“We did Exalt and at Exalt we just always do worship songs and one day we thought ‘What if we just did it folk?’” said Rife.

The members never expected to be in a band, let alone win Indiana Wesleyan University’s Battle of the Bands earlier this year.

“[Battle of the Bands] came and just asked us,” Rife said. “I didn’t feel the pressure that much.”

“And then we won,” Corliss laughed.

By winning Battle of the Bands, Rubies and Rations earned the privilege of playing at Friday Night Live, where a few members expressed being more nervous.

“We were coming up after Brave at Sea and I was like, ‘Oh no, I hope we can meet the standard.’” Corliss said.

Rife and Tuttle believe they did meet it.

“People seem to really like the sound,” Rife said, while Tuttle agreed FNL went well.

While many worship bands stick to electric guitar and drums, Rubies and Rations likes to be a little unconventional in instrument selection.They liken their sound to Mumford and Sons and Johnny Flynn with their folk-inspired take on music.

“Singing songs to a more folky melody is more interesting,” Corliss added. “We like it.”

They use instruments such as harmonica, mandolin, bass and melodica. The band members vary in what they are able to play.

“We’ll switch up instruments,” Corliss said. “Everyone is diverse in what they can play.”

“We have like a whole orchestra,” Nelson said.

Having the ability to play multiple instruments is only one element in their folk style. Good song choice is key to their sound as well. A favorite song of the band to play is “Depth of Mercy” by Charles Wesley. Memebers play the same lyrics but a “totally different melody.”

“People really like it,” Rife said about “Depth of Mercy.” “The lyrics are really good and the music has a good beat to it. It’s fun.”

Members of Rubies and Rations hope to continue with their unique sound and see what they can do with their talent, exploring things like mixing genres.

“I think we should do a rap song with the banjo,” Tuttle joked, but Rife agreed that the band does like to test their limits.

“We like to stretch things,” Rife said. “It’s a fun challenge. Why not?”

For Rubies and Rations, playing music used to be just a pastime.

“It was never a life pursuit, but it’s always been in the back of my mind,” Rife said about the possibility of playing in a band.

“I kind of gave that up freshman year,” Tuttle admitted.

Now, they don’t know where it will take them.

“People keep asking, we’ll keep playing,” Corliss said.