I have this small, black, fits-in-your-pocket, piece of technology that I currently refer to as me Gregory Alan Isakov Player. You probably have one to—you call it an iPod—that is only because you have yet to upload Gregory into your iTunes libaray.

Every summer deserves a soundtrack and This Empty Northern Hemisphere is likely my choice for ‘09. Hemisphere has a sound that demands a warm evening, a laid back gathering of friends and few good drinks.

One of the pioneers of the emo-rock genre, it is probably fair to call Jeremy Engik (melo)dramatic. His 2006 album World Waits is has a huge, sweeping sound that can only be described as drama in instrumental form. With rumors of Sunny Day Real Estate once again getting the band back together (this time with Nate Mendell peeling himself away from the Foo Fighters to make it a complete reunion) and another solo studio album dropping, Engik is keeping the drama rolling.

What makes something art? Is it the intent of the creator? Is it the judgment of those experiencing it? Is it the location something is placed? Marcel Duchamp famously signed his name on a urinal he found and tried to enter it into an art show—he called it “Fountain.” It wasn’t accepted. But now, the statement he was trying to make is seen as so profound that replicas can be found in museums around the world.

Banksy is an infamous graffiti artist from London who is continually pushing the limits of art and expression. Scathing social commentary and political critique flow from his spray cans and paintbrushes. While his exact identity remains a mystery many people are jumping at the chance to define him. Some write him off as a vandal while others have embraced him as an artistic genius. He may very well be both.

NEW UPDATED (time sensitive) INFO (at bottom of post)

It's still a secret, so keep your voice low... but Derek Webb has found a "loophole." We're still trying to piece it all together, but Webb seems to have had some dispute with his record label over a song on the album he is currently working on, "Stockholm Syndrome." Over the past few years Webb (the former front man of the Christian band Caedmon's Call) has grown increasingly controversial (at least in the circles where Caedmon's Call traveled) writing scathing songs about the marriage of Christianity and the Republican party, the marriage of Christianity and material wealth, the marriage of Christianity and... well, you get the picture.