So welcome to the first edition of “Music Monday” at RyanSpilhaus.com. Each Monday I’ll be highlighting some music that you should be listening to.

This week I’ll be highlighting one of my current favorites, Mumford & Sons.

This British Folk Rock band is rapidly gaining popularity on this side of the pond with their debut release, Sigh No More. It’s probably my favorite album of the year so far. The album is the perfect mix of energy and slow parts, with incredibly catchy choruses and fantastic musicianship.

The lyrics stand out, with a deepness to them that is seldom matched. Although the band is “secular”, the songs are bathed in spiritual themes. You can sense the longing in front man Marcus Mumford’s voice when he sings in the song Awake My Soul

“Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker”

You can also hear the sense of loss and the pain when he sings in Winter Winds

“Oh the shame that sent me off from the God that I once loved
Was the same that sent me into your arms”

I’m not sure whether they are believers, but you can certainly see the influence of God in their music. (For a great article on finding the sacred in the secular, check out Relevant Magazine’s “When the Secular is Sacred”.)

Regardless, the fantastic music and deep themes of the songs makes Mumford & Son’s Sigh No More a must-listen to album.

You can currently purchase it for $5.99 on Amazon.com (click here)

Check out the videos below for some of their songs:

The Cave

Winter Winds

The article talks about the shift in management styles needed to manage the millennial generation…changes that are likely to become even more pronounced and necessary as the older generations rapidly move out of the workforce.

The key quote comes at the end…

Don’t take away our most potent communication tools: we millennials live on a network that includes our friends and our parents, and it can be a powerful tool for your business or non-profit. Brinkerhoff equates telling a 26-year old to not use Facebook to telling him or her not to breathe. Managers who want to get ahead need their millennial employees connected and networking–it’s a natural skill set we already have when we walk in the door.

“If you have policies against IM’s and Facebook, you are cutting off powerful tools of the millennials,” says Howe, “If you’re worried about them wasting time, simply give them more work.”

Wow. How true is that. The “distractions” that we engage in at work have the potential to actually be our greatest strengths.

Food for thought when you’re coming up with your organization’s policies.

If you haven’t heard of The Civil Wars, it’s the duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White, who together make absolutely fabulous music. I am currently in love with their song “Poison and Wine”…

Check out their free live album, “Live From Eddie’s Attic” at their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/thecivilwars

You’ll thank me later!

Typical New England: Pine Trees growing on a beach. A far cry from the palm trees of Florida, but nice in it’s own way.

And yes, the water was freezing

I thought the above video was very insightful and I thought I’d share it. If you get a chance, it’s a good watch.

Main Points:

1. The digital era is here to stay.
2. The emerging generation is more connected through technology than ever before in history.
3. This comes with enormous negative trade-offs.
4. Christians must find out how to be both connected and faithful.

Anyhow, it’s a lot deeper than just those points, so give it a watch.

Artist: Freelance Whales
Where to get it: www.freelancewhales.com and click “Get it Now” on the front page.
Notes: The quintessential upbeat hipster sound, Freelance Whales (what a FANTASTIC band name) is a fun mix of different instruments with an almost “organic-electric” sound…I know that’s a contradiction, but it somehow fits. Anyhow, the song they have for download is pretty good…it’s called “Generator 2nd Floor”.

Artist: Bon Iver
Where to get it: www.boniver.org and click “Downloads”
Notes: A very chill sound. I definitely recommend “Skinny Love”.

Artist: Josh Garrels
Where to get it: www.joshgarrels.com and click on the Harmonica (listen).
Notes: Very unique and cool sound, with a very good beat. Lots of hip-hop influence, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it hip-hop.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy the music.

Blog:

The awesome graphics for the re-brand were done by the insanely talented Brad Wolf.

Facebook:

See if you can spot the humor here:

I wonder if that was intentional

Wordpress is at it’s core a blog engine, but it can be so much more! I’ve seen and used it before to create entire websites, and it’s more than up to the task.

And the best part about it is because it’s Open Source GPL, Wordpress is FREE! With thousands of themes available, it’s easy for newcomers to set up a blog or site, and if you are willing to learn a bit, it’s easy for you to create your own themes.

What It Is: Wordpress is open source “web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog.” You can install it for free on your hosting platform and customize, extend, and design it to your heart’s content.

Where You Can Get It: Download the latest version over at Wordpress.org or if your web hosting provider has a “One-click install” get it there.

What I Use it For: Pretty much any and everything I design on the interwebs. This blog is powered by Wordpress, and most of the stuff I’ve done in my portfolio is built on Wordpress. It’s the most flexible and easy to use software out there.

Awesomeness Scale: 9.5 out of 10. The only reason this doesn’t get a 10 out of 10 is because you technically still have to pay for the hosting. But other than that this is probably the coolest thing out there. I <3 WP!

I mean…I’m only 24. I don’t think I’m quite eligible for Medicare yet…