RockOm

RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on around the world in the areas of music and spirituality...

• A Talk With Regina Spektor: Jay-Z, Her Beloved New Musical, and Spirituality on Far - "Some of your listeners have said that your latest album, Far, had too many religious undertones for their liking, and some have even called it 'preachy'. As a listener myself, I feel your references are just drawn from your philosophies, maybe related to your background or to myths and stories that you enjoy. What are your thoughts on this? (consequenceofsound.net.com)

• Holy headbangers - "Hellish images fly out the window when you hear Celestial Portal screaming about 'breaking free' and 'choosing the light'. Blood Covenant looks like it walked right out of LaVey's The Satanic Bible but actually growls about the New Testament."(timesofindia.com)

• Creed Comes Back: Who Still Believes? - "Lyrically, Creed resembles a platitudinous version of U2, indulging in spiritual, religious themes. Sometimes those lyrics get spectacularly vapid..." (kansascity.com)

• Exclusive: Cory Chisel On His Breakout Album - A very cool article and interview with last week's RockOm Featured Track of the Week artist, Cory Chisel (huffingtonpost.com)