Posted on April 12, 2010 at sometime around 10:40 pm
Sufjan Stevens (pronounced sue-f-yahn) is one of the founders of postmodern indie-music. Sufjan is a Christian, but does not get bound by the chains of CCM. Sufjan is an artist and his work is the very sound that paved the way for many independent artists pursuing music today. His style is unique and leaves many listeners confused with his eclectic taste, but his cult-like following is very similar to that of Radiohead fans. The placement of Sufjan’s vocals are often out of sync with the rhythm of the track and sometimes the instruments are played slightly out of tune. The variety of instruments used is astounding, especially considering that the majority are played by Sufjan himself. His best work Read More »
Posted on April 6, 2010 at sometime around 10:41 am
Diane Birch has been selected as this week’s featured Music Monday post based entirely on this creative music video.
Diane has a very interesting journey, traveling as a missionary’s kid through Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Australia with her father, a Seventh Day Adventist preacher. She grew up never listening to pop music, as her parents did not allow her listen to any secular music, but left home when she was old enough and headed for L.A. Even though it seems that 99% of people who leave home for a big music city fall flat on their face, Diane Birch has received critical acclaim from the Huffington Post, NPR (you can stream her live performance at a favorite venue of mine: The World Cafe in Philly), and Rolling Stone Paper Magazine. Diane’s release of her album, Bible Belt, also landed her on Conan and Craig Ferguson, and her quirky pop is gaining a substantial fan base. You can find out more about Birch here or head to her website to hear more of her music.
What do you think of the video? Were you as happy as me when you found out this wasn’t just a big video-editing project, but was actually coordinated like a complex dance piece?
Posted on March 29, 2010 at sometime around 2:46 pm
Explosions in the Sky writes some of the best ambient music out there. There is nothing better for tuning out Milton in the cubicle next to yours, or to enjoy when trying to wind down at the end of a long day.
The band from Texas primarily uses three electric guitars and a drum kit to make all of their unique sounds, although they sometimes exchange a guitar for a bass. The band probably received their biggest notoriety for writing the score for the movie Friday Night Lights, although their best work comes through in their album All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. Many of their songs eclipse the 10-minute mark as well, making a .99 cent deal seem all the better for us as cheap consumers of music.
If you are someone who enjoys quiet time in your day, be sure to pick up an Explosions in the Sky album soon (here is an iTunes link). As a youth pastor, I play them nearly every week at the end of our discussion to let our young people have time to pray/connect with God/think about their life.
Check it:
(PS - Just listen to the videos, don’t watch them.)
Posted on March 22, 2010 at sometime around 11:58 pm
Gungor is the future sound of worship music. What is Gungor you ask? Gungor is the last name of Michael Gungor, leader of a worship band out of Denver, Colorado who has been on a formative, spiritual journey since being Dove-nominated for his songs “Friend of God” and “Say So”. Michael has struggled, like many of us worship leaders, with what can result from simply singing songs on a Sunday morning. He says,
“If leading worship is just about bringing a group of people into a room so we can get goosebumps and sing songs together, there’s not much value in that. But if leading worship is a means to an end, that we leave this place as a different kind of people, as part of a new humanity that God wants to create – the people that are caring for the widows and orphans, that aren’t bound by the systems of this world but becoming free, becoming fully engaged in our world – then that matters.”
This type of profound, deeper understanding of worship comes through in all of Gungor’s lyrics. In their latest (and greatest) album, Beautiful Things, Michael and the band sing songs not just about God, but thoughtful and meaningful songs about the Creator. Michael describes the album as “an expression of hope that God will make beautiful things out of the dust in our lives, that God will somehow use us, use our obedience and love, our feeble human effort, and build Himself a kingdom.” Michael has a keen use of progressive language that is difficult to find in the market and his heart that yearns after the hope found in Christ is memorable and contagious.
Beyond the honesty and desire to see new life and freedom “sprung up from this old ground”, Beautiful Things is an album that simply sounds fantastic (which is the only criteria for these Music Monday picks). From sounds that will remind you of the ambience of Sigur Rós, to rocking hard like Muse, to the intimate, banjo backing tracks of Sufjan Stevens, the diversity of sound leaves the ears feeling happy.
The album is also extremely worshipful. By this, I mean that there is a reverence for God in songs that declare “Holy is the Lord, the Earth is yours and singing” to deeper, catchy lyrics like: “I don’t know what you’ve been told but heaven is comin’ down to the world”. And this is what Gungor does. They explore a lot of aspects of faith that other Christian artists don’t. Every statement of theirs is loaded. When they say “Heaven is coming down to this world”, they are implying that we should not just have a “life-after-death” focus and approach here on Earth (like is subconsciously taught by many Christian leaders), but that we can actually bring Heaven to Earth. As Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near” and represents a fundamental shift in theology and thinking that Michael taps into. Gungor’s focus on social justice (sorry Glenn Beck), the majesty and mystery of the Lord, and the Kingdom of God shows the band’s theological maturity. Even their cover art shows beautiful flowers springing up from all sorts of chaos (bombs, fighter jets, etc.). My favorite lyric on the album is:
Only good things can ever come from you
Even your judgment is righteous and true
Awesome.
The final two items of praise I will share is that this is an album. Many popular worship CD’s are focused on the singles - songs that are not connected in any sort of way (conceptually or musically). Gungor, however, weaves together each song conceptually, but is also a free-flowing album. It makes for a continuous worship experience that many worship CD’s miss out on. Finally, Gungor makes music that is still singable for corporate congregations (well…at least sort of). For some of Gungor’s songs, the songs would be very difficult to replicate or be able to be sung by large groups of people with a short window to learn the songs. I think the learning curve would be too great and some of the technicality and variety of instrumentation would make it difficult for the “musically un-inclined” to replicate. However, songs like “Higher”, “The Earth is Yours” or “People of God” could definitely be sung by congregations. I’ve also thought that many pieces of their songs could be taken out and tacked on to other songs. Part of the (good) problem is that Gungor makes creative music, but it makes it hard for evangelical worship bands to replicate with rotating volunteers (but I digress…).
You can pick up the physical copy here at Amazon, or just download the .mp3 version of Beautiful Things. This is a CD for fans of more popular worship music (i.e. Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, Kristian Stanfill) or for people who normally can’t stand worship music. Also for fans of Robbie Seay Band, John Mark McMillan, or David Crowder.
Check out the songs below:
Title track of their latest album: “Beautiful Things”
“Dry Bones” - the first track on Beautiful Things
Call Me Out - This is a catchy/funky/fun song that shows some of the creativity of the band.
Posted on March 1, 2010 at sometime around 5:40 pm
For Fans of: Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Mat Kearney, Sufjan Stevens
To stream his music seamlessly, check out his website here. The first song that is currently listed on the music player is “All Creatures” - and it is the best arrangement I’ve ever heard of that song.
Below are a bunch of live performances. Anyone who can perform that well live is generally going to produce some quality records, and Josh is no exception. His use of language is impressive and his exploration of faith questions is interesting, rather than simply straightforward. Plus, as is the criteria for all of my music monday picks, it simply sounds great.
I’m not going to write a full review this week - just let you enjoy some good music.
Posted on February 15, 2010 at sometime around 2:41 pm
In a world filled with singles, the minimalist, rock group from Iceland known as Sigur Rós does not just make songs - they make albums. If you have not heard the ethereal sounds of Sigur Rós’ music before, you are in for a relaxing and exciting treat today, my friends. In English, the name is pronounced /ˈsɪɡər ˈrɒs/ (which didn’t help me any) or you can hear it pronounced for you here. When you begin to hear the music, you notice that the falsetto voice of lead singer Jónsi Birgisson is difficult to understand. This is because he is speaking “hopelandic”, which is an artist-created language Birgisson uses to blend his vocals as an instrument, as opposed to the typical use of vocals to communicate a message in a known language. He describes this concept below:
what language does jónsi sing in?
on “von, ágætis byrjun” and “takk”, jónsi sang most songs in icelandic but a few of the songs were sung in ‘hopelandic’. all of the vocals are, however, in hopelandic. hopelandic (vonlenska in icelandic) is the ‘invented language’ in which jónsi sings before lyrics are written to the vocals. it’s of course not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), it’s rather a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument. jónsi likens it with what singers sometimes do when they’ve decided on the melody but haven’t written the lyrics yet. many languages were considered to be used, including english, but they decided on hopelandic. hopelandic (vonlenska) got its name from first song which jónsi sang it on, hope (von). tracks 7-9 on takk… are in hopelandic.
The creativity of the band is unbelievable. Listening to any of their albums is strange, yet inspiring. Their orchestration and ambient overdrives are a delight.
Enough talk - just take a listen and buy “Takk…” or “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust” (translated: ”With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly”). It will make your heart happy, regardless of how your Valentine’s Day was.
—————–
(Just listen - video is not as important…)
Sadly (for us as listeners), Sigur Rós announced in January that they have decided to take a break and spend time with their family and pursue other individual endeavors for now. Sigur Rós’ brilliant music, however, still remains.
Let me know what you think. Too weird, or a joy to the ears?
Posted on February 8, 2010 at sometime around 4:46 pm
Joshua James is American folk’s finest and today’s #musicmonday pick. Hailing from the midwest, James writes songs about love, God, tragedy, and substance abuse. James would not classify himself as a “Christian artist”, and from my observations, he seems to leave his specific faith stances removed from the content he produces (music, writings, etc.). In fact, I’ve followed James since his first album in 2007 and still am unsure of his faith stances, which leaves more room for interpretation than blanket statements about God seem to. Interestingly enough, this has created some good dialogue on many websites on faith (from the normally awful comments of youtube to music sites to formal reviews).
James’ intimate vocals are what make him great, but his catchy tunes will challenge your thoughts and keep you humming for days. Check it:
“The New Love Song” - Recommended by NPR as the song of the day and helped put James’ first album release in 2007 (The Sun is Always Brighter) to #1 on iTunes’ Folk Album list. He was also featured on a Best of 2009’s singer/songwriter recommendation mix
“Crash This Train” - This is Joshua’s most political song. Joshua has spoken out about his distaste for the Iraq War and this song essentially cries out to God to end it. Regardless of your thoughts on the Middle East, James says one of my favorite lines from a song ever that we can all agree on: “It ain’t hard to tell, when it’s love that we sell.”
I covered the song a long time ago on my facebook page (the delay makes it look weird…sorry…)
Joshua James released “Build Me This” in 2009 and everyone who I’ve played the record for has really enjoyed it. He does (tastefully) use the “d-word” in this song, so skip this one if that offends you. I have no idea what this song means, but it sounds awesome.
Coal War
Live Performance: FM Radio - This is a more tragic song by Joshua James, where he adds “You are my sunshine” to the end in an incredible arrangement. He questions how God could have taken his sister in an emotive song that shows a depth of honesty most artists never touch. So good…
FM Radio Lyrics
I heard about, i heard about your daddy got sick.
Drove down to the river to die alone.
Seven days, seven days till they found him all.
Wrapped up in a blanket on the boat.
So we put him in the ground.
Down, Down, Down.
Your momma said “stay strong, don’t cry.”
So that is what you did.
Years later, years down later down the road.
On a bus with your FM Radio, half drunk, a cigarrette
hangin out.
What happened to your lonely soul? Crying out.
What happened to your lonely soul? Screamin out.
You said try and lose.
You said try and lose.
Everything you’ve known.
Everything you’ve seen.
Everything you’ve loved.
Everything you’ve been
And everywhere you walk
Every Song you sing
Everytime you wake
it haunts you once again.
My Daddy ain’t comin home
Daddy ain’t comin home
My Daddy ain’t comin home
Daddy ain’t comin home
My Daddy ain’t comin home.
Here are pictures of when Joshua James was on tour in the summer of 2008 and stayed at my parents house with me. In fact, his whole band slept over - 6 members, plus another friend of mine. I blogged at a blogspot back then and wrote of the experience. He loved my dog too. Here is photographic evidence:
I recommend both his first album (The Sun is Always Brighter) and his newest (Build Me This).
