Fun. Aim & Ignite
There could be no more fitting name for this band. Lyrically creative, high-energy technically-skilled instrumentation, passionate vocals, great harmonies. "Balances serious subjects with buoyant tunes" (Ben Keene- EMusic). Most of these songs sound like something straight out of a musical--and Cristina can attest I often feel I'm caught up in that musical, bursting into random dance when Fun. is playing. And no, you can't see that. I would compare lead singer Nate Ruess to a more polished, sophisticated version of Justin Hawkins (formerly) of The Darkness.Notables: Be Calm, Walk the Dog, Take Your Time, Barlights, I Wanna Be The One...but I really love them all.
If you've never heard of Swell Season then you should watch the movie Once as your introduction. Andrew Liggitt may hate me for this comparison, but Glen Hansard (lead vocals) reminds me of Dave Matthews. No, Glen sings through his mouth & not his nostrils, and you can actually understand most of what he sings, but Glen acquaints with Dave by the passion he sings with. There's some great singing...and then there's yelling too. Most of the lyrics are rather sad, but Glen has a way of making grief beautiful (the album acquires its name from a poem of this subject). Instrumentally, this album's great. Good acoustic guitars, drums, violin, & a lot of variety in the sounds.
Notables: Low Rising, Feeling The Pull, The Rain, I Have Loved You Wrong, High Horses, The Verb...I love this whole album (and I recommend the Deluxe Edition for some great live tunes, most of them from the Once soundtrack).
Colm is native Irish, as you may have discerned from his name, and this album is tribute to the sounds of his beloved culture. Colm is also the violinist of the aforementioned Swell Season and another band of like members called The Frames. This album is like a dream to me--Celtic sounds & the violin have been growing loves for me over the past couple years, and this album indulges deeply in both. Highly technical, soothing sounds, rich textures, lots of acoustic instrumention other than violin--I feel like maybe these sounds somehow beckon to the ancient Irishman within me, I just get plum happy yearn for Guinness when I'm listening to this.
Notables: So I've said this on all three albums so far...but EVERY SONG IS AWESOME. Seriously though, I like Secondwave, Time Will Tell, Court of New Town, The Cuckoo of Glen, Ronnie's Theme.
Jon Foreman, (4 Albums) Fall, Winter, Spring, & SummerForeman knows perfectly the purpose of a poem or song, expressing beautifully a message from the heart that mere prose couldn't capture. Foreman: “I write questioning songs,” he says. “I’m interested in reading philosophy and trying to figure things out. The melodies come to me quite easily so it’s the poets, philosophers and psalmists that help me put the melodies where they belong. The songs assist me in the challenge of knowing who I am, so the shoulders of great writers are a good place to start” (Amazon). 24 songs are spread out into 4 albums, 6 songs for each season, and the moods of each season are captured well. There's a lot of variety in these songs. To be explicitly cheesy, these songs are as varied as the seasons of life themselves. I mean that though. I've learned from these albums.
Favorites: The Cure for Pain, Southbound Train, Lord Save Me From Myself, My Love Goes Free, Learning How to Die, Behind Blue Eyes, I Am Still Running, Your Love Is Strong (performed at our wedding), Baptize My Mind, Revenge, Resurrect Me, House of God Forever (also performed for our wedding..thanks East Rock!)
The Autumn Film, The Ship and The SeaPiano-driven, drums-heavy, mostly upbeat, gifted vocals, rich-textured spacey sounds. I first heard Autumn Film when we were in Colorado preparing to leave for China, and the three-piece band was charged with leading us in worship (see more on the Hymns-II album below). I really thought they were awesome and so bought one of their albums...a disappointment. It was just, well, flat. Big change here. The drums hit hard and hit fast, especially on "Ships on the Ocean Floor," and lead singer Tifah's voice is amazing, particularly on "Mended". The guitarist is not your typical guitarist--most of the stuff he plays is distorted to create a sort of spacey sounding ambience. And there's a sea theme here in the lyrics too--haven't figured that one out yet, but I just got the album and it seems pretty interesting. Lots of variation in sound, particularly when you consider a song like "Always the Same" where the rhythm of the song is played on the lowest register of the piano. And "Sirens" sounds like it would fit on a soundtrack to The Wire.
Favorites: Roll Over Me, Always the Same, Mended, Ships on the Ocean Floor, Sirens, Follow the Sound, March On (if you click on the Myspace link, most of this album is available for free listening)
Page CXVI, Hymns-IIPage CXVI is the Autumn Film published under a different name for the release of their 4-part Hymns project. The band is named for the 116th page of their copy of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, the chronologically first book of The Chronicles of Narnia where Aslan sings creation into existence. Most of the seven hymns on this album (and the 7 each on their other releases) are fairly well known, but very well mixed up on these releases. Though they sometimes get too far away from the original melodies, these songs are sung with great passion that invite me to worship. Most of my friends who know Page CXVI didn't like this release as much as Hymns-I, but "How Great Thou Art" may be the best hymn remake I've ever heard. I'm honestly not a big fan of the original, but hearing it sung with Tifah's big heart and booming voice takes it to a new level for me. "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is also well-done. This album was a real encouragement to me earlier in the year. Thanks Daniel for the gift bro.
Notables: How Great Thou Art, Rock of Ages, Battle Hymn of the Republic
Sandra McCracken, In Feast or FallowSandra McCracken is a really special artist to me, though I can't exactly pinpoint why. I think because she reminds me of that female folk-singer type that I feel like my dad must have listened to a lot when I was growing up. Great female voice & an acoustic guitar singing about real life (not some poppy teenage crush)--what more could you ask for? She has some good folk albums (Red Balloon, Gypsy Flat Road), this one here's another hymns album, a follow-up to the much beloved The Builder & The Architect (which also got hits at our wedding). Though this new album isn't quite as good as The Builder, I really like its sound. The Builder had much more of a polished, almost orchestral, heavenly sound, but this one is much more rootsy, Nashville, and kinda-country, though some still pertain the stately sounding Builder & The Architect. Unlike Page CXVI, most of the hymns Sandra has chosen are those lost to our common recollection (with the exception of an AWESOME remake of Amazing Grace here). It seems she's taken it upon herself to keep these lyrically-rich, lesser-known treasures alive to the modern ear. I appreciate that.
Favorites: Justice Will Roll Down, In Feast or Fallow, New Wonders, Give Reviving, I Glory in Christ, Sweet Sorrow, Petition, Faith's Review & Expectation (Amazing Grace)
Wow...How to describe this album?? Derek Webb may be my favorite "Christian artist" if for no other reason than how he approaches writing "Christian music." Living outside of American culture for a year in China allowed me to see a few things, perhaps the most important being how in America we often divide realms of life into "sacred" and "secular." For example, there's the attitude that says, "I may sing to God on Sunday, but God has nothing to do with my work, how I raise my family, how I vote, how I work, how I study & think about important issues." There's not many lies further from the Bible. Paul spoke of being "transformed by the renewing of your mind," allowing the gospel to affect how you approach all areas of life. The gospel should give you new lens for seeing the world around you. See this post for my attempt to approach my job this way, or this astute YouTube video to hear Derek describe his philosophy himself. Basically, all of life is worship, and not just those songs & hymns of adoration sung directly to God. That being said, the beats & the lyrics both hit hard on this album. Derek steps away from his folk-rock roots on this one for some experiemental, hiphop-esque territory. Since setting out solo from Caedmon's Call, Derek has been somewhat of a protest artist in the likes of Bob Dylan, protesting both the evangelical subculture and our American & Western cultures at-large, and according to my friend Andrew, Derek saw how protest music has transitioned from the folk Dylan-stuff over the years to hip-hop today, and he wanted to follow likewise. Definitely an attention getting ablum, as Derek critiques Westboro's Fred Phelps, our discomfort with the Holy Spirit, protest riots, his own apathy, Sweden's apathy, my own apathy, the club scene, high-interest credit cards, immigration, Fox News & other ultra-conservatives, neo-colonialism, & evangelical attitudes toward homosexuals--for starters. A dropping of the s- and d- bombs in What Matters More got that song cut from the official release, so if you buy the album, be sure to get that addendum free from Noisetrade.
Notables: (again the whole album is awesome, but if I have to choose...) Opening Credits/Black Eye, Cobra Con, Spirit vs. the Kick Drum, What Matters More, The State, I Love-Hate You, Jena & Jimmy, American Flag Umbrella
There's more albums & songs I could write on for this year, but I've been working on this post for two days now and gotta stop somewhere. Hope you enjoy, and you should let me know if end up checking out one of these recommendations. I'm always up for new recommendations myself, so feel free to drop comments of your new discoveries below. My baby's asleep on the couch now, pink blanket over her head to block out the light & the Stockholm Syndrome she so adores that I was listening to earlier. I should probably get her to bed :)
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