Christmas Music

Here in South Florida it doesn't really feel like Christmas. The ten day forecast is highs of 80 and lows around 65. Tonight the family is going Christmas tree shopping and I'm just not feeling like Christmas could possibly be eleven days away, no matter what the calender seems to think. The weather isn't cooperating but at least there is lots of great Christmas music to set the mood and spread some cheer.

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies album "Stunt" was actually one of the very first cd's I ever had. I got it for Christmas the same year I got my first cd player and headphones.

"Oh Holy Night" Future of Forestry
I didn't want to take up the whole list with Future of Forestry but they have a lot of great Christmas songs to choose from.

"Rejoice" The New Divide
A great rendition by a band I really love.

"Baby its cold outside" Brian Setzer
I love the "Boogie Woogie Christmas" album and play it every year.

"silent night" Shane and Shane

"For The Sake of Our Brother" Trans Siberian Orchestra
"Lost Christmas Eve" is one of my very favorite Christmas albums.

Currently Listening To: "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Deas Vail

All Sons and Daughters

All Sons and Daughters is the worship duo of David Leonard and Leslie Jordan. Here is a look at how the band formed and began the writing process.

No need for rambling. Here is the music:

"All the Poor and Powerless"

"Come to Save Us"

"Your Glory"

"Alive"

Currently Listening To: "Like a Lion"-Daniel Bashta

Ps: I Didn't make it to The 7 Tour. :'(

Long Time No See

       I haven't posted in a long while so I thought I should probably toss out some type of update. I'm still on the hunt for new music and have a few bands picked out to feature sometime in the near future.
       I had the pleasure of taking photographs of The New Divide recently. Andy Ziesemer says the new album is completed and should be available by Spring. Here is a video that has an explanation and acoustic performance of their song "Home". While I am shamelessly promoting people please take a look at my friends Dark Harp ,who have an album releasing soon, and Blank Page Empire Records.
       I'm trying desperately to get to The 7 Tour this week so I will update everyone on how that works out after this weekend.

Currently Listening To: "Seen a Darkness"- John Mark McMillan

Sleeping At Last

I am really in love with "Sleeping at Last" not just for their amazing cinematic music style but also for the ridiculously beautiful watercolor artwork that accompanies it. I found video of incredible live performances of "All This To Say" and"Umbrellas". "Keep No Score", "Ghosts", and "Storyboards" are their full length albums and they also have a collection titled "Yearbook" which was 3 songs per month for a year. The music is haunting, beautiful, passionate, and dynamic. The cover artwork for the 3 albums and 12 EP's is nothing short of spectacular.

Currently Listening To: "Restless"- Switchfoot

The Torwalts

    
       I heard about  Bryan and Katie Torwalt in a facebook post from Jesus Culture. Their worship sounds similar to what comes from Kim Walker-Smith and Chris Quillala. Here is a great video to get to know Bryan and Katie and the music on "Here on Earth". "I'm a Lover of Your Presence" is my favorite song off the album because the simplicity of the song lets you really focus on God and just declare how much we love Him. All the songs on the album are really exceptional examples of modern corporate worship music. If your Praise and Worship team is looking for fresh relevant music these are the songs you are searching for. "Nothing Holding Me Back" and "Holy Spirit" are my runners up for favorite track.

Currently Listening To: "Compassion"-Dark Harp

My Epic

Lately I have been listening to My Epic, especially their new acoustic driven album "Broken Voice". I really love the worshipful lyric content such as 'You moved your temple inside our bones and limbs' from "Alone" and 'You let my heart die, but left Yours beating in my chest' from "Lazarus". "Doxology" was one of my favorite songs off the album.

Currently Listening To- "Old Man Blues" Ricky Kendall

Update

      
       For some unknown reason I can't seem to comment on my own blog right now so I decided this is worth a new post.
       To follow up on my "Most Anticipated" list I wanted to update that John Mark McMillan's new album "Economy" is now scheduled for release on the first of November. The sneak peek "Sheet of Night" video is pretty awesome.
       Speaking of awesome previews here is "When Death Dies" from Gungor's "Ghosts Upon the Earth". I also found this inspiring piece of cinematography that has Michael and Lisa talking about the new album.

Currently Listening To: "This is Home" Jon Foreman

The Head and The Heart

       One of the very first things I look for in music is passion. Great music moves more then just your feet it moves you on an emotional level. The Head and the Heart do a wonderful job of taking you through this magnificent emotional roller coaster. They build dynamics beautifully. Just watch this performance of "Rivers and Roads" and you will see what I mean. I absolutely adore their musicianship. The piano and drums on "Ghosts" are really superb. And how do you not love the three part vocal harmony?  "Down in the Valley" is a great feature for the violin of Charity Rose Thielen.

Since I know you will be hooked once you listen here is "Lost in my Mind", "Cats and Dogs", "Coeur D'Alene", "Sounds Like Hallelujah", and "Josh McBride" to help.

Currently Listening To: "Alone" My Epic

All The Bright Lights

All The Bright Lights is James Duke, Jon Duke, and Jacob Arnold. The album consist of mostly ambient instrumentation with some sparse vocals here and there. I really love this album as something to play in the background while my main focus is on something else. I highly recommend giving it a listen while praying or reading the bible. Amazing guitar sounds and tones you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. At one point while listening to this album I couldn't tell if it was raining outside or if it was something I was hearing on the record. It turned out to be both.

For your listening pleasure: "The One That Gave it All", "Wilora Lake", and "Chest of Drawers"

Currently Listening To: "Alive" All Sons and Daughters

My Most Anticipated Releases for the Remainder of 2011

     5. Reliant K "Is for Karaoke"

     4. Deas Vail "Deas Vail"

     3. Shane and Shane "The One You Need"

     2. Heather Williams "This Time Around"

     1. Gungor "Ghosts Upon the Earth"

Track thesse and other new releases

Currently Listening To: "Promise" Grace Church Nashville Podcast

For Marley and Shannon

A few of the more exceptional beards of Christian Indie:

John Mark McMillan

John Mark McMillan's Bassist Jon Duke

Josh Garrels

The Head and The Heart Guitarist Jonathan Russell

Before you start thinking you need a first name with a "J" to be profoundly bearded...

Currently Listening To: "Blood and Bones"- William Fitzsimmons

Eric Peters

Listened to the entire Eric Peters album "Scarce" while doing editing and setting up links. Worth a listen for sure. It played nice with the Josh Garrels album "Jacaranda" on shuffle. "Save Something for Grace" was one of my favorites.

Currently Listening To: "Casimir Pulaski Day"- Sufjan Stevens

Now don't you worry, I do good business

      Burlap to Cashmere released their self titled album in July of 2011 after a thirteen year hiatus. I wasn't a Christian thirteen years ago so I luckily haven't been waiting all that time for new music from them, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people have been, because this is definitely an album worth waiting for. The sounds on this album range from a folky Americana, to classical guitar, and the ever present Greek heritage of the band. All the songs have "storytelling" type lyrics reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkle. Steven Delopoulos has an awesome voice and singing style that can also be found on his solo albums "Me Died Blue" and "Straightjacket" which have a great coffee house type sound. Some of my favorite tracks are "Live in a Van" and "Santorini" off the "Burlap to Cashmere" album, and "Ancient Man" and "Treasures in Heaven" from the "Anybody Out There" album. "Ruin of the Beast" and "Daisies and Sandalwood" are standouts from Steven's Solo work.

Currently Listening To: "Come Thou Fount"- Jadon Lavik

Photoside Cafe

       I discovered the band Photoside Cafe by looking at the 2011 lineup for the Ichthus festival. I didn't plan on going or anything, too far and too expensive, but wanted to take a look at artists I hadn't heard before. I found a few bands I have been getting into lately that way, but Photoside Cafe is definitely a standout. The album I have been listening to is "The Beauty of Innocence Remains". The rock band with violin originally had me comparing them with Article One but with more aggressive vocals. The more I have listened the more I have been appreciating the drumming which has really nice cymbal work and interesting rhythmic shifts I found reminiscent of Danny Carey's style. "Sweet Fascination" has a laid back melodic feel with the acoustic guitar, piano, and violin. The album has a lot of cool "ambient" sounds like the didgeridoo on "Kill Your TV". My favorite tracks are "The Old Bridge" and "When Beauty Sings".

Currently Listening To: "Rabbit and the Bear"-Josh Garrels

Resource

Found a cool website while doing some research and decided to share it. They have release dates for upcoming Christian albums.
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/

Looks like Shane and Shane have a new album due out on my birthday (wink wink present idea).

Currently Listening to: "Ulysses" -Josh Garrels

Lyrics Lyrics Lyrics

       What Bradley Hathaway lacks in refinement he more then makes up for with profound lyrics and gusto. Always poetic and often musical Bradley's work is a far cry from your average mainstream christian music. His sound is lo-fi and experimental but covers a wide range of styles. Some songs are little more then soliloquy with musical "fiddling" in the background but the art is ever present and the emotions are always on his sleeve. The Hug Poem and I am a Manly Man are excellent poems to start with. On the more musical side I really enjoy "Samuel" and "So do I Love You". He has a greatest hits album out titled "All the Hits So Far But Don't Expect Too Much: Poetry, Prose, and Other Sundry Items". Every time I put on some of his work I invariably end up adding more and more songs together till I end up with a nice hours worth of music. This is the kinda stuff you will loose sleep over cause you need to hear "just one more song".


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Currently Listening to: "Flowers of the Field"- Sky Sailing

ReDiscovery

       The first artist I would like to talk about is more of a rediscovery then anything else. As much as I loved The Michael Gungor Band's "Ancient Skies" I am head over heels for Gungor's "Beautiful Things". "Beautiful Things" dropped back in February of 2010 but I just recently heard about the album when The New Divide performed the title track at The Well Community Church a few months ago. I instantly got hooked on the Youtube videos of them performing acoustically for Relevant Magazine. Now I have the full album in a playlist on Grooveshark that I am listening to all the time. Michael and Lisa have gorgeous voices that sound so beautiful in harmony. Michael Gungor is probably the most talented instrumentalist in Christian music today. It is so refreshing to hear real orchestral strings being played on an album instead of some synth patch. In my opinion it has everything you could look for in an album. Great acoustic driven songs like "Please Be My Strength" and bluesy rock driven songs like "Heaven". The album boast instrumentation on everything from a banjo, to a glockenspiel, to good old fashion hand claps. Great songs all over the record. If you let it, this album will take you everywhere from singing your lungs out, to dancing, to praying on your knees.




CurrentlyLlistening To: "Hold Still" - Sleeping At Last
                                                   

A Blog is Born

       I have been driving for quite some time in a car that had a broken stereo. Now I am driving a new and improved car with working FM radio and I have been reminded about how boring mainstream christian music can be. As much as I love my new car's ability to play music while I drive I find myself yearning for something more then what I get on my favorite radio stations.

       One of my favorite artists, John Mark McMillan, has offten posted on Facebook asking for recomendations to listen to and often gets hundreds of comments with great suggestions. Thanks to Facebook users and apps like Pandora and Last.Fm I have found great new artists to listen to. This got me thinking "I bet there are a bunch of people out there looking for new music to listen to". So I decided to start a blog where I could share my finds with others and hopefullly they could recomend me some great tunes aswell.
       Hopefully in the not so distant future this can be a great resource where you, my readership, come to discover new bands and artists. Don't be shy! Leave a comment. Tell me about some of your favorite music and pretty soon I will be back to tell you about some of mine.


Currently Listening To: "Sounds Like Hallelujah"-The Head and the Heart