For all of the music that I listen to, I’m really pretty picky. For all of the albums and new artists that I browse, few of them actually end up as part of my regular listening rotation. But the ones that do oftentimes do so quite quickly. It’s almost like listening to music that you already loved, you just didn’t know it yet. I like to think of this as being “comfortable” with certain artists and their sounds. Not in a complacent way but in a way that, connects with certain artists and their music like old friends.

I would describe very little of the music I listen to like this and I would describe even less of the “Christian” music I listen to this way. In fact, for as picky as I am in general with music, I am even moreso when it comes to “Christian” music. So much of what is identified as “Christian” music falls in to one of two primary categories: 1) propaganda or 2) “Praise and Worship.” That is, it is either geared specifically as a “trojan horse” to get a positive message out to the masses or it is specifically designed for corporate singing. Top this off with the fact that I care a lot about God’s truth, so when some music is identified with Christianity, I am going to pour through the lyrics with my Bible in hand. Especially if it’s geared towards the church.

With this being the case, it is rare indeed to find an album that genuinely flows from a heart of faith through honest, original artistic expression. Far too often, it seems, the music simply because the medium for the message; almost as if the music were an afterthought. But we forget that the medium is the message. Once you’ve fallen in love with music, it’s hard to stomach much of what Christians try to pass off. We need more music that’s not only theologically rich but musically moving.

And yet, in recent years, we are seeing a resurgence (initially led by RUF) of music coming from the church for the church that not only focuses on content but music. Artists like Bifrost Arts, Sojourn Music, Opiate Mass and The Welcome Wagon are reshaping music for the church with an emphasis on artistic excellence. In other words, this is music that’s not just about the content but about the music as well. And now, with their album Wounded Healer, The Followers enter in to this exciting mix.

Featuring Josh White of Telecast and Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper and based out of Door of Hope Church in Portland, OR, the band strives to “to create a 70′s infused worship experience” which they call “neo-gospel.” Drawing on a folky, alt. country/blues/soul foundation, the group has created songs that are not only creatively challenging but singable; a balance not easily struck. While there are hints of Telecast and Blitzen Trapper, The Followers have presented an album with a unified, cohesive sound. Being retro without being nostalgic or gimmicky, The Followers intertwined several strands of roots music into something both comfortable and challenging.

There is a theme of experiential relationship with Jesus throughout which is enhanced by the urgency of some of the arrangements. Drawing on the blues and soul traditions, The Followers have created an album in which the music drives home the words. Truth about Jesus isn’t just meant to be understood but experienced. If our music isn’t passionate, why would anyone trust that we really believe the words we sing?

This is an album I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time with.

Preview the album:

• Download Wounded Healer from Noisetrade.
• Download Wounded Healer from BandCamp.

 

I love year-end lists. Not only because it asks us to reflect on media intake but because it’s a great way to discover what we might have missed in any given year. It’s a chance, not to gloat in your own preferences but learn from others.

As many of you know, I partner with my great friend Mark Whiten in something called the Habañero Collective. We used to do a music/interview podcast exploring/challenging notions surrounding “Christian” music but we don’t do that anymore. Somewhere along the way, it morphed into hosting house shows. Future plans include world domination but I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, here are some of our favorite picks of 2011 in various categories:

• Browse Mark’s 2011 picks
• Browse my picks for my favorite concerts of the year
• Browse my some of my favorite songs of the year
• Browse my favorite albums of 2011
• Browse my 2010 picks
• Browse my 2009 picks

Here are some of my favorite songs of the year. I decided to just pick ten and put them in alphabetical order. There was far too much great music this year to try and pick one song for the entire year. However, with that having been said, here are ten of my favorites (plus an honorable mention not in alphabetical order):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(By the way, if I had to pick a favorite song of the year, which I don’t), this would probably be it. Definitely a band to watch in 2012:

Shabazz Palaces – Swerve… by subpop

Who am I to say what’s the “best” of anything in any particular year? And yet, at the same time, the inner urges of music nerd-dom compel me each year to reflect on my media intake and even rank them. Lists are handy when there are people whose taste you trust. They help us discover not only new media but people with similar tastes. Lists help you remember the mood of a particular year. The music we listen to tells a lot about us.

The reality is that our year-end lists say more about us than they do about the artists we highlight. They are a window into the list-maker’s taste, and by extension, personality. So what does my list of favorite 2011 music say about me? You decide.

I was actually a little disappointed this year that my list looks like so many others. Is that arrogant? Probably. Or it could just mean that there were some really good albums this year that a lot of people agreed were good. That’s a good thing, right?

 

 

30) Cass McCombs: Wit’s End

29) Explosions In the Sky: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

28) Ramsay Midwood: Larry Buys A Lighter

27) Hauschka: Salon des Amateurs

26) Reigns: Widow Blades

25) Colin Stetson: History of Warfare Volume 2: Judges

24) Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy: Wolfroy Goes To Town

23) Centro-Matic: Candidate Waltz

22) Miracles of Modern Science: Dog Year

22) The Necks: Mindset

21) Alabama Shakes: Self-Titled EP

20) Wilco: The Whole Love

19) Josh T. Pearson: Last of the Country Gentlemen

18) Tom Waits: Bad As Me

17) Dawes: Nothing Is Wrong

16) Over the Rhine: The Long Surrender

15) Joe Henry: Reverie

14) Youth Lagoon: Year of Hibernation

13) The Cave Singers: No Witch

12) Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo

11) Balam Acab: Wander / Wonder

10) Arrange: Plantation

A devastatingly beautiful record that is almost overwhelming at times. Malcolm Lacey lets the listener in as he deals with the wreckage his abusive father left behind. Get it for free here.

09) tUnE-YaRdS – W H O K I L L

An incredible mish-mash of styles that is invariably held together by Merrill Garbus’ strong and confident voice. A fun record dealing with all sorts of serious issues while moving you to tap your feet.

08) Panda Bear: Tomboy

Noah Lennox continues channeling The Beach boys through lots of reverb to find beauty. Making the avant garde accessible, one melody at a time.

07) Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues

I didn’t give this record a chance until quite late in the year. But, oh my goodness, when I did, it grabbed me quickly. Soaring harmonies.

06) M83: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Tickles my never-ending love for New Order. Hooks galore. “Epic” is going to be over-used when it comes to this (double) album, but it just might be appropriate.

05) Shabazz Palaces: Black Up

I don’t listen to much hip hop and I don’t like having to be forced to explain the “n word” to my oldest son because he hears a rapper use it. However, This album, featuring an ex Digable Planet is just off-kilter enough that I found myself returning to it over and over again. It’s rare to describe much new music as truly “creative,” but this stuff is just that.

04) The Field: A Looping State of Mind

Just like hip hop, I don’t listen to a lot of electronic music. But this album kept finding its way back to my ears. Yes, it’s minimalistic at times and explores Reich-ian repetition but it works. This, more than any other album this year, accompanied me while studying.

03) Bon Iver: Bon Iver

I love this album. It’s Bon Iver with “more.” The only reason it didn’t make the #01 spot on my list is because I didn’t have quite the same emotional bond with this album that I did with my #02 and #01 albums. It is the perfect follow-up to Forever For Emma Ago.

02) Chris Bathgate: Salt Year

Another emotional wreck of an album. You’d think from all the mellow and heavy albums in my list that I had a melancholy year but that’s just not true. Bathgate sings with understated power and plays with subdued beauty, bringing the listener in to reflect on past hurts and future hope with him. In all fairness, once I saw Bathgate live, I knew the album would be near the top of my list, if not my favorite of the year.

01) Seryn: This Is Where We Are

An album that really came out of nowhere for me and defined much of the year. Sweeping harmonies, intricate instrumentation, and sincerity up the ying yang (yes, that’s a good thing). All of that was simply magnified being able to meet the band and see them live (once in my living room!). Great people making great music. What’s better than that?

It’s an exciting time in music for the Church (and I use that term quite intentionally rather than “Christian” music or even the less helpful “Praise and Worship” but those are thoughts for another time).

R.U.F. Music helped kicked off a renaissance of sorts in the revitalization of hymns leading to several solid releases by Indelible Grace. Pagce CXVI, Red Mountain Music and Christopher Miner have also breathed new life into old hymns while The Opiate Mass have not only visited old hymns but written new material for the church. Bifrost Arts is bringing new life to old spirituals and hymns, and, Sovereign Grace Music is writing new music for the church while Soma Communities have recorded an album of songs inspired by the storyline of Scripture and The Rizers set Scripture to music for kids.

While “CCM”-style “Christian” music continues to lag behind popular trends and production styles, music for the church has largely been among the most creative and well-produced (I would argue that this is driven as much, if not more by theology than aesthetics, but that’s another post in and of itself) and at the fore of this creative and well-produced music for the church has been Sojourn Music.

Birthed out of the music ministry of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY, Sojourn Music (hereafter simply called Sojourn) has now put out seven albums, of mostly original material, a split EP between Jamie Barnes and Brooks Ritter (read my review of that EP here) and now two albums of re-worked hymns by Isaac Watts. The new album The Water and The Blood is Sojourn’s follow-up to 2009′s Over The Grave, a terrific album of hymns by Isaac Watts.

Sojourn has continually raised the bar of expectation. With each new release, they have pushed their own boundaries as they blur genres. It always seemed like they were trying to push themselves as artists while also always keeping the Church and “congregational singing” in their view; not an easy task by any means.

In many ways, the new album picks up where Over The Grave left off, exploring the hymns of Watts, but in other ways, The Water And The Blood is an entirely different record, as it should be. The mood is often hushed and there seems to be a somber tone to many of the songs. While Over The Grave pushed genres in an often celebratory tone (think “Warrior” and the closing 80′s rocker “Savior King”), The Water And The Blood seems preoccupied with the valleys instead of the mountaintops with song titles like “Absent From Flesh,” “From My Distress,” and “Death Has Lost Its Sting.”

The album opens with a take on a song Jamie Barnes included on the split EP: “Absent From Flesh” and it’s hard not to compare the two. While Barnes opens with stomping banjo and slide guitar and moves to bouncing horns, bringing an almost New Orleans backbeat flavor, this take eases into things with hushed reverb and gentle acoustic guitar and shaker, whispering hints of Lanois. When Barnes’ chorus hits, you want to shout along. When this one comes, there’s a somber restraint. While it may not be entirely fair to compare the two versions, the differences hint at the direction of the new album.

What happens when a band who so consistently stretches themselves release a more mellow album with a pretty consistent feel? That’s what fans will have to wrestle with here. While there are few standout tracks like “Warrior,” it is an amazingly consistent album, both in musicianship and feel. The shadow of Daniel Lanois looms large and that is a good thing, pedal steel and reverb gently float in and out, never taking the focus and always in just the right spot. “From Deep Distress” comes closest to breaking the generally mellow tone of the album but there’s still a hint of restraint even in the bluesy riffs.

It’s this feel of restraint through the album that actually lends the mellowness of many of the songs a sense of immediacy and its what keeps me coming back to this album. The Christian life is not always shouting in joy. Sometimes it is spent in anxious waiting and quiet reflection. This seems to me to be an album for those times and I’m thankful that Sojourn did not feel the need to repeat themselves. We need music reflecting the totality of the Christian life. Sojourn has produced a solid album that will accompany many of us through the quiet moments of the soul. If you’re looking for some of the bold experimentation that has colored their other work, this might not be the best place in their catalog to start. But if you need music that’s comfortable in the best sense of the term, like it’s been part of your life all along, music that meets you where you are and leads you to reflection on God’s faithfulness, this is your album.

It’s an interesting situation when such an incredibly solid album feels like a pause in a musical catalog. And let’s be clear, this is an incredibly solid album with perhaps a more consistent “feel” than some past Sojourn releases. It’s almost as if they’re reflecting on their identity as a musical entity while finding joy  in making a true “band” record. Recorded live with analog equipment, there is a warm and rich tone that lends itself perfectly to the more mellow feel of the album.

I am thankful for these songs and their players. I am thankful that we are in such a rich time of new and revived music for the Church and I am thankful for Sojourn for leading the way.

Split EPs can be a gamble. The basic premise is that two artists split what would otherwise be a full-length album and split it right down the middle, each creatiing a separate EP which are then packaged together as one full-length album. The cautions should be obvious: what if the two EPs sound too much alike? What if they sound too different? What if the two different artists’ styles clash with one another? What if it doesn’t work as a cohesive whole? But, just as the cautions stare us in the face, so do the potential victories: two creative forces have a platform within which to shine off of another artist’s strengths, sharpening their own. That’s exactly what happened when Louisville’s Jamie Barnes and Brooks Ritter decided to do a split project together.

Barnes and Ritter each contribute five songs to the project and while the two EPs are distinct and different, they play off of one another in astonishing beauty and grace. Each EP explores the battle against sin and reliance on Jesus in different yet complimentary ways. The thematic uniy is really what ties this project together, along with the production, which allows different musicians, expressing themselves different to compliment one another.

Barnes opens the album with The Mercy Seat EP. I was immediately struck by the lushness and added textures Barnes has added to his music. While his music has always been marked by a simple lushness, he addition of strings and horns adds layer, texture and depth to already beautiful songwriting. On “Absent From The Flesh,” Barnes shows that there’s more in him than the typical mellow singer-songwriter material he’s largely known from. The upbeat track looks forward to that final celebration when God finally takes us home. The New Orleans style horns and backbeat urge you to join in the hand-clapping and sing out: “I go where God and glory shine, to one eternal day. This failing body I now resign for the angels point my way.”

Perhaps most interesting amidst Barnes’ strong offerings is “Dark Passenger,” a song struggling to understand our ongoing battle with indwelling sin, longing for the final victory. “Dark passenger” is a phrase borrows from the television series Dexter, about a serial killer who struggles to come to terms with his urges. The lilting, almost walt-lke upbeat melody plays in stark contrast with lyrics like: “What is this voice that trails behind me breathing blameful lies? I fail to shake its shadow from me.” The contrast is powerful and forces each one of us to look to the mercy seat in contrast to our own weakness.

Ritter, too, it seems, has expanded his musical palate. While his 2009 outing The Horse Fell Lame was largely solo, acoustic and featured minimal instrumentation, highlighting Ritters’ soulful vocals, The War EP expands his already rich sound, adding full band that only serves to further push his strong vocals front and center.

Opening his section with the EP’s title track, the foreboding guitar and marching drums pick up perfectly the theme of struggle Barnes has just left us with. Ritter opens, longing for relief in the desert, “a drop to quench my grief,” bursting into a powerful chorus reminding us that the only true relief “in my hour of need” flows from Calvary. The powerful contrast to the lilting melody Barnes has just left us with could not be more perfect because the theme of struggle beyond ourselves s woven so skillfully by both writers.

Ritter soulfully explores the same territory of hope-filled struggle as does Barnes. In fact, many of the songs seems to mirror one another thematically. Both EPs open with songs of struggle and go immediately into joyful, celebratory tracks, not only looking forward to that day of final deliverance but back to the “good day” when Jesus did, in fact come to save His people.

But whereas Barnes leaves us in the midst of struggling, battling our “dark passengers,” Ritter leaves us with the “Rock of Ages” that saves us from wrath and makes us pure.

Barnes and Ritter have risen to the challenge of a thematically unified, musically diverse split album wonderfully. Each has expanded their musical palate, drawing on their strengths and complimenting one another all the while. The album is honest and hopeful, a balance often often missing in much “Christian” music. It not only draws on traditional material but also adds to that already rich canon, reminding us that beauty is often found in the chaos of life and that, though we struggle in a war to run to the mercy seat, there is always a rock stronger than us.

Highly, highly recommended.

I first came across The Autumn Film last year when, as their alter-ego Page CXVI, they began releasing a series of updated hymn arrangements. Those hymns quickly became favorites around our home and I was curious about the band behind them. I became equally intrigued by the band behind the band, The Autumn Film. In May of this year we had them out to AZ for a house show, which turned out to be one of my favorites so far.

Their songs have appeared on MTV’s “Real World” and the band has received shout-outs from Urban Outfitters. Their reputation is building, and deservedly so. This is a band finding its stride and gaining confidence with every step. They have succeeded in taking familiar themes and instrumentation and molding them into a unique voice; something increasingly rare these days. They sound like The Autumn Film.

The band’s unique sound is driven by Tifah Phillips keyboards and strong voice. Anchored by Dann Stockton’s drumns, Reid Phillips fills out the sound with guitar. For a trio, they create a lush, full sound, owing, in large part to the keyboards bringing in, not only melodies but bass fills. The sound is both intimate and big.

Their latest album, The Ship and the Sea comes beautifully packaged with a puzzle of the album artwork. While a puzzle might seem a bit gimmicky, the music is anything but. The sea, and its ebb and flow figure prominently throughout the album, weaving many of the images together. Many of the songs are held together by the feeling of loss and yet, like The Smiths, the lyrics of loss often float above immediately catchy melodies.

The songs are strong and though there is definitely a “feel” to the album it is not repetitive. Tifah’s vocals are strong and the band often finds itself nearing anthemic proportions. Another review used the word “epic” to describe some of the songs and that might not be an overstatement. The hooks are big but built on solid song structure. The lyrics are straightforward but not sappy and the music not only compliments the themes is helps mold them. Many of the songs follow the “build to crescendo” pattern but it works brilliantly here. The intertwining themes of love and loss are tossed about by the waves of everyday life, commitment, loss, love, the bright and painful stuff of everyday life that makes for beautiful music.

This is definitely one of my favorite albums of this year. If you haven’t checked it out, please do so.

• Visit The Autumn Film’s official site and support the band by buying lots of stuff.