tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959214172033831820.post6774637398247201066..comments2024-02-24T06:14:15.330-08:00Comments on God According to a Music Nerd: Christians need quality musictoddhooverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13002462862211865751noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959214172033831820.post-57877723449641489862009-09-25T16:55:25.254-07:002009-09-25T16:55:25.254-07:00OK, I meant to have a whole ton of great comments ...OK, I meant to have a whole ton of great comments for you guys but I accidentally deleted all of them and frankly don't feel like retyping everything (sorry about that), so let me just say thanks to all three of you for reading and for the kind words of encouragement! I think God certainly deserves better joyful noises than what He's been getting lately.<br /><br />Kristen: As for Christian music that doesn't suck, I would recommend anything on the Asthmatic Kitty or Sounds Familyre labels, much of which you're probably already familiar with -- Sufjan Stevens, Danielson, Woven Hand (with David Eugene Edwards, formerly of 16 Horsepower), Half-Handed Cloud, Soul-Junk, The Welcome Wagon (a Presbyterian ministry couple!), Liz Janes, Shannon Stephens, etc. Other contemporary artists and songs I would recommend are as follows:<br /><br />Leonard Cohen, "Story of Isaac"<br />Pedro the Lion<br />Starflyer 59<br />Damien Jurado<br />Morella's Forest<br />Sal Paradise<br />Summer Hymns<br />Joe Christmas<br />Crooked Fingers<br />The Black Heart Procession<br />The Decemberists, "Sons and Daughters"<br />American Music Club, "Last Harbor"<br />The Velvet Underground, "Jesus"<br />Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "There is a Kingdom"<br />Bonnie "Prince" Billy, "I See a Darkness"<br />Sun Kil Moon, "Unlit Hallway"<br />Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch, "I'll Fly Away"<br />Gillian Welch, "By the Mark"<br />Over the Rhine<br />Switchfoot<br />Jars of Clay<br />Derek Webb<br />Bruce Cockburn<br />Bill Mallonnee/Vigilantes of Love<br />Sarah Masen<br />Fernando Ortega<br />Page France<br />Neutral Milk Hotel, "King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 2"<br />Johnny Cash<br />Talk Talk<br />The Louvin Brothers, "Satan is Real"<br />Kanye West, "Jesus Walks"<br />J.D. Salinger<br />Cold War Kids<br />Anathallo<br />Mewithoutyou<br />Tonio K.<br />The Innocence Mission<br />Denison Witmer<br />T-Bone Burnett<br />Sam Phillips<br />Peter Case, "Hidden Love"<br />Victoria Williams, "Holy Spirit"<br />The Jayhawks, "Smile"<br />Murray Attaway, "Allegory"<br />Buddy and Julie Miller, "The Selfishness in Man"<br />The Alarm, "The Stand"<br />Eisley, "I Could Be There for You"<br />Pierce Pettis, "I Am Nothing (But the Angels Sometimes Whisper in My Ears)"<br />David Wilcox, "Awake, My Dear"<br />Emmylou Harris<br />Bob Dylan, "Gotta Serve Somebody"<br />U2<br />Larry Norman<br />Hank Williams, "I Saw the Light"<br />The Rolling Stones, "Shine a Light"<br />Ernest Tubb, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus"<br />The Byrds, "The Christian Life"<br />The Band, "The Weight"toddhooverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13002462862211865751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959214172033831820.post-83439978204814007402009-09-24T15:37:34.369-07:002009-09-24T15:37:34.369-07:00Kristen, who is your favorite band?
I totally agr...Kristen, who is your favorite band?<br /><br />I totally agree with you Todd! Most 'Christian' music is unimaginative and repetitive. The only Christian groups I like are Relient K, and some albums from Sanctus Real, Everyday Sunday, and Switchfoot. I've mostly given up on finding good Christian musicians, and instead, try to find music that is uplifting and positive. If that song happens to be by an artist who happens to be a christian (or not, they just might be a good person who is a rationalist, or believes in a different religious idea) and their songs happen to be played on secular and christian radio, then I think I've hit the nail on the head.ralphmyhippiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16683680742428200476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959214172033831820.post-60088741840982169152009-09-19T10:15:59.176-07:002009-09-19T10:15:59.176-07:00Finally, someone has addressed it. I play bass an...Finally, someone has addressed it. I play bass and sing in my church band, and one day our music leader, trying to make casual conversation during a baby shower, asked me what my favorite band was. This is a lady who was raised by a music minister, has probably never listened to secular music (not even the beatles), and whose favorite band is Hillsong. I was at a comlete loss. I didn't want to tell her that my favorite band only mentions Jesus in an ironic way. I've always felt a lot of guilt for this. Throughout my teen years, youth pastors would always have that speech about getting rid of all your cds that don't glorify God, but I never listened. I wish I could enjoy Christian music more, but I just feel if you're singing to the God of creation, you might come up with something better, something maybe a little deeper. I agree that Christian music has become pretty watered down. I guess this comment doesn't really have a point beyond that, I just wanted to point out that, dude, I relate to this so hard. <br />p.s. Can you recommend some bands or artists that don't suck and happen to be Christian?kristenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12616579784634675288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959214172033831820.post-47002132797193309822009-09-19T00:19:01.010-07:002009-09-19T00:19:01.010-07:00Aaaaand, I feel like I'm back in the music lob...Aaaaand, I feel like I'm back in the music lobby at Simpson. :)<br />This was one of the common topics of discussion in the music department and one that didn't make us many friends when we tried to discuss it outside of the department (well, except with some of the bible and theology profs).<br />We got better results when we rephrased it this way: "Don't try to be a 'Christian' musician; be a good musician who also happens to be a Christian."(You can replace "musician" with any profession and it helps people get your point.)<br />Since I can't add much to the issues with contemporary church music, I do have two tidbits that I feel are good to remember when working with your own congregation:<br />1. Music in the church should be primarily functional, which means that you should choose songs based on what is right for the moment and not based on an arbitrary favorite style (as an extreme example, Bach actually wrote some parts of his cantatas to be unplayable/unsingable. The musicians would actually fail when trying to perform it so it would highlight lyrics dealing with despair or man's separation from God, etc.).<br />2. You have to start where your congregation is at the moment and then expand their horizons from there. I remember one anecdote from a music leader who was trying to introduce hymns and other interesting styles to his chorus-only congregation. His plan was to introduce a hymn once a month (when appropriate) and then build up from there. He estimated it was going to take him about five years to get where he wanted the church to be musically, without alienating his congregates. And he was cool with that. <br />3. Hymns have been around for hundreds of years, and the ones we have now are generally the ones that were filtered out as being noteworthy. But there were lots of hymns that were just as inane lyrically and musically as many praise-choruses today. And there are good praise-choruses being written here and there...it will just take some time to filter out all the fluff (of which there is a lot).<br />In the meantime, I'm glad there are musicians like you out there willing to soldier on. Keep at it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com