Shining a Light on Exceptional Christian Music

Jon Foreman’s latest album Limbs and Branches is a compilation from his four seasons solo project. This album takes the best from each of his four seasonally themed albums and presents them together. It is hard to tell just by listening which track came from which seasonal album.

Children 18:3 hails from Minneapolis.  I had the pleasure of seeing Children 18:3 live at a battle of the bands circa ‘02 or ‘03. A couple of years ago I got word of their signing with Tooth & Nail and hopped on MySpace to give their self-titled debut a listen.

Since Regina Spektor’s recent popularity, there’s been an epidemic of piano playing teenage girls who are obviously influenced by the singer in their attempts at being “unique.” Let’s applaud Brooke Waggoner for not being one of those girls.  Waggoner is more genuine in creating something original—it’s playful (‘Daylover’), but not at all annoying (teenage Youtube girls).  

The state of worship music has become somewhat predictable.  We all know when we are listening to a rock/worship band.  We find ourselves presented with sappy, overly dramatic music that – more often than not – follows the same boring pattern that has been followed by band after band.  Bands settle, for settling is what has worked for years.

The Extended Play album, otherwise known as the EP, can be used in a variety of ways. It can feature a radio single with a surplus of re-mixes. Straightforward, it can be used to get music out to fans. More prominently, it can advertise a forthcoming full-length album, which happens to be the strategy of the Santa Ana,

Welcome, The Welcome Wagon! You were just a tad late, though!  Life would have been smoother for Christian boys and girls if artists like you and Sufjan were around ten years ago, when, in our parents’ eyes, listening to “secular” music was like shooting up, and Weezer was the neighborhood drug dealer.

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

As musicians in this modern age, Eric Owyoung and his band, Future of Forestry, find themselves on the road many months of the year. This experience can be an enjoyable one filled with new experiences,

Son Lux has undertaken a rather large task with their full-length album At War With Walls and Mazes. Within this album we find a wide range of sounds that surround a powerful cry for salvation. Son Lux incorporates the full gauntlet of instrumentation to power their listeners toward the freeing light of truth.

Concept albums are an interesting bunch.  They walk a fine line between overdone Broadway show theatrics and cheesy gimmickry.  On one hand, if we find no connection to the story, or the story is weakly written, we must be entertained by the music itself.  Conversely, if the story is good and we have an authentic connection, the music can move freely

There are certainly uniquely gifted bands today that release albums with their own brand of style that has the listener relishing to come back for more, both musically and lyrically. This is, without a doubt, Paper Route. After three scores of EPs since forming in 2004, this synth-powered rock band from Nashville unveiled their first full-length album