I don't really like CCM. Maybe some songs are fine, and I do like "Blessed Be Your Name" (when I'm playing & singing, anyway...), but I need some better music than the bulk of what I heard on Christian radio. Mostly, I get tired of boring melodies and lack of instrumentation, so I guess my issue is with the musicality, but I would also appreciate good lyrics.
I've not heard a single Christian radio station for about two months now, and I don't miss it.
However, I would like to find some good Christian (or something other than love-song-themed!) music... so I browsed the recommendations on this other blog post over at Boundless, and what follows is a summary of what I've been thinking.
Sufjan Stevens: I searched YouTube for just "Sufjan Stevens" and pulled up a song called "For the Widows in Paradise" which was curious. I liked the ukelele and the different harmony, but still it's a bit monotone. I listened to "Chicago" then and I think I understand that Stevens' music just always will remind me of the flower-power trippy seventies. Eh. Yeah, it's new, so all right, but not the kind of thing I'm going to like for a long long time.
Derek Webb: Another name that was vaguely familiar and I was curious about. Same YouTube procedure yielded "Wedding Dress" which somewhere I've heard before. His voice on this annoys me, and the music isn't particularly unique. Then I pulled up "What Matters More" and liked the intro. Overall, he doesn't pull punches lyrically (that's a good) but the music is still kinda boring.
Mark Heard: Somewhere I heard this guy was one of the earliest Christian artists (on the order of Keith Green, as in groundbreaking for CCM) so I hoped he'd resemble Keith Green or Rich Mullins in that they were more original and kinda my style of music. It was hard to figure out what to listen to here, but I tried to click "Nod Over Coffee"... but had to settle with a cover for sound quality. But even still.... It's folksy and melancholy and I like the lyric style and the guitar! Hey, we might have a winner here. Especially after also hearing "Strong Hand of Love," though I can tell it's dated.
David Wilcox: Don't remember where I've heard this name, but I think I have, so I clicked "Eye of the Hurricane" and enjoyed the guitar. And the lyrics. Another winner? Listened to "Bearcat" and immediately enjoyed it as well. Random!
John Williams and Danny Elfman: Just sayin'. I already know some music from these guys, since I've seen the movies (John Williams needs no list, but I searched IMDb for Elfman and he did the Spiderman movies and the first SpyKids, and Men in Black, and a couple Batman movies). A friend of mine is obsessed with Danny Elfman's movie music.
The Decemberists: Only vaguely heard of these people, so I click "Sixteen Military Wives" and realize it's pacifist or anti-American-dream or something. It piques my interest, however, because I like the oldies sound and the poetry of the lyrics, and I click another, "The Rake's Song." I read the lyrics while waiting for the vid to load, and laughed because it reminded me of Tom Leher's "The Irish Ballad." Musically this guy is like the seventies I think, a little monotone but not too much. Fun stuff, I think.
Jake Armerding: Never heard of this guy, but somebody said "if you like contemporary bluegrass/folk style" and I think I do. On his website, the first song that pulled up was a clip "Up on the Rim" and I liked the guitar. Yep, folksy. Wow, I love this... second to pull up was a clip of "Song of Solomon" which is more country than is usual for me (though I can enjoy this a lot in certain moods). He's a possibility, though I think Mom would appreciate his stuff more than I do.
Andrew Petersen: Somebody said he "follows in the footsteps of Rich Mullins" and another described him as a Christian folk artist. Thus, I click. "Labor of Love" was first, a Christmas song, it appears, but I wasn't expecting a female singer. Boring musically, not exactly impressive lyrically. Then I clicked "Anais" and discovered the guy must be British. I like the guitar here better, but the lyrics are kinda... boring. Not really poetic or particularly original. Sorry, British guy.
MuteMath: Finally, I'm on the last of the artists! Really, this was a random list and there wasn't a semblance of order to them. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure why I added these people to the list, but I did. A YouTube search gave me "Typical" which appears rockier than I care for usually, and though I like the guitar lick-theme the song doesn't appeal to me much. (Kinda monotone.) And I browse the other YouTube links... they did the Twilight music?... and click "Reset" which again sounds like rock (and, I realize, is an instrumental, and a longish one at that). Meh. My dad might like it, though; I dunno.
So there we have it. I should therefore get music from... who were they again? Mark Heard, David Wilcox, and possibly the other group. The Decemberists. Maybe that Jake Amerding too.
I've not heard a single Christian radio station for about two months now, and I don't miss it.
However, I would like to find some good Christian (or something other than love-song-themed!) music... so I browsed the recommendations on this other blog post over at Boundless, and what follows is a summary of what I've been thinking.
Sufjan Stevens: I searched YouTube for just "Sufjan Stevens" and pulled up a song called "For the Widows in Paradise" which was curious. I liked the ukelele and the different harmony, but still it's a bit monotone. I listened to "Chicago" then and I think I understand that Stevens' music just always will remind me of the flower-power trippy seventies. Eh. Yeah, it's new, so all right, but not the kind of thing I'm going to like for a long long time.
Derek Webb: Another name that was vaguely familiar and I was curious about. Same YouTube procedure yielded "Wedding Dress" which somewhere I've heard before. His voice on this annoys me, and the music isn't particularly unique. Then I pulled up "What Matters More" and liked the intro. Overall, he doesn't pull punches lyrically (that's a good) but the music is still kinda boring.
Mark Heard: Somewhere I heard this guy was one of the earliest Christian artists (on the order of Keith Green, as in groundbreaking for CCM) so I hoped he'd resemble Keith Green or Rich Mullins in that they were more original and kinda my style of music. It was hard to figure out what to listen to here, but I tried to click "Nod Over Coffee"... but had to settle with a cover for sound quality. But even still.... It's folksy and melancholy and I like the lyric style and the guitar! Hey, we might have a winner here. Especially after also hearing "Strong Hand of Love," though I can tell it's dated.
David Wilcox: Don't remember where I've heard this name, but I think I have, so I clicked "Eye of the Hurricane" and enjoyed the guitar. And the lyrics. Another winner? Listened to "Bearcat" and immediately enjoyed it as well. Random!
John Williams and Danny Elfman: Just sayin'. I already know some music from these guys, since I've seen the movies (John Williams needs no list, but I searched IMDb for Elfman and he did the Spiderman movies and the first SpyKids, and Men in Black, and a couple Batman movies). A friend of mine is obsessed with Danny Elfman's movie music.
The Decemberists: Only vaguely heard of these people, so I click "Sixteen Military Wives" and realize it's pacifist or anti-American-dream or something. It piques my interest, however, because I like the oldies sound and the poetry of the lyrics, and I click another, "The Rake's Song." I read the lyrics while waiting for the vid to load, and laughed because it reminded me of Tom Leher's "The Irish Ballad." Musically this guy is like the seventies I think, a little monotone but not too much. Fun stuff, I think.
Jake Armerding: Never heard of this guy, but somebody said "if you like contemporary bluegrass/folk style" and I think I do. On his website, the first song that pulled up was a clip "Up on the Rim" and I liked the guitar. Yep, folksy. Wow, I love this... second to pull up was a clip of "Song of Solomon" which is more country than is usual for me (though I can enjoy this a lot in certain moods). He's a possibility, though I think Mom would appreciate his stuff more than I do.
Andrew Petersen: Somebody said he "follows in the footsteps of Rich Mullins" and another described him as a Christian folk artist. Thus, I click. "Labor of Love" was first, a Christmas song, it appears, but I wasn't expecting a female singer. Boring musically, not exactly impressive lyrically. Then I clicked "Anais" and discovered the guy must be British. I like the guitar here better, but the lyrics are kinda... boring. Not really poetic or particularly original. Sorry, British guy.
MuteMath: Finally, I'm on the last of the artists! Really, this was a random list and there wasn't a semblance of order to them. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure why I added these people to the list, but I did. A YouTube search gave me "Typical" which appears rockier than I care for usually, and though I like the guitar lick-theme the song doesn't appeal to me much. (Kinda monotone.) And I browse the other YouTube links... they did the Twilight music?... and click "Reset" which again sounds like rock (and, I realize, is an instrumental, and a longish one at that). Meh. My dad might like it, though; I dunno.
So there we have it. I should therefore get music from... who were they again? Mark Heard, David Wilcox, and possibly the other group. The Decemberists. Maybe that Jake Amerding too.
Comments
If there were still recordings around of the apostle Paul rapping, lyrically it'd be like Lecrae... Unfortunately, Paul's rap albums were all lost in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, so we only have his letters... :(
OK, so I did look up Lecrae on YouTube. And I will say, if I liked rap, I would probably love Lecrae.€ However I don't, so this is... tolerable?