Amazon Recommendations

I am not a big shopper, especially regarding anything Black Friday related. However, I make an exception for music. And this year you have plenty to be thankful for today- Friday or when the $5 per album sale ends. So, with no further ado run over to Amazon and buy these albums (you don't have to dig through the list of over 500, since I have done it for you). Click on the album name to go to Amazon.

New

Aim and Ignite by Fun.- Rising from the ashes of The Format, the most underrated band of the decade comes this beautifully bombastic slice of theatrical pop. Do you like power pop with dark lyrics, sunny melodies and grand themes (ala Queen)? Fun. is truly the most fun album of the year!

Dragonslayer by Sunset Rubdown-Looking for something original? Try these guys.

The Antlers' Hospice- I think this may be the best album of 2009. It is surely top 3. It is a dark, brooding, inexplicably sad and gorgeous meditation on the death of a loved one from a kid too young to be making such mature music. Imagine Bon Iver as Radiohead.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros- Imagine Polyphonic Spree mixing with a hippy folk at a big tent revival. Now, imagine it sounding really cool. at once familiar and new.

Regina Spektor's latest Far- the usually reliable folks over at Paste missed it with this album. It is not mediocre and is prove that good music grows on you. I think it is one of the year's better albums with one glaring weakness "Machine"which does not mare Far. Just skip it.

Chunk of Change by Passion Pit- Do you like to dance?If the answer is yes, buy this.

Pretty New

Avett Brothers' Emotionalism- while their latest is a masterful but mellow effort, I am still drawn to the combo of raucous and beauty of this album which captures a bit of their live show more than others. If you haven't heard them, imagine bluegrass rock. They've got other Avett Brothers albums cheap also.

The Stage Names and The Stand Ins by Okkervil River- If you must pick one, go with The Stage Names, but these are thematic and musical bookends by one of the best lyricists of the decade. Songs such as Plus Ones are as good as it gets.

The 59 Sound by Gaslight Anthem- All the good bands seem to sound like Springsteen, be it Arcade Fire or The Hold Steady. Gaslight Anthem punk up Bruce and add wonderful energy. Very good lyricist and one of the best of 2008.

Flight of The Conchords by Flight of the Conchords- If you have a sense of humor, buy it.

Furr by Blitzen Trapper-This was a top 3 album according to me in 2008. It still sounds like the bastard child of Wilco and The Grateful Dead.

Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts by M83- If you like ambient or electronic music and you don't listen to them, you don't know what you are missing. They have 3 excellent albums for $5, but this is their best. If you are looking for good church music, this is a good place to start also.

The Crane's Wife by the Decemberists-An overrated band, but this is one of its better collections of tunes.

Classics

Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime- I lived this album as a kid. It is fast, dirty and sounds like the wheels are coming off. In other words, it sounds like teenage life. You may not like the rawness, but listen to what blew the minds of a few teens in 1983.

The Best of the Sun Years by Johnny Cash- If you don't own any of Cash's old stuff, this is a great place to start.

George Jones' The Greatest Living Country Singer- This is not the definitive collection and I beg to differ that he is the greatest living singer (close by default), but to understand country, one needs to hear Jones.

Greatest Hits by Al Green-Seriously, if you don't own this, you don't like music.

Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys- Need I say anything more?

The College Dropout by Kanye West- Yes he is a narcissist with a god complex whose subsequent albums continue to be less interesting that the one before, but this is an instant classic, one of the best rap albums of all time.

20 Best of Patsy Cline by Patsy Cline- Simply the greatest female singer of all time. This collection is missing many of ther classics, but it will force you to dig deeper into her catalog.

and yeah, they got Bon Iver, but who doesn't and you've heard the hype too much. Don't forget Hard Knock Life, Volume 2 and others by Jay-Z. Remember The Cardigans? Their album, First Band On The Moon is $5. Lastly, there is a good version of Coltrane's Blue Train and some really good classical stuff if you have holes in your collection.

Drive By Truckers: The CNN of the Working Class (Music School with DJ Word)

The kind folks at Generate Magazine allowed a friend to write 2 article for their wonderful new magazine. The first, a review of Derek Webb's latest, is below. The second article was a reworking of something printed on this blog months ago, a critical assessment of why Drive-By Truckers should be listened to by all. It follows my thinking that we must listen to the artistic expressions and voices of those easily dismissed by those in power, or by those we respect. My thoughts are that in this brave new world of bad economy, the voices of the poor rural white underclass need to be listened to and taken seriously, especially by progressives and progressives Christians.

We need to listen to first person stories, not just stories about a group of people. According to Nigerian Novelist Chimamanda Adichie, these stories mitigate the dangers of a single story and stereotyping of a people group, whether they are African or Rural South. As she eloquently puts it, the problem with stereotypes are not that they are wrong, but that they are incomplete.

Anyway, here is that article from Generate. Please take the chance to head over to their website and say kind things (and subscribe).

Drive By Truckers: The CNN of the Working Class

What does a band that expresses the moralist therapeutic deism of disenfranchised Southern white poor people through loud country-influenced Southern Rock have to teach a group of so-called, ‘well-educated followers of God in the way of Jesus’ about life? Everything.

As I have thought of emerging churches and the recession, I have noticed one of the weaknesses of this movement. In some ways I would agree with those claiming that Emergent is a group of elitists (I being one). It is Elitists ministering to other elitists and the poor. However, we are not presently part of the middle ground, with answers for the working poor, the working class, or the blue collar—the people of my heritage from whom I ran when I got educated. Ironically, this is a place the modern church, especially the fundamentalist church, is speaking to.

I think this is incredibly important because those who may have considered themselves elites, or at least educated white collars, are recently beginning to experience parts of life from a working class/blue collar/working poor perspective. As our churches, neighborhoods, and families continue in this direction, how do we respond? When the problems of the inner city, rural America, and "trailer park" become the problems of the suburbs, new-urbanites, and upwardly mobile members of society, does the Emerging church hold any hope beyond our theological discussions, told-you-so attitude, and artistic expressions?

What does the recession have to do with music and the emerging church? While I am intentionally generalizing, I think the emerging church has a blind spot regarding the working-class and blue-collar crowd that we must address for this movement to participate in the future of the church. Our participation must move beyond “strategies for elites helping the poor” into joining and learning from those experiencing poverty. To do this, we must first listen to the stories of the lower middle class. It is my contention that the stories, issues, and problems of those in rural America, trailer parks, and ghettos will become the problems of the middle class, suburbanites, and leveraged upwardly mobile very soon (especially in the South and places where the line of demarcation between the classes is tenuous at best and the recession is causing severe strain). I’m not saying here that “we’re all poor in our own special way” but that poverty, has long been a reality as opposed to a cause, and this reality is blending into the lives of more and more people, so we need to learn from the stories of the poor and not just “combat” poverty.

Drive-By Truckers (DBT) is telling the stories of those middle American trying to survive when life has not worked out as well as it should have, mixed with a bit of religion (good and bad). While folk and country have the ability to tell such stories, I do not think the present-day manifestations are doing a good enough job. Too much folk music is cerebral and whiny, while much of today's country music revels in an unhealthy lifestyle and glorifies it (the same complaint some have with rap) without maintaining the journalistic distance or self-examination of previous incarnations. I believe this is due to marketing forces. Self-reflection is seen as weak, and people may not want to buy it—so we give fake nostalgia instead, the longing for a life we never experienced (see Tim McGraw, son of a professional ball player). This is fine on Saturday night but not helpful as a work of art to illuminate.

DBT is a prime example of a band that illuminates and tells the story of a people. Like Chuck D calling hip-hop the "CNN of the ghetto," DBT mine the depths of the southern experience, in a sometimes crass but always compelling manner. In fact, they understand this, giving themselves a name that conjures up the Inner City and South at once, naming an album The Dirty South, a term for a specific rap subgenre from Atlanta, and using the same subject matter as rap, albeit from a distinctly white southern point of view, in songs like "Wife Beater," "Aftermath USA," and "Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)."

A cursory examination of their lyrics reveals that this is not typical country music (if you have not heard them, imagine a combination of Lynyrd Skynyrd and REM, or The Replacements and Waylon Jennings). This is a CNN of the poor rural south, and I think it is becoming more relevant to the rest of the country and to those ministered to by churches throughout America (I would also say that inner city, mostly African American churches need to listen to rap—but many of their ministers understand this). It is hidden by those in our communities, but it is the heritage of many who are recovering fundamentalists in emerging churches, who are angry at the church (some of whom still attend), who are burdened with serious guilt, and who are trying to survive along the righteous path of good living (as DBT eloquently state in a song).

Get started with DBT’s latest album, Brighter than Creation’s Dark, with highlights including “The Righteous Path,” in which singer Patterson Hood takes on the persona of the everyday suburbanite with too much baggage keeping him down as he tries to live an ordinary life of righteousness with a God he does not understand ("I don't know God, but I fear his wrath") and bills he can’t pay (“more bills than money, I can do the math/I’m trying to keep focused on the righteous path”). On the breathtaking “2 Daughters and a Beautiful Wife,” he gives us a glimpse of heaven rooted in love for his family and a desire to spend eternity with them, more than any “orthodox” understanding of life after death. In doing so, he accomplishes a more honest confession of the actual beliefs of people and what brings them comfort without theological niceties.

Next up, head over to The Dirty South with “Putting People on the Moon,” which expresses the anger and frustration of working hard and having no money as others succeed and life continues on a downward spiral. It is written about the Reagan era but holds a message for today.

By no means their best album, Southern Rock Opera is the best distillation of the “duality of the Southern Thing” ever expressed artistically. DBT does not glorify the experience as much as it desires to walk a mile in the shoes of others and tell their side of the story, even if is hard to hear.

Can those of us who consider ourselves enlightened, nuanced, and progressive see the nuance of the struggling protagonists of the songs of these bands, those trying to live a righteous but entangled life amid the bad decisions and poor role models of their present situations? For all of our rhetoric about “missional” and “emerging” if we cannot walk in the shoes of such folk, we will be of little good to anyone beyond ourselves.

Derek Webb's latest is the opposite of the adage "show, don't tell"

Generate is a great new magazine a number of my friends have been involved in getting off the ground. It is a beautifully designed and well written tome, aside from my reviews of music. Troy Bronsink, my editor for music stuff at the magazine has graciously allowed me to share my review of Derek Webb's latest album, Stockholm Syndrome on my blog. If you want to see it in all its glory, along with actual great writing, take this chance to head over to their website and subscribe today.

Here is the review... Sorry I am such a hater.

The Opposite of “Show, Don’t Tell”

I am not sure why Derek Webb named his latest album Stockholm Syndrome, a condition in which the kidnapped begins to associate himself or herself with the kidnapper. However, to truly enjoy this album I would need Webb to kidnap me. Maybe at that point I could understand what is causing him to lose nuance and to embody everything he is railing against. This has been happening to Webb ever since leaving Caedmon’s Call. But Christian music’s dirty little secret is that we turn a deaf ear to the pedantic lyrics and pedestrian music of our best musicians. In fact, we expect too little of our artists and their art, as long as they get the “message” right.

SS is supposed to be an edgy album, one so controversial that the “Christian” industry won’t touch it. Why? Because he uses bad words and talks nicely about homosexuals. However, if slight swearing and surface-level inclusivism is as insurgent as "Christian Music" gets, our musicians have misplaced their prophetic voice. Larry Norman, Keith Green, Steve Taylor, and even Steve Camp were stirring the drink and exposing our wounds more effectively decades ago. Where Webb’s hero, Rich Mullins, would rather observe, entice, and question, Webb bludgeons us in the head by telling us what to believe (even if we agree with the sentiment). Like Mockingbird, this is a bunch of sermons with clunky rhymes set to bland music, delving into the pseudo-electronica of Bright Eye’s least successful album, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, on some cuts for no seeming purpose beyond attempting to be “different.” If you like that sort of thing, then buy this album. However, you could just read God’s Politics while listening to Moby for the same effect.