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Album Of The Day: Collide by Andy Hunter
Released 15 years ago today, this is Andy Hunter's fourth solo release and his first fully independent release. If you haven't heard of Andy Hunter before, he's a DJ and Producer who does dance club music. Think of that action movie where they go to some dark club with fancy lights and the music is so loud no one can hear anything; that type of music. On this album (or is it an EP?) each song is about 7 minutes long and includes lots of bass and drums with synths, electronic sounds, and some vocals. It's only 5 tracks plus a remix so some might call that an EP, but I don't know, it's about a long as a full-length album from most other artists. This music has tons of energy and fun sounds and although I don't dance much, it's really enjoyable to listen to.
Release Year: 2010
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Album Of The Day: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack by Various
Released 25 years ago today, this is the soundtrack to the excellent Coen Brothers film set in the American South during the Depression. T-Bone Burnett put together a who's who of artists to record new versions of period-appropriate songs that do a good deal to make the film very enjoyable and memorable, though there are many other elements about this film I love as well. The mix of country, bluegrass, Southern Gospel and blues is just so much fun music to listen to, even when you're not watching the movie. Actor Tim Blake Nelson even gets his moment to shine on this album with "In The Jailhouse Now". Even if you haven't seen the film, you probably know a few of these old standards like "You Are My Sunshine", "I'll Fly Away" and "Down To The River To Pray". I don't yet have this on CD, but I'm looking for a copy now after giving it a listen today. I also want to watch the movie again sometime as it's been at least a decade since I watched it.
Release Year: 2000
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Album Of The Day: Professional Rapper by John Reuben
"I have no opinion, I don't / I could but I won't / I'm tired of arguing." Released 22 years ago this week, this is John Reuben's fourth studio album and the first album where he really started to find his definitive sound that is a amalgam of rap with rock beds. John Reuben makes albums that acknowledge Christian values, but also ask the hard questions and have a healthy dose of humor as well. Some of my favorite rock vocalists show up on this album for background vocals, both Adrienne Camp of The Benjamin Gate and Tim Skipper of House of Heroes. Sure, he's a middle-aged white man co-opting the world of hip-hop created by black Americans, but he creates rap that speaks to me, so I love it. Thanks for continuing to speak truth and ask the questions, John. I'll keep buying the albums. "It's been 20 years, no wonder the '80s are in."
Release Year: 2003
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Album Of The Day: Never Picture Perfect by Rich Mullins
If you read my Album Of The Day posts often, you know I'm a big fan of Rich Mullins by now. He wrote great songs that talked about life's struggles but also found lots of solace and joy in Jesus. Released 36 years ago yesterday, this is Rich's fourth studio album and it includes a bit of his humorous side along with his normal Christian pop. "Alrightokuhhuhamen" is a funny way to encourage us to remember to listen when God is calling us to do something. "Hope To Carry On" was a song I first heard on WOW 1998 when it was covered by Caedmon's Call and is an all-time favorite song, even better when it's got the short "I Will Sing" right before it. "Higher Education And The Book Of Love" decides to condemn our Educational institutions because they are anti-God or something, and I don't know if I fully agree with that, but it's certainly a hot take that I didn't really expect from Rich. But wow, I love the rest of the B side of this album; "Bound To Come Some Trouble", "My One Thing" and "Somewhere" are all great, and with "The Love Of God" right in the middle, it's just a great lineup. This is only just over 37 minutes, but it's a great album of late '80s Christian music.
Release Year: 1989
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Album Of The Day: Then Came The Morning by The Lone Bellow
It's a cold, dark winter evening here in Minnesota, and after trying to decide what to listen to, I realized this is a perfect vibe for a night like this. Released 10 years ago this past January, this is the second album by alternative country band The Lone Bellow. Produced by Aaron Dessner of The National who later went on to produce albums for Taylor Swift and others, this is a solid set of songs that proves they had more than just a debut album in them. This three-piece has great vocals and lots of energy, though I found this album a bit more sleepy than their first album. Most of the time Zach Williams is the lead singer, but on occasion Kanene Donehey Pipkin leads instead. Zach, Karen and Brian Elmquist have great harmonies which is a great element of their sound as well. To call The Lone Bellow a "country" band is to put a label on them, though, as the music of the New York-based band draws as much from rock, folk and even a bit of Gospel elements as it does country. This group is a lot of fun to see live and continues to write new music and tour, though I have not listened to their last few releases as much as their earlier albums.
Release Year: 2015
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Album Of The Day: Upbeats & Beatdowns by Five Iron Frenzy
Released 29 years ago today, this is the first full-length album from this Christian ska band that has a bit of a cult following. With song titles like "A Flowery Song", "Anthem", and "Cool Enough For You" and the bright horns throughout, you might think this is just a fun band for the kids to dance to. But actually, if you look a bit deeper than the superficial, you will see that Five Iron Frenzy were communicating that although God is good, life is a bit more complicated than kids are taught in Sunday school. "The Old West", for example, is about the violence mixed with faith by the white settlers towards the Native Americans. "Beautiful America" uses the song about America from West Side Story to tell of the dangers of consumerism and other things. And even though I listened to it a number of times, I had to have someone point out to me that "Everywhere I Go" was a cover of an Amy Grant song because it sounds so different, but it certainly is so. This album is a good example of the ska craze that was everywhere back in the late '90s, powered by a punk rock vibe with horns throughout. Five Iron Frenzy's debut album has lots of passion and very good production values and musicianship for the time.
Release Year: 1996
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Album Of The Day: Out Of Body by Needtobreathe
"Oh, you won't be a fool for so long so hang on." Released 5 years ago this past August, this is the seventh studio album from Needtobreathe, a Nashville-based rock band originally from South Carolina. I love their mix of styles, as they mix elements of rock, country, Gospel, soul and more into their sound, and they have really fun concerts and are great musicians. Some of their albums are a bit too slow or country-tinged for me, but I like the style of this one. The band does not like to be known as a "Christian band", though there is definitely some religious language in some of their songs. But lyrically, the band speaks of looking for the truth, love and weathering life's struggles, very universal themes. I like how they really get rockin' on "Riding High" and "Survival", and I'm always impressed when a band opens an album with a 5-minute mid-tempo song like "Mercy's Shore". Out Of Body is a great set of songs and is one of of my favorite albums of this decade so far.
Release Year: 2020
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Album Of The Day: The Ministry Of Archers by Joy Electric
Earlier this year, I featured two recent albums from Ronnie Martin and the album from The Brothers Martin. But before all that, there was Joy Electric, Ronnie Martin's electronic pop/punk band. Released 20 years ago this past August is the tenth album by Joy Electric, a quick 32 minutes of Moog synthesizers and vocals that I consider very experimental. Much of it is haunting or a bit obnoxious at different times, and it's not my favorite Joy Electric album. But I am also always amazed at what Ronnie Martin can get all his synthesizers to do, so I definitely respect him and his unique form of art. One of these days I'll get around to featuring some of Joy Electric's '90s stuff that is still very synth-y, of course, but a bit more pop-punk in style, at least in my mind.
Release Year: 2005
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Album Of The Day: Ixora by Copeland
From 2003-2006, emo rock band Copeland released 3 albums on The Militia Group and at that time, I was a huge fan. They have released a few albums since then and fans have said they're even better, but honestly, I've not listened to them much. Maybe my tastes changed and I don't listen to as much of the emo style these days. But I'm continuing to try to listen to things I don't listen to often, and I am liking it. Released 11 years ago yesterday, this is the fifth album from Copeland, a Florida-based indie rock/pop/emo band. Lyrically, these songs are mostly love songs and poetic reflections on life. Singer Aaron Marsh provides soft, often falsetto vocals and the group builds very unique sonic landscapes that his vocals are layered on top of. This album definitely has more lyrical and musical maturity than their earlier albums, and I definitely like what I hear on this listen. The production and instrumentation on this album is very beautiful and layered. For some reason, I guess, I'm usually looking for more straight rock music and not the nuanced, heady music that Copeland makes and that's why I don't listen to them that often.
Release Year: 2014
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Album Of The Day: Vegas Car Chasers by Silage
Released 27 years ago earlier this month, this is the second album from Silage, a rock/rap group from the late '90s. This album is one of the few albums I've ever heard that was a mix of rock and hip-hop, with grunge-y guitars and DJ scratches throughout. Honestly, I don't listen to this album often these days, and I really only remember about 3 of the songs from the decades of having this CD in my collection, so it's not my favorite. The lyrics are mostly just fun and silly, with a bit of religious references thrown in for some levity. It definitely was on the more underground, alternative end of Christian music in the late '90s, and if you had a copy, you were probably into some of the weirder music like I was somewhat.
Release Year: 1998
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