Released 15 years ago last month, this is the fifth studio album from alternative rock band Anberlin. While some of their other albums were a bit more epic, sprawling affairs comprised of rock anthems and slower love songs, this album is a tighter 10-song album. "We Owe This To Ourselves", "Impossible" and "Closer" let the guitars rage and singer Stephen Christian scream a bit, the slower songs like "You Belong Here", "The Art Of War" and "Take Me (As You Found Me)" give Christian's vocals and lyricism opportunities to shine as well. Lyrically, most of the songs are sung to a lover, I think, if not being about the song's author themselves. This is one of Anberlin's albums I have listened to less often than some of their other albums, but it is a good set of songs even if not their most memorable album. If it's been a while since you listened, you might like it more than you remember.

Release Year: 2010
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32 years ago this week, a computer game by the name of Myst was released. Released a few years later on CD was the soundtrack, 40 minutes of music by Robyn Miller, one of the co-creators of the game's story and graphics as well. The game finds the player exploring a series of fantastical islands full of mysterious artifacts and journals, and you have to figure out what's going on and how you got there. The music, all created by synthesizers, adds an otherworldly and suspenseful quality to the game. Although the music is designed to be experienced within the game, the soundtrack album does work as instrumentals on its own. If you've never played Myst, I recommend checking it out, and the latest version looks even more realistic than ever before thanks to modern computers and the hard work of a committed team of developers and artists.

Release Year: 1995
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David Crowder Band was known as a rock band that also led worship at their University's church, recorded albums and toured the world. They were mostly known for their rock/electronic sound, at least until this album. Released 20 years ago yesterday, David Crowder and the band brought their love of classic country and even a bit of bluegrass music to their sound. Starting with a Loretta Lynn cover as an intro, the album sounds mostly like the Crowder Band albums released previously, mostly modern rock with some electronic elements. But then, halfway through the song "Be Lifted Or Hope Rising", a country song breaks out including mandolins. And this style continues with "I Saw The Light" and through a Sufjan Stevens cover. These songs started me looking into classic country music in the years after this album came out. But even if you're not here for the country fest, there's lots to love here. "Foreverandever, Etc.", "Here Is Our King", and "We Win!" are energetic praise songs. "Wholly Yours" has a bunch of fun wordplay mixing "wholly" and "holy", words that sound pretty much the same though they are spelled differently. This album is probably David Crowder Band's finest, and with over 65 minutes of music, there's much to love here. You might skip the closing two tracks which is a scripted interview about art and worship, but I usually listen to it because it's pretty funny. This is an epic album and is a work of art more than it is a few new songs to be sung at church services.

Release Year: 2005
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"Rhymes come fresh and they always ill / When we rockin' the rockin' the Casbah." Released on this day 25 years ago, this is the first album from hip-hop duo Ill Harmonics. After rapping together in the Dallas area starting in 1995, they made it on MTV's "The Cut" in 1998, and this album on Uprok Records made them a part of a burgeoning Christian hip-hop industry. The duo of Blake Knight and Playdough (aka Harry Krum or Krum) switch off rapping over guitars, keyboards, bass and drums, a bit more sparse of a production than most rap albums. They make fun of the fact that they're white men on "Gringos", talk about their insecurities on "Will I?", about how competitive the rap game is in "Woe Is We", and there's lots of fun wordplay and a few samples throughout the album. Sadly, this album seems to be not currently available on streaming, so I guess you'll have to find a CD or something like that to give this a listen.

Release Year: 2000