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Album Of The Day: Happy Christmas Vol. 3 by Various Artists
Released 24 years ago this past October, this is Tooth & Nail/BEC's third volume of Christmas recordings from their rock/alternative artists and other friends of the label. The O.C. Supertones kick it off with a rousing version of the ballad "Heaven's Got A Baby", a cover of a bit softer version written and recorded for Happy Christmas Vol. 1 just 3 years before by Sarah Masen. Kendall Payne, Cadet, Hangnail and Poor Old Lu offer up versions of classic Christmas carols. Earthsuit, Starflyer 59 and Skyline Drive offer up their covers of more modern Christmas classics. Bleach, Joy Electric, Ace Troubleshooter and Dension Witmer pen brand new songs about the Christmas season and do a good job to add to the variety. I love Aaron Sprinke's cover of Randy Stonehill's classic "A Christmas Song For All Year Round" too—It's a nice nod to the CCM genre's roots. And then, well, Relient K must have been in a very Debbie Downer mood this year, because there's two songs of very snarky original Christmas tunes from them, "Santa Claus Is Thumbing To Town" and "I Hate Christmas Parties" (not actually by Relient K, but by their lead singer's other band, Matthew Thiessen & The Earthquakes). It's a good collection of rock/pop Christmas songs new and old with a bit you might not expect, and it's unfortunately not available on streaming, so you might have to find a used CD copy out there if you want to give it a listen.
Release Year: 2001
Album Of The Day: Advent by Rachel Wilhelm
Released 5 years ago this month, this is an EP by independent singer-songwriter and worship leader Rachel Wilhelm. She takes traditional church texts and classic hymn texts and sets them to a bit more modern, contemplative music. These are fairly simple arrangements, with guitar, banjo, cello and vocals. These songs were recorded during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic as a way to give those not gathering in their church buildings music to reflect on, and they still are great music for reflecting on the mysteries of the Advent season before celebrating the joy of Christ's birth on Christmas. Thanks, Rachel, for providing such music for this time of preparation and waiting.
Release Year: 2020
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Album Of The Day: Fielder by Fielder
"Don't overthink it baby." Released this past August, this is the first album from Fielder, a duo of young women—Skye Peterson and Addison Agen—who, despite their age, have both been performing as solo artists for many years. They craft chill indie pop tunes with beautiful harmonies and lots of songs about friendship and relationships. These two also sing about the unexpected things in life and that they don't have all of it figured out. It's a nice album for some quiet contemplation on a dark winter night, i think. This is a pretty good album and I think it will be fun to see these young women improve their craft over time.
Release Year: 2025
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Album Of The Day: Here I Am To Worship by Tim Hughes
Released 24 years ago this month, this is the first studio album from UK worship leader and songwriter Tim Hughes. He does sound a bit like Matt Redman, who was a mentor of his and writes very similar songs, but there is still some uniqueness to his music and he definitely has a heart that longs to praise God. Songs like "Maker Of All Things" and "Jesus, You Alone" were pretty well-known songs written and performed by Hughes here. The one song that he is most known for is the title track, "Here I Am To Worship", which has been sung at many churches in the last 25 years and has been recorded by dozens of Christian artists, and it definitely is a highlight of this album. But after listening to this album today, the album is full of solid songs of praise and worship like "May The Words Of My Mouth", "Day After Day" and "The Eyes Of My Heart". It sounds beautiful thanks to a great team of musicians and producers in both the UK and in Nashville.
Release Year: 2001
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Album Of The Day: Third Verse by Smalltown Poets
Released 25 years ago this past September, this is the aptly-titled third album from rock band Smalltown Poets. It's maybe not the band's most beloved album, but I really like these songs. "Every Reason", "Any Other Love" and "That Line" are quality rock with a Christian message. Some of the best songs on this album are covers of '90s Christian rock you may not have heard, "Beautiful, Scandalous Night" and "The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes, And The Pride Of Life". And well, I love a great all-out rock closing track, and "100 Billion Watts" definitely does that here. Smalltown Poets is not one of my favorite bands, but whenever I do give their music a listen, I wonder why I don't listen to it more often because it's good. They also recently put out an EP a month or two ago, which is good too.
Release Year: 2000
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Album Of The Day: Unclassified by Robert Randolph & The Family Band
"I need more love every day of my life." It's the weekend, so I needed some rock jams to kick it off. Robert Randolph started playing the pedal steel guitar in church as a kid, and by the time I first heard this album from him and his Family Band, Randolph was jammin' in New York City at clubs playing a mix of R&B, rock, funk, soul and Gospel. Half the songs on this album are just instrumental jams, and his band of longtime relatives and friends are excellent musicians as well. Unclassified always puts me in a good mood and is an excellent vibe from start to finish. If you haven't heard this album, you should give it a listen. They hit it out the park with this first studio album, and I'm not sure they did any better than this later, though I like all their albums.
Release Year: 2003
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Album Of The Day: Straightjacket by Steven Delopoulos
Released 18 years ago this past November, this is the second solo album from Steven Delopoulos, the New York-based folk musician and lead singer of Burlap To Cashmere. On this album, Steven gets very experimental, with songs like "Ruin Of The Beast" and "As If Love Was A Sword" having Gregorian chant/choirs, and songs like "May I Always Keep My Feet On The Ground" and "Halt" having very percussive clapping and/or yelling. Even though it's a bit odd musically, I love his lyrics and melodies, they sound like something Paul Simon might have come up with though a bit more Mediterranean in feel. Songs like "Work To Be Done" and "She Held My Hand" are beautiful acoustic guitar ballads. This man is one of my favorite singer-songwriters ever, and it's terrible that he and his band are not more well-known. This album isn't as stellar as his solo debut, but I definitely love it a lot.
Release Year: 2007
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Album Of The Day: Ethan Luck & The Intruders by Ethan Luck & The Intruders
Released 10 years ago yesterday is this third EP from Ethan Luck. You might not know Ethan by name, but he's played music in bands like The O.C. Supertones, Relient K, The Dingees, Demon Hunter, and more. He was taking photos on a Switchfoot tour recently and has played many different instruments and roles in the bands, but this his own, independent music. This is good rock with a bit of a punk ethos to it, and it's only 5 songs, but I like his style. These songs are mostly love songs and some songs about love lost. Ethan's got decades of experience playing rock music and that shows in the quality of this EP and his other works.
Release Year: 2015
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Album Of The Day: Eastern Hymns For Western Shores by Switchfoot
Released 15 years ago this month, this is the second independent, studio EP from Switchfoot, released between their 7th and 8th albums. It features 5 songs exclusive to this EP and one alternate version of a song from their 6th album, Oh! Gravity. There's definitely a level of experimentation musically and lyrically on these tracks and it seems like a collection of a few songs that didn't really fit on any previous album. This was only ever sold directly by the band on their web store, and it originally came as a part of Christmas merch bundle, though months later they started selling it individually and I picked it up a few years later. It came in a paper bag with some postcards that serve as artwork for the EP, so it has some fun, unique packaging. This is one of those where it's not on streaming, so maybe you need to scour your local used CD shop to find a fan who has let go of it if you don't have your own copy already, or maybe someday the band will print more (don't hold your breath on that).
Release Year: 2010
Album Of The Day: In Feast Or Fallow by Sandra McCracken
Released 15 years ago this past April, this is Sandra McCracken's sixth studio album and second album with lyrics pulled from old English hymnals from the last few hundred years. But even though this is hymn lyrics, it definitely does not sound like a church choir. Sandra's other albums around this time are folk-rock songs, and this album's music and production is very much the same. These songs sound much more like contemporary works, as the melodies and song structure are mostly brand new, though the lyrics are mostly taken from old hymns. Looking at the song titles, you might not think you recognize many of these, but the song titles do not seem to be the main chorus on this album. For example, "Faith's Review & Expectation" ends the album with a new melody for "Amazing Grace". There's something special about these old hymn texts and it's fun to hear them set to modern music. I like the appearances by Thad Cockrell and Derek Webb on the title track, adding beautiful harmonies and taking turns on the lead vocal. Sandra McCracken has spent the last 10 years of her musical career since then making modern music for hymns and psalms and this early hymn album was the start of things to come.
Release Year: 2010
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