Blog Archive for February 2025

Album Of The Day: Who Are You Now by Madison Cunningham

Album Art of Madison Cunningham's Who Are You Now album - On a beige-ish gold background, the middle has a blue sketch of a woman in what looks like thin blue pen, which almost looks like a double image of a person, the second drawn a bit to the right of the first, but they're not exactly a copy of each other, as there are two lips and two noses, but only a left and right eye. In the bottom right, in the same blue color, is the artist name in a serif font, and in the bottom right is the album title in the same font and color.

The first few times I heard Madison Cunningham play, it was just her with an acoustic guitar and I was only somewhat impressed. But I was surprised when I finally put on her albums, as it's more of an electric-guitar-based rock/pop with a small band, and I love the edge to her sound. Or maybe it's more of a folk-rock/Americana sound, as her third full-length album won a Grammy for "Best Folk Album" in 2023. This is Madison Cunningham's second full-length album, and on it she talks about her insecurities and struggles in a very melodic and poetic way. It's a honest and personal album that surprises and challenges me, and is one of my favorite more recent findings once I did give Madison a listen.

Release Year: 2019
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Album Of The Day: The Moon Is Down by Further Seems Forever

Album Art of Further Seems Forever's The Moon Is Down album - On the top and bottom, each has a photo of an airplane centered on one of the wings, both black and white photos and the whole photo is colored pink instead of white. The top quarter is a photo of the left wing of a small plane with only one engine on that wing and wheels coming from the wing as well, plus the cement tiles of the ground below. The bottom half has a photo of the right wing and right side of the plane picture from the nose. Two engines can be seen on the plane and another plane and the airport terminal can be seen behind it. Between the photos is a large white strip that has the band name in hot pink and the album title in black, slightly smaller letters below.

It was the early 2000s, and emo was becoming mainstream. Tooth & Nail Records signed this band, Further Seems Forever, that brought emo with heavy, guitar-based rock. On this album, The Moon Is Down, the vocalist was Chris Carrabba, who quickly left the band because of the success of his side band, Dashboard Confessional. Dashboard Confessional went on to become way bigger than Further Seems Forever, but I still like this album more than his Dashboard work. Carrabba's vocals sometimes hides in the midst of the driving guitars, drums and bass, but then sometimes soars above and even gets to screaming. Further Seems Forever continued with other vocalists for a few more albums, but I never liked their style as much without Chris Carrabba's vocals. I guess that the band reunited with the original lineup a while back and I should check out to see if their newer music was any good.

Release Year: 2001
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Album Of The Day: Shipwrecks & Islands by Gold Records

Album Art of Gold Records's Shipwrecks and Islands album - At the top, it seems like a map with numbers and arrows on it, with a green-ish hue and some parts of it are reflected or are semi-transparent with layers under it. The middle is black, and has the album title in white print with a light blue, thick border around it. Below that, it transitions form black to white, with a bit of red and blue in the transition. At the top, in small print, it says 'Touching the heart of a broken world' and at the bottom says 'Poems by Adrian Plass. Words and music by Phil Baggaley, Dave Clifton and Ian Blythe'.

This album is a bit different than most modern worship albums. Although there is pop/rock-styled songs that could be used as a part of a modern church service or prayer, the album has poetic reflections on life and spirituality by Adrian Plass between each song. This British music team lead by Phil Baggaley, David Clifton and Ian Blythe performs the music. It's high-quality music and the music and the poetry works really well as an album to listen to straight through. This album is definitely not something an American record label would produce. The poetry between the songs provides a very different feel than most Christian albums, and I find it refreshing that this album exists and provides a way to reflect on our life as well as call us on to be better people.

Release Year: 1999
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Album Of The Day: Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis

Album Art of Miles Davis's Kind Of Blue album - A photo of a black man in a navy blue suit and a tie playing a trumpet, only his upper body and the mouth of the trumpet are seen along with his hand playing the trumpet. At the top, in large print in white it says the artist name, with the title of the album in smaller blue text. Also above the album title is the Columbia Records logo and name, and below the title a list of the other players on the album.

I wasn't so convinced when Ryan Gosling's character in La La Land endlessly praised jazz, but this Miles Davis recording has made me a believer. Davis plays his heart out on the trumpet and the band follows him wherever he goes. All the instruments are played masterfully, and it's a roller coaster ride of sounds, from beautiful and calm one moment to loud and blaring the next but no less beautiful. It's so much fun to listen to masters of their craft improvise together and make music that is loved nearly 70 years later. This is often listed in the top albums, and it's clear to me why that is because it's such a fun and engaging listen.

Release Year: 1959
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Album Of The Day: Curioso by Wilder Woods

Album Art of Wilder Woods's Curioso album - A photo of a man sitting on a nice chair in front of a bookshelf, though there's no books here. The top shelf is dozens of liquor bottles and dozens of shot glasses. The middle shelf has an NBA basketball, a baseball in a bowl, and cigarette ad that says 'Wilder Woods!', plus a bust that looks like a dark-skinned woman with a head covering. On the last shelf, there's about 30 records, maybe. The man is leaning back in a chair, wearing a T-shirt, and has a cowboy hat over his face. The man has a number of large rings on, a golden armband, and a number of tattoos on his arms. In the middle, the word 'Curioso' is printed in bright yellow.

Bear Rinehart is a prolific songwriter and the lead singer of a band called Needtobreathe. But he also releases music under the artist name Wilder Woods, and his third album as Wilder Woods releases today. Curioso feels like Bear is trying lots of things that he can't do in his main band. These songs feel more personal and he's able to stretch himself more artistically, maybe. It's a bit more romantic and less spiritual than Needtobreathe songs overall, and it's a bit more straight indie rock than the southern rock/country vibe of the other band. I like Wilder Wood's music, but none of his albums have really become regular spins so far. Though maybe I should see these songs played live next month....

Release Year: 2025
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Album Of The Day: Word Of Mouth by John Reuben

Album Art of John Reuben's Word Of Mouth album - A black and white photo of a man with a large kick drum slung over his shoulder on to his back is in a field and looking to the left. A microphone is hanging from the top of the frame to the left of him. A dog is sitting behind him and looking to the right, away from the man. To the left of the man on the top left is the artist's name in large orange type, and the album title in much smaller text in gray type.

John Reuben, the self-named "Cool The Underdog", delivered what I consider his best album on this day 18 years ago. "The thrill of proving the world wrong is finally gone / You should move on." It's a good 36 minutes of rap from this self-critical white man. John mixes his honest thoughts with some sarcastic remarks and talks about his insecurities as well his faults along with the normal rapper bravado. It's not a long album, but it is some of his best work in both music and rhymes. I love it and although his latest stuff hasn't been as good as this in my opinion, I enjoy his more recent independent releases too.

Release Year: 2007
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Album Of The Day: Intimate Portrait by Caedmon's Call

Album Art of Caedmon's Call's Intimate Portrait EP - On a light blue background, a photo of the right half of a woman's face is shown with a red heart cutout next to it. Over the photo, a dotted arrow points to the text '(ip)' to the right. At the top, the band's name is printed in uppercase in a dark red, serif font. Below that in blue-green is the album title in lowercase.. At the bottom, it says '5 song enhanced CD'.

This is one in my collection that is not available on streaming, and you'll need to find a used CD copy to give this one a listen. This EP had a few B-sides and alternate recordings of songs from their 1997 self-titled album, plus the Enhanced CD provided low-quality digital videos of the band as well. (Everything from that era that could be played on a computer is terribly low-quality today.) It's a rare early item from the Christian folk-rock band, and it shows their great musicianship and songwriting even only a few years into their career. The band would go on to record many other releases, and even recently re-recorded their self-titled album and played a few reunion shows after a long hiatus.

Release Year: 1997

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Album Of The Day
Music

Album Of The Day: 2 Edged Sword by Faith Massive

Album Art of Faith Massive's 2 Edged Sword album - Most of the area is a dark green photo of a sword hilt that seems to be suspended in a green liquid, with bubbles around it. In the top right, a circular logo with a backwards 'F' and an 'M' is next to the text FM and the title '2edgedsword' without the spaces.

I'm trying to remember how I got into this artist. It was maybe mp3 dot com free downloads back in the day or a recommendation from a dance music fan on an e-mail list or something, but I can't remember. Faith Massive is an electronic, drum and bass artist. It's mostly all instrumental sounds mixed electronically with the occasional lyric, as much sampled as sung. It's an interesting vibe, sometimes pounding and sometimes more chill. It's not the pop dance hits you might hear at a club, I imagine, but more distilled beats for those that are really in the dance genre. It's definitely not what I listen to too often, but I enjoy mixing it up and listening to something different from time to time, as you've probably noticed.

Release Year: 2002
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Album Of The Day: Crimson & Blue by Phil Keaggy

Album Art of Phil Keaggy's Crimson And Blue album - From above, a photo of a man looking up at the camera is the main focus. The person is also pointing the index finger of their left hand up at the camera, near his face. The background is colorful, mostly red and blue, but it not really distinct enough to make out. In the top write, the artist's name is painted in the middle of a circle with the album name circling around it in white color.

Phil Keaggy is known to many as an instrumental guitarist on electric or acoustic guitars, but he's also done many albums as a vocal solo artist. Crimson & Blue is maybe my favorite Phil Keaggy vocal album. The guitar work is stellar, and the backing band is firing on all cylinders as well. The end of the album really brings out the epic, extended jams, with his version of the Gospel/blues song "John The Revelator" and original song "Doin' Nothin'" clocking in over 8 minutes each. "Everywhere I Look" and "I Will Be There" are beautiful, laid-back pop/rock tunes where Keaggy's vocals really shine. Lyrically, Phil is focused on God's love and joy, though other topics like friendship and class disparities make appearances as well. Phil Keaggy's soaring guitar solos are a highlight, but I love every minute of this album.

Release Year: 1993
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Album Of The Day: Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars

Album Art of The Civil Wars's Barton Hollow album - A black and white photo of two young white people, on the right a man with curly hair, a beard and mustache in a suit coat with a bowtie, and on the left, a woman with darker, long hair and a sleeveless dark top. They are sitting in a corner booth with a marble tabletop sitting in front of them and glasses of water on the table. The man is looking at the camera and has his right arm behind the woman and the woman is looking away from the man to the left. There is lots of light behind them as the area has many windows, it seems. It seems like they also may be photographed through a window, because there's a reflection of another window overlaid in front of the couple.

Released on this day 14 years ago, this album won "Best Folk Album" at that year's Grammy Awards. Joy Williams and John Paul White, both accomplished musicians, joined forces as folk/country/Americana duo The Civil Wars. This album is defined by the duo's powerful vocals, plus very sparse but effective, simple instrumentation. Lyrically, this album is mostly love songs, even though both in the duo are married to other people. It's a beautiful album and is top-notch music throughout, though definitely a bit darker in tone and less energizing than most other albums I listen to. For a moment The Civil Wars were thought to be the next big thing in music, but a year or two later they stopped performing together due to creative differences. They have individually released solo music since then, but have not reunited.

Release Year: 2011
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