If you think most of my music is not weird or avant-garde enough, this is for you. Released 10 years ago today, this is the collaboration EP combining the talents of Steve Taylor, '80s and '90s alternative rock artist, and Daniel Smith of Danielson, an indie pop artist. Taylor and his sarcastic rock fuses with Smith and his high tenor/falsetto musings for 15 minutes of rock where you never know what sounds will happen next. Taylor or Smith might start screaming and the guitars scream right along with them. This EP is for those who want an assault on their musical senses and lyrics that need a poet to parse through, but in the end will make sure you are laughing with their wit and sarcasm. Just give this a listen—it's quick—and maybe you won't like it or maybe you will find it intriguing. It's definitely indie music artists decades in their career doing whatever they want and I'm here for it.

Release Year: 2016
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"Wisdom from the sacred page / Is turned and ignored / In a world that's wired for sound." Released 40 years ago yesterday, this is the third album by Christian pop royalty Michael W. Smith. Smith and his frequent songwriting collaborator Wayne Kirkpatrick craft '80s keyboard-heavy pop songs about life and Christianity on this release. Though this was a few years before I started listening to Michael W. Smith as a kid, it's been an album I'd listen to on occasion over the last 25 years or so, and "Old Enough To Know" and "Rocketown" were on his first hits compilation that I listened to a lot throughout the '90s and beyond. More than his '90s works, I would say that the '80s music sounds very dated, but it's still pretty fun for an occasional listen. "Rocketown" is the most well-known song from this album, telling a story of a modern day Jesus Christ hanging out on the street and in the bars and presenting revolutionary ideas. The first half of the album is long songs full of electronic keyboard sounds, with "Lamu", "Wired For Sound" and "Pursuit Of The Dream" all over 5 minutes long. I think Michael W. Smith perfected his sound and started writing even better songs as the '80s and '90s progressed, but it's fun to hear these early, maybe more experimental years where the drum machines ruled and the guitars were hiding behind the keyboards on most songs.

Release Year: 1986
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"A broken heart is better than one that doesn't feel." Released 10 years ago this past Monday, this is the sixth album by Nashville-based independent singer-songwriter Andy Gullahorn. He writes somewhat dark and occasionally humorous songs about God's love and grace as well as his own humanity. For example, on one song he starts with a joke about a hairpiece and then tries to understand communion at church in the second verse with the same chorus, "Is it real?" Through his mostly acoustic pop songs with a bit of a country twang, it's clear that Andy thinks deeply and struggles with life, and he puts that in songs that are still full of hope and faith in God. His wife Jill Phillips sings harmonies on a number of the songs. These songs are simple and well-written and though they might not be on repeat in my brain, I find lots of great musicality and lyrical depth to them. I've had the pleasure of seeing him live a few times, and I feel right at home with the awkward laughter as he cracks a joke and then delivers life lessons in the same verse.

Release Year: 2016
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Released 25 years ago last week, this is the second album from LaRue, the brother-sister duo of Phillip and Natalie LaRue. Though this is an album in my collection, it's not a favorite of mine; I think I've only listened to it a few times in the last 20 years. But that doesn't mean it's not a decent listen for the first time in about 10 years. I remember liking these songs a lot more when they came out, but they're still not bad. Phillip and Natalie wrote all these songs themselves and have a good mix of pop and rock. Their vocals are both excellent and distinct, their harmonies are magic and I forgot how much some of these songs rock, like "I Can't See" and "Seem To Be" near the end of the album. Though they were known for Christian pop, songs like "Jaded" and "Brianna's Song" show that these youngsters were struggling with the complexities of life and not just singing about platitudes they heard in church. It's been a long time since I listened to this, but it's still worth a listen all these years later, actually.

Release Year: 2001
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