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Album Of The Day: Spring by Jon Foreman
Jon Foreman of Switchfoot continues to write songs with the band, but also writes plenty of music with others and on his own. Released on this day 17 years ago, this is the third of his four EPs titled after the seasons, and I think it's my second favorite after the Fall EP. "March (A Prelude To Spring)" is a beautiful little intro song, and "Love Isn't Made" and "Baptize My Mind" are great acoustic pop. "Your Love Is Strong" is still my favorite Jon Foreman solo song, as it's a beautiful song of praise and thanks to God. And "Revenge" is a great reflection on Christ's death from the point of a criminal executed with him. It's great to celebrate one of the most beautiful times of the year with Jon, and I definitely listen to this every year, at least.
Release Year: 2008
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Album Of The Day: Chase The Kangaroo by The Choir
The Choir is an ambient alternative rock band that's been active for over 40 years now. Released on this day 37 years ago, this is their third studio album. The first half of the album is just 4 tracks, the last 2 of the 4 running at 7 minutes each, for an epic, meandering rock album. They're one of the few rock bands I listen to that has a saxophone player in the band too, and that adds a fun element to their music from this era. Despite being from the '80s, it actually sounds a lot less dated than some of the rock albums of that time period, and it's a good listen that's a bit new to me. Note that on streaming, tracks 11-15 are from an EP released a few years before this when the band was known as Youth Choir, and that does sound a bit more '80s.
Release Year: 1988
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Album Of The Day: Even When My Heart Is Breaking by Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith has spent decades taking old hymn texts and either giving them new melodies, or just recording them in a more contemporary style. He has worked with the Indelible Grace artist collective a lot too. One of his earliest solo artist releases is this EP, a collection of five hymns. These renditions are beautiful and can bring new life to these hymns because it's very different than the church choir backed by an organ or piano. Somehow, I have both the 2004 CD and the 2011 CD re-release; I made that mistake because the 2011 re-release has much different artwork, I think. But on the other hand, i guess it's not a mistake to support independent artists, so let's just say I'm a collector, then.
Release Year: 2004
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Album Of The Day: Drawing Black Lines by Project 86
If you've been following me, you may have noticed I like lots of styles of music. For example, yesterday was a Sara Groves album (adult contemporary/folk), but today's a nu metal album that was actually released around the same time, but had mostly a different audience, I expect. Released on this day 25 years ago, this is the second album by Project 86, which has been fronted by Andrew Schwab for nearly 30 years now. As with most of Project 86's albums, there's lots of emotion, anger and angst to Schwab's vocals and lots of screaming over the roar of guitars. The vocals are pretty dark and bleak, but there is some light and hope hidden deep in there, I think. I don't listen to this band very often and I don't know this album well, but it's pretty good, and I remember hearing "One-Armed Man (Play On)" and "Me Against Me" on Christian rock radio/TV a bunch back when this came out. If you ask me, there's something to music like this that amps you up and questions authority a bit, and it's fun to rock out sometimes. If it's not your cup o' tea, come back tomorrow for something different and maybe you'll like that more.
Release Year: 2000
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Album Of The Day: Conversations by Sara Groves
Sara Groves is one of the best songwriters in Christian music, in my opinion. This is the first album of hers I heard and is one of her many albums that I love. Released independently in 2000 and then re-released on INO Records on this day in 2001, Conversations is a very good title for this look into the many conversations Sara is having in song with God primarily, but also with friends and family. Musically, Sara's sound is contemporary folk-pop. and the band along with producer Nate Sabin do a great job with the sound here, making every song unique and fresh and working perfectly with Sara's gorgeous vocals. Lyrically, Sara's songs wrestle with faith and doubt, listening to God, but also proclaim God's love and grace. And it ends with a fun live recording of her singing about an old-timey revival "Tent In The Center Of Town". It's a great hour of music and I can't believe it's been 24 years now of enjoying and learning with this album.
Release Year: 2000 / 2001
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Album Of The Day: The Cannonballers by Colony House
Colony House is the band I've seen play live most in the last 10 years, I think. (I fact checked myself and this is correct. Colony House 9 times, Switchfoot only 7.) This is Colony House's latest album, a short but quality set of new songs. The album starts out sounding like a surf rock album, but after a few songs it seems to go back to just standard indie rock. Though I certainly don't mind. Many of the songs are just fun celebrations of life, while some others are encouragement and commiserating through hardship. And there's of course a few love songs as well. These four guys put on a great live show, and I enjoy all their albums a lot. Give them a listen if you haven't yet.
Release Year: 2023
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Album Of The Day: Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens
Along with the Album Of The Day highlighting albums I love, it's also a chance to listen to albums I don't listen to much, like today's album. I really enjoyed Sufjan Stevens's Illinois album, but didn't give his earlier works too much of a chance. Released yesterday 11 years ago, this is Sufjan's 4th album and the album between Michigan and Illinois, his two albums about different states. I've only listened to this a few times and found I didn't like it as much as some of his other albums; I found it very mandolin-heavy and a bit slow. But upon today's listening, I found I liked it a bit more than I remember. There's lots of Biblical references here, from reflections on Jesus's life and death to some interpretations on the Book of Revelation. And it's not as slow as I remember. In fact, "Sister" in the middle of the album has an extended rock portion. Sometimes I'm not a fan of Sufjan's somewhat melancholic style, but his songwriting is excellent and I probably should listen to his catalog more.
Release Year: 2004
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Album Of The Day: Bright City by Bright City
Released on this day 10 years ago, this is the first album from Bright City, the worship team at St. Peter's Brighton in England. More than most modern worship teams today, this album has a pop/dance feel, though the lyrics certainly are worshipful praise and conversation with God. "Force Field" and "Forever Yours" are definitely dance praise and are really fun. As the songs get a bit slower deeper into the album, it feels a bit more like a normal modern worship album, though there's a very high level of musicianship. This team has many songwriters and worship leaders, so they switch off on lead vocals, which also keeps the songs from sounding the same throughout this album. It's a solid debut from a quality new band, and I hope they are able to continue to make great new music.
Release Year: 2015
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Album Of The Day: Paper Horses by Paper Horses
This isn't an album, but a debut EP from folk music collective Paper Horses. Four accomplished songwriters (Taylor Leonhardt, Leslie Jordan of All Sons & Daughters, Jess Ray and Sandra McCracken) recorded this EP of songs together and released it early last year. The instrumentation is simple but beautiful, with acoustic guitars, strings and other beautiful instruments. But the highlight of this is the vocals of the women, with different persons taking lead on different songs, and very deeply felt, tight harmonies making each song something really special. Lyrically, these songs speaking of Jesus's saving love and calling on Christians to love their neighbor better, among other things. But even if you're not looking for a spiritual reflection, you probably still will enjoy the musicianship and heartfelt vocals.
Release Year: 2024
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Album Of The Day: Shimmer by Luna Halo
Released on this day 25 years ago, this is the debut album by rock band Luna Halo. Nathan Barlowe's ethereal vocals mix really well with Jonny MacIntosh's spaced-out guitars, and the two wrote great lyrics that touch on the divine as well as personal, down-to-earth relationships. All 12 tracks are solid songs, in my opinion. This was an album I loved immediately and listened to often for years after it came out, and I still listen to it somewhat regularly. Nathan Barlowe continues to create music with a band called Luna Halo, but none of the other band members from this album remain and their sound has changed a bit over the years.
Release Year: 2000
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