Jeremy Casella is a great independent Christian folk/rock artist who has been making music for at least 25 years now. In 2003 or so, he signed a record deal and recorded a great third album, but then the record label canned it because it wasn't what they thought the market wanted to hear. (I've heard it, and it's magnificent!) Despite this terrible setback, Jeremy recorded some of the songs from that album in a more stripped-down, acoustic format and released it as this EP, 10,000 Angels (Part One). This recording shows the timeless beauty of these songs as they still work great without the strings, backing vocals, and full band accoutrements. And even after being let down by the music industry, Jeremy kept writing and has released 3 more independent albums in the years since then. I hear more music is in the works as well!

Release Year: 2004
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Released 20 years ago today, Mmhmm is my favorite album in Relient K's discography. Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes and the band kept adding layers of nuance to their earlier pop-punk style, and this album adds a lot of variety to that base. It's definitely very guitar-based and band-heavy, but sometimes they slow it to just a sparse instrumentation with Matt Thiessen's vocals and keyboards going in for a tender moment or even some electronic elements. Lyrically, it's clear that the band was growing as humans, as many of the lyrics talk about relationships, growth and a break-up of some sort. But there's also hope here for future improvement and that there's "Life After Death And Taxes". This one was definitely on heavy rotation for the next few years after it came out, and I still enjoy it all the way through 20 years later.

Release Year: 2004
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If any music in my collection is the most appropriate for Halloween, it's probably this band, Showbread. Musically, they're a weird mix of hardcore/punk/emo with guitars, screaming, but also some songs with acoustic guitar and vocals, and some with lots of electronic elements too. Lyrically, there's songs about relationships, philosophy and Christianity, and lots of references to horror films, I think (I haven't seen too many horror films myself, but I know enough about film to know there are references here). This was Showbread's first major release and it was released this month 20 years ago, I believe. So if you're looking for something avant-garde and loud that I enjoy, give this a listen.

Release Year: 2004
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Lecrae has been making independent hip-hop/rap for 20 years. He started out preaching the Gospel, and still does a bit of that, but also spends a lot of his music trying to educate his listeners of his experience as a Black man in America. The track on "Can't Stop Me Now (Destination)" is a sample from a Sufjan Stevens song, which is a different sound than you might expect on a hip-hop album. Lecrae brings along friends and some industry contacts for production and guest verses, including the vocals for "I'll Find You" by Tori Kelly and guest verses by Ty Dolla $ign and Nija on other songs, plus others from the record label he founded, Reach Records. Lecrae is a solid rapper and keeps improving his sound and his verses, and this album is one of his better ones that I listen to regularly.

Release Year: 2017
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