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Album Of The Day: Museum by Citizens

Album Art of Citizens's Museum album - A photo of a large green screen room with both green walls and a green floor and no real easy-to-spot place wher the wall and ends and floor starts. On the floor is a person covered from head to toe in some sort of blue skin-tight suit. They are caught in motion in the middle of the photo, it looks like dancing or something, and both of their feet are off the floor because there's a shadow below them. Above the blue person's head, printed in orange is 'm us eum' in a bold, orange font.

Released two days ago, this is the seventh album from Citizens, a Christian alternative rock band from Seattle. The album title Museum is often styled as "m us eum", I think to highlight the "us" inside the word, but I might be wrong. Lyrically, the band mixes songs of praise and worship to God with some stories of life experience thrown in as well. Their music definitely has a good amount of keyboards and other programming and lots of energy. Unlike some of their older albums, there's no re-imagining of classic hymns as rock songs, but the same style is here. I really only started following this band earlier this year after seeing them live, but they seem like one I have to listen to more, and this new album seems like a good addition to their catalog of songs.

Release Year: 2025
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Album Of The Day: Ace by Madison Cunningham

Album Art of Madison Cunningham's Ace album - A photo of a woman from slightly above in front of or in some sort of body of water, as the trees and sky are reflecting off the water behind her. The photo is pretty grainy, but her dark brown hair is covering her shoulders. She is facing away from the camera but looking back over her shoulder. We see her bare upper back and shoulder in the bottom of the frame. She is looking to the far right of the frame, in the direction of the sun, and has a blank expression on her face.

Released yesterday, this is the fourth solo album by Madison Cunningham, a Southern California-based singer/songwriter. Her energetic songs have lush instrumentation and a jazz-y indie pop vibe. Ms. Cunningham has very beautiful lyrics with lots of honesty and poetry to them, this album involving love and relationships, especially breakups and other tumultuous life events. Unlike her last few albums, the electric guitar is a bit less of the focus after her vocals, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The piano and the beautiful full-band, jazz arrangements fill the role that the guitar was occupying nicely. Madison Cunningham's music is a bit different from what I normally listen to, but I like her style and it's very interesting, raw production to listen to.

Release Year: 2025
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Album Of The Day: Long Line Of Leavers by Caedmon's Call

Album Art of Caedmon's Call's Long Line Of Leavers album - A color photo of a black metal bench at the bottom on a cobblestone walkway. Behind it, a white painted wall takes up most of the space of the photo. On the left side in the center, in dark grey is printed the band's name, and in a reddish-orange under it is the album title in lowercase.

Released on this day 25 years ago, this is the fourth studio album from Caedmon's Call and one of their best albums. This folk-rock band was gaining popularity in the mid-to-late '90s. By the time this album was released, they were one of the biggest bands in Christian music and also had some cred in the college rock scene too. As was their formula, the seven-member band mixed songwriters, lead vocals, and more between songs to keep each song sounding fresh. Everyone pitched in on music and percussion, giving each song a full band sound even live. "Prepare Ye The Way" brought an old '70s song from John Michael Talbot to a new generation. Other favorites are "Dance", "Love Is Different", "The Only One" and "Piece Of Glass". Finally "Ballad Of San Francisco" is a fun, rollickin' closer to a quality album from a band in their prime.

Release Year: 2000
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Album Of The Day: The Painter by John Michael Talbot & Terry Talbot

Album Art of John Michael Talbot and Terry Talbot's The Painter album - On the middle of a white background, a black-and-white photo of two men against a marble-patterened studio backdrop, the one on the left wearing a hooded cassock of a monk, and the one on the right wearing dark leather jacket and a dark turtleneck. Both have moustaches, and the monk has a full beard and darker hair. The other has no beard and lighter hair. Around the edge of the white background is a thin green border. At the top is the artist names. And to the left of the photo is the album title in green, with a blue brush full of paint below it.

Some of my earliest memories of recorded music, besides the radio, was listening to this album on cassette in the car as a young kid. Released sometime in 1980 (45 years ago), The Painter is 10 songs of acoustic folk from brothers John Michael Talbot and Terry Talbot with The London Chamber Orchestra. It's mostly just acoustic guitars, strings and beautiful harmonies. The lyrics celebrate God as the artist who brings color and meaning to the world. Like many Christian albums from this era, it's very in-your-face celebration and preaching of God's word, and I think the vocals and the instrument work is top-notch. It's less than 30 minutes long, so give it a listen sometime.

Release Year: 1980
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Album Of The Day: Catch For Us The Foxes by meWithoutYou

Album Art of meWithoutYou's Catch For Us The Foxes album - A drawing or painting of some sort that is very modern and full of lots of small strokes of different colors. I think I can make out two people, one on the left and one on the right, looking towards each other. They both have blue bodies and their faces are more white. But it's hard to make a lot of detail out of it, if you ask me.

Released 21 years ago this past Sunday, this is the second studio album from meWithoutYou, a very unique indie rock band. Aaron Weiss's vocals are spoken word, then screaming, and sometimes even more traditional singing. Sometimes the music is beautiful instrumentals, other times a raging cacophony of guitars, drums and other instruments. And the lyrics are very interesting poetry, by which I mean that most of the time I don't know what they're talking about, but I still like it. Depending on the type of music you like, it might take a few listens to really appreciate this, but I really do like this band for the avant garde art they make. Seriously give this album a listen at least once and you might find you like it more than you first expected.

Release Year: 2004
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Album Of The Day: Live At The Bitter End by Burlap To Cashmere

Album Art of Burlap To Cashmere's Live At The Bitter End EP - A purple fine cloth is spread out over a white background and on the purple cloth is printed in gold the band's name in a beautiful script font. Below the purple cloth is printed in a gold font the EP name in the white area.

I spent too much time on other things today, so I've only got time for an EP for today. This is a classic live EP from a very talented band out of New York City. Burlap To Cashmere had yet to record a studio album, but they recorded these five songs at the the legendary Manhattan rock club. Lead singer and songwriter Steven Delopoulos is one of my favorite songwriters ever and the band is clearly very talented. Some of their best songs from their first studio album are captured live here, including "Eileen's Song", one of my favorite songs ever and "Anybody Out There?". "Basic Instructions" closes out this recording with this barn burner of a song and some great drum solos and other instrumentals. This EP is a great introduction to this band or a great listen for long-time fans who have only listened to the studio album. Included here is both the original 1997 and the 1999 re-release version artwork.

Release Year: 1997
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Album Art of Burlap To Cashmere's Live At The Bitter End EP alternate cover - On a black background, photos of the band playing live are swirling into a vortex in the middle of the cover. Above it, printed in the middle is the band's name in yellow, then the band's name in an italics white.

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Album Of The Day: Freedom by Darrell Evans

Album Art of Darrell Evans's Freedom album - A very wide-angle lens shows a black-and-white photo where the white is replaced with a gold color. The majority of the photo is of some water and a series of large stones jutting out into the water. A shoreline can be seen on the edges. On the farthest stone out stands a man holding an acoustic guitar, and due to the wide angle, he's somewhat distorted as he's to the top and edge of the frame. In a very jagged-edged font, the artist's name is in white on the left, with the album title just below it a bit smaller.

This is one of my favorite modern worship albums ever, and now that it was released 27 years ago, it's a classic, I guess. Darrell Evans wrote 10 great rock/pop songs of worship and praise to God, sort of like hymns with more contemporary music styles. Many of the songs on this album have extended instrumental jams or spontaneous singing of praise. The guitar from a young Lincoln Brewster is some of the best work of his career. Songs like "Trading My Sorrows", "So Good To Me", and "Freedom" start out the album with tons of energy and exude the joy a life in God provides. And deeper into the album, Evans waxes poetic about God's love, God's care for us, and God's personal relationship with us. There's not many studio albums that capture the spontaneity and energy of live worship music as well as this recording does, and I still love playing this album regularly.

Release Year: 1998
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Album Of The Day: Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place by Anberlin

Album Art of Anberlin's Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place album - On a very light gray background, a black-and-white, charcoal and pencil drawing of a horse falling with its back to the ground and its legs splayed out above in the air and the head looking up from where it came.

Released 15 years ago last month, this is the fifth studio album from alternative rock band Anberlin. While some of their other albums were a bit more epic, sprawling affairs comprised of rock anthems and slower love songs, this album is a tighter 10-song album. "We Owe This To Ourselves", "Impossible" and "Closer" let the guitars rage and singer Stephen Christian scream a bit, the slower songs like "You Belong Here", "The Art Of War" and "Take Me (As You Found Me)" give Christian's vocals and lyricism opportunities to shine as well. Lyrically, most of the songs are sung to a lover, I think, if not being about the song's author themselves. This is one of Anberlin's albums I have listened to less often than some of their other albums, but it is a good set of songs even if not their most memorable album. If it's been a while since you listened, you might like it more than you remember.

Release Year: 2010
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Album Of The Day: As Long As I Am In The Tent of This Body I Will Make A Joyful Noise Pt. 1 by John Van Deusen

Album Art of John Van Deusen's As Long As I Am In The Tent of This Body I Will Make A Joyful Noise Pt. 1 album - A very detailed collage of various photos and artwork and maybe original art as well. At the bottom is lots of people, behind them fields and mountains, a castle turret, and forests and above the blue sky. In the middle, a series of black-and-white, more industrial-looking of a haphazard structure, and on top of it a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. Around him is a florally-decorated golden halo. There's a thin white border, and on the right side there's a gold box over the border with the number '1' printed on it.

Released today, this is the sixth album from John Van Deusen, an indie-rock, indie-folk artist who was the lead singer of band The Lonely Forest. Musically, this is definitely a rock album with lots of experimentation, but the lyrics are unexpectedly songs of praise, worship and pleas for help to God. Like the cover artwork is a collage of various works, the music pulls from many styles, and the lyrics draw on the Bible, his own experiences, and much more. This is very different from the stadium pop/rock anthems that is popular in modern church music today, and I think it's refreshing. John Van Deusen has been making music as a solo artist for over 8 years, and even among his albums, this one seems even more epic and earnest. I think this is an album I am going to be listening and processing over the coming months.

Release Year: 2025
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Album Of The Day: Myst Soundtrack by Robyn Miller

Album Art of Robyn Miller's Myst Soundtrack album - On the outside, a series of a few frames, first one dark green and the next one looks like a copper color with lines and squares. Inside of that, in each of the four corners, there's a metal tip of a fountain pen with some flourishes around them, and inside that a copper-colored circle. In the middle is a copper and black/green design of a library building with columns around the front door and a sliver of a moon above the building. Above the main circle is a circle with a lighthouse, to the right a wooden windmill, below it a gear, and on the left a rocket.

32 years ago this week, a computer game by the name of Myst was released. Released a few years later on CD was the soundtrack, 40 minutes of music by Robyn Miller, one of the co-creators of the game's story and graphics as well. The game finds the player exploring a series of fantastical islands full of mysterious artifacts and journals, and you have to figure out what's going on and how you got there. The music, all created by synthesizers, adds an otherworldly and suspenseful quality to the game. Although the music is designed to be experienced within the game, the soundtrack album does work as instrumentals on its own. If you've never played Myst, I recommend checking it out, and the latest version looks even more realistic than ever before thanks to modern computers and the hard work of a committed team of developers and artists.

Release Year: 1995
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A photo of a man holding the Myst vinyl package up next to his face. He's smiling and looking at the camera with a bit of a toothy smile and is in a yellow-ish room with a lamp and other media behind him.

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