I've been fairly busy lately, so this might be a bit choppier than usual. BUT FIRST, I've got to share this statement with you. I heard something like it on the radio, but I was quite impressed: "If a hypocrite is standing between you and Jesus, who's closer?" Now on to sharing this month's musical discoveries.
Sampled but not added to the collection
- Big Dismal: Alternative, with a heavy edge. The lyrics are mostly about troubles we all go through, and the Christianity could be fairly cryptic. Sounds a lot like Creed. [4]
- Calibretto 13: Rockabilly with punkish vocals --punkabilly, I guess. Like B.O.B., but slightly less intense. Cutting lyrics slam worldliness and Christian hypocrites. [4]
- Jeremy Camp: Soft rock, for the most part. Some songs border on hard. Alternative vocals, with strange octave-shifting, like he's going through his voice-change. [3]
- Seventh Day Slumber: Heavy retro-alternative. I was impressed with their sound. [4]
Added to the Collection
- Mark Collum: In concert, Mark's got a light rock style, but his CD reflects a more stereotypical piano/guitar-accompanied solo style. Concerts:[4] Recorded music:[2]
- The Wednesdays: They were sold as Christian music, but I didn't really find it. The CD I got was anti-war, anti-violence. The CD wasn't anti-Christian: it was neutral. Punkabilly could describe their style. [3]
- Compilation CDs: Both of the following CDs are avaliable at Christian Book Distributers for a price you might think is a misprint, almost like they left a digit off the price. They offer a selection of what's called Classics in Christian music. For me, they serve to show how the stereotype developed.
- Christian Contemporary Music: 30 tracks on 3 CDs. The biggest fault with the set is that the songs are only printed on the CDs themselves. You can't say, "Wow, who's that?" and look at the case. You've got to shut off the player to find out who's singing. Most of the songs are SCCM, but there are a few gems as well. Nothing really grabbed my ear in this CD. [2-4]
- The Late Great Jesus Movement: Very similar to the other compilation CD, but I like it better. It has the songs and artists printed on the case. It's pretty stereotypical too, but it has quite a bit more edge than Christian Contemporary Music. If nothing else, it's worth it for Honeytree's "Rattle Me, Shake Me"! The CD has 1s through 5s on it.
- Sarah Groves: She surprised me! I bought the CD for her "First Song That I Sing," and expected the rest to be the same or more stereotypical. She fits right in there with my favorite female vocalists like Sarah Masen, Christine Glass, Plumb, Jeni Varnadeau and the like.
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