Christian music and a blatant shill
Count me amongst those Christians who enjoys music and the art of song craftsmanship. Period. While I may have my own perspective on the world, I enjoy the alternate perspectives on life brought to the forefront by those who have been blessed with musical and lyrical talent--whether "Christian" or not.
I am well aware that the "Christian" music industry is undergoing massive growth nationwide--the fastest-growing segment of modern music, I believe. But quality-wise, while the "Christian" music industry has improved immensely since the days of Carmen, '2nd Chapter of Acts' and Amy Grant, there's still a long way to go before artists with a spiritual or Christian-specific bent step apart from the shadow of their secular siblings.
All that leads up to this--this is a general criticism. As with most things, there are exceptions to the rule. One exception, and one that I highly recommend to people who both love music and like their music with a spiritual bent, is a wonderful new group called Mute Math. Take equal parts hip hop, rock, jazz and blues in a blender, hit puree and you've got their sound nailed. 'Reset' is a great EP, and their forthcoming full album this summer is a must-purchase for me. I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I.
I am well aware that the "Christian" music industry is undergoing massive growth nationwide--the fastest-growing segment of modern music, I believe. But quality-wise, while the "Christian" music industry has improved immensely since the days of Carmen, '2nd Chapter of Acts' and Amy Grant, there's still a long way to go before artists with a spiritual or Christian-specific bent step apart from the shadow of their secular siblings.
All that leads up to this--this is a general criticism. As with most things, there are exceptions to the rule. One exception, and one that I highly recommend to people who both love music and like their music with a spiritual bent, is a wonderful new group called Mute Math. Take equal parts hip hop, rock, jazz and blues in a blender, hit puree and you've got their sound nailed. 'Reset' is a great EP, and their forthcoming full album this summer is a must-purchase for me. I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I.
posted by Jake | 4/25/2005 04:07:00 PM
8 Comments:
For those that are curious, the album is on iTunes
2nd Chapter of Acts were good!
Ok, their first album was.
The difference between Christian artist who control their distribution and production like Keith Green, Glenn Kaiser and Rich Mullins versus the sludge Word Records churns out is amazing. It shows what the need to be commercial, eerrrr increase their ministry, does to an artist.
Uh, aren't Keith Green and Rich Mullins dead?
(doubt they're doing much controlling of their music at the present moment)...
;-)
Melody is controlling Keith's estate, and I don't know about Rich.
The history of really good Christian musicians isn't pretty. Keith and Rich died, and Larry Norman had a debilitating stroke.
Charlie Peacock is doing well, AFAIK.
/wonders about Chris DeGarmo.
So you like Mute Math (a Word Records artist) but condemn Word Records?
I have to wonder what you are listening to. C music has a much broader range today than it ever did before. Granted it is not all great, but there is more there to choose from than ever before.
speaking for myself, i have no problem with Word records on the whole. they have their decent artists (Robert Randolph, POD, Sixpence, the aforementioned Mute Math) and their not so good artists.
i'm just not thrilled with "CCM" on the whole. lyrically watered down, subpar poppy crap ain't my thing.
thankfully, as you mention, there is a greater range nowadays--which is basically what I said in my post. there general rule still holds, but exceptions are becoming a lot more prevalent.
There will never be a systemic revolution in Christian music until the genre as a whole stops trying to be just like secular music, only with Christian words or done by Christian artists. Case in point: AirOne will play "How far is heaven?" by Salvador, but not by Los Lonely Boys. Why not? Are the lyrics any less Christian when Los Lonely Boys sing them? If anything, such a song done by non-Christians is a bigger testimony to GOd's power , that He can afffect non-Christians so strongly, than it is coming from the usual suspects. Groundbreaking change isn't done by people trying to act like the norm, it's done by people who have the bravery to stand by their art and their vision, and not cave in.
And it was me that slagged Word records, not Jake. Yes, there are some bright spots in their catalog, but 95% of it is krep.
But then again, I think 95% of EVERYTHING is krep, too. ;-)
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