Favorite EP’s of 2010

My final list of 2010 is my favorite EP’s.  I’m not sure if “A Summer in 3/4 Time” is officially classified as an EP, but at 28+ minutes of non-album music, I’m counting it. 

If you’ve read my other lists, you may notice that Sufjan Stevens has made a clean sweep.  He recorded my favorite album (“The Age of Adz”), my favorite song [“All Delighted People (Original Version)”], and now, my favorite EP (“All Delighted People”).  I had no idea this would be the year of Sufjan for me, but it became just that pretty quickly once he decided to release more than two hours of music in a matter of a couple months.  Kristian Mattson (The Tallest Man on Earth) follows pretty close behind Sufjan, also releasing a brilliant LP and EP within the year. 

Enjoy the lists, and more importantly, enjoy the music.  I believe that the artists I’ve affirmed on these lists are paying attention to the important things of the human condition, and we do well to pay attention to their artistic achievements.  As Jonsi said so well, “everything’s full of life.”  I hope you find life in this music, as I have.

Now, my favorite EP’s of 2010:

5. Jens Lekman “A Summer in ¾ Time”

4. Sleeping at Last “October”

3. Commodore Cosmos “Diplododisc”

2. The Tallest Man on Earth “Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird”

1. Sufjan Stevens “All Delighted People”

Favorite Songs of 2010

My ground rules for these selections:

• One track per LP or EP
• Tracks must be among my favorites

Pretty simple, eh?  As with the albums, I’ve linked the titles for easy preview and purchase at Amazon.  Enjoy!

25. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band “Wedding Day in Funeralville”

From the John Prine tribute “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows,” this track is interpreted aptly by Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes fame).  Prine’s lyrics are compelling, the tune catchy and efficient.

24. Vampire Weekend “Giving Up the Gun”

I like the “beating swords into plowshares” lyrical theme of this track, and like most Vampire Weekend songs, it’s bouncy and danceable.

23. She & Him “In the Sun”

This was the most requested song by my daughter in 2010.  It’s a charming ditty that I gladly play over and over for my beautiful little girl.

22. Buke and Gass “Revel In Contempt”

I love the energy, I love the homemade (home invented?) instruments, and I think as time goes on, I’ll love this band more and more.

21. Broken Social Scene “World Sick”

Do they really have five guitarists?  Intense.  And who can’t relate to the chorus, “I get world sick every time I take a stand”? 

20. Commodore Cosmos “Impending Doom”

Lansing’s own Commodore Cosmos bring out the big guns on this track.  The track sounds like the title suggests, ranging from tense anticipation to all out doom.  It uses quiet-loud dynamics to great effect, and it’s a great song.  I love you, Commodore Cosmos!

19. Johnny Cash “Ain’t No Grave”

It’s Johnny Cash, with Scott Avett on banjo.  Not much could go wrong here.  And it doesn’t.

18. Sleeping at Last “Watermark”

Sleeping at Last have inspired me since I first saw them in ‘98, and this gorgeous track continues the trend, “Dive in with your eyes closed / For the life you were born to claim / And the water will be paralyzed / By the courage you contain.”

17. Belle & Sebastian “I Didn’t See it Coming”

What a fantastic album opener.  It’s sweet, it’s beautiful, the vocals are perfect, and it’s a builder.  “Make me dance, I want to surrender.”

16. Mavis Staples “Wrote a Song for Everyone”

Of all the songs on “You Are Not Alone,” this is the one I find myself singing while washing the dishes.  A sign of a great song in my book.  Also, fantastic guitar tone.

15. The New Pornographers “The Crash Years”

The chorus is electric, and this gem is buried in one of the verses, “Light a candle's end / You are a light turned low / And like the rest of us / You got those old eternity blues.”  Good tune.

14. Janelle Monae “Cold War”

Pop songs everywhere, take notes.  This is how you deliver an opening line, and this is how you sing a hook.  If that weren’t enough, the song is reflective, making you ask yourself “do you know what you’re fighting for?”

13. Titus Andronicus “A More Perfect Union”

This epic rock n’ roll track references The Civil War, Springsteen, and it flat out rocks.  The energy of this track makes me believe these guys are an amazing live band.  Just a hunch.

12. Arcade Fire “City With No Children”

“You never trust a millionaire quoting the Sermon on the Mount.”  Lines like this are why Arcade Fire is one of my favorite bands.  And what a bassline!

11. Josh Ritter “The Curse”

Archaeologist falls in love with mummy, mummy enjoys life more than archaeologist, archaeologist becomes mummy, mummy lives on.  At least I think that’s how it goes.  It’s a beautiful, wonderfully inventive love song.

10. The Avett Brothers “Spanish Pipedream”

From the excellent “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows” John Prine tribute album comes this gem.  I haven’t heard John Prine’s original, but this song is perfect for the Avett Brothers.

9. The Walkmen “Stranded”

It’s a song of regret and sadness, but it doesn’t make me sad to listen to it.  The horns are the lifeblood of the song, and the vocals are spot on.

8. The Tallest Man on Earth “Burden of Tomorrow”

Few can sing a line like “once I held a glacier to an open flame” and make it sound completely uncontrived.  I love this man’s songs.

7. Joe Pug “Bury Me Far (From My Uniform)”

Poetic-Theo-political commentary set to a charming melody.  If you are unmoved by lines like “Do not find me justice / Just find me a grave / And then bury me far from my uniform / So God might remember my face,” check your pulse.

6. The National “Runaway”

This is a beautiful depiction of facing near insurmountable fears and difficulties, and one of the most singable melodies in The National’s catalog.

5. Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”

It’s a great song from the opening line, but from 1:50 on, it crescendos, repeating these beautiful lines, “Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free / Be more like the man you were made to be / There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see the beauty of love as it was made to be.”  Beautiful.

4. Jonsi “Animal Arithmetic”

This frenetic song feels like it could spin out of control at any point, but it holds together until it releases into its joyous refrain. 

3. Sufjan Stevens “Impossible Soul”

The 25:35 culmination of my favorite album of the year.  It cross-references lines from nearly every other song on the album, it covers five distinct musical and emotional dynamics.  It might be unfair to call it a “song,” since it’s pretty much it’s own EP, but it’s quite an achievement.  An impossible achievement?  Couldn’t resist.

2. The Tallest Man on Earth “The Dreamer”

The electric guitar is a little muddy, the imagery is beautiful as usual, and the chorus is impossibly perfect: “sometimes the blues is just a passing bird, and why can’t that always be?  Tossing aside from your birch’s crown with just enough dark to see how you’re the light over me.”  I put on this song, and just let it wash over me.

1. Sufjan Stevens “All Delighted People (Original Version)”

This song embodies everything that I love about Sufjan Stevens.  It might be the most epic thing I’ve ever heard, packed with wall to wall crescendo’s, and at the center, this beautiful, joyous line, “all delighted people raise their hands.”  If that weren’t enough, it borrows lyrics from one of my all-time favorite songs, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence.”  Clocking in at nearly 12 minutes, I only wish it were longer.  You may disagree, but this is my idea of a perfect song.  My hands are still raised.

Favorite Albums of 2010

I love music. I loved a lot of music in 2010. I decided to rank the music and write about it. If you take the time to read this, congratulations! You must be a music nerd like me! Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2010:

(click on album titles for links to preview and download albums from Amazon)

15. Damien Jurado “Saint Bartlett”

Damien Jurado is a remarkably consistent songwriter, which led me to take this one for granted a bit. I didn’t dig deep enough into these songs to rank it confidently, but, as always, it’s a beautiful collection of songs. Love the vocal echoes on opener “Cloudy Shoes.”

14. Joe Pug “Messenger”

After 2008’s outstanding “Nation of Heat EP,” I had very high hopes for this debut LP. Pug’s songwriting is just as strong as on “Heat,” especially on heart-wrenching tracks like “Bury Me (Close to My Uniform),” but there’s something about the full band sound on this album that’s a bit too polished for my taste. Pug’s songs just feel like they need a bit more edge. I’m excited to hear whatever he comes up with next.

13. She & Him “Volume 2”

The orchestration is lush. The songs are gorgeous. I love this album. “Volume 1” was a minimalist pop masterpiece, and this is an apt follow-up. M. Ward’s jack-of-all-trades musicianship and Zooey Deschanel’s crystal clear voice and impeccable ear for melody make for a wonderful, albeit grammatically incorrect, musical pair.

12. Mavis Staples “You Are Not Alone”

I own Loretta Lynn’s “Van Lear Rose” because it was produced by Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather). I own Mavis Staples’ “You Are Not Alone” because it was produced by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco). In both cases, it’s a good match. There are some great gospel tracks, a couple Tweedy originals (including the excellent title track). My favorite is the the anthemic track, “Wrote a Song for Everyone.”

11. Johnny Cash “American VI: Ain’t No Grave”

Johnny Cash’s late-career producer, collaborator and career-reviver Rick Rubin can’t let Johnny Cash go, which means we keep getting to hear more of the wonderful recordings the legendary man left behind. When Johnny Cash sings “there ain’t no grave can hold my body down,” I believe him. Some of these songs could bring someone to tears. But not me, of course. I was just chopping onions.

10. The Walkmen “Lisbon”

The Walkmen have been around for a while now (this is their 6th LP), but this is the first of theirs that I’ve really listened to. I heard “Stranded” on NPR’s All Songs Considered, and fell in love. “Stranded” remains the standout track on the album (I’m a sucker for a good horn section), but this is a solid album, beginning to end. The vocals are impassioned, the percussion inventive, the guitar work pristine. Walk on, Walkmen. Yeah, I just said that, and it was hilarious.

9. Belle & Sebastian “Write About Love”

Speaking of bands who have been around for awhile, Belle & Sebastian have been making “wistful pop” since the days when I was exclusively listening to Christian punk rock and ska music (i.e. the mid-late 90’s). I’ve grown to appreciate B&S over the past five years or so, but I am by no means a devout fan, though I may well be on my way to becoming one. With their 8th LP, B&S make it sound easy, something that’s far from easy to do. Great sing-along tunes.

8. Janelle Monae “The ArchAndroid”

Concept album. Check. Ambitious album. Check. I don’t normally love R&B/Hip-hop, but I really love this album. A stark contrast to many of her contemporaries in the pop world, Janelle Monae evokes the classic vibe of James Brown and Marvin Gaye. Her lyrics are science fiction, inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film “Metropolis.” Monae takes on the character of Cindi Mayweather, something of an android messiah, to explore issues of class prejudice and “other-ness.” I may well like this more and more as I continue to listen to it. Also, the tracks “Cold War” and “Tightrope” are SO the jams.

7. The National “High Violet”

Nearly every male vocalist I listen to is a tenor, but not Matt Berninger. This is the first thing that strikes you when you listen to the National. The deep voice up front contributes to their dark, brooding aesthetic. The percussion on this album is exceptional (e.g. “Terrible Love,” and “Bloodbuzz Ohio”). The line “I was afraid I’d eat your brains” (from “Conversation 16”) makes me laugh audibly every time. I’m not sure if I should be laughing, and that’s precisely why this music is so good. These guys are masters of tension, and I gladly live in it with them.

6. Josh Ritter “So Runs the World Away”

I can’t think of anybody who can top Josh Ritter as a lyricist right now. For example, in the nautically-themed epic “Another New World,” the wordplay “'Til at last all around us was fastness, one vast glassy desert of arsenic white.” Is he just showing off? Even if he is, I embrace it wholeheartedly. If I were the arguing type, I might argue that Josh Ritter is our generation’s Paul Simon. I only hope Ritter’s career continues as long as Simon’s. Another highlight: “The Curse” is about an archaeologist who falls in love with a revived mummy and then trades places with him. You gotta hear it.

5. The Tallest Man on Earth “The Wild Hunt”

Kristian Matsson is a bit of an enigma. I know that he’s from Sweden, he’s not tall, his voice projects as though he’s swallowed an amplifier, and he continues to write and record brilliant songs. I fell in love with his debut LP “Shallow Grave” in 2008, and this new collection is, for the most part, cut from the same cloth. Aside from the more spacious piano-based closer “Kids on the Run,” these are densely crafted folk masterpieces, meticulously picked on guitar and banjo, leaving much to be unpacked even after numerous listens. These songs keep on giving, and I thank The Tallest Man on Earth for each one of them.

4. Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”

People kept telling me to get this album, that I’d love it. I kept putting it off. I got the album. They were right. I thanked them. From the opening line of the album “Serve God, love me and mend” (from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”) to the closing line “Get over your hill and see what you find there, with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair,” it is clear that themes of God, grace and forgiveness are at the heart of this album. They sing and play with intense passion, and they use dynamic shifts to great effect. They’re the only band I’ve heard play a banjo as violently as Scott Avett, and they put together an incredible debut album full of life and catharsis.

3. Jonsi “Go”

Icelandic band Sigur Ros has built up a ravenously devoted fan base, and the debut (English language!) solo album from singer Jón Þór Birgisson was (and is) exciting. The best way to describe this album is with one of Jonsi’s lines, from the track “Animal Arithmetic,” “every time, everyone, everything’s full of life!” This album is brimming with life. The percussion is at times so energetic and Jonsi’s voice so pure that I feel like I need to jump out of my body to enjoy it properly. Jonsi has a knack for transcendent music. His voice is a treasure, and his songs a gift.

2. Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”

I was really excited about this album’s release. I preordered the vinyl as soon as humanly possible, and took notes (notes I say!) during my first listen through. Arcade Fire has released three albums, and I don’t think they could be any better. “Funeral” was bombastic, refreshingly honest, full of relatable human suffering and vivid imagery. “Neon Bible” was full of critique of church, politics and pop culture, drenched in pipe organ and lyrics that speak directly to my heart. “The Suburbs” is just a fantastic rock n’ roll album. It reminds me of Springsteen (“Modern Man”), The Mamas and the Papas (“City With No Children”), and, y’know, disco (“Sprawl II”).

Lyrically, Butler is spot on as usual, with suburban gems like “Pray to God I don’t live to see the death of everything that’s wild” (from “Half Light II”). Arcade Fire’s music works, I think, because the band cares deeply about what they sing about. They do not write off the suburbs as a faceless mass of people who have forsaken the open spaces and urban centers of our nation, but look at suburban life autobiographically, noting the good and the bad therein. It’s oddly compelling subject matter, executed masterfully by a great band.

1. Sufjan Stevens “The Age of Adz”

I was giddy with excitement on the day that (surprise!) Sufjan released a 58 minute EP (“All Delighted People”) with no forewarning whatsoever. It was just there, new Sufjan music. Sneak attack. And it was awesome. Not long after, there came news of a forthcoming LP. It came with a fair amount of explanation, summed up by: different/electronic/concept/outsider artist Royal Robertson/different. Also, different. Many were worried how it could live up to “Illinois,” his 2005 masterpiece. I was more worried that it could compare to the amazing EP he had just released! I preordered Adz on vinyl, and was giddy to listen to it. “Futile Devices” came over the speakers, and I was confused. This wasn’t very different. But then came the opening “brown noise” of “Too Much.” A bit dancy, a repeating chorus, minimal lyrics. I’m starting to get into the groove, and when the chilling horns of “The Age of Adz” enter at track 3, I’m hooked. I can’t say I “got it” immediately, but I knew I liked this.

Then I went with my good friend Jon Mickelson to see Sufjan in concert. This was the moment it all came together. Sufjan was having fun. He was dancing. His choreography was cheesy, but authentic. It was like he was experiencing the sort of joy I experience when I dance with my little kids in the living room after a long day at work. This is not to say that these songs are simplistic. They are as intricate as can be. I saw a 10 piece band (with 2 drummers, facing one another from opposite sides of the stage, playing mostly in unison throughout the show) bring these songs to life. And in the middle was Sufjan, perhaps my favorite artist, being brought to life again, after a five year semi-hiatus.

And I came back to the album. If you’ve listened to it less than ten times, you haven’t listened enough. It keeps giving, coming to life more and more with each listen. The profane moment on “I Want to Be Well” becomes a prayer, a cry, a plea to God, to doctors, to anyone who can help, to bring relief to an aching body/soul/mind, and now! You realize what an achievement “Impossible Soul” really is. Seriously, it’s over 25 minutes long, and you come to realize, as Sufjan said , introducing the piece at the concert, “everything that has happened so far has been leading up to this moment.” It’s a remarkably self-aware idea, that one is an “Impossible Soul,” and it requires 5 episodes to explore that idea fully.

After years of frustration with the idea of songwriting, Sufjan found inspiration amid great suffering and in an affinity with outsider artist Royal Robertson. I probably like Sufjan Stevens a bit too much, but what can I say? I think I’ve said it already.

Coming soon: My favorite EP’s and Songs from 2010

"Hospice" by The Antlers | A Pastoral Reflection

Instantaneous information and access are cardinal virtues of our time, and reflections on albums released eight months ago are decidedly uncool. Reviews come out at or before the release of an album, and a revisit is only appropriate within the confines of "Best of" lists. Or 5, 10, 20, or 25 years later, when it has become a classic.

Well, Hospice, by The Antlers was released last summer to much critical acclaim, but I didn't hear about it until the year end lists started coming out in November and December. I didn't acquire the album until last week, and am grateful to receive its witness. Now this is not a blanket recommendation of the album. It's dark, haunting, brooding, at times nightmarish, and everything else you'd expect from an album entitled Hospice. But as someone who interacts with hospital patients, dying people, and grieving families on a semi-regular basis, I find the albums's stark honesty devastatingly beautiful.

I won't attempt to reconstruct the entire narrative of the album, nor review it, but only to share some ways in which its poetry has spoken truth into me as a pastoral caregiver. The opening lines are telling: "I wish that I had known in that first minute we met, the unpayable debt that I owed you. Because you'd been abused by the bone that refused you, and you hired me to make up for that." As a pastor, I often enter situations completely oblivious to the stories of one or more of the people immersed in a difficult situation. History, upbringing, core convictions, and biases toward tall people influence the coming conversation and subsequent relationship long before I enter a room. Expectations are rarely clear, and after the fact, we pine, with The Antlers, for a little foreknowledge, background, anything that would have prepared us for what's about to transpire.

In Hospice, Sylvia is the patient who grew up with an abusive father, and has become an abusive patient to her caregiver. The caregiver isn't faultless, as a lack of boundaries has allowed this abuse to escalate. He wants to be more than a caregiver. He wants to be her savior. On the song "Atrophy," over sparse but slowly building instrumentation, he confesses: "I'm bound to your bedside, your eulogy singer. I'd happily take all those bullets inside you and put them inside of myself." After these lines, the music builds to a cacophonic roar before pulling back to the singular voice, nearly whispering "Someone, oh anyone, Tell me how to stop this. She's screaming, expiring, and I'm her only witness." Later, in the heartwrenching song "Two," the caregiver mourns that "There's no open doors, and there's no way to get through, there's no other witnesses, just us two."

In my ongoing dialogues with God, this line has entered my mind more than once. "There's no other witnesses, just us two." Yesterday, it struck me why this line refuses to leave me alone. Much like the tragic protagonist of Hospice, I have been guilty of overidentifying and overinvesting. There have been times where I have assumed this responsibility of sole witness to the sufferings of another. Even while confessing with my lips that God is with them in their pain and suffering, I have been guilty of making it about me. Pastoral care should never be something that I need in order to feel useful as a pastor. It should not be the place where I pick at the things I hate in myself that I happen to see in others.

I, more than anyone should be the one to point to and embrace the third witness. And when it feels like "just us two," the time is ripe to embrace the presence of that mysterious Other, the self-giving God who knows the deepest suffering that human life has to offer, both in the pain of a Son who suffered the worst sort of death imaginable, and of the Father, who had to witness the unbearable tragedy. On the other side of suffering with Christ is hope. Tragically, for the isolated and suffocating suffering of Hospice, there is no other side, even after Sylvia's death. From the Epilogue, "When I try to move my arms sometimes, they weigh too much to lift. I think you buried me awake (my one and only parting gift.) But you return to me at night, just when I think I may have fallen asleep. Your face is up against mine, and I'm too terrified to speak."

I'm sure Hospice will continue to provide me with rich reflections appropriate for such a time as this Lenten season, and will serve as an ongoing reminder that caring for the hurting is a sacred task, and should never be attempted alone. The Kingdom of God gives us a hopeful alternative to the nightmares of Hospice. Not a sparing from suffering, but the promise of hope, the joy of resurrection.

Headed to Washington

Marcie and I will be in Washington (the state, not the district) for the next few days. First to Seattle, then to Centralia. Our dear friends Ryan and Devyn will be wed there on Saturday, and I will be an usher. I take my role very seriously, and have been practicing at local restaurants. Aside from a few awkward glances and that one guy who punched me in the face, people seem to be satisfied with my ushering skillz (yes, that's skillz, not skills). Maybe I can get some more practice in at the airports on the way...

And for those who take listmaking as seriously as I, there was a glaring omission on my top albums list. I mistakenly omitted the wonderful album "Parc Avenue" by a band called Plants & Animals from the list. I would put it at number eight. There, I feel better now.

Lately I've been spending a lot of time with Addison, enjoying reading Walter Brueggemann's classic "The Prophetic Imagination," and working toward preparing a sermon on 1 Corinthians 3. The peace of Christ be with you all.

My Favorite Albums | 2008

Happy New Year! It's 2009, and it's a perfect time to think back on 2008. One of my favorite things to do every year is to look back at the great new music I discovered each year. '08 was an eventful year and a good one (for a lot of reasons), and these albums provided a good hunk of my soundtrack for the year that will be remembered as ought eight.

14-15 - The Best Albums that were released in 2008 but don't really count as '08 albums having been disqualified due to various and obvious violations of common law qualifications for a 2008 Album:

15. Colin Meloy - Colin Meloy Sings LIVE! - Released in '08, but recorded live in '06, before Meloy's band, the Decemberists released their masterpiece "The Crane Wife." It's too old and too 'live' to count in a list of 2008 albums, but it's wonderful; the work of a master songsmith stripped down to naught but his sweet guitar and articulate vocals.

14. Danielson - Trying Hartz - This two disc, career spanning collection of material from the Danielson Famile, Brother Danielson and DanielsonShip is a must own for silly people like me who've been meaning to "get into" Danielson for years, but didn't know where to start. There's no new material here, but there is some previously unreleased live stuff, I believe.

1-13 - The 2008 albums which qualify as legitimate 2008 albums which I listened to, liked, and ranked in order based on how much I liked them:

13. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges - MMJ is a good rock and roll band. I really liked their 2006 release, "Z," and this was a worthy follow up.

12. The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks - This duo sings that song from the iPod commercial: "Every day we wake up, choose love, choose light..." The album is catchy, quirky and interesting. It's a perfect album for a sunny day.

11. The Bridges - Limits of the Sky - Everybody knows I'm a sucker for family bands: The Partridge Family (ha!), The Danielson Famile, Hanson (LOL), The Jonas Brothers (tee-hee), Chevelle, etc. The Bridges rise above 'family as gimmick' and just make good music. It's Americana/Folk/Pop done right.

10. Beck - Modern Guilt - When I heard that Beck was collaborating with DJ Danger Mouse on this release, I figured it would be absolutely 'off the chain.' I was a bit underwhelmed by the results. It's a solid album, for sure, but I expected more. Maybe it'll grow on me in 2009.

9. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst - I was underwhelmed by this one as well. It's not as consistent as his best efforts ("Lifted..." and "I'm Wide Awake..."), but there are certainly some gems, like "Lenders in the Temple." It's hard when someone's set the bar so high for themselves.

8. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive - Straight up down and dirty rock n' roll out of Minnesota's twin cities. Somehow, the lyrical style reminds me of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), though the music is far different. The Hold Steady are just great rock n' roll storytellers.

7. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs - I love how Death Cab continues to stretch themselves artistically even after achieving ridiculous amounts of critical and financial success. These guys are doing something right. If it weren't for the lame mathematical metaphor of "Long Division," this album may have been a notch higher on the list.

6. She & Him - Volume 1 - Thanks to Paste Magazine for picking this #1 and reminding me that M. Ward did something this year. His "Post-War" album is one of my favorite of the past few years, and this collaboration with actress/singer/songwriter Zooey Deschanel seems a perfect match. This album goes down easy, and I mean that as a compliment.

5. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - This album actually dropped down my list as the year went on. After the first few listens, I was convinced it was one of my favorite albums of all time, let alone 2008. I was taken aback by how different it was from previous albums, and I loved it. Yet as I get used to "new" Sigur Ros, I still like it, but I remember 'old' Sigur Ros with greater affection. I have to be honest; I'll probably like anything they put out. They're simply great.

4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - Possibly the most hyped album of 2008 by the indie crowd, and with good reason. It's a great album. It brings together two of my favorite genres, folk and atmospheric indie rock, in a way I've never heard. It could well be the quintessential 'winter' album. I'm not sure what that means, but it feels true to me when I listen to it this winter.

3. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave - He's from Sweden, and he's called The Tallest Man on Earth. Being a 6'9" Swedish-American, it seems that there must be some cosmic forces drawing me to listen to his music. Whatever the role of the cosmos in the process, I absolutely love this album. I'm fairly certain that I will be able to listen to it hundreds of times without tiring of it, as there will always be another metaphor to unpack or a turn of phrase to deconstruct. He's an old-school finger picker on both guitar and banjo, and he sings with conviction.

2. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" is my daughter's new favorite song...brilliant. It's odd to hear my 2 year old singing about little heads falling in the snow, but it's cool. This album is incredible. It gets better with every listen. It's as smooth as butter, obviously influenced by Brian Wilson yet utterly creative. This album somehow seems to equally embody all four seasons, as though it could have come from a California summer, autumn in Tennessee or a Siberian winter just as easily as rainy Seattle (from whence it actually did come). It's accessible, too. Case in point: my mom was riding in the car with us this week as we listened to this album. We only got through the album's first three songs (we listened to "White Winter Hymnal" about 7 times, per Addison's request), but when we arrived at a bookstore, she bought the album. My mom bought it. It's that good.

1. Anathallo - Canopy Glow - Not everyone loves Anathallo as much as I do, but for some reason, they are a band in tune with my soul. This album is great from the first note to the last. I didn't really think they could top their 2006 epic "Floating World," but I think they did. The album is focused and tight, and the melodies are gorgeous. "All The First Pages" is my favorite song of 2008, and "Italo" is my daughter's runner up to Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal." I hope Anathallo is able to continue to make music for a very long time. I will listen. Yes, I will listen again and again.
~
Thanks to all the artists who continue to make great music year in and year out. I certainly do appreciate it, and I know that somehow the world is better for it. It is good for humans, created in God's image, to create beautiful things for our brothers and sisters to enjoy. So enjoy the list, and I hope, the music.

Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear

I got a chance to briefly meet and hear papers from some wonderful scholars at the Symposium on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture held at North Park Theological Seminary early this fall. The theme of the symposium was "The Idolatry of Security." Different presenters took the topic in different directions, some focusing on national security, others on personal security, and still others on eschatological security. I found Scott Bader-Saye from the University of Scranton to be particularly engaging. Ironically, Bader-Saye presented on a Thursday night, causing me to miss my weekly viewing of a new episode of The Office (which takes place in Scranton, PA).

Well, now that I'm done with seminary, I have finally been able to dig into Bader-Saye's 2007 book from the Christian Practice of Everyday Life series, Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear. Bader-Saye does a remarkable job of maintaining balance in his treatment of a very touchy subject. He manages to look at fear from many angles without losing focus on the primary goal, which is to help his readers "...live into the joyful freedom of those children of God who have learned to put fear in its place."

Bader-Saye argues that fear is the shadow side of love; all fear is somewhere rooted in a love for something or someone. So in a sense, in order to squelch all fear, we would have to squelch all love. Most of us can agree that this is a bad idea. Following the wisdom of Aquinas, Bader-Saye urges us not to become fearless, but to make sure our fears are rightly ordered. We must question whether our fears are imminent, powerful, threating, and legitimate. We need to question whether we're overrreacting to the objects of our fear. Are we lashing out, closing up, and losing the joy of life? Are we opening ourselves up to manipulation?

Our fears can be properly ordered when understood within the right narrative, and when they don't paralyze us from doing good. Bader-Saye suggests three virtuous practices to help us properly order our fears: hospitality, peacemaking and generosity. All three of these ask us to risk, and all three of these can be potential threats to our security, but all three of these help us to truly preserve the love which our fearful instincts fight so hard to protect.

I've laid out some of the nuts and bolts, but it must be noted that Bader-Saye writes in a very engaging way, using plenty of examples from pop culture and stories from real life to narrate his points. He quotes lyrics from U2, Dashboard Confessional, Bruce Springsteen and Tim McGraw, analyzes films like the Star Wars saga and Pieces of April, and engages the literature of Elie Wiesel and C. S. Lewis. And of course he deals throughout with the political landscape and its relentless use of fear as a motivational tool to mobilize Americans on the right and left.

Bader-Saye deals with the doctrine of Providence, a doctrine largely (and sadly) forgotten outside of the Reformed tradition and sadly distorted in the great injustices of Manifest Destiny, etc. Yet the author insists that the providence of God is precisely what we must trust if we are to put fear in its place. He writes, "Providence is the conviction that through it all God's story cannot be lost, and thus God's hopes for the human story cannot be thwarted."

I think he's on to something. So buy it, read it, and have your friends read it so you can discuss it and together change the world.

Jesus is My Friend

Many of you have probably already seen this by now, but I wanted to post it for those who haven't yet. I'll refrain from sharing my thoughts about it for now. Comments seem unnecessary when it comes to this gem.

MWE3 | 10 Years

Please pardon me while I reminisce...

It was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and there were nearly a hundred people crammed into the lobby of a community center in Belvidere, IL. The year was 1998, and the unmistakeable sound of ska was in the air. Appendages flailed about in attempt to master the fine art of "skanking," the shrill cries of a threefold horn section pierced the hearts of many, and a revolution had begun. MWE3 played their first show, and Quality Swedish Forest City Fruit Loop Ska was born.

For those of you who don't know, (which is probably most of you) I was the primary vocalist and lyricist for a ska band called MWE3 from Black Friday of 1998 until our last show on May 24, 2000.

It is nearly unfathomable to think that it all started 10 years ago. I was 16, a Jr. at Jefferson High School in Rockford, IL. I had recently discontinued my basketball career, and the possibility of forming a band grew out of a small group I was part of at the time. There had been a long, distinguished list of horn players with a penchant for ska music to come out of First Covenant Church, so the air was abuzz, but the initiative of a few of us dedicated folks led us to finally pursue the dream. I'm infinitely glad that we did.

With much effort, we were eventually able to wrestle together a complete band, and thanks to the artistic vision of Carson Fry and Chris Willey, we were able to come up with a really cool logo, and then a band name with which to turn our cool logo into an acronym (Men Walking Eternally with the Trinity).

MWE3 was and will forever be:

David Blomgren_Sax/Circus Peanuts
Jacob Eisele_Guitar/Bass/Rebellion
David Frisk_Trumpet/Access
Andrew Gates_Vox/Height
Ryan Johnson_Trombone/Da Bears
Justen Kirkland_Drums/Aquatic Sounds
Matt Moore_Guitar/Bass/Rawk
Also featuring:
Justin Johnson, Justin Dickerman and Joshua Havens_Faithful Fill-ins/Tiny Dancers

And I say all this not just to indulge myself in nostalgia, but to remember that this was the context in which I first felt like God was using me for the purposes of his kingdom. This was the place where my call to ministry first took shape, and my first attempt to really do ministry in my community. We didn't take ourselves seriously, and sometimes we didn't take the music seriously enough, but we had fun. We played like mad whether it was for four people or four-hundred (an accurate spread, actually). We prayed for the people who listened to us, we prayed for each other, and we prayed in song.

The memories make me grieve how serious I've become. There was a very pure freedom about those days in my life, and I'm unsure if I'm capable of that sort of freedom anymore. I've learned a lot in the last ten years. I've grown up a lot, becoming a husband and father; and in two weeks a seminary grad. I've grown a lot, but as I remember MWE3, I can't help but grieve the loss of a great deal of innocence and naivete in my life. Many days I miss it, though I thank God for who I've become and who He's placed in my life. Perhaps these lyrics capture the tension best:

I wish I could be Peter Pan
I'd fly away to Never-Neverland
Tinker would sprinkle me with dust
And my bones wouldn't grow old and rust
I wish I could be Peter Pan
And wouldn't deal with growing older
And life would be much simpler
But Peter Pan's not who I am

MWE3_Peter Pan

I'm not sure if bones can actually rust, but give me a break; I was sixteen.

Gentlemen, if you're reading this, I love you and I miss you...

And don't die in my Dunkin' Donuts.

Anathallo | Canopy Glow

Anathallo is one of my five favorite bands. They're in elite company with Sufjan, Radiohead, Wilco and either Sigur Ros or the Decemberists. Canopy Glow is their second full-length album, a follow up to my favorite album of 2006, Floating World. Though the album artwork doesn't compare, the music is just as moving and innovative, and perhaps even better for its concerted focus on the songs. Whereas the subtext, the Japanese folktale Hanasakajiji occasionally overwhelmed the individual songs on Floating World, on Canopy Glow, the songs simply breathe and speak for themselves.

And they speak volumes. I have yet to analyze the lyrics in depth, but the melodies, song structures and musical flow of this album are a force to be reckoned with. The backing vocals of lone female band member Erica Forman are brought into the lead at times, and brilliantly complement the complex tenor of lead vocalist Matt Joynt. As always, the percussion patterns are difficult to master (as I've learned trying to drum along on my steering wheel), the textured sound is woven together like a fine Persian rug (I'm an expert at simile), and yet the melodies are catchy enough to spark the interest of a two-year old (my daughter can't get enough of the opening lines of "Italo"). Also, "All the First Pages" may be my new favorite song. I've listened to it over a dozen times at this point, and each time I feel like I'm going to have a seizure as the music somehow threatens to deconstruct my physical existence.

So consider this a recommendation. But I'm not the only one recommending it. Buy it at your local indie record store or buy it straight from the band's website (here). Do it. Do it. Do it.

You're Never Too Old to Rock

The title of this post is the tagline to the film Young @ Heart.

The Young at Heart chorus is brilliant, the film is brilliant, and it's not just because a chorus of 80 year olds get on a stage and sing songs by Sonic Youth, the Talking Heads and the Clash (though that's a plus). This documentary, and the Young at Heart chorus which it follows throughout, is a picture of life in aging. We so often speak of aging alongside death, and death is a reality in this film, but aging also offers life. It offers life to these octogenarians, and it offers life to twenty-somethings like me who watch the film and are reminded that life can be truly joyful, simply because it is life.

This is the best film I've seen about community since Lars and the Real Girl, and it is encouraging for someone like me, soon to become pastor to people of all ages. Young at Heart reminds me that people do not always fit well into the boxes we shove them into. It also reminds me that people who have shoved themselves into boxes can step out and find great meaning.

Yet it's a bit absurd. These folks don't listen to Coldplay and Alan Touissant, but their director does, and he knows that this choir can do great things with their songs. Are these people "cooler" because they sing "cool" songs? I think the answer is no, but that is what it has taken for folks like me to give them a chance. How absurd is it to say that I love this choir of 70-, 80- and 90-somethings because they have "indie cred"?

Really absurd, but if they didn't, I would never have heard them. It's a good reminder that I'm am pretentious and ridiculous.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this film is sad, and heartwrenchingly so. But it deserves a look. And in case you've never heard the Young at Heart chorus, here's a taste of one of their tame moments:

Musical Aspirations

Just this afternoon I was considering pursuing music as a serious hobby again. I've had this on again/off again thing with music over the last ten years, and I've been constantly frustrated by the fact that I can't really write music or play it proficiently. Sure, I can sing a clean melody and write an occasionally witty or profound lyric, but I'm just not that hard core about it. I'm much more hard core about listening, discovering and memorizing obscure details about the music created by others. And I'm beginning to be more okay with that.

And becoming okay with that has led me to reconsider some things. Sure, I'm no Sufjan, Dylan, Tweedy or Sam Beam, but perhaps I have something they don't. Perhaps there lies inside of me something brilliant and courageous that could never come out of the great singer-songwriters to whom I look up. And I might know what it is; I may have discovered my unique contribution to the music world...

I love singing terrible pop songs at the top of my lungs. This could be totally cutting edge. I mean, I sing in my car, in the shower and with my guitar (but not in the shower with my guitar), and it brings me great joy. I even entertain others. I make a killing on karaoke night. So is there a niche in the music world for a decent (not great) singer who can sort of (but not really) play guitar, singing Top 40 songs in new and exciting ways?

I think so.

And did I mention that I'm six-foot-nine?

Bam. Dealmaker. That kind of height is very uncommon in musicians. It could sell. I mean, I could really make some coin for a struggling record label out there.

I'm just not sure if I want to commit yet. I mean, a hobby isn't something you just do for fun. It's a job, and it requires effort. If I commit to this, I can't just give up a month down the road. Anyway, we'll see. I'll consider the idea with sober judgment, but would appreciate any feedback in the meantime. But I gotta go. I got a really cool Enrique Iglesias medly dancin' around in my head, so I'd better write down some notes, in case I decide to pursue this thing.

Anathallo: Bells

This is a new video from Anathallo. They are one of my favorite bands. Their new album is available for preorder here, and if it's half as good as their last one, it's well worth the $13.

The video was created by Anathallo guitarist Danny Bracken. I remember when Marcie used to work at North Park, and I'd visit her at various points throughout the day. Often there was a man at the desk behind her, diligently designing the recent issue of North Park's "Hands On Magazine." I was always impressed by his eye for graphic design, though I never really talked to him. That man?

Danny Bracken.

Enjoy the video, buy the album(s).

10 Favorite Albums of '07

Yes, it's that time of year, when I get to indulge one of my greatest passions: listmaking. My top 10 albums list is always one of my favorite things to compile, and as usual, they're only my favorites (not some objective attempt to pick "the best). My favorites are also confined to those albums which I've heard, which is quite limited since I am not much of a downloader, so I rely on my own cd collection and the public library for my listening.

There are three notable albums that I really wish I had gotten to listen to before the end of the year, but haven't, but I think they're worth mentioning: Boxer by The National, Strawberry Jams by Animal Collective and the new Explosions in the Sky album. Some or all might have made it onto the list, but I haven't heard them. Maybe next time. So without further ado:

10. The Shins Wincing the Night Away - Marcie got me the album for Valentine's Day. As always the melodies are tight, but this one meanders a bit at times, and I find myself wanting to skip over a couple tracks when they come on. It's a good album from a really good band.

9. Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha - Andrew Bird has a great first name. He has a unique sound that is instantly recognizable, which is hard to achieve with all the artists out there. I'm not sure yet if it's as good as The Mysterious Production of Eggs but it's dang good.

8. Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog - Sam Beam & Company have placed much more emphasis on the & Company this time around, and it makes for a much different I & W sound. It has been hard for me to get used to, but there are some tracks that are absolutely outstanding, and the one throwback (Resurrection Fern) might be one of their best yet.

7. Interpol Our Love to Admire - Marcie got me this one for my birthday. Interpol's guitar parts are the tightest around, the vocals are distinctive, and the lyrics are always interesting. They're a band that's hard to figure out, and I like that.

6. Over the Rhine The Trumpet Child - Amazing album. OtR now has a steady bass player and drummer, and have settled on a more jazzy sound than the past, and are better off for it. The song "Trumpet Child" is absolutely breathtaking and the rest of the album is quite good as well. There is one track that just isn't very good in my estimation, and I'll let those of you who have heard the album guess which one.

5. The White Stripes Icky Thump - They're always amazing. I gave them number one on my '05 list with Get Behind Me, Satan, though Sufjan would take number one if I did it all over again. This time, I'm putting them at 5, even though this album is probably better than Get Behind Me. It rocks hard once again, there are bagpipes and mariachi horns, and the wordplay is sometimes downright hilarious.

4. Arcade Fire Neon Bible - This could easily be number one, as could any of the top 6. Arcade Fire has released two albums, both of which are masterpieces. "Antichrist Television Blues" might be my favorite song of '07, and this album just drives from beginning to end without relent. I might even dare to call this quite a prophetic/apocalyptic album. If you don't know what I mean by that, read David Dark.

3. Over the Rhine Snow Angels - "Snow Angel" is the saddest song of '07 and this album is flawless. Even next to Sufjan's box set, which was recorded a bit haphazardly, I think this is my favorite Christmas album ever. There are no cover songs her, besides a stanza from "O Little Town of Bethlehem," which receives a new melody. OtR outdid themselves in '07. Always beautiful vocals, jazzy arrangements, and even a tribute to Vince Guaraldi.

2. Radiohead In Rainbows - One and two have been an ongoing debate in my head. Both are worthy. Both are in my top 5 artists of all time. Both are a bit of a return to a more relaxed, less experimental sound. Both are smooth as butter from beginning to end. This album is beautiful. Even songs with obtuse titles like "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" are beautiful. And "You're All I Need"? Forget about it. My only wish is that it was longer. And if I bought the $80 box set, it could be. Maybe for Christmas? Unlikely, but maybe.

1. Wilco Sky Blue Sky - I admit that it's not really groundbreaking for Wilco. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot did that for them, and it gives them licence to just relax for an album. This is the most listenable album I own. Over and over I listen to this with Marcie and Addison, and it is soothing at moments, and literally makes us dance (see "Walken") at others. I already used the term smooth as butter, but this is seriously like sticking a stick of butter into your ear, feeling it melt all over your eardrums. Sorry, what was I saying? I'm going to go ahead and say it: Wilco is the best American band right now. Arguments to the contrary are accepted, but they cannot have anything to do with the Jonas Brothers, okay?

Thanks for reading. Happy listening, and Merry Christmas!

Mr. Spriggs...'nuff said

Top 5?

Apparently I don't blog anymore, but alas, Hofbauer has issued the challenge on Xanga via The Vis, and I cannot resist.

The challenge? Top 5 musical artists. Before I start my list, I must mention that this is a very immediate list. A year ago or five years ago, the list would have been completely different, but for now, this is it:

1. Sufjan Stevens - I love it all. I occasionally get lost in the music, and don't even realize it's playing. It's as if it becomes a part of my breathing as I listen and my heart is elevated in a way I cannot describe. The more I listen, the more layers of meaning I seem to discern in the lyrical and musical content. I know I'm overstating it, but I love Sufjan. On a side note, my love for a particular Sufjan song was redeemed even further by it's being played by the Mars Hill worship team as Marcie and I served communion to one another in community with the church.

2. Radiohead - They write impossibly great melodies, yet defy convention consistently. Never boring, and amazingly, I never sense that the music is disembodied. Thom Yorke's is an honest, sometimes prophetic voice which has been part of my musical vocabulary since I can remember really loving music. They wrote Fake Plastic Trees and Paranoid Android, both pretty much perfect songs, yet so very different.

3. Wilco - Thanks to the Vis for challenging me to engage Wilco beneath the surface of my limited exposure. Since digging deep into Being There and the Mermaid Avenue sessions in addition to their self evidently genius four prior albums, I cannot help but love them. Right now, I probably listen to them more than any other band, and I keep wanting more. I love their capacity for genre-bending and their outright dominant musicianship. When I saw them live a few months ago, I was convinced that I was witnessing one of the greatest American rock bands of all time in their prime.

4. The White Stripes - Two people, two instruments, seemingly limitless possibility. I love that Jack and Meg have pretty much deconstructed blues rock and put it back together in such a minimalist fashion. It's sometimes abrasive, occasionally tender, even hilarious, and always brilliant. I also LOVE the fact that they never have a set list for their live shows. Hopefully I will one day get to witness it.

5. The Decemberists - I believe it was Stephen Colbert who called them "hyper literate prog-rock." As Josh Overbay once said, "I feel smarter when I listen to the Decemberists." There is depth to their songwriting that keeps their songs from growing old with repeated listens. Each album is great in its own right, and The Tain is one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard. I'll never comprehend the Decemberists, and that's alright with me.

Two others who almost made my list are Bob Dylan and Anathallo, and I excluded them for the exact opposite reasons. Dylan's catalog of music is so large that I have not come even close to listening to it all, let alone digesting it. As I continue to chip away at it, he climbs up the list, but I can't quite say he's in my top 5 yet. Anathallo is not on the list because they are so very early in their career. Floating World is in my top 5 albums of all time, and their previous EP was genius as well, and as they continue to develop and record, I have no doubt that they will climb into the top five, but again, not yet.

That was fun.

Goodnight, everyone. Thanks for your hospitality, your love and your pants.

Church and Culture, Part 2

One of my dearest friends, affectionately known as Gus, wrote the following in response to my first post on Church and Culture. (Note: Gus generally does use his shift key occasionally, but neglected said key due to the informal nature of the blog comment). I found it to be quite well put.

"the thing i think we need to learn to do is to learn to see truth and beauty everywhere it exists (as you suggest) and then re-learn to see the beauty of the gospel...not just a vitamin-fortified cure for what ails you, but a sweeter song than is actually possible to sing apart from this amazing life in God...then as we readily look for truth and beauty we can sing this sweeter song as we live in the midst of other people's lives...I just dont think we know how to recapture the beauty of the gospel, so it still seems lame, trite and out of touch with the truly "profound"...if the gospel is not more beautiful than anything else, I am not sure I want it"

I don't really need to expound on this a lot, but I want to dive further into the idea of the beauty of the gospel "live[d] in the midst of other people's lives." It harkens in my mind the metaphor laid out by Rob Bell in NOOMA Rhythm / 011. Bell's thesis is basically that many of us have a far too distant view of God, as if he's somewhere else and intervenes occasionally. As a corrective, he invites us to look at life as a beautiful piece of music that God is putting together, and we all can live in tune with this great music when we live in the story of the gospel of redemption, when we live in tune with God's score.

Whenever I watch the film, it always challenges me to think that if I am truly living in tune with the "sweeter song," which reflects God's glory perfectly, that my life and the life shared by my community (church) would actually be attractive, exciting, sweet and beautiful.

I mean, if God really knows what he's doing, then if we follow him right, our lives will be the best lives possible. We'll be blessing as many other people as possible, loving as much as possible, seeing beauty everywhere possible and knowing its source. It does not diminish the fact that the call to discipleship is a hard one, wrought with sacrifice and tough calls, but if we truly believe that making these tough sacrifices is exactly what God desires of us, then won't our lives be better on the other side of that decision?

Perhaps if we are able to stop being paralyzed by fear, to truly live out the liberation that is proclaimed by the Gospel we profess, then we will be part of a song whose beauty nobody can deny. It is not a song invented by the mind of one great genius, but the sound of thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand singing the same song, each of us using our creativity within the structure of the greater piece of music.

What this looks like practically will be addressed in the near future, but in the meantime, let's play the song together.


[Also, see thoughts from David Fitch on this exact same topic, including plans for a forthcoming post on Kevin Vanhoozer's book on the topic of the Church and cultural engagement]

Church and Culture

I have some thoughts ruminating in my head about the church and cultural engagement.

Last night I was talking to a group of guys, and we had been talking about testimonies and life stories and all that, and one of the guys told a testimony story he had read somewhere (he couldn't remember exactly where). The story goes that a man was walking past a church one day and heard the music of the song "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton blasting out of the church. Being a huge fan of the song, he decided to enter and see what it was all about. It turns out that the church had put Christian lyrics to the song and were singing it as a congregation. The man ended up becoming involved in the church, and he said that he would never have set foot in the church had it not been for "Cocaine." As my friend recalled, the spin the man had put on the story was that the church needs to engage culture more, and his story was a glowing testimony to the possibilities that stem from that.

Before I critique, I want to make clear that I am all about the church engaging culture. My critique comes from the how and with what purpose aspect of this idea.

Here's what I've been ruminating on. I think that to a large extent, some fairly large sections of church are engaging culture in just this way much more than ten years ago (at least in my experience). I know less and less Christians who only listen to Christian music and shop at Christian bookstores and wear tons of Christian t-shirts. There has been so much valid critique of Christian subculture that a lot of people are taking notice.

But I wonder if our unplugging from a Christian subculture and engaging the media of the broader culture is actually achieving some of its supposed purposes. One of the purposes of being attuned to broader culture is so that the church can engage in conversation and exchange stories with people outside the church. It is one of many ways to make a common human connection with people who, for various reasons, would not tend to darken the doorway of a church, or even interact with a Christian for that matter. I know that this sounds like a manipulative and utilitarian view of art and media, which I do not necessarily agree with, but acknowledge that this is a very real motive for many Christians to "get involved in the secular world", and therefore want to address whether it is actually happening.

Here's what I see happening. Christians broaden their own horizons and begin to see truth in the art of the world. They see that Christians don't have the corner market on all truth, and find God and truth at work in the art of people who are not professed Christians. These same Christians adopt the phrase "all truth is God's truth" as a mantra, and their lives are enriched, and so they talk to their friends, who happen to also be Christians, and introduce them to this liberating idea.

Yet rarely do they use this newfound love for all things beautiful (not just all things labeled Christian) to connect with the people they believe so desperately need to know the triune God to whom all truth and beauty points. I guess what I'm saying is that I see the church being enriched by this bursting from the box of Christian subculture, but when it's not coupled by a missional emphasis, it still only blesses the church.

When our overall approach to the church is to bless ourselves and not the world, then it doesn't matter how connected we are to this culture.

If salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? Listening to Arcade Fire, no matter how great that may be, won't do the trick. What do you think?

Shenanigans and Goings On

Some snippets of what's going on:

• I've been suffering from lame duck syndrome since making the decision to move to G-Rap. Overall, it's not too bad, but during lulls, I start to lose motivation.
• Blake's performance on American Idol this week was the most impressive I've ever seen. I generally consider AI a waste of my time, but for the first time, I was actually impressed by the artistry of one of the contestants. Sure, people with pretty great voices have been on the show, but this actually impressed me from an artistic standpoint. You may disagree, but I liked it, and I decided that I'm not too much of a hipster-snob to shout it from the rooftops.
• I've been reading Randy Frazee's The Connecting Church, and wish it was titled something more accurate, like Is True Community Possible in Suburbia? or something to that effect. That would have made me want to read it much earlier. As it stands, the title is sort of sterile sounding, and doesn't do justice to this excellent book. Very challenging to the suburban church paradigm, and an excellent, no compromise plan for Biblical community.
• Addison is at an unbelievably entertaining stage of her development. She is beautiful, social, happy, strong, loving, and more a joy than I could have imagined on my own.
• Training for the 5k is going pretty well, but I've had a bit of abnormal soreness in my left leg for the last couple days that has thrown off my training a bit. The race is in 8 days. Training for it gives me a goal to strive for and an added sense of purpose. It seems silly, but it's true.
• I've been listening to some great music acquired from the library: Neko Case, Over the Rhine, more Yo La Tengo, Wilco and Billy Bragg, Iron & Wine/Calexico, old Sigur Ros, Joanna Newsom, and some new permanent acquisitions from the Violent Femmes, TV on the Radio and Vigilantes of Love.
• I'm pumped about the Wilco show on June 15.
• Last weekend was incredible. Congrats to Ush and Steph. The community of 104 (college friends) coming together is truly a beautiful thing, and we are extremely blessed each time we come together. The way Addison lit up around our dear friends brought more joy to my heart than I can describe. You are truly family.
• It was great to see my family for my dad's birthday as well. Stockholm Inn is always amazing (you don't know what you got 'til it's gone), and it was wonderful to get to see everyone. I love you...you are also truly family (duh!).
• Go Bulls.
• Golden State? Amazing.
• Prior's season ending "exploratory" shoulder surgery? Big surprise, right?

To borrow an apropos sign off from my dear friend, Vis...you have my love.

Kurt Vonnegut

One of the great social critics of our age, Kurt Vonnegut, has passed away. The public libraries of Indianapolis have been focusing on Vonnegut this year, so his name has been at the front of my mind a lot lately. I read Cat's Cradle in high school, and excessive repetition of a recurring line from Slaughterhouse-Five was an inside joke between myself, my roommate and Matthew iPod Morrison during college, and would be appropriate for such a time as this...so it goes. He was a jester in the best sense of the word. Thanks for some wonderfully entertaining and thought provoking literature.