The Black Keys/Blakroc w/ Mos Def

White people love Mos Def.

Microphone Fail

Eddie Van Halen: Panama

I am watching President Obama speak at Westpoint. Thus, Panama. Turn it up:

Christmas Album Honorable Mentions

We've done the top five of all time. Here are some honorable mentions (in no particular order):

1. Sufjan Stevens: Songs for Christmas: Broad, joyous, Sufjany.

2. Michael McDonald: This Christmas: Most of this won't be your cup o' tea, but several of the tracks are flat out amazing, especially "Wexford Carol" and " Peace." The way McDonald sings, you'd think he was a Christian (actually, I think he is).

3. Sojourn: Advent Songs: Christ-centered, musically varied, big. "Glory Be" and "What Child Is This" are must-downloads.

4. Salvation Is Created: A Christmas Record From Bifrost Arts: Already wrote about this here. Really excellent stuff.

5. Fernando Ortega: Christmas Songs: Pretty standard for Ortega, but standard Ortega makes for great Christmas music.

I would love to keep going, and there are some more out there that are bearable, but let's not press our luck.

Soon to come Best Christmas Singles.

Merry Christmas!

Ah, Christmas. The magic begins yet again.

Some reflections:

1. That is the kickenest slap bass I have heard in a long time.
2. The girl on the right is dead. No, she didn't recently die. She was dead when they filmed this. Weekend at Bernie's style baby!
3. If those two were the only heralds of Jesus birth left on earth, God would give up on earth.

Muppet Rhapsody

This is bound to go viral, so I might as well get it out there now. Hilarious.

Top Five Christmas Albums Ever

You are legally allowed to start playing Christmas music in eight days, so you should probably be prepared. The five Christmas albums no human can live without:

5. Peter, Paul and Mary: A Holiday Celebration: This classic is haunting, warm and, despite PP&M's ignorance, Christ-exalting.

4. Andrew Peterson: Behold the Lamb of God: The first true Christmas album, it is, in reality, a history of salvation. From Abraham to Jesus, Peterson brilliantly makes the grandest meta-narrative a musical sight to behold.

3. Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas: The first Steamroller album (I think), and the only good one.

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas: Jesus seriously considered postponing his incarnation to coincide with Guaraldi's 1965 masterpiece.

1. Holiday Songs And Lullabies: Hands down, the best Christmas album ever. There's just no way they could have produced this thing with any more creativity or beauty. All Christmas albums should aspire to be what this one is.

Uh Oh: New Sara Groves

And, darn it, I am two days late. If you're like me, you know better than to pass up a Saint Sara CD.

Buy it: Fireflies And Songs. CT review here (five stars, of course).

A-Punk on Letterman

We're less than two months away from Vampire Weekend's new album release. Suffice it to say we'll be playing a lot of them around here at ThAmp until it arrives.

New Christmas Music: Sting and Bifrost

There's life's struggle to bring the message of salvation to the world. And then there's life's struggle to find decent Christmas music. I'm not sure which one is harder. Two new albums, however, might just be worth your mula.

Sting: If On a Winter's Night...

Sting is hopelessly, insufferably self-important. And at some level, his latest album exudes that (especially the CD's liner notes and pictures...sigh). But even self-importance can't completely mask Sting's God given talent, or those musicians he brings along for the ride. If On a Winter's Night follows just about every "How to make a good Christmas album" rule.

1. Use some standards, but only the good ones (no "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" please).

2. Don't screw up the originals. Make them your own, but don't reinvent the wheel.

3. Make it warm and inviting. That is, make it feel like it's Christmas in the dead of winter and you are happily sipping hot cider by a fire.

4. Simplicity reigns. Sound nothing like the Transsiberian Orchestra.

5. Don't avoid songs that point to reason we celebrate Christmas (Christ).

Most of the arrangements on If On a Winter's Night are well thought out, simple and support the vocals well (even if Sting sounds a bit strained here and there). Favs include "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming," "Hounds of Winter" (which is a redo from a previous album) and "Cherry Tree Carol."

Buy it: If On A Winter's Night...

Salvation Is Created: A Christmas Record From Bifrost Arts

My conversion to "Indy" music has been a long one. I have accepted "Indy" so many times I don't know which one stuck. I think what finalized my conversation was the realization that, not unlike grunge music in the early 90's, Indy music is transforming music culture for the better. Thankfully, the crap music that we had to bear in the late 90's and early 2000's is slowly being replaced by high culture (notice that much of the live music on the late night shows is Indy).

Such is the case with a new music label called Great Comfort Records. But unlike the "mainstream" Indy scene, Great Comfort is ostensibly Christian. Created by Daniel Smith and family (of the inherently bizarre Danielson), their goal is to "[look] for and [find] those melodies, those poetic lyrics, those honest expressions, captured in song: the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs… sacred music for the invisible church." They are not timid in their goals, hoping to "completely change the course of the old gospel ship." (See the CT article on their label here.) Though it is doubtful they will actually be able to turn the ship around, I'll be happy listening to them as we all sink.

They have produced two albums so far. Come O Spirit! Anthology of Hymns & Spiritual Songsand Salvation Is Created: A Christmas Record From Bifrost Arts. The first I have yet to get into, but the second, the Christmas album, is good. And I of course mean that in all the ways previously mentioned with respect to the rules of Christmas albums. It is standard, but new. Warm, inviting, and simple. And, boldly, they point to Jesus. Now this album might not be for everyone. Indy music, it seems, is bound together only by its behemian weirdness, and that is definitely the case with Salvation is Created. But whereas some Indy is just unlistenable, this latest release from Great Comfort is very accessible. Favs include "O Come O Come Emmanuel," "Let All Mortal Flesh," and "Out of Heaven."

Buy it: Salvation Is Created: A Christmas Record From Bifrost Arts

Wilco and Feist

Review of Chapman's Album: Beauty Will Rise

CT:

Throughout his storied 20-year career, we've mostly heard upbeat praises from Steven Curtis Chapman—though he's known for his relatable public persona. But on Beauty Will Rise, the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum-selling artist's twenty-first and arguably most-anticipated release, he lets listeners into the dark night of the soul he's experienced since the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Maria, on May 21, 2008.

The tragedy so devastated Chapman that he was unsure if he would ever perform again. But over the past 16 months, on the "United Tour" with Michael W. Smith, he used makeshift studios—hotel rooms, tour buses, and dressing rooms—to record 12 cathartic "psalms" of worship and lament, producing his most honest and acoustic effort to date. So honest, in fact, it's impossible not to join Chapman on a veritable roller coaster of emotions.

[...]

All in all, it's a graphic tribute of amazing depth, a privileged glimpse into the veteran singer's heavy heart. Moments of hope shine bright, but fans reluctant to enter into a father's anguish should think twice before they buy.

Buy it here.

I've Got Friends

I've posted this Manchester Orchestra song before, but it's so killer that I figured you needed another version.

Queens of the Stoneage

Andrew Bird: Plasticities

Palate cleanser:

Fleet Foxes are in The Basement

Manchester Orchestra

Sufjan in Brooklyn

The Mountain Goats

The song's called "Psalm 40:2" so they must be a Christian band.

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The Mountain Goats - Psalms 40:2
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The Dirty Projectors