Vince Guaraldi Trio: Charlie Brown Christmas

Sufjan Stevens: "To Be Alone With You"

This song utterly captivates me every time I hear it. I can't pull my self away from it. I just stop close my eyes... and then there are no words for what this song makes me feel.

Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You

The Naitonal: Boxer - "Mistaken for Strangers"

I am not sure how this happened exactly. This has been one of my favorite new bands as of late, and somehow I have neglected to blog about them. I must have thought I already had done so. Regardless of this tragic occurrence I have to send a big shout out to Duffy for showing me this band. I had heard them a few months before he told be about them, but I had forgotten their name.

I love this album from beginning to end. It is very New York, its got dark grungy kinda of overtones which just make me think of a big city full of people you will never meet. The whole album has a muted feel to it. It reminds me of drinking a beer in a sweaty music venue.

The National - "Mistaken for Strangers"

Joe Pug: "Hymn 101"

I first heard this song on a friend's blog, Guesswork Theory. He has a great post on his website on the song including the lyrics, which you can find here. So go there and check it out.

He says everything I would say - just better. It's a great song. Thanks Justin.

Joe Pug - Hymn 101

School of Seven Bells: "Half Asleep"

I love the ethereal feel of this song. School of Seven Bells debut album release, Alpinisms, was one of this years strongest debuts. It would make great night driving music.

School of Seven Bells - "Half Asleep"

Damien Albarn: Monkey Journey to the West

First, let me say that this is weird one. So hold onto your peripherals.

I actually wrote this post back in October, but thought it might be a little off the deep end back then. Basically, I thought that everyone would hate it. And you know what - I am pretty sure most of you will. The difference now is that I just don't care as much. I think it's fascinating. Standing out from the may artists that I have followed over the years is Damien Albarn. Damien first popped on my radar with "Song #2" and his band Blur from the 1990's. Even though I hated that song I found many of Blur's others song refreshingly different and fresh and while they never became one of y favorites I enjoyed having them in the mix. It was not till his next project, "Gorillaz" that I became truly fascinated. The band was one of the first to begin to successfully mix alternative rock, electronica and rap music together. One of my favorites is from their album Demon Days and is entiled "All Alone."

More recently, I have been fascinated to hear Albarn's latest musical journey into the world of opera. He has composed much of the music and fabric design for an adaptation of "Monkey Journey to the West" a story based on a book written in China in the 16th century. The outcome of this project I found intriguing enough to post hear. What is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this opera is that fact that it came out someone who once simply was the lead singer of a rock band. I challenges me to experiment in the way I listen and write my own music and explore new personally uncharted territory. Here are two songs from Monkey Journey to the West.

"Journey to the West/Heavenly Peach Banquet"

"Monkey Bee"

Sufjan Stevens: "Holy Holy Holy"

I actually discovered this song through friend of a friend. I have wanted to purchase Sufjan's Christmas albums for a while now, but I always seem to forget about them until after just after Christmas. His recording of the classic "Holy Holy Holy" brings the gentleness, beauty and inventiveness that Sufjan brings to all of his works. I think this year I might have to go out and by the whole 5-disc set. It is more likely that I will just buy it off of amazon after I finnish this post.

It is simply refreshing to hear Christmas music that is being sung from the heart. I get chills just listening to this song. There is so much christmas music out there that is sung for pop culture, for tradition, for materialism. These songs are different. They make me reflect, they make me think and hope. They make me actually think about what Christmas is truly about. They make me think about my Savior. And perhaps most astonishingly to me, they make me realize how often I forget that.

Sufjan Stevens - "Holy Holy Holy"

Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile: Fence Post in the Front Yard

I just found an awesome collaboration between two of my favorite musicians - Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (of Nickel Creek). Most of the album is awesome. I found the following article that contains a link to an audio stream of their song entitles "Fence Post in the Front Yard." It's pretty amazing. Just scroll down in the following window till you see the Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile album and click on "Listen."

Switchfoot: In the beginning there was Chin

I remember the first time I heard Jon Forman sing. His band, Switchfoot, had just released their debut album, "The Legend of Chin" and I was only 14 or 15 years old. I had found them will surfing the web for new music and then had begged my dad to take me to several music stores to find their album. Eventually, after searching through the racks of several stores we found it buried among a sea of other bands. I had heard other bands before and had bought the Beatles "Help!" album and spun it a million times, but this was different. This was a band that I had found that no one else I talked to knew about it. It was such a rush to tell my friends about them and get them hooked to the music.

The band I was in during high school, Frontline, even covered one of their songs when we played a few gigs. What attracted me to the band so much was not only their music, but also the way they presented themselves to the world. They were undoubtedly Christians and were unafraid to tell anyone that if you asked them. However, they did not feel the need to make their faith blatantly and annoyingly obvious to their listeners. They had deep faith and conviction and this came through without having to mention the name Jesus in every other song. To me their lyrics gave their beliefs both the poetic and intellectual merit that it so deserves. Moreover, they did not label themselves as a "Christian band" which I liked. Labeling yourself a Christian band seems to imply that the music is only for Christians and that it was exclusively for those who believe the same way they do. I found this attribute of the band to be both inspired and encouraging. I felt that someone else understood me. I liked the authenticity that these guys displayed without the facade of what some say Christianity should be. They sung about real things, they sung about love, life and why.

Switchfoot helped me in many ways to become who I am today because of how they lived out their faith. They weren't trying to be religious, they weren't trying to be perfect - they were just trying to be people who believe in Christ singing about life from that perspective. This influence on my life was profound.

Since their debut, they have released several other albums over the years, some of which I have connected to more than others. They have gone from a trio to quintet. They have gone from nobodies to somebodies and while I still feel partial to some of their earlier albums, maybe it is the nostalgia, I still can find that certain authentic quality in each of their albums that reminds me why I have always liked this band. And even now I still listen to their music when I need a little encouragement.

Here are a few of my favorites from over the years. In no particular order.

"Let that be Enough" - From New Way To Be Human

"On Fire" - From The Beautiful Letdown

"Daisy" - From Nothing Is Sound




"Dare you to Move" - From Learning to Breath




"Don't Be There" - From The Legend of Chin

The Sunny Side: Louis Armstrong - The Sunny Side of the Street

Some days you just need a little encouragement. Some days you need to be told to look up from all of your troubles and frustrations. So that you can see something better and brighter. This song does that for me. In fact, it did it for me today. And I am telling you things always get better - one way or another.