Comments for The Voice of Energy

Comment on Favorite Albums of 2009 by Mark

Mark — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:56:18 +0000

That’s funny…my girlfriend just asked me the same thing.

Comment on Diminished Expectations by Christianity Today’s Best of ‘09 « The Voice of Energy

Christianity Today’s Best of ‘09 « The Voice of Energy — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:09:43 +0000

[...] I think the comments to this list are the best representation of what I was talking about earlier on this site. [...]

Comment on Favorite Albums of 2009 by adoinel

adoinel — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:04:33 +0000

You say that every year.

Comment on Favorite Albums of 2009 by lalitaham

lalitaham — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:42:19 +0000

How is it that we live together and I only recognize a few of these names?

Comment on Dissonance by susan miller-josselyn

susan miller-josselyn — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:22:28 +0000

maybe the chili peppers are his bread and butter and the rest of what he does, he does because he loves it. or maybe he made some faustian deal that he would stay with them, if they became successful, no matter what kind of schlock they put out. or maybe he is too nice to tell them he doesn’t want to be in the band. he seems super nice.
xo

Comment on Diminished Expectations by bf

bf — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:42:21 +0000

Bob,
Although not a complete answer to question, at the very least I find some similarities between ClearChannel radio playlists and the Christian music industry. Both mechanisms ill-represent the artistic desires/needs/wishes of most demographics because both mechanisms are waaaay too overextended. Like radio, Christianity isn’t going anywhere, so the CC radio mantra seems applicable to both: “You don’t have to like it, you just have to not dislike it enough to change the channel.”

A friend of mine, previously not-overly-familiar with Christian music, wrote this blog (http://godllc.blogspot.com/2009/10/petty-friday-christian-rock-radio.html) on the subject, which might give you a chuckle.

Comment on Challenges by Joel

Joel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:02:28 +0000

I could only come up with 15 records. You can thank me for helping Bazan and the Mountain Goats make the list.

Comment on Diminished Expectations by Erik Cederberg

Erik Cederberg — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Bob,

Great thoughts here. I completely agree not only with the assessment of Casting Crowns, but also the general status of the Christian music sub-genre. I think what it boils down to is this:

Christians don’t take enough pyschotropic drugs to be on the cutting edge of the creative world.

I’m kidding (though it could be true). Anyway, the majority of what is marketed as “christian music” is heavily influenced by labels who control their product very well. The margins, the tension, the difficult questions of life are filtered out until what is left is the meat and potatoes, middle of the road stuff we see out there. Artists who make “church music” like David Crowder are filtered so that objectionable phrases like “sloppy wet kiss” are left out.

The reality is that there are a ton of great christian artists out there, however, most of them don’t make “christian music”. They are following the call to the world, rather than hiding in churches telling people stuff they already know (in a mediocre, uninspired way). As I find these brave souls, I’ll be sure to send them your way to help redeem some musical sin.

Comment on Introducing A New Project by Jeffory Simmons

Jeffory Simmons — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:27:45 +0000

rad

Comment on Challenges by oliver

oliver — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:11:25 +0000

I like an album called “Vesper” by Leonard Mynx. It is not Christian per se, but has a lot of Christian imagery. The title is Roman Catholic.