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THE WALL HAS
COME DOWN.
This was the year that brought it crumbling to the ground.
When I was a teenager, I lived in a
world where Christian music existed in a carefully protected city with high
walls, where we whispered about the dangers and depravity of "secular"
music. We believed that we could copy the sound and production values of
secular music and just write "Christian" lyrics. We were fooling ourselves.
If there is any such thing as "Christian music," it needs to be defined.
Shouldn't that definition have something to do with truth? People beyond the
wall have been singing about the truth. Shouldn't it have something to do
with honesty? The blues, country music, and rock-and-roll are full of honest
expressions. Shouldn't it have something to do with beauty? The music within
the walls of the "contemporary Christian music" region was pleasant at
times, but usually simplistic, sentimental, and derivative, whereas there
was new ground being broken, new heights being climbed beyond those walls.
What we didn't know was that there
were Christian artists beyond the walls, keeping a low profile but doing the
hard work of telling the truth, asking questions, and building beautiful
things, letting their light shine before the world.
And then a handful of artists--most
notably Amy Grant, but most passionately Sam Phillips, U2, Bruce Cockburn,
and The Call--slipped through a back gate and began reinventing themselves
in the spotlight of popular culture. They didn't just sing praise songs or
blatant advertisements for Jesus. They sang about every aspect of life,
claiming them as sacred, calling out the hypocrites, ministering to the
broken, confessing sins, celebrating freedom, and leaving signposts along
the way that pointed to the source of all good things.
This year, I see no more reason to
make the distinction between "Christian music" and "secular music." Many of
this year's most impressive releases came from Christian artists composing
music that the whole world is drawn to. Sure, there are still those fooling
themselves, living in fear of what they perceive as "secular," and yet
jealously plagiarizing "secular" styles and trying to "save" them with
un-poetic, cheesy, elementary, propagandistic lyrics. But the wall is down
now, and when compared to other artists easily identifiable in the
mainstream arena, they're shown up for the mediocre and misleading "artists"
that they are.
The wall is down.
There is no more reason for the Christian music industry to exist.
Christians have discovered that they can cross that line and the water is
fine. Sufjan Stevens is being celebrated in Rolling Stone. The wall is down.
Sam Phillips' concerts are treated like secrets so special that you want to
tear down the posters for the show so she remains accessible. U2? They're on
the cover of TIME again, and continuing to change the world, where their
non-religious counterparts (R.E.M., Pearl Jam) are fading into history.
We live in the world I wanted to live in a decade ago, where Nick Cave, Over
the Rhine, Pedro the Lion, The Innocence Mission, and Buddy Miller
demonstrate that Christians can be serious artists doing work that requires
no qualification, and they can do so without keeping their faith on the
hush-hush. The controversial "crossover" is no longer necessary.
It's done.
1.
Sam Phillips.....A
Boot and a Shoe
Click here for full review.
This year,
there were three albums so great I had to listen to them every week from the
day I purchased them. I felt compelled to study them, take them apart, and put
them together again. The lyrics felt as though they were written directly to
me, addressing both my personal troubles and the troubles dominating the
headlines. The music was unpredictable, surprising, and intense, sometimes
as quiet as whispers, other times as furious as storms.
But when it
came down to this ridiculous pursuit of listing... I had to choose
the one that won not just my head but my heart as well.
A Boot
and a Shoe joins 1986's
The Turning and 1996's Martinis and Bikinis as one of
Phillips' true masterworks. It's more raw, personal, stripped-down, and
soul-searching than anything she's recorded since The Turning, plumbing the depths
of the heartbreak she endured during the long slow separation from longtime
husband T-Bone Burnett ... who remains, amazingly enough, her producer, even
for this album.
Musically minimalistic and yet melodically gorgeous, A
Boot and a Shoe marks another "turning" for Phillips ... a turning from
an era of collaboration to a new future where she looks likely to become
more confident, more courageous, less cocky (and that's a good thing), and
more independent. Her lyrics have never been more poetic, her humor never
sharper, and her voice has lost that blunt, sarcastic edge to reveal a new
vulnerability and openness.
In a year
of conflict, Phillips is a still small voice of contemplation, confession,
and hope.
Essential tracks:
Reflecting Light
If I Could Write
One Day Late
All Night
2,3.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.....Abattoir
Blues
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds....The Lyre of Orpheus
Click here for full review.
If this was classified as a double-album, I
would probably have chosen it as my #1 of the year. But Cave insists these
are two separate records, and I can't say that either one of them, standing
alone, is as strong for me as Sam Phillips' album. Moreover, they don't speak to
my heart and my personal experience the way A Boot and a Shoe does.
But
as far as a landmark accomplishment, these records stand as the most
impressive artistic advance all year. They're both masterpieces, the two
towering peaks of his career, and that's quite a surprise, coming as late in
his repertoire as they do.
Where Shoe feels like a heartfelt
letter, Cave's work has the complexity and scope of a great poem by William
Blake. Abattoir Blues and The Lyre of
Orpheus are two terrible twins, works of frightening and awe-inspiring
gospel-rock music that faces the wickedness of humanity without flinching,
and clings to the thread of hope that "the mystery of the Word" will prove
true, and God will deliver on His promises. Nature becomes the vehicle of
His voice, whispering of beauty and design in a world where we are spreading
chaos as fast as we can.
Essential tracks:
There She Goes, My Beautiful World
Supernatural
Nature Boy
Let the Bells Ring
4,5.
(tie)
U2.....How
to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb /
The Arcade Fire.....Funeral
Click here for full review.
Don't be surprised if you hear
these playing on Classic Rock stations even though the songs are brand new.
Atomic Bomb is packed with irresistible pop songs disguised as
ferocious, macho, swaggering rock and roll anthems.
While it's not nearly as
exciting as U2's 1990s forays into new territory--a courageous and
experimental period that alienated fans who wanted U2 to be predictable and
redundant--this album seems calculated to lure back the fans that have
bailed over the last decade. It sounds like Edge is saying, "No, please,
don't go, we can still turn out those great guitar-driven hits like we did
with Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree!"
And yet, while they may be
resting on their laurels, and they may not be breaking any new ground here,
this is still fantastic rock and roll, with several tracks that can stand
alongside the best of Achtung Baby. Furthermore, these songs wrestle with
God more than any collection they've ever released. And Bono seems to be
getting younger, his voice getting stronger. Where All That You Can't Leave
Behind felt half-finished, filling in the corners with B-sides, Atomic
Bomb is an album of solid, radio-ready, "instant classics" with only a
couple of stumbles along the way. It may be predictable. It may be
old-fashioned. But it's still better than almost anything on rock-n-roll
radio this year.
And sized up against the latest
album from rock's other Superband of the 80s and 90s--R.E.M.'s Around the
Sun--there's just no contest. Where R.E.M. sounds like they've given up
and checked into an assisted-living facility, their creativity on life
support, U2 sounds ready to storm the stage for another decade of
astonishing live shows.
Essential tracks:
A Man and a Woman
Vertigo
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Crumbs from Your Table
All Because of You
Equal in power as a rock album, and superior to U2's
Dismantle as a work of art (if not quite as wide-ranging in style), The
Arcade Fire's Funeral is a gorgeous, complex work of deep sadness
woven through with threads of furious hope. This is the most astonishing
debut by a rock band in ages, echoing the better qualities of bands like The
Cure, Talking Heads, Modest Mouse, and Radiohead. And their lyrics are pure
poetry. Just when the world needed to know that we haven't seen the last of
the Great Rock Bands, Arcade Fire comes to show us that we don't have to
settle for Coldplay.
Essential tracks:
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Wake Up
6.
Patty Griffin.....Impossible
Dream
Click here for full review.
Patty Griffin reaches a career peak with this collection of songs that
ache with the wounds of love gone wrong. It's on the level of Emmylou
Harris's finest work, and thus it makes complete sense that Harris,
Lisa Germano, Buddy Miller, and Julie Miller are able to participate on
the album without ever threatening to upstage this star in her shining hour.
This is clearly one of 2004's greatest musical highlights ... but proceed
with caution, because it's also the heaviest dose of heartbreak you're
likely to hear in any year.
Essential tracks:
Top of the World
Useless Desires
Kite Song
Mother of God
7.
Ron Sexsmith.....Retriever
Click here for full review.
From my
previous review: "Each track on Retriever is a minor masterpiece
of pop that bursts like a camera flash and leaves little glowing spots
all over your brain. The songs are short enough never to wear out their
welcome, deceptively simple at first and then packed with unexpected key
changes and delightful turns of phrase, poised between sentimental diary
entries and poetry. Sexsmith sings them with the same effortless grace
that he’s known for, each plaintive performance as clear and tart as a
good glass of gewürztraminer. He sings without ego, sounding sincere and humble and
reflective, the kind of talent that usually slips by unnoticed because
it lacks anything indulgent. His greatest strength is melody, putting
him in good company with Rufus Wainwright, Ed Harcourt (who plays piano
on the album), Chris Martin of Coldplay, and, his ballads can stand
alongside any of Elvis Costello’s."
Essential tracks:
Whatever It Takes
Hard Bargain
Dandelion Wine
From Now On
8.
Buddy Miller.....Universal
United House of Prayer
Buddy’s closest thing to
a rock and roll record is still laced with southern-fried Nashville twang.
Backed up by the fiery gospel soul of Ann and Regina McCrary, with the help
of his wife Julie, Emmylou Harris, and Jim Lauderdale, he delivers an energy
and war-year passion that’ll burn down any house he plays in. It’s also an
unapologetic gospel album that will break your heart and then put it back
together again. Opening with Mark Heard’s anthem “Worry Too Much,” soaring
with the soul-shaking “Shelter Me,” climbing higher with a superlative
9-minute delivery of Bob Dylan’s “With God On Our Side,” and concluding with
the grin inducing gospel fireworks of “Fall on the Rock” (try not to chuckle
at the audacity of the refrain), this is Buddy’s strongest album yet.
Essential tracks:
Shelter Me
With God On Our Side
Don't Wait
Worry Too Much
9.
Over the Rhine.....Changes Come
On Changes Come, Over
the Rhine sounds like a band playing their last concert, pouring every last
ounce of energy and passion into making these songs as brilliant as they can
be. The result is a performance so intense, soulful, soaring, and
astonishing that it will make everyone hope this is actually not the end,
but the beginning.
In the summer of 2003, I saw Over the Rhine at Cornerstone
take the stage in the company of multi-instrumentalist Paul Moak, bass
player Rick Plant, and drummer Will Sayles. I've seen
Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist several times
with different Over the Rhine combos,
but what happened there felt like defying gravity. They became something
new, ferocious, and beautiful on that Fourth of July, while the fireworks
exploded outside the tent. This recording, thank goodness, captures the
energy of that performance at an unlisted stop along the tour soon after.
The set list for the album is, of course, shorter than the real show, but
their selections are perfect. Highlights: Well, where do I start? The whole
album is a highlight. This has immediately become, for me, the essential
Over the Rhine album. It's the one in which Karin's voice reaches
new heights, and the band pushes the songs into spacious new territory. It's
the peak of the band's career as a live band, and
we can only hope it's a sign of things to come.
Essential tracks:
Changes Come
The World Can Wait
She
When I Go
10,11.
(tie)
Wilco.....A Ghost is Born
Tom Waits.....Real Gone
 
Click here for full review of Wilco's album.
Click here for a review of Tom Waits' album.
Both of
these albums show artists courageously breaking new ground, concerned about
vision and passion when, with their popularity, they could have just thrown
out something derivative and earned applause.
A Ghost is Born is a sorely
misunderstood release, one that rewards only those listeners patient enough
to wrestle with it. Wilco turns in another unpredictable, courageous album of
personal revelations, cryptic language, Scripture references, and beautiful
poetry. Full of noise, distortion, and feedback, it occasionally congeals
into piercing beauty that makes all of the hard work worthwhile.
Essential tracks:
Muzzle of Bees
Spiders
Hummingbird
Handshake Drugs
Tom Waits'
latest is not one of his greatest, but it's certainly one of the most
original and memorable. It's a fierce nightmare at the end of the world,
with wreckage that's been hammered into instruments for a cacophonous,
arresting, and sometimes hilarious sound. If you thought Bone Machine
was edgy, wait'll you hear this.
Essential tracks:
Hoist that Rag
Sins of the Father
Dead and Lovely
Stop and Get Me on the Ride Up
12.
Ben Harper & the Blind Boys of
Alabama....There
Will Be a Light
Need to have your spirits
lifted? Here’s the trick. This recording of Ben Harper crooning and
soloing in the company of the brilliant Blind Boys is casual but
frequently inspired. You know how Bono talks about those moments in the
studio when “God walked through the room”? This is one of those sessions
when God walked in and stuck around. Harper’s humble enough to give the
Boys plenty of room to work their magic, and his restrained use of
simmering lap steel guitar give it a rock and roll edge, especially
during the smokin’ anthem “Wicked Man." There’s not much to the record
in the way of production or special effects—the guys pretty much walk
in, sit down, and sing their hearts out. You’ll be moved, delighted, and
satisfied after spending some time with them. This one’s unlikely to
leave my “heavy rotation” list anytime in the near future.
Essential tracks:
The Wicked
Well Well Well
Take My Hand
13.
Sufjan Stevens.....Seven Swans
Mysterious. Spooky. The
distillation of one man's prayers and stories into psalms. There's a glow of
revelation here, something glimmering in the poetry that will bring you back
for more.
Twelve Runners-Up
Franz
Ferdinand.....Franz Ferdinand
R O C
K
A N D
R O L L ! !
Ollabelle.....Ollabelle
Fierce, glorious gospel by a bunch of white
folks, but sung with soul and fury.
Ryan Adams.....Love is Hell
A
double-album extraordinaire, showing off his phenomenal versatility as a
stylist and songwriter. But man, these are the lyrics of one discouraged
sunnuvagun. It lives up to its title.
Iron and Wine.....Our
Endless Numbered Days
More spooky Scripture-laced stuff in the vein
of Sufjan Stevens but with a decidedly more morbid bent.
Loretta Lynn.....Van Lear Rose
The most impressive comeback album since Emmylou Harris’s 1996
Wrecking Ball. Jack White re-introduces us to Loretta Lynn's
formidable talents, producing and packaging her sound in a fashion
that is nothing sort of an ultimatum to today's shallow, saccharine country
music.
Magnetic Fields.....i
Stephen Merritt's gloriously glum compositions
are enough to make a creative person want to throw themselves off a bridge.
And, in fact, Merritt himself usually sounds like he wants to throw
himself off a bridge. But there's so much wit and insight in his lyrics
that they make pudding out of the pain. If you liked his soundtrack songs
for Pieces of April, you'll probably love i too. Evil Twin
is a hoot and a holler.
P.J. Harvey.....Uh Huh Her
Since I turned in my review, where I was
skeptical and
disappointed, I've found that I can't get some of these songs out of my
head. Sometimes you've got to admit the anger you've got stored up inside,
and Harvey finds just the right tone, as if she's admitting her own
adolescent selfishness even as she unleashes tantrum after tantrum. And
there are memorably reflective moments as well. A difficult, caustic,
potentially offensive record. But I can't lie ... I get a lot out of it.
The Innocence Mission.....Now
the Day is Over
Don and Karen Peris bless us with a fleeting collection of small
wonders--classic songs of beauty, hope, and grace styled as lullabies
and performed by Karen, her voice as shimmering and beautiful as ever.
And the proceeds go to a good cause. What a perfect Christmas gift!
Elbow.....Cast of Thousands
Leonard Cohen.....Dear Heather
It's not nearly as rich and cohesive as last
year's Ten New Songs. But it's a memorably strange and bumpy ride.
Cohen delivers some memorable poetry, and "There for You" is one of the
year's best songs.
Elvis Costello.....The Delivery Man
The Delivery Man is
Costello's most raucous and energetic work since
Brutal Youth, and the songs are some of his most complex
compositions. The musicianship is excellent, and the
lyrics are intriguing. Sadly, it offers only pieces of what was supposed to
be a larger song cycle with recurring characters and a cohesive narrative.
That original vision lies here in pieces, but there are enough clues to keep
a patient listener busy following the themes and assembling what pieces of
the puzzle they can.
Daniel Lanois.....Rockets
Imagine this: Daniel Lanois
shows up and offers to give you an impromptu an impromptu concert in your
living room. He plays a bunch of his best songs, most of them in surprising
new, low-key arrangements, and then invites in Willie Nelson and Emmylou
Harris to back him up on a number.
That’s what Rockets sounds like.
Modest Mouse.....Good News for People Who Love
Bad News
Because no
matter how sick I am of hearing "Float On," I can never bring myself to stop
nodding and singing along. There are several other songs I grew to
appreciate as well. I have a feeling one of these days it's all going to
"click" and I'll become a ranting raving fan.
A few other
titles that I played frequently...
Joseph
Arthur....Our Shadows Will Remain
Kate
Rusby.....Underneath the Stars
Sarah
Harmer.....All of Our Names
Snow
Patrol.....Final Straw
Rachel
Yamagata.....Happenstance
Pedro the
Lion.....Achilles Heel
BIGGEST
LETDOWNS:
People You Meet
No sooner had I discovered a great new band, fallen in
love with their first album, and been thrilled by several live shows, then
they had to go and break up! Okay, okay, I know they broke up for good
reasons. And that it was much harder for them than it was for me. But I sure
hope they find new vehicles for their talents in the near future. They were
a blast while they lasted. Mr. Partain ... keep writing songs.
R.E.M......Around
the Sun
I've never been so spectacularly disappointed by a
favorite group. R.E.M. sound as if they've lost vision, discernment, and
creativity on this record, and I come away depressed, discouraged, bored,
and even angry that they would be content to release something so
half-baked. I'm not giving up on them because of one bad album, but I
seriously hope they learn from their mistakes and pull it together. Or quit.
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