As I sit here eating another fabulous Klondike Bar I muse back to yesterday when I was too tired to do anything more than check my mail and go to bed. Couldn't even post a Song of the Day let alone any rants. So to make up for it, let me nominate a whole album for the SOD: Festival Con Dios - Volume 1 released May 22, 2001 (on my 38th Birthday, oddly enough, and the exact same day I became a Mason) by Inpop . This eclectic mix of modern Christian music is as fabulous as a Klondike Bar.
Wait a minute. An "eclectic mix of modern Christian music" ... I thought it was all the same? you say. Right. Think again. Just as there are different flavors of Jazz or Rock, there are sub-genres inside Christian music. And Festival is a great example. Check out the album's play list:
1. God Is Not A Secret - Newboys (with Toby McKeehan) [Rock]*Okay, so I'm guessing on some of these because they are really blends of styles. And some of these bands switch styles. The O.C. Supertones, for example, sometimes sound Pop or Funk or Rock on their albums (from Bec Recordings/Emd).
2. Big House (live) - Audio Adrenaline [Rock]*
3. Wilderness - The O.C. Supertones [Alternative]*
4. Barlow Girls - Superchic[k] [Pop]*
5. You Already Take Me There - Switchfoot [Alternative]
6. Ride Wit Me - T-Bone [Rap/Funk]
7. A.M. - Pax217 [Alternative]
8. One Time - Earthsuit [Reggae]
9. All Over Me - The Benjamin Gate [Metal]*
10. God Man - Cadet [Parody]*
11. Look What You've Done - Tree 63 [Rock]*
12. Open Your Eyes - Pillar [Metal]*
13. Hey, Hey - The Elms [Rock]*
14. Without You - Phat Chance [Rock]
15. Superman - Luna Halo [Alternative]
16. Alien Youth - Skillet [Metal]*
This variety is one of the things that really endears the album to me. I discovered it when I was still fairly new to Christianity and it showed me that worship music didn't have to be melodically-challenged hymns written centuries ago as it seemed to be when I was growing up. Mind you, I like a good Gregorian Chant more than the next guy, but "Amazing Grace" is the only song in most hymnals that I really like. And even then it's better when a bagpipe is near by at the time.
Another appealing quality Festival illustrates is that not all Christian music is about Jesus or God. Don't take me wrong there. I love Jesus, but the joked about standard that a Christian radio station won't play a song if His name isn't mentioned every 1.5 minutes doesn't make a track "Christian" per se. The Pop group Six Pence None the Richer (a group that I watched on MTV long before being born again), for example, makes very Christian music if you consider morality and subject matter. So does the Alternative group P.O.D. -- and most people don't notice!! The best example is Superchic[k]'s subtle entry into mainstream with music placement in movies like Legally Blonde (with "One Girl Revolution") and Legally Blonde 2 (with "Me Against the World"). Listen to these songs and they are clearly Christian.
Maybe this is a measure of how good Festival Con Dios - Volume 1 really is -- 10 of its 16 tracks made it to my iPod (see the * marks above). With limited space there and on my computer hard drive, the music has to be good to take up that much space with dozens of other CDs vying to be ripped. If only the ol' Pod could hold music like my tummy holds Klondike Bars.
