Music You Should Be Listening To

| By Ben Simpson | Found in Communication | 11 Comments

One element that has marked many of my friendships has been music.  It is something to be shared.  There are moments in life indelibly marked by the rhythms and sounds of the radio, stereo, or our varied personal music devices.  The past several years my life has been carried along by Spoon, Wilco, and Jerry Jeff Walker, to name three.

When it comes to Christian music, as of late I’ve been in love with the sound of Mike Crawford and His Secret Siblings.  Maybe you’ve heard of them, but, for many of you, I doubt that you have.  Mike is the worship leader at Jacob’s Well in Kansas City.  I’ve recommended, “Songs from Jacob’s Well Vol. I & II: Even the Darkness Will Not Be Dark to You” since before it became available on iTunes or Amazon.  I’m someone that has had a tenuous relationship with music in the Christian genre, but this collection possesses theological depth, gritty and broadly varied sound, and is filled with biblical imagery.  Of all the songs in this collection, “Words to Build a Life On” is my undeniable favorite, an epic ballad that transitions beautifully between the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and a number of the contemporary challenges so many of us face.

Pandora and the iTunes Genius have been great for helping me to discover new music, but it still can’t beat word of mouth. I hope you enjoy the sound of Mike Crawford and friends.

Do you have an artist on your playlist you think others are missing out on?  Who are they, how did you discover them, and why are they among your favorites?

  • Brian

    Andrew Osenga. Currently, he’s an independent artist. He worked in the past with The Normals and Caedmon’s Call. Now, he’s part of a group of independent musicians called the Square Peg Alliance (all of whom are great). I probably first heard of him when he was with Caedmon’s for a while, but didn’t start listening to his stuff until the last couple years.

    He’s one of my favorites for several reasons: really honest, folky (often very funny) lyrics, great guitar-work on both acoustic and electric, and just a really down-to-earth guy in his music and in person.

    http://www.ilikeandy.com

  • http://topsy.com/trackback?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L1&url=http://www.collidemagazine.com/blog/index.php/1844/music-you-should-be-listening-to Tweets that mention Collide Magazine | Blog – Music You Should Be Listening To — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Collide Magazine. Collide Magazine said: @bsimpson makes a great music recommendation and asks for your recommendations: http://bit.ly/9NUGyp [...]

  • http://chrismartinsblog.wordpress.com Chris Martin

    Sleeping at Last. Check these guys out!

  • Clint Miller

    I’m really enjoying Mike Crawford too. The song “Words to Build a Life On” has this fully instrumented and completely modern sound for the band with vocals that feel like they’ve barely been “produced” at all- it’s a dichotomy that doesn’t seem like it should work well, but I am really enjoying it.

  • jacob

    Would not agree that Mike's got anything there. All the music sounds the same. If you like Mike you might also like American idol where no one can sing.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/ScottMcClellan ScottMcClellan

    Jacob,

    It sorta feels like you stopped by just so you could rip somebody. There's certainly room in this world for criticism and difference of opinion, but busting out the flamethrower is unnecessary and unappreciated.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/bensimpson Ben Simpson

    Agreed.

  • Bill B

    Artists that I HIGHLY recommend: Josh Garrels, Matthew Mayfield, Dave Barnes

  • Corkel

    Thrice is a band made up of amazing musicians that pull lyrics directly out of the Bible. I know they have a large following that following is made up largely of non-believers.. Which I think is awesome but I believe that people in their late twenties and under will totally benefit from their music and spectacular lyrics.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/bensimpson Ben Simpson

    Bill and Corkel, thanks! I'll be checking out all of the above.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/mizpahlouise mizpahlouise

    Hi! I'll check out your recommendations Bill B and Corkel too. Have you ever heard of Building 429? Their music are great eh.