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Positive music progress update: Matt Maher and the various kinds of cool and un-cool Christian music

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We’re already in February, a good month and a bit into the new year, and I’m starting to feel like I’m making a little progress with this “positive music” trial. It’s been very difficult, but I feel like I’m learning a lot of new things about the power and influence of music on my life, and the role it can play in my mood and attitude.

The biggest challenge I’ve been taking on is attempting to give “CCM” (aka Contemporary Christian Music) a fair shake, and an opportunity to take a role in my life. Like any other guy who was raised listening to a lot of rock and experimental music, I find some of it tepid from a “listening experience” point of view, and at times embarrassed by the lame prose and poetry some of these songs employ.

“Christian music” is a very complicated idea or concept. That is, it’s a broad term that can apply to a number of very different forms where the common denominator is Christ himself. For example, there’s “Ministry Music,” which are the kinds of songs sung in churches by worship leaders and congregations, and there’s the “Christian Pop,” which is like Ministry Music, but is less about being congregational and more slick like pop music. There’s “Don’t Call Us” Christian rock (Christians in a band, but not a “Christian Band”, which is music made by Christian musicians, sometimes on Christian labels, and sounds like mainstream rock music, usually with ambiguous lyrics that could be interpreted to have Christian content (think Switchfoot or Lifehouse). And finally “Cool Christian” music, which almost doesn’t exist at all, but artistically speaking, is a high-point in art, which earns high praise from critics and popularity from all corners, with a healthy mix of Christian content and skepticism. Many Don’t-Call-Us musicians aspire to have “Cool Christian” success, but it’s only the most freakishly talented that earn this acclaim: i.e. Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan, and in my opinion, The Daredevil Christopher Wright.

To explain how these all kind of fit together, consider the term “cool.” Essentially, cool is that unattainable quality of being compelling and stimulating, without the appearance of effort or engagement or earnestness. Miles Davis was cool. Joy Division was cool. The Ramones were cool. Red Kross was cool. Basically being cool means not caring about being cool. Cool is disengagement, or at least, the appearance of being disengaged. (Wikipedia: Cool)

Christian music isn’t cool.

And that’s okay.

Every so often a “Cool Christian” artist comes along, and in itself, that is an amazing and miraculous thing. I’m willing to accept that this pokes a pretty big hole in my Christian music theory. Regardless, Christianity in itself is not a “cool” medium: it is usually earnest, passionate and emotional, and is overall not condusive to “cool.” The Gospel is a simple message of truth: however, simplicity and truth are not “cool” values.

That’s not to say Christians don’t try to make it cool: Take a look at the Mars Hill/Rob Bell type movements happening across the globe, with their sometimes-emergent approach to church and worship. Interesting to note: these types of Churches are usually only popular in stereotypically unsophisticated suburban centres and not in cool urban areas where artists usually locate themselves. Is “cool” church uncool? (Yes)

So if we accept that Christianity by itself is not cool, and by extension the Church isn’t cool, then “Ministry Music,” the Christian music that dwells in Christian sanctuaries, can’t be cool. It has to be. If only on a utilitarian level, it has to be music that can be sung communally by singers of all talents, and has to have a broad accessibility. At times, passionate, while also provoking a passionate response. Simple music and melody played by a mixture of musicians from a variety of backgrounds, with mostly amateur, weekend-warrior levels of skill.

Ministry Music can be amazing and powerful, and it will never be cool, no matter how much some people want that to change, no matter how many U2 or Coldplay-esque effects or riffs are thrown in. (And yes, I believe U2 and Coldplay are not cool). Ministry Music is a difficult aspect of Church life, and at times is given a too-high value in Church communities (even if we call it praise and worship).

The thing is, I don’t necessarily want to listen to Ministry Music all the time: While I do love to worship God, I also want to be stimulated and well, swayed by the cool. In the past, I’ve lumped all Christian music into the same un-cool category, and focused all of my listening (and creative) efforts on “cool” music. I’ve never thought I had a problem with being exposed to non-Christian content, but as I examine and challenge my own identity, one change I have to make to myself is allow my identity to appreciate and understand Christian music.

In short, I need to find a way to let Christ and Christian content dominate my life, because frankly, the world robs me of my enthusiasm and love, and I need to be continually reminded of God and his presence and direction in my life. So I’ve been trying to find a way to let Christ dominate my music-life, with a healthy dose of other “positive” music rounding it out.

So here’s how it lays out for me: I’ll still listen to the “Cool Christians,” and if at all possible, I won’t waste my time with the “Don’t-Call-Us-Christian-Band” imitation rock like Mutemath (I apologize to my readers who love Mutemath, but if you know me, you know that you shouldn’t take it personally… If you like it, that’s all that matters). “Ministry Music” is amazing in Church, but it’s hard to listen to on it’s own merit… however, that is the music I need more of in my life, so I need to find “Christian Pop” that is not too slick and overproduced for the masses, yet positive enough for encouragement and gritty and interesting enough to have my tastes placated.

It’s a tall order, but so far I’ve found a few releases which I think stand up to my pretty demanding criteria. You might have already read about Scandinavian Metal Praise, which is my first real find in terms of great Christian music, but I really should tell you about the music that has given me the most encouragement and inspiration in the past month: Matt Maher and his record, “Alive Again.”

I first discovered Maher when I was looking for new and interesting worship songs, when he appeared on a YouTube Christian Cafe type show, where he taught a song called “Lay it Down,” from his album “Empty and Beautiful.” I didn’t particularly love that record because it was a little too overproduced and it didn’t speak to me lyrically, but that song stands out as a high point, and we’ve enjoyed singing it together at Grace Toronto Church.

But thanks to my S.O., who heard a song from Maher’s new record, managed to figure out iTunes for the first time, bought the album, and put it on her own iPhone. I never gave it a close listen, and it was only until after I started my “positive music” project that I gave it a second look.

If there was ever an opportunity to point to God’s providence in my life, it is evidence in the album “Alive Again” crossing my path at the most absolutely perfect time. I don’t know if Maher has ever experienced anxiety and depression like I have, but the lyrics all over “Alive Again” address the kinds of feelings and doubts I have been feeling, while also reminded me of the purpose and perspective and God’s own promises.

Here’s a look at the lyrics from the album’s title track:

I woke up in darkness
surrounded by silence
oh where, where have I gone?
I woke to reality
losing its grip on me
oh where, where have I gone?

Cause I can see the light
before I see the sunrise

You called and you shouted
broke through my deafness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!

You shattered my darkness
washed away my blindness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!

Late have I loved you,
you waited for me,
I searched for you…
what took me so long?

I was looking outside
as if love would ever want to hide
I’m finding I was wrong

Cause I can feel the wind
before it hits my skin

Cause I want you!
Yes, I want you,
I need you
And I’ll do what ever I have to
Just to get through
cause I love you
Yeah, I love you!

Or there’s another verse on “Sing over your Children,” which again speaks directly to my own predicament:

I flirt with the world,
It steals my love for you.
My fear grips my faith,
And I am left unmoved.

I could go on and on and on like this with every song. It speaks to me so profoundly, that I can’t seem to go a day without listening to it: I often start it up while waiting for my bus in the morning, just to help me get my head on straight for the day, and place a right attitude in my heart. At the same time, I have to comment that I also LOVE the guitar sounds on this record, which is very uncommon on “Christian Music” records, which is just another bonus to this album, and allows me to love it all the more.

The fact that God has provided this music to me, through the talent of Matt Maher, I am so thankful for this piece of encouragement, and it is helping to enlighten me as I fight against my own personal “stubborn darkness.” I hope to someday be a musician as full of life and the spirit as Maher, no matter how “un-cool” that makes me.

So please, if you are in my position, or don’t listen to much Christian music (and wish you did), try starting here! I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

Scandinavian Metal Praise

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As I continue my search for positive, uplifting music, I’ve stumbled across one of the best musical discoveries I’ve made in months: “Scandinavian Metal Praise.” The name is pretty self-explanatory; Christian “Praise and Worship” songs played by Finnish metal musicians, sung in English. Overall, I love it.

I’ve never been a fan of “metal praise” in general: it just seems too forced for me, either too raw or too slick… nothing “just right.” But when I was browsing iTunes for covers of “Take Me In” by Petra, I came across SMP’s version! And guess what? It’s the best cover yet, unlike the one by Kutless, which is just way too slick-metal for me.

When I went to check out the album itself, it got better yet. As you can see, the album cover is simply a church or kingdom, perched upon a tower in the clouds or something. Now THIS is the kind of praise and worship I can get behind. The riffs run the range from fairly poppy to heavier than what I’d expect, and the vocals sound similar to Evanescence. However, the guitars and drums are mixed way up front, so they don’t necessarily drown out the vocals, but they encourage you to crank the whole thing louder, which is probably the perfect experience for listening to the album.

There are a couple songs that I don’t love, like “When the Spirit of the Lord,” which reminds me of that old metal praise standard, “Jehovah Jirah.” But the awesome songs, “Great in Power,” “Praise Adonai,” “Worthy is the Lamb” and “Take Me In,” more than compensate for any of the band’s shortcomings.

In short, give it a listen. Then get it. (Here’s a link on iTunes).

The heavenly host all singing over you, watching over you

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(Photo by Jackman Chiu)

I wasn’t planning on jumping into writing about music much here, or at least writing about it in the way I’ve attempted to on my old blog (and in the future, I do plan on writing about how the Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible” is to blame in my fall out of distaste for music blogging in general). But until then, I promise to not write insincerely, and will likely write more about myself and my reaction to music than trying to find weird descriptors and odd descriptions for flash-in-the-pan bands. Without further ado, here goes:

Something my spouse and I have been talking about recently as we celebrated birthdays and anniversaries, is that while life together on the whole is amazing and a blessing, I’ve personally felt like I’ve lost  a certain “spark” from my life. I’m not positive on when that happened, maybe from fighting an increasingly difficult battle with depression and anxiety, losing the fluctuating battle with weight gain, being miserable at work, becoming distant from family members, watching friends morph into card-carrying adults, or most likely — dealing with a difficult year of illness and death.

Travelling earlier this year to Minneapolis/St. Paul, one of my goals of the trip was to try and discover some new “local” music way outside of whatever is currently on my radar here in Toronto. With just my luck, there really wasn’t much happening at the time in terms of shows (school was out at the time, so I’m not surprised), except for a cool local act called “ADIDAS” who played some awesome electronic mood music while they were opening for Wolf Eyes.

But as I was perusing one of their weeklies, I came across a feature about a Eau Claire, WI band named “The Daredevil Christopher Wright.” Actually, it was this story right here. You can see why it piqued my interest… the interviewer shed some light on Jon Sunde faith and church-raised background, and some of the themes he explored in his writing. Their association with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) didn’t hurt either.

I eventually found their record online, “In Deference to a Broken Back,” and I was immediately stricken by the album. Opener “Hospital,” shows off Sunde’s classical background, followed by the meandering “The East Coast,” and then peaking with “Conversation about Cancer.” There’s more great songs, like “We’re Not Friends,” “The Daredevil Christopher Wright” and “Stewardess,” but those first three songs really grabbed me.

For a while I kept trying to place them as a “Christian” such-and-such band, like a “Christian” Modest Mouse, a “Christian” Bright Eyes or even as a not-annoying version of Danielson (from the yelping in many of the band’s live tracks). But in the end, they couldn’t really be nailed down like that… they’re as indefinable as other musicians whom I’ve connected with, like Sufjan Stevens or Dave Bazan.

The other thing that stuck with me were the themes of loss and death… how they were seen through a lens of optimism and hope (something I’ve been surely lacking lately). More than any other album I’ve loved this year, like “A Mountain is a Mouth” or “Soft Airplane,” “In Deference to a Broken Back” is my most played, by far. I even went so far as to message the band over Myspace to tell them how much I enjoyed their music.

Unfortunately when the band came to Toronto for NXNE, I was too busy doing my own NXNE show at the Horseshoe and didn’t get the chance to go to one of their several shows around town (including two at Criminal Records). Word of mouth spread about the guys, which lead to a review packed with high-praise from CHART. Apparently part of the band’s family is from Toronto, so I knew they would be back.

Last Friday the band returned to Criminal Records, in what was (officially) going to be their only show in Toronto, the first date of their tour on the east coast. I showed up about an hour before the band was scheduled to start, while they didn’t even load in until fourty-five minutes later (Hey, I was being cautious… I wanted to get a half decent vantage point for this). I was joined by my brother Brock and his fiance, as well as my Silver Speakers bandmate Jared, my two sister in laws and their friend Jenny, who I all convinced to come out to hear this band.

When things finally got going, Jared, Brock and I (probably the three tallest guys in the store), lined up against the far right of the room and watched as the band set up their pedals, tuned up and began to play. I didn’t keep track of a setlist or take photos or anything (staples of the serious music-blogger business), but standouts were an afro-themed “Parade of Tigers” and a doo-wop version of “We’re Not Friends” (I think), along with lots of older tracks and the standouts from “In Deference.” (Yes, I even told them to turn up their amps, and they obliged). We also got a little of the usual Americans-in-Canada border banter. Overall, I was astounded by both their musicality and understated humility: there were no “rockstar” moments or “fake humilty” moments… Just talent, fundamental talent, on display.

It was during their final song of the evening that they came to the moment I was waiting for… When the second half of “conversation” transitions into it’s triumphant third, when their trio of voices launch into a bright major chord, just a few beats before the somber tone shifts… It was beautiful, and it sent shivers all up and down my neck.

So where do I go from there? After the show, walking out onto Queen St, I’ll admit that I felt a little more spring in my step and more than that, pleased that this awesome band proved that they were for real. I’m excited that people are still crafting wonderful music, and it inspires me to continue to go for it.

If you want to hear the full-length album “In Deference to a Broken Back,” you can find it streaming in full here.

You can also listen to some live recordings from their session at Daytrotter.

Post-script.

I was driving around the north Ontario countryside today and I was struck by a realization that in the last couple years I’ve been misplacing my focus, that too much of my energy has been spent on trying to find success, instead of focusing on the art itself. I think I need to step back, dig in and not worry about what happens afterwards.