More Christian Music Recommendations (Tim Challies)

Some more christian music (mainly hymn type things) recommendations from Tim Challies excellent blog.

Hymns for the Christian Life - It’s always noteworthy when Keith and Kristyn Getty release a new album. Keith Getty is one of today’s foremost Christian hymnwriters who, along with Stuart Townend, has sparked a resurgence in hymnody with such songs as “In Christ Alone” and “How Deep the Father’s Love.” This new album “comes from the challenge to consider not just what we sing on those occasions when we’re all together but how the shared lyrics of our faith speak into all the moments in between. Musically, Hymns for the Christian Lifereflects both the Celtic and American folk traditions, old and new world brought together, just as we lean on the rich legacy of Church music we already have with songs written for the life of the Church today.” It is available at Amazon oriTunes.

Hymns - Hymns is a new album from Stephen Miller who leads worship at the Journey Church in St. Louis (where he ministers with Darrin Patrick). The album consists of eleven traditional and contemporary hymns set to new arrangements of the traditional melodies. In other words, it’s quite a straightforward album that revisits a collection of everyone’s favorite hymns. The album is available atAmazon or iTunes.

Under the New Sun - Smalltown Poets were one of my favorite bands back in the day (by which I mean the 90’s). Their first two albums would still rank on my list of all-time favorites. Now, all these years later, they’ve released a new EPtitled Under the New Sun. They say they’ve “gotten back to our beginnings by crafting lyric-intensive songs from the ground up, doing our best to turn a few phrases, sneak in a few puns, and challenge our listeners to dive in and bring their own imaginations.” It’s a fun album that is very consistent with the good old days ofSmalltown Poets and Listen Closely. You can check it out at smalltownpoets.tv.

Christian Music Recommendations from Tim Challies

From Tim Challies excellent Blog

Joy Beyond the Sorrow by Indelible Grace - Indelible Grace may well be the name most closely associated with today’s trend of setting old hymns to new music. I still remember listening to their music for the first time while driving my sister’s car around Atlanta—listening to it and loving it. Indelible Grace has just released their sixth studio album and I think it may be their best yet. Joy Beyond the Sorrow includes 14 traditional hymns set to new music. Many of the melodies are ideal for corporate worship, something that has always been a strength of their albums. Standout tracks include “From the Depths of Woe (Psalm 130),” “Did Christ Over Sinners Weep?,” and “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed.” You can buy theCD at their website or listen to the complete album (and buy MP3s) at Bandcamp.

Together for the Gospel Live II by Sovereign Grace Music. In April of 2010 and 2012, thousands of people gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, to participate in the Together for the Gospel conferences. This album contains 16 of the songs they sang, led by Bob Kauflin on piano. The tracks include traditional hymns, contemporary hymns, and songs by Sovereign Grace. While all of these songs can be found on other recordings, the joy of this album is being able to sing along with thousands of voices (mostly male) raised in the praise to the Lord. It is available at Amazon for $8.99 as is the first volume, recorded at the 2008 conference.

Come Ye Sinners by Sojourn. According to Sojourn, “Come Ye Sinners was recorded live on Good Friday, 2012 at Memorial Auditorium in Louisville. It’s not just a record for that day or for the Easter season. It’s a reminder—every day—that we’re invited to meet God at the cross, where mercy abounds, sin is paid for, and death itself is conquered by the blood of Jesus.” I see Sojourn as the older, hipster cousin of Indelible Grace and Sovereign Grace Music. If Sovereign Grace is wearing corduroys and Indelible Grace is wearing khakis, Sojourn is wearing skinny jeans and sporting the perfect soul patch. Their music is less congregational then the others and fits more closely with contemporary musical trends. I can’t deny that I prefer their older albums to their more recent ones, and almost feel like they are trying a little bit too hard these days (I consider Before the Throne and Advent Songs their best). I may well be the exception here and certainly would not knock their musical talents. You can listen to samples and buy the new album at Amazon.

50 Key Moments in Jazz (Guardian)

A history of jazz in 50 key moments, as chosen by Guardian and Observer writers. See the whole series on the Guardian Page.

• Buddy Bolden 'invents' jazz

  17 Jun 2011: Early 1900s: Number 1 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• The first divas of the blues

  17 Jun 2011: 1912: Number 2 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Louis Armstrong buys a cornet

  17 Jun 2011: 1916: Number 3 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• The first jazz recording

  17 Jun 2011: 1917: Number 4 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue premieres at New York's Aeolian Hall

  17 Jun 2011: 12 February 1924: Number 5 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Django reinhardt's caravan catches fire

  17 Jun 2011: 1928: Number 6 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• The first electric guitar

  17 Jun 2011: 1932: Number 7 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Art Tatum stuns his contemporaries in New York

  17 Jun 2011: 1932: Number 8 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Duke Ellington's mother dies

  17 Jun 2011: 1935: Number 9 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Nat King Cole: the reluctant vocalist

  17 Jun 2011: 1937: Number 10 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• A teenage Charlie Parker has a cymbal thrown at him

  17 Jun 2011: 1937: Number 11 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Jazz gets a history

  17 Jun 2011: 23 December 1938: Number 12 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

• Billie Holiday ends her set with Strange Fruit

  17 Jun 2011: March 1939: Number 13 in our series of the 50 key e
  
  

  • Coleman Hawkins records Body and Soul

    17 Jun 2011: 11 October 1939: Number 14 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music
    

  • Thelonious Monk buys a hat

    17 Jun 2011: Early 1940s: Number 15 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • Mary Lou Williams gets a weekly radio show

    17 Jun 2011: 1945: Number 16 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • Gil Evans's informal salon

    17 Jun 2011: 1947: Number 17 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • Chano Pozo meets Dizzy Gillespie

    17 Jun 2011: September 1947: Number 18 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • The Modern Jazz Quartet buy tuxedos

    17 Jun 2011: 1952: Number 19 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • Gerry Mulligan gets busted

    17 Jun 2011: 13 April 1953: Number 20 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • Jimmy Smith switches from piano to Hammond organ

    17 Jun 2011: 1953: Number 21 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of jazz music

  • Dave Brubeck makes the cover of Time magazine

    17 Jun 2011: 8 November 1954: Number 22 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

  • Humphrey Lyttelton's Bad Penny Blues

    17 Jun 2011: 20 April 1956: Number 23 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

  • Sonny Rollins records Saxophone Colossus

    17 Jun 2011: 1956: Number 25 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

  • Paul Gonsalves's solo at the Newport jazz festival

    17 Jun 2011: 7 July 1956: Number 24 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

  • Miles Davis improvises a soundtrack for Lift to the Scaffold

    17 Jun 2011: 1957: Number 26 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

  • Miles Davis releases Kind of Blue

    17 Jun 2011: 1959: Number 28 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

  • A great day in Harlem photograph

    17 Jun 2011: Summer 1958: Number 27 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music 

     

    • Ronnie Scott's opens

      17 Jun 2011: October 1959: Number 29 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • Manfred Eicher hears the Bill Evans Trio

      17 Jun 2011: 1961: Number 30 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • Charles Mingus's The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

      17 Jun 2011: 1963: Number 31 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • South Africa's exiled Blue Notes arrive in Europe

      17 Jun 2011: 1964: Number 32 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • The Girl from Ipanema

      17 Jun 2011: 1964: Number 33 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of Jazz music
      

    • Carla Bley hears Sgt Pepper

      17 Jun 2011: 1967: Number 34 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • The creation of Indo-jazz fusion

      17 Jun 2011: 1967: Number 35 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • John Coltrane's funeral

      17 Jun 2011: 21 July 1967: Number 36 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of Jazz music

    • Keith Tippett appears on Top of the Pops

      17 Jun 2011: 25 March 1970: Number 37 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • Miles Davis plays to 600,000 people at the Isle of Wight

      17 Jun 2011: 29 August 1970: Number 38 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of Jazz music

    • Keith Jarrett's Köln concert

      17 Jun 2011: 24 January 1975: Number 39 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • The release of Rockit

      17 Jun 2011: June 1983: Number 40 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music
      

    • Reinvention of the big band

      17 Jun 2011: 1984: Number 41 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • Pat Metheny and Carlos Santana play Live Aid

      17 Jun 2011: 13 July 1985: Number 42 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

    • The reinvention of jazz dance

      17 Jun 2011: 1986: Number 43 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of Jazz music 

       

      • New York: the Knitting Factory opens

        17 Jun 2011: 1987: Number 44 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

      • Wynton Marsalis founds Lincoln Center Jazz programme

        17 Jun 2011: 1987: Number 45 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

      • Cassandra Wilson rediscovers the blues with Blue Light Til Dawn

        17 Jun 2011: 2 November 1993: Number 46 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of Jazz music

      • Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side airs with a soundtrack by Bill Frisell

        17 Jun 2011: October 1994: Number 47 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

      • Jazz FM gets its groove back

        17 Jun 2011: 2009: Number 48 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of Jazz music

      • Ornette Coleman closes the Meltdown festival

        17 Jun 2011: 21 June 2009: Number 49 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music
        

      • Esperanza Spalding wins best newcomer Grammy

        17 Jun 2011: 13 February 2011: Number 50 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music

       

     

A History of Modern Music (The Guardian)

A History of Modern Music: the timeline

In a seven-part series, Guardian and Observer critics chart the history of modern music, tackling a different genre each day and picking 50 key moments. Use this interactive guide to travel through time and see their selections