#christian contemporary music

[tiffanyspace]

Chris Tomlin. Passion World Tour in Jakarta.

Circa 2008.

[butyoucouldberadiant]

I love when you find a singer whose theology and mental health problems line up with yours???

For example, this guy Ross King has the following songs:

- Better Country: about realizing that maybe conservatives/republicans don’t stand for what God stands for, and what do you do with that? How does it affect your worldview? https://open.spotify.com/track/3q60CRyuScm7Q65qK5P0sa?si=djeqRnHeS2KfFGCTF94Rmg

- Things That I’m Afraid Of: about the author’s struggle with anxiety (and depression, but mainly the anxiety) and how comforting he finds God in his struggles with it, no mention of his mental health issues being sinful because they’re not https://open.spotify.com/track/4nWMcAccNJ8bBZuMgGl0pm?si=DqocTWefRCSmzMVrVgCt4Q

- Older: about looking back on how you interacted with your faith when you were younger and how at times the difference between that and now can cause insecurity. Concludes with, listen, you are more mature now and your faith is no less important to you and you are no less saved https://open.spotify.com/track/3WeMOGcyVWu69NYWLp6YnC?si=e8pxuaH2QR2pB_PcDnAO8g

- Villain: has the line “search my heart, but just the parts that aren’t needing to be changed.” There’s not much that angers me more than a person not willing to be humble and ask God where they are sinning/judging in their lives and change their behavior, but it is very important to remind myself as well to be introspective and ask God to show me where I am treating part of my heart like that, not just expect that from others. https://open.spotify.com/track/1rgl5e1lxtpaSjN5cmtO6f?si=DHOWsgQOQz-sgv_mKhL8ig

It’s just so refreshing??? Most mainstream Christian singers tend to be more conservative than me and I love that this artist’s songs exist. I highly recommend them. If you’ve any recommendations of similar songs/artists, I’d love to hear them.

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

WOW Gold 2000 Christian Contemporary / Soft Rock / Pop-Rock / Christian Rock

Jesus fucking Christ, this was absolute torture, man. Just one of the worst listening experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life, and I’m someone who’s actually subjected themselves to an album’s worth of literal torture music before, with overdriven, pained, demonic screaming laid over thorny beds of loud and grainy static 😵.

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear here: the secular folks don’t necessarily sneer at the vast majority of Christian contemporary fare because of the strange and cultish messaging that’s baked inside of it; above all else, they sneer at it simply because so much of it is just genuinely...god-awful. It’s boring, it’s cornball, and it’s anodyne as hell. Lots of devout Evangelical types delude themselves into thinking that secularists dislike their whole parallel media economy—from the movies, to the TV, to the literature, to the music—because they choose to reject His message or whatever, but that really doesn’t have much to do with it at all. It’s really just that whatever this self-sustaining industry tends to spit out is oftentimes so mind-numbingly and disconcertingly unentertaining to outsiders.

And that’s what this alleged rundown of *big* Christian hits from the 70s through 90s is. The people who only consume this kind of music love this, but that’s most likely because it’s all they ever choose to consume in the first place. Most everything else that’s out there is awash in bedeviled sin and they forbid themselves from indulging in it. What a sad way for one to wield their own freewill by cloistering themselves within a closed-off environment of such uncreative crap. 

And again, it’s not about what the music says; it’s about how it sounds. Most secularists really don’t mind religiosity in music at all. If you can make something that sounds good, that’s all that really matters in the end. Case in point, Kirk Franklin’s “Stomp,” the only song on this compilation that’s actually worth your while. It’s an infectious late 90s funky hip hop-gospel banger; a God-fearing party rocker if there ever was one; a tremendously good time regardless of whether you heed its message to stomp out that ol’ wily Satan and his misbegotten band of evildoers or not. “Stomp” actually managed to achieve #1 status as Billboard’s top song on its Hip Hop and R&B Airplay chart back in 1997. And the album it originally appeared on, God’s Property, went triple-platinum as well, while also taking both the top spot on Billboard’s Hip Hop and R&B album chart and the #3 spot on its top-200 album chart too. See? A prime example of Christian music clearly transcending its own boundaries and reaching the secularist masses with astounding success. And the only thing it took was that it had to actually be good.

But outside of that one song, the rest of this album is marred by the fact that, broadly speaking, Christian contemporary music’s overall quality is just magnitudes below that of its secular counterparts in whichever genres it chooses to partake in. The pop, the pop-rock, the soft rock, the hard rock, the metal, the butt rock, the nu-metal, the punk rock...you name it; so much of it is just far, far worse than the secular stuff that it claims to be just as good as, if not better, than. And to assert otherwise is just simply laughable on its face. Listen to this collection of songs if you don’t believe me.

Highlights:

Kirk Franklin - “Stomp”

[reality-nihilism]

Unknown artist.

[caviarsonoro]

Christian Badzura : Lunar ( Bruce Liu )

Christian Badzura's work in Lunar, performed by pianist Bruce Liu, is a remarkable example of the contemporary ability to merge the modern with the ethereal in classical music. Badzura, known for his compositions that challenge traditional boundaries of classical music and explore new sound textures, achieves in Lunar a piece that invites introspection and emotional journeying.

The piece is characterized by a minimalist and immersive structure, partially reminiscent of the atmospheres of composers like Ludovico Einaudi or Max Richter, but with a personal touch that sets it apart. The use of subtle harmonies and repetitive patterns creates a sound space that seems to emulate the stillness and mystery of the moon, hence its name. The piece has a hypnotic quality that draws the listener into a contemplative state, moving between delicate passages and moments of greater intensity.

Bruce Liu's interpretation brings a unique dimension to Lunar. Liu, known for his sensitivity and precision, perfectly captures the spirit of the piece, achieving a balance between impeccable technique and pure emotion. His touch is ethereal and meticulous, allowing each note to breathe and resonate in the space, enhancing the feeling of a soundscape that unfolds smoothly. Liu masters the subtleties of the piece’s dynamics and timing, making the silences and pauses as significant as the notes themselves.

[mossymandibles]

Me cheerily saying goodbye to my coworkers and then sitting in my car and promptly turning up mastiff or something always makes me think of that mom in the college monster inc movie

[somethingsomethingcomic]

beware my wine rants

[x-heesy]

ƎТUƆ ТUꓭ ОHƆYƧᑫ / ОHƆYƧᑫ ТUꓭ ƎТUƆ

Leader of Pain (unknown virus 7.) by Ho99o9

[catwouthats]

Why is Contemporary Christian Music such a bop???

Like, you DO deserve a God that loves you despite you singing how you don’t deserve His endless love. A God will always love Their children and the children always deserve a Parent’s love.

But how tf did you hit those notes so well??? Feel like I’m fucking levitating????? Go off Queen, but also go to therapy!

[jrob64]

Beautiful, meaningful song.

Tagging @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose

[butterflies-and-bumble-bees]

when the radio at the coffeeshop that's been playing pop top 20 songs plays this song

[tiffanyspace]

True Worshippers.

Circa 2008.

[dustedmagazine]

Morton Feldman — Violin and String Quartet (Another Timbre)

Composed in 1985, just two years before he died of cancer in 1987, Morton Feldman’s Violin and String Quartet embodies his interests in patterns, such as the intricate, slightly asymmetrical threading of Asian rugs. Similarly, Violin and String Quartet contains off-kilter, slowly evolving harmonies, post-tonal in terms of trajectory; they are  self-contained entities that inhabit a place in which instability and repetition conjoin.

Quintets with violins are somewhat unusual. In a standard classical piece by Mozart or Schubert, one is more likely to find two violas or cellos. The group of players here — Mira Benjamin, Chihiro Ono, and Amalia Young, violins, Bridget Carey, viola, and Anton Lukoszevieze, cello — play together as if this is the most ubiquitous of instrumentations. Their level of attention to tiny details in the score, as well as their unflagging energy, make this an important document of Feldman’s late music.

The designation of one of the violins separately is significant. Sometimes the first violin will be required to play a solo role, tearing off from tutti ostinato passages to play altissimo high notes and polyrhythms —often five against four — that delineate it from the rest of the group. At others, its upper register sustained notes meld with the string quartet.

Like most of Feldman’s late music, Violin and String Quartet is quite long, well over two hours, and prevailingly slow and soft. The piece begins with verticals that are morphed by small glissandos into rubbery totems. These are contrasted by moments of glassine verticals, played with straight tone. For a stretch two-thirds of the way in, the first violin’s harmonics are set against blocks of enigmatic chords.

Without a linear narrative or break in the action, a piece of such long duration is difficult to summarize. Perhaps that is part of the point. Attention to small details and their variations is rewarded, just as a meditative stance can be a way to contemplate Feldman’s music. In a pre-concert talk about a different piece, Feldman was quoted as saying,”It’s a short three hours!” Approached with an open mind and ears, Violin and String Quartet can feel the same way.

Christian Carey

[jambandatl]

“The Greatest Superpower: The Power to Delete God”

Introduction:We often dream of having superpowers—strength, flight, the ability to control time. But what if I told you that every single one of us has the most incredible superpower imaginable? The power to delete God from our lives. This superpower is unlike any other. It’s the greatest, not because of its magnificence or glory, but because of its immense implications. It is the power of free…

[pizza-feverdream]

Wholesomepilled healthymaxxing by making breakfast and listening to music with my sister

[exvangelical-christian-nerd]

Spotify did it again

Y'all, this Playlist Spotify made me is literally all Christian contemporary and TX2, and I just can't... and this is happening all the time now. I'm going to die laughing. Like how did TX2 get categorized with all this Christianese music?