Maybe, but while we're on the subject of crappy analogies, there's just one problem:
2 John 1:6 - And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
You can't walk either! Maybe we should leave imagery between physical actions and spiritual results alone.
Anyway, today is also a very special day. With Christmas fast approaching I wanted to take time to highlight something that is definitely not kitsch. You may not know who Sufjan Stevens is, but he's one of the most innovative, creative Christian musicians out there today.
It seems he's actually more appreciated by indie fans than by actual Christians, though everyone seems to love his earthy, yet faith-ridden lyrics, and his fluctuation between simplistic acoustic guitar picking and bombastic, almost orchestral compositions. At the 2006 PLUG Awards (Independent Music Awards), he took away the awards for Album of the Year, for Illinois, Male Artist of the Year, and Album Art/Packaging of the Year, for Illinois as well.
Today, he released his box set Songs for Christmas, which is comprised of seperate EP's he recorded as a project every Christmas from 2001 to 2006, sans 2004. They are made up of some classic carols, some reimagined ones, and a scattering of some of his own original works like Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, you deserved it!).
Here is a picture of the box set.
The box set comes with a lot of other stuff like Christmas stickers, and a book of chords and lyrics so you can play along. If you feel so inclined, you can listen to a stream of the whole album at his record label, Asthmatic Kitty's, website here. Make sure you have Quicktime.
Do something original this Christmas and support a Christian musician who doesn't suck. Isn't it nice to have something good by a Christian on here every now and then?
9 comments:
I have hears the Sufjan album streamed on that website. It's fantastic. I didn't realize today was the release date, I'm going to buy it now.
*heard, sorry
I would buy it, but unfortunately, I'm not allowed to buy anything for myself in the two months leading up to Christmas, so I guess I have to listen to it online for now, and wait until Christmas day.
His versions of "Holy Holy Holy" and "Come Thou Fount" (both in this box set) are prime examples of why most modern Christian music is superfluous at best and completely unnecessary at worst. Fantastic stuff.
Oh, gosh, Come Thou Fount is probably my favorite song in this set. I love old hymns, especially when they're done well.
Ok, ok, I'll check it out. Geez. I already have the Mariah Carey Christmas album, but I guess one more won't hurt.
And you can too stumble on your knees. These people have obviously never been in a knee race. I used to enjoy them on ESPN. I think most people just watch to see them stumble.
Was that like ESPN 16.5? Because I've never seen that.
Please tell me the Mariah Carey was a joke.
Hooray! Someone else knows who Sufjan Stevens is! I heard of him via NPR earlier this year. Love, love, love his music. Three cheers for Christian musicians who don't suck! (And I love that phrase.)
Hello, I'm a newbie here, heard about you from the Mattress Police.
Hope you don't mind a comment from a stranger.
I really enjoyed his arrangements so thanks for the heads up on this.
btw: Have you heard of Andrew Peterson? I like his stuff as well because I find him very original. Anyways, he made this WONDERFUL (in my opinion) Christmas album titled "Behold the Lamb of God, with very original. Some of the music serious some funny, all good.
http://www.andrew-peterson.com/
Anyways, thanks for this gem!
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