How I Discovered It: This video on YouTube, via Cole NeSmith on Facebook. After watching the video, I went to Amazon MP3 and listened to the samples, which I liked, and downloaded the album.
What I Like: Straight up, this is music that praises God, and it makes no attempt to be anything other than that. But it’s actually really good music, which a lot of “Christian” music is not. It’s catchy without being annoying. These are songs that could fit right alongside anything on a rock radio station. This entire album is a solid album. There’s not one song that I skip. And I can listen to it on repeat for hours without getting tired of it.
It’s not Chris Tomlin, it’s not Shane & Shane, and it’s definitely not Bill Gaither. It’s similar to Hillsong United, but way better. I would even say I like this album better than anything David Crowder Band has put out (except A Collision).
My Favorite Songs: The whole album is good, but my favorite songs are White Man and Fly (seriously… the last two minutes is amazing!)
Links:
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/michaelgungor
Download the MP3 Album or order the CD from Amazon.
How I Discovered It: I first caught wind of She & Him before I even knew what the group’s name was going to be. I was flipping through a music magazine at Borders when I saw a picture of one of my favorite actresses, Zooey Deschanel, standing by a guy with a guitar. The guy happened to be M. Ward, a well-known indie singer/songwriter/guitarist. He, like many of us, discovered that Miss Deschanel has a great singing voice while watching Elf and wondered why she didn’t have an album. A few years later, that problem has been remedied.
What I Like: This is one of those albums that I fell in love with as soon as I listened to it. Deschanel’s voice and Ward’s instrumentation and production accompany each other extremely well. I read in an interview with the two that they had gone into the studio wanting to make an album that reflected the span of the AM radio dial from days gone by. They’ve done an exquisite job doing just that. They touch on everything from country (“Change Is Hard”), to something that could have come from the Beach Blanket Bingo soundtrack (“I Was Made For You”), to gospel (“Swing Low Sweet Chariot”), and lots of other good stuff in between.
My Favorite Songs: “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” and “I Was Made for You”
Links:
She & Him Website
Download the MP3 album from Amazon, or order the CD.