Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Underground worship that needs to be heard...

All churchgoers know of David Crowder Band, Casting Crowns, and Third Day.  Very few are aware of the growing number of underground worship bands that breathe new life into a genre that's been stale since the day of the Negro Spiritual.  Check these out:

Band: mewithoutYou
Album: Brother, Sister
Genre: Experimental indie rock with some spoken word flair.

Band: The Listening
Album: The Rock 'n' Roll Worship Circus Becomes the Listening
Genre: Alternative indie industrial something or other.  Elements of Pink Floyd, NIN, Death Cab, and Radiohead abound.

Band: As Cities Burn
Album: Come Now Sleep
Genre: Indie.  Post hardcore almost-screaming-at-times music.

Band: The Glorious Unseen
Album: Tonight the Stars Speak
Genre: Ambient, shoegazing, relaxation inducing soft rock.

Band: Thrice
Album: The Alchemy Index Volume IV: Earth
Genre: Well, Thrice itself is a little bit of an eclectic mix of musical styles wrapped up into a post-hardcore package, but this particular album is acoustic and folksy.

Band: The Psalters
Album: Divine Liturgy of the Wretched Exiles
Genre: Wikipedia calls them 'Anarcho-punk', but I call them dreamy hippie folk music.

Band: Sleeping Giant
Album: Dread Champions of the Last Days
Genre: Balls to the wall hardcore.

Band: Christafari
Album: To the Foundation
Genre: Masterful reggae, bluesy stuff.

Band: Jonni Greth
Album: For Fans of Songs
Genre: Dark folk.

Band: Showbread
Album: Anorexia/Nervosa
Genre: A bit of everything.  Industrial post hardcore screechy indie pop.

Band: Rocky Votolato
Album: The Brag and Cuss
Genre: Folk all the way.

Oh, and here's some technically-not-worship-but-still-makes-you-think-about-the-same-things music:

Band: Manchester Orchestra
Album: I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child
Genre: Emotive indie rock and roll.

Band: 16 Horsepower
Album: Low Estate
Genre: Very dark country music.

Band: Pedro the Lion
Album: Achilles Heel
Genre: Stripped down acoustic emo, only not, y'know, gay.

Band: Iron and Wine
Album: The Shepherd's Dog
Genre: Folksy jazzy indie whatever.


Check all of these out.  Seriously.

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