Jon Foreman - Summer

Summer is here! We posted Foreman's Spring EP a few months back with great expectations for Summer, the fourth and final installment of Jon Foreman's quad-EP year. In my opinion, this album does not disappoint.

Musically, Summer picks up where the other EPs left off with a nice assortment of instrumentation and arrangements somewhat different that what we are used to hearing with Foreman's everyday band, Switchfoot. The string arrangements are present, as are some less than typical instruments like dulcimer and sitar.

Lyrically, this has become my favorite of the EPs. "House of God, Forever" is probably the strongest track on the album. This duet with Sarah Masen (Foreman's sis in law) is absolutely beautiful.

The track "Again" is a perfect ending to the series both musically and in verse. It's refreshing to listen to a commercially successful artist like Foreman churn out such intimate, spiritually-charged songs. That can be a risk, and it's a risk I'm glad he has taken. I hope he takes the time to do some more albums of this nature in the future.

And once again, Jon, I'm sorry that I thought your band sucked so bad back in 1997. May you accept the multiple endorsements of your current music as my apology. And I accept the greatness of your current music as your apology for sucking so bad back then.


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David Crowder Band - A Collision

David Crowder, for those that don’t know him, is one unique individual. I’ve been a fan of his music for years mostly because I enjoy the way his writing refuses to fall into the “cookie cutter” trap of modern Christian music. It’s different, but there are still plenty of melody hooks and power anthems along the way to keep the listener engaged.

Most of his full length albums are very intricate, multi-layered, musical journeys filled with a variety of instruments, and often built upon a computer generated rhythmic track or two. A Collision goes beyond a group of songs. Each track flows seamlessly into the next, sometimes with little interludes there to tie one song to another.

Crowder even goes as far as making re-mix albums using songs from his previous albums. As I wasn’t a huge fan of Sunsets and Sushi (a remix album using many of the tracks from Illuminate), I really enjoyed what he did with B Collision (a remix of a few songs from A Collision). In fact, I enjoy some of the stripped down B Collision versions better than the originals in most cases.

David Crowder makes great albums to listen to under headphones. If you get the chance, I’d recommend sitting down with a nice set of phones and give this one a listen through from start to finish.

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Andy Gullahorn - Reinventing the Wheel

Andy Gullahorn is a clever singer-songwriter who writes songs about real life with complete honesty.

Wow I think that's the deepest thing I've managed to write on Best Album of the Day thus far. All kidding aside, Reinventing the Wheel is an excellent album.

I previously mentioned Gullahorn in my review of Jeremy Casella's newest album. They are both part of a big group of musicians that put out some quality stuff. I've got some posts coming up that include more music from this group. (Check out The Rabbit Room sometime and you'll find some good recommendations)

Back to the point, I love this album. Being thirty years-old with a wife and kids allows me to really relate to many of the songs. The track "More of a Man" is totally me. Except for the part about rubbing deer blood on my face. Who does that, Andy?

"How Precious Life Is" is a great song that anybody who has had the life-altering experience of having kids will relate to. "Desperate Man" is something I listen to whenever my life seems to be running on fumes.

This album can be listened to straight through, no skipping necessary. It's real, it's melodic, and every song flows smoothly into the next one. "Give It Time" is a perfect closing track.

Musically it's mainly acoustic with some moments of orchestration, percussion, and other various non-electric instrumentation. Similar to my last post, this is not one you'll listen to when working out. Instead listen to it when you are in a contemplative mood. It will hit the spot.

Also, be sure to check out Andy Gullahorn's website. The man is a genius. Comedic genius that is. "The Drive With Andy" videos are awesome.

We'll have to book him for one of his famous house concerts someday. Given the current readership numbers for Best Album of the Day I'm sure we'd all fit in a standard size living room to hear him do his thing.

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Jon Foreman - Spring

So can a six-song EP really qualify as a best ALBUM of the day? Well, not really. However, if you put out four of these EPs in a year's time - as Jon Foreman is doing - we'll make an exception. In fact, I think getting 24 songs in six-song installments makes it easier to get to know the songs better. So I salute you, Jon Foreman, Mr. Puts Out a Ton of Songs on Four Albums in a Year Guy. (sung like the beer commercials)

Spring is the third of the four EPs, all of which have been much mellower than anything by Foreman's band, Switchfoot. It is heavily layered with strings, horns, and eclectic percussion, and every song is acoustic-based. So far my favorite song is "Your Love is Strong." I should add that even though I am listing Spring as today's best album, all of the EPs so far have been worthy of that honor.

I don't know if I can come up with any good comparisons for this stuff, but I hear a little bit of Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes, Damien Rice, Wilco, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe a little bit of Beatles' Yellow Submarine???

It's interesting that I'm such a big Foreman/Switchfoot fan. When I was a junior in college, Switchfoot were the opening band for a concert on campus. This is when they were all really young. I thought they were absolutely horrible. I couldn't believe they had even achieved opening-act status. Needless to say, they have improved greatly and I've really enjoyed their last few albums, and I absolutely love Foreman's solo stuff.

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Needtobreathe - The Heat

I just cannot stop listening to this album. It's really really really good. How's that for a review?

Honestly though, I've been listening to this one for the last few months and it continues to grow on me. Despite having one of my least favorite band names, Needtobreathe create music I find myself singing over and over throughout the day. They write straight-forward songs without gimmicks...just really good music. I enjoyed their first album as well, but The Heat escapes any hint of a "sophomore slump" and offers up some fantastic songs.

I really enjoy the voice of lead singer Bear Rinehart. Sometimes when singers have a distinct voice it starts to grind on your nerves as an album goes on, but not Rinehart's. It grows on you and he does an excellent job of using dynamics to keep songs from sounding the same.

The best songs on the album in my opinion are "We Could Run Away" and "Signature of Divine". Both have an incredible anthem feel and deserve to be played loudly. The acoustic driven "More Time" will get in your head and stay there. Great song!


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Jeremy Casella - RCVRY

I constantly discover new music through a Kevin Bacon-like, six degrees of separation method. For the past few months I've been listening to a great artist named Andrew Osenga, and through his blog (which is hilarious) I found out about Andy Gullahorn (who is also great and whose blog is also hilarious) and while reading a review for AG's new album they mentioned his music is similar to Jeremy Casella. So I checked out Jeremy Casella and absolutely love his latest album, RCVRY (recovery).

The instrumentation on this one is absolutely fresh and "ear-appealing." I love Casella's songs and his voice is great too. His guitar work on this album is incredible. Yeah, it's pretty much the whole package. If I had to pick similar artists, I'd name the previously mentioned Andys, and some of the instrumentation reminds me of David Gray, especially DG's newer stuff with the use of strings.

I tend to gravitate towards Christian artists that are outside the box a bit; those that have a do-it-yourself type attitude and are a lot less "uptight" than typical CCM artists. I would classify Casella in this category. I feel his lyrics are incredibly honest and real.

Oh yeah, and back to the blogs. Casella's ALSO cracks me up. Check out this list of the 25 things he learned in 2007. The bit about the iPod and fuel economy is right on. I guess the moral of the story is if you've got great music and a great blog, you're going to make it far...at least in my opinion.