Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
Podpicks for October 15, 2009
"Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music" by Larry Norman
In honor of Stryper's gig Sunday (appropriately) at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach, we recommend three overtly Christian rock tracks that don't suck for downloading to your iPod or other personal media device.
"Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music" by Larry Norman - If the one, true rock trinity is sex, drugs and, well, rock 'n' roll, then - axiomatically - there can be no real Christian rock. Both rock and Christianity are rarely that simple though, and former People! front man Larry David Norman was the first to point that out in song. Widely regarded as "the Father of Christian rock," this track comes from the second side of his 1972 classic album "Only Visiting This Planet." Recorded at George Martin's AIR Studios in London (with Asia leader John Wetton on bass), Norman confesses here "I ain't knocking the hymns, just give me a song that has a beat." That plea alone would go on to inspire a heavenly host's worth of guitar-wielding Jesus freaks, including the good (Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan), the bad (Jars of Clay, Evanescence, Flyleaf) and the just plain fugly (the entire roster of Tooth & Nail Records).
"Murderer" by Low - If Mormons can be considered Christians (and for our purposes here, we will say yes since J.C. is invoked in the church's official name), then Duluth, Minn.'s Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are in fact latter-day saints. Tepid titans of the whisper quiet, glacially-paced slowcore movement, this husband and his only wife have been hypnotizing indie kids with their hauntingly sparse harmonies since 1993. Whereas Parker is only a convert to the Mormon faith, Sparhawk was born into an LDS family and even had a brief, caffeine-free stint at Brigham Young University...and that really fucked him up. "One more thing before I go," Sparhawk prays to God. "I've seen you pound your fists into the earth, and I've read your book," he confesses. "And it seems that you could use another fool." A faithful, if severely imprudent servant, Sparhawk then offers the utmost for his Highest. "So if you need a murderer, someone to do your dirty work," don't hesitate to call. After all, he reasons, "you must have more important things to do."
"Valo tihkuu kaiken läpi" by Paavoharju If the translations are accurate, then Paavoharju is indeed a Finnish collective of born-again ascetic Christians (e.g. no sex, no booze, no drugs) led by brothers Lauri and Olli Ainala. Nestled away in the southeastern Saimaa port city of Savonlinna, these Finns play a beguiling mix of Björk, Bollywood and 8-bit bedroom bop that ultimately transcends both the Uralic language family as well as their impossibly stoic religious convictions. Song two (translated as "The Light Hemorrhages Through") from the 2005 Fonal Records debut "Yhä hämärää" (or "Continuously Dark") finds the Ainala Bros. and their flock in a particularly psychedelic mood. "Bowing to the wind, the light does not violate the soul's mirror," Lauri coos in his best Cocteau Twins-like tone. Far from the cheap hallucinations born of the shifty street corner pusher, the glorious noise here comes from a place infinitely more pure. If God plays guitar, he's sitting in with Paavoharju.