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September 3, 2004

Indoctrinating with Song

So the school at which I'll be teaching this year has just bought a new religion curriculum — new books, new schedules, new material... and an accompanying CD alleging to be "music for teens." As one might guess, the curriculum's producers — God bless their well-meaning souls — haven't quite succeeded in compiling a track list that will reach the kids' pop culture spirits.

But the idea is a good one, and I'd like to run with it. The problem is that, being a relatively new Christian, I'm also relatively new to Christian music, so both my knowledge and collection are inadequate to the task. Please, if you've any favorites in this category — and I'd also be interested in albums or specific songs from the more famous, secular side of the industry — let me know in the comments sections. Hey, for all I know, some of y'all work in the music biz; self promotion is allowed.

I'd also welcome (ahem) any CD contributions that the spirit of the project might inspire you to send along.

Posted by Justin Katz at September 3, 2004 5:34 PM
Quips & Asides
Comments

I do not have a comprehensive list available at the moment, but maybe I can look into it a bit this weekend. For the moment though, one strong song is 'Awesome God' by Rich Mullins.

Posted by: smmtheory at September 3, 2004 7:42 PM

As an obvious non-orthodox Christian, you know that when I endorse a particular type of Christian music that I really dig the music, not not necessarily the message.

Anything by Kerry Livgren (of Kansas), www.numavox.com.

He is a conservative born-again Christian minister. I consider him to be a prog-rock genius composer.

Posted by: Jon Rowe at September 3, 2004 7:55 PM

Well I like the harder alternative genre and my collection is heavily secular, but there are some Christian bands that I think are top notch.

Staveacre
Project 86
Tragedy Ann
Blindside (which recently had Smashing Pumpkin's frontman Billy Corgan in studio with them on one track)

P.O.D. and Chevelle are two bands that have also made it in the secular music market.

Christian music is like most things closely follows Sturgeons Law. Theodore Sturgeon a SF writer once said "90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud."

Posted by: Jeff Miller at September 3, 2004 8:06 PM

Justin,
If you want to get "caught" up on the some of the current music, you could try this website for WJIE Radio or the website for KLTY Radio by listening to their streamed signals. There are tons of other links to other radio stations and such at JesusFreak Network to get you going.

Some of the more popular of the Soft Rock Contemporary Christian Music artists are Michael W Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jaci Velasquez, Point Of Grace, and Nicole Nordemen. It depends on which style you lean toward. I like DC Talk (What if I Stumble - from their Jesus Freak album is one of my favorites).

Of course, if you are leaning toward the Catholic artists, here is another link to check out for The Catholic Jukebox where you can find some mp3 files from some of the artists.

Posted by: smmtheory at September 4, 2004 10:37 PM