Greatest Albums 2014

Kirk's 12 favorite albums for the year 2014.   (You will see my tastes run gospel-centric - not so much as a sound, but as the fountain of inspiration.  

This was a very good year.

Uncountable Stars: Joanne Hogg   
Longtime frontwoman for the Celtic-fusion group Iona, Joanne Hogg strays from her normal sound territory (of incredibly beautiful, delicate and somewhat melancholy chamber piano) with an offering that is at once jubilant, amorous, and even frightening.  Joanne writes with a heart saturated with the very cheer and wildness of God.  See my earlier review here.   Or sample some of her music here.  (not my favorite song, but the only one I could find.)   Or find her on Spotify here.

(Should I pick my absolute fave of the year, this would be it.)


Winnowing: Bill Mallonee 
There are just SO many adjectives you can use to describe the music of Bill Mallonee -  tender, bitter, strident, vulnerable, faithful, doubtful, deep, dark, confessional, fully alive etc - cause over the course of many years he has tapped pretty much every kind human emotion.  Even so, the Winnowing is just extra dimensional.  I love the slowed-down almost regal pace of this autumnal work.   Review here:   Or hear the album on his Bandcamp site here.


Crimson Cord: Propaganda
Propaganda was introduced to the world as spoken word artist, Now he turns his attention to dallies with sound.  Man, do I love this guy's intensity.  (Propaganda manages to work through all kinds of novel themes, from cell-phone idolatry, God's management or purpose for evil, and even white-angst in the race arena.  I have yet to write a review but you can hear Propaganda's EXcellence here, or download his music from Noisetrade here.


All Creatures: Jacob Montague
A genuine "Noise-trade" surprise.   My mind, my spirit, go absolutely bonkers with creative possibilities everytime I hear this song: In Him was Light.  (This may be my favorite song of the year.   Read my mini review here, or hear more here.


There's a Light: Liz Vice 
Liz was born almost forty years late.  Except she wasn't.  We need a glorious re-discovery of the Mo-Town sound, made all the more lovely with gospel applications.  I simply adore this woman's voice, attitude and timing.   Read my mini-review here, or hear a glorious rendition of Empty Me Out. (Then download her album here.)

Instruments of Mercy: Beautiful Eulogy
Could it be that a 55 year old white man is listening to and loving rap.  Well sorta.  Not just any rap, but I have found a special niche inside of rap, with folks like Propaganda,  Sho Baraka, and Beautiful Eulogy - who specialize in bringing outside influences (jazz, choral, chamber insturmental etc) to the medium.   Instruments of Mercy is theologically rich (Augustinian) and given to a sound that is part rap, part Oregon coast new music upright pianno-grunge.  Watch a video clip here,
Or listen to the WHOLE album here:  or download it here.


Let us Run: Arthur Wachnik
This would be my only "praise album" of the group.  (Actually not,  but in the most immediate sense) But what Wachnik does is run his praise through some kind of gypsy, zydeco, klezmer, modern music filter, that just lifts this stuff to a whole new plain.   Think of David dancing in his underwear. Or maybe not.  This stuff will make kick your heals.  Video here.  NoiseTrade download here.  Mini Review here.


Broken Gazing - Jeff Johnson (of Ark Music) 
I tried to say this somewhere else, but sometimes I think of the liturgical church as producing works of great beauty, but which are sometimes lean of passion, while the low church is given to bold dallies of the heart, but not so much to transcendent beauty.   In this album, Jeff captures all exquisite beauty of the liturgical world, and does so with the heart of a revivalist.  I couldn't find any video samples of Jeff's new album to show you, but here are two links to earlier works that catch the spirit of his music.   Watching Clouds or,  Christ has Walked this Path  But then, you can sample quite a bit right at his own site:     Or read my review here.

These are the Days: Mo Leverett
Stripped down, autumnal folk, from a man who has been through the wringer... and now thanks the friends who have journeyed with him.  I think of Mo as part pirate, part old-world Puritan, and part gash in the tent of heaven.  He is a breath of fresh air, in a world of high production-pretty music.  No new music samples for Mo, so you get this medium-new one. It's Alright.  Review Here:


VA: The Last Bison
Should I pick one band for raw sound-craft -- passionate delivery, and period costumes - The Last Bison remains my favorite Mountain-jamboree New Music band.  Ever. This family and friends operation is the band I keep waiting to be discovered.  But I guess we are going to go for one discovery at at time.   Listen to a "bad" road song here.  Or,  You can read about the time the Bison folk stayed in my home here, or read and sample music in my review of VA, here.


It's Christmas Time: Carolyn Arends
Easily my favorite Christmas album of 2014, and made all the easier because Carolyn just exudes sanctified femininity.   (She is charming, funny, thoughtful, and sentimental (in the best of ways.)       This music shimmers with old world sound craft (ie, dulcimers, banjo's and such) and packs some big thoughts along the way.   Album review here.  Other folks who agree with me here:)



20: Jars of Clay
Twenty years in the business, Jars let the fans pick their favorite songs from 10 ten albums (roughly two per album) then performed the lot in a stripped down acoustic style with hints of jazz.   This is pure melancholy ambrosia (for those who are given to such) and lets me hear words in some of these songs that I never heard before.   (I started to say something about the spiritual journey of lead singer Dan Haseltine, then scratched it.)   Suffice it to say, I have deeply appreciated Dan's transparency as he wrestles with his place in the kingdom.  There is nourishment here, even for Dan.  No review yet, but you can read what others say here.

Give Love on Christmas

Album:  Give Love on Christmas

Artists:   Collaboration, featuring Jars of Clay, Charlie Peacock, Sandra McCracken and others.

Genre:  Christmas, folk, folk-rock, chamber-coustic, and assorted indie sounds.

In the next few days I hope to put out a list of my favorite Christmas albums, and sure to make the list is this little gem… I just discovered – one hour ago.  That is, I am now on my second listen, and I fully expect this little download will get plenty of ear-play.

I must confess, as a CD man, I am not quite used to the idea that you can just get music for free (though you will certainly want to throw in a tip… or more, on this one.)

The offering…”Give Love on Christmas” is just that.   A way to give love, by donating to the Blood:Water Mission, even as the represented artists have given of themselves in this collaboration.

Like all things offered on NoiseTrade, the download itself is free, but I make it a habit to tip artists, sometimes on the spot, or sometimes later after sampling works and agreeing that I will be listening multiple times.

As is, I figure not all these songs were penned for Christmas.  In fact, I know several were not… but are given to the project in the spirit of the same.    For example, it would be hard to call the song Mystic, by Charlie Peacock a Christmas song, except it involves going home.

So what makes this a Christmas gem?  Ten of the eleven tunes are "unkowns" -- while the final song, Oh Come Emanuel, simply happens to be my favorite Christmas hymn.  Add to that, the spirit of the thing. Intelligent, lean production as the norm, the absence of smarmy gloss and fru-fru, and strongly vertical connection.  (At least half the songs highlight the love of God as expressed to his creation through his Son, while the others tend to focus on our call to love one another.

Since you can sample the whole of the album on Noisetrade I won’t go on about the sounds of the various artists, except to say… Dan Hasteltine of Jars of Clay just keeps sounding better and better. 

(I had just started to list my favorite tracks, but that list included ¾ of the offering, I figured I will just let you decide which you like best…. But happy surprise showing by Phil Keaggy, and someone called Sleeping at Last.  (Loved that song)   Oh, and the vocal of Jeannette Isabella and Joy Williams (Civil Wars) and… Rhett, Sandra,  and….I better quit.

thank you to all those who put this little treasure of an "album" in my hands.

Kirk


Ps.  Now I find that this is not the first Blood-Water Mission collaboration.  Here is an earlier release, - Give Hope this Christmas.  It looks mighty interesting, though also less Christmas focused.

The Hawk In Paris, Music Review by Kirk

Band.  The Hawk in Paris.  (Dan Haseltine and friends Jeremy Bose and Matt Bronleewe)

Album: Freaks

Genre:   Modern/Retro synth Pop (of the highest caliber)
Release Date: October 29, 2013
More Info and Orders: Pledge Music

Quick Spin:  For a old guy who doesn't listen to much pop-anything (even indie-art pop) I may have reformat my ear.  I have now listened to this offering a couple dozen times in just three days... It's cutting grooves.   Deep, melodic, infectious...it sounds at times like a soundtrack to young love... (or old love, for a man still caught in the mystery)  There are some darker moments here, including (for me) a sense of disquietude.  But that will take a bit to explain.

---

I find there are two ways I can listen to Freaks. 1) Like any other offering I might hear on indie-pop radio (if such a thing exists), or 2) As part of the ongoing sound evolution and spiritual odyssey of Dan Haseltine (frontman for the band Jars of Clay, and now Hawk in Paris.) 

At this point I do not know if The Hawk in Paris is just a side project, or the future for Dan and band. (Band:  please forgive me for speaking of the song-craft and writing of the songs as Dan's, when the source may be shared... or yours.)

Way of Hearing # 1)

Utterly delicious ear candy, Freaks… by The Hawk In Paris, blends the sound sensibilities of a band like Depeche Mode, or David Bowie, or Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics  (I am limited to using the folks I know) with folks I know even less…. Like modern robo-singers Owl City or Moby.  There might be better examples, but I am an old man with an ear for Americana, so modern synth pop is a little out of my expertise.  What I do know is that this is a very forward-looking, backward-glance.  To get the idea, think of a classic building (like the Empire State building, forged in the 1920’s -- Then think of a modern building fashioned in the old art deco style, but with all the new technologies and materials.   In that same sense, Freaks takes the sonic landscape of the 1980’s then updates it with all kinds of modern sound wizardry.   We get the big spaces, the sweeping synthesizer,  the Orwellian harmony,  even the desire to dance like a robot…. And all with Dan Haseltine's liquid vocals.  Beyond that, The sound is sophisticated, cool, then dark.   

As a pop product, Freaks is simply stellar.   The melodies shimmer with all the energy of young love.  I hear magic.  And chrome, and cleanness, and all these ambient colors of the prism.  I hear too, a gifted singer using auto tune, not to correct his imperfections, but to lean into machine.   If there is anything freaky about Freaks, it is the very idea of the voice of man and the voice of machine twining like the twin rails of a double helix.  Dan at once sounds believably human… .and perfect. And sorry band mates to focus on Dan, I know your talents are there in abundance… but Dan's voice:   Ambrosia.

As for content, Freaks is given to themes common to teens,  pop music and humankind.   Ie. rejection, Love found.  Love lapping through our dreams,. Love teetering and strained.  Love in the ditch …  Stars in the eyes. etc.   But this is where the pop sensibilities end.   The caliber of the writing is such that it may confuse us to call this “Pop” anything.

On a personal note.    I find this alum is written backwards.  That is, I like all the first songs least, then find my delight grows as we venture in.  (Bad for first impressions, good for glow at the end of the voyage.)   Least favorite song:   Freaks.  Though I very much like the spaghetti western whistle, I still associate the word Freaks with deviants, hermaphrodites, and two-headed dogs.  (Mercy for the middle.)  I can hear the word “outcast, maverick, or nerd” in a positive light, but I do not want to be found alone in the Forest of the Freaks.  (Then I am afraid it is a way of sanctioning moral disobedience.)

Favorite Song, which surprised me, the breakup song, Cannons.  If this song is about the immediate hemorrhaging of a very real marriage, then I am oh so very sorry.   I guess the lyric which hooked my soul was this simple confession…. If you leave me now, you leave me better than I was before.   Kind of nice to hear a confession of love, even in the midst of unravel.

Actually there is one more favorite song.  But it is not on this album.   Turns out that Freaks is a composite offering, with seven selections that appeared in some form on two earlier EPs.  I am trying to find the very rare first EP (Boys and Girls), but the second - Freaks and Outcasts -  is available for everyone by way of Noisetrade.  (Find it here.)  I simply LOVE LOVE LOVE, the song “Dancing in the Rain” (Outcast Mix).  Dancing just brims with all the emotions of first love; I hear a fusion of Vector’s Dance, with all the exuberance of the original dancing in the Rain song, --- My Fair Lady.

Ps. For those who might buy just one song…  Start with 10) Birds on a Wire.  then peck around it.  (Oh, and the tune, Put your Arms around me....If I were a young pup in love, I might, listening to this melt right into the ground.

Final Note:

Name.  Hawk in Paris.   When doing Google search I found the name Hawk in Paris linked to an image… actually an album cover for a work by jazz legend Coleman Hawkins.  (I hate to admit it, but I was not familiar with the original Hawk, Coleman Hawkins, so now I am getting my fix on both Hawks.  Listen to some from the original Hawk in Paris on YouTube here.

or even do a download here:

or read more on the name, the band and its development with Dan H. and the Noise Trade Interview:

So.  Final word..  

Beautiful, elegant. Pulsing.  Dreamy, evocative, fresh. cinematic... (actually that was seven) tempered with a sense of dystopia.

Way of Hearing, Part 2.

I mentioned earlier that there are two ways I can hear Freaks, first as an offering of modern pop (For which is I give it my full star count)  AND as part of the unfolding sound-scape and spiritual pilgrimage of frontman Dan Haseltine.   Here I am hearing on different level, as a fellow traveler with Dan to the Celestial City… and wondering, if perhaps, Freaks may well represent a side track… into the heart of the Vanity Fair.

 (I think Dan will catch the allusion)

There is no way to write this next part without sounding preachy or overreaching, and I am afraid that someone will  say, who are you to second guess, or critique anyone’s spiritual pilgrimage?   (And of course, I am not qualified.)  But I do know that part of what it means to be part of living spiritual body… the body of Christ, is to encourage our fellow pilgrims and brothers, to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.   

When I hear Freaks, I am not sure if I am hearing just good pop, or … something which is kind of like a grand diversion from something ever so much more central, the love relationship at the center of reality.  And if human relationships can ebb and flow, or even break down and wither on the vine, so too can our relationship with the eternal groom.

It is hard not to hear the “dystopian” vibe  inside the shimmer of Freaks.   Yes there is an intoxicating celebration of love.  And yes, there is the angst that goes with parting (in whatever context), but I am also NOT hearing something I might have heard in the earlier works of Dan, through the mouth of his twenty year old band Jars of Clay; namely that desperate dependence on the God who walks with us, through the brilliance and the storm.

There is nothing here that directly proclaims a war with God.  On the other hand, the sound, the glitter, the big city slickness, even the sexual energy….in combination with the absence of anything that references the larger romance in which we live, hints hard at spiritual malaise.  I know this may not sound fair.   Should the same absence be found in the offerings of any other artist, I wouldn't think a thing about it.   (In fact, I would praise them for being extra dimensional and exploring the full range of romance.)  When I find that absence here where I one heard a "voice in the garden" It causes me to pause.  

Am I hearing things?

*the cover graphics too,  characterized by the loss of face, or a mask of sky and earth, only reinforce the idea.  Something is missing.   Something is hid.  Something is out of order in the universe.


Addendum.  For a slightly different take... on the process, purpose ... even lack of agenda, see Dan's Personal Blog.  The Hawk In Paris, a Primer.

Jars of Clay: Inland

Note:  10/5/13:   I wrote the bulk of this review before I discovered  Dan Hasteltine's personal Blog.  (Dan is the lead singer and front-man for the band Jars of Clay.)  That blog clearly spells out that Dan is in a different place - What he calls a "middle space" with respect to his spiritual pilgrimage.   So take my comments below in the context of my first exposure to Inland, sensing that this album signals an identity shift for the band, but not knowing much of the personal context of the recording.  Should I write this review today, I suspect I would hear the album differently, then grapple with what it means to be "in a middle space."



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This review consists of three parts.  1)  A review of the album Inland, by Jars of Clay, followed by 2) a review of the Jars of Clay Little Rock performance on September 10, 2013. Followed by a little 3) summary guess work.

Band: Jars of Clay

Album: Inland

Release: August 2013

Genre: Accousta-Art-Rock of a surprisingly melodic character.

Quick Spin.

Inland, by Jars of Clay is mini “indie rock” masterpiece, drenched in gorgeous melody and impressionistic lyrics of a personal hue.   My ears are fully delighted.  Perhaps the only thing I am working with is "how to hear" what I am hearing.  This has more to do with who Jars is (or are?) historically.  For almost twenty years Jars has operated under the umbrella of the Contemporary Christian Music novelty market.   With Inland, Jars actively sheds the last trappings of  CCM world. It will be interesting to see if their traditional fan base is good for the ride into new territory.

Inland borrows its name from a line out of Homer’s Odyssey in which "Odysseus is told that his adventures will end and he will finally be at peace when he travels inland carrying the oar of his ship to a point where people have never seen the sea or a boat, and mistake the oar for a winnowing fan use to separate grain from chaff."

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik (not related to this album) gives this insight to the Oar Metaphor: 

In other words, he reaches a place where people are totally oblivious of the world he inhabits and all ideas that are familiar to him seem unfamiliar to them.

What is the story trying to tell us? It informs us that what seems so familiar and important to us -- the sea and the ship in case of Odysseus -- mean nothing to people in other parts of the world. So vast is the universe. The oar is most critical to Odysseus to survive the seas. But it makes no sense to those inland who have never even heard of the sea. What is critical to one is not critical to another.

Now I am not quite sure if this is what the band is chasing with the title, but it certainly could mean that the Jars are given to a quest where the old language and delivery no longer make sense.  So -- New territory, intelligent music wed to personal, poetic, if not somewhat baffling lyrics. I love this album, but am still trying to figure out “how to think about it.” Perhaps I will have to hear it with some other organ.

This is Jars of Clay’s 11 studio album; the first on their own indie-label. (Gray Matter)    Fans and critics alike have noted: Jars of Clay, as a band just keeps mutating (while keeping pretty much the same folks.)  No two albums chase the same vibe;  Just when you think have pegged the band, they alter the spice and veer some new audio or thematic direction.   Jars = variation within continuity.   Sometimes those changes reflect the fact that Jars has their ear to what other folks are doing, sometimes Jars are the very fount of innovation.  In my mind people should be talking about who sounds like Jars of Clay; however it would be impossible not to note the dept that Jars  owes to bands like Cold Play, Mute Math, the Killers, the Beatles,  Death Cab for Cutie, and Toad Wed Sprocket.   (On a personal level, I am calling this my second favorite Jars of Clay Album, just slightly behind my all time favorite "Much Afraid.")

As is, there are certain things that make any Jars' album a Jars' album.   First there is lead singer Dan Haseltine’s plaintive, nervy, high, melodic -- even desperate voice.   Then there are those highly rhythmic, complex compositions, colored in the stuff of Appalachia, movie soundtracks, and Vivaldi.  Finally, there is a core commitment that the band has a being God's workmanship – even jars made of clay.   “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”    (from the bible book of Corinthians.)  So there you have it... God showcasing his glory in weak human vessels.)

A question I now ask (and will think through as we go is, "Are Jars of Clay still the same band that it was (or they were) when they recorded their first highly-regarded and self titled album some years ago?"  Are  they a band who might write and sing "Flood"  or" Love Song for a Savior"  -- Are they still vessels holding blessed treasure.   Or something else?



Quick take.   Yes.

That is, I have strong reasons to believe that they are still fundamentally "Jars"  -- But different.  This may take a bit to flesh out -- But know this, the sacred/secular dichotomy is nothing new.  Bach, a man who worked unto God with great awareness, created a large body of work, some for the church, some for the dinner party. He saw nothing inconsistent with giving God glory through the full range of his expressions, even those intended to get the people mincing, under the spell of fine wine.

As a “sound” Inland is an utterly delicious sonic treat.  Lead singer Dan Haseltine has never sounded better.  The tunes, while of varied emotional hue, are melodic, layered and crunchy. Inland features lots of curve-ball inner elements, including little dings and chings, novel percussion, floating harmonies, effervescent  counterpoint, plunging strings, galloping guitars, rattled pianos, crickets, and varied forms of audio extravaganza.  My ears cannot love this enough.   This wouldn't be a Jars' album without a brooding melancholy under-current, however… There is a brilliance, even a radiant joy that shines through many of the selections.  Beyond that, this work (with a few exceptions)  is just so smoothhhhh.  

Odd note:  I did not realize until watching Jars live, that front man Dan leads with a drum stick in hand.   They sometimes employ a second drummer with the big sit-down ensemble, but Jars is, at its heart, a band built around a hand drum or snare.   So it is kind of interesting to hear how sublimated (and delightfully complex) the percussion elements are throughout the recording.   It appears, to my amateur ear, that all kinds of things are operating as percussion that are not drums as such.  And many of those things have melody built in.   Think of a percussive rainbow.

If you want you can play this in the background as you read… but be sure not to get so detracted that you fail to come back;)

On Tuesday, September 10 2013 I had the opportunity to hear Jars live.  Front man Dan Haseltine explained: “This is an album that we have been waiting twenty years to write.  We could not have written this album when we started.”  (Loose, from memory).  He explained that the process behind this album was different.   First, this is their first wholly independent release.  They were not beholden to anybody, be they in the marketplace or in the pew.  Jars set the parameters and took the creative risk..  Second, most jars albums are built around a particular sound or focus.  They have a theme.   I think this album does too, but Dan explained that this is more like a collection of disparate songs, written by the band during the course of life and travel on the road.    They began with a large pool of collected songs and then whittled down.   The resulting collection radiates horizontally.  These are songs about relationships.... even the relationship of the self to self in introspective conversation.

Perhaps, most peculiar, are the lack of any songs that make sense as the product of a Christian Band – at least in the sense of Christian music as a commodity. (Now the title “Christian band” is multifaceted, and the theme I mean to explore further down – but it is quite apparent from their name and  past travel circuit, not to mention the bold and routine presence of Christian based themes, that Jars is rightly called a Christian band.   And I have no sense whatsoever that they have traded in their identity as sons of the King, for something else.    But that lack of “Christian identifiers” either in lyric or linear notes IS peculiar at minimum.  (An earlier alum by two -- Long Fall back to Earth clearly hinted  this direction.  But that album held a song or two that said... we are fallen men, in need of rescue.  Inland, on the other hand, has no song that even whispers "Christian radio."  Perhaps most peculiar, the preceding Jars release, The Shelter, a full voiced sing "Praise Music" singalong with other notables in the Christian Music arena, was explicitly "religious."   So the contrast is even more pronounced.



As is, I have been tickled by the efforts of people to find "Christian" meaning in lyrics.  Go to You-tube and scroll through the responses to the (three) new video offerings.  They are replete with people who wish to ascribe a range of direct or biblical interpretations for the poetry.   Example One  (A response to the song Inland by a phderrik)

I think (Inland) is  a beautiful song about the great commission that Christ had set us out to do.
In the mission field, there could be no clear plans for us to follow as no one may have done it before us. Faith in God & courage to overcome uncertainty will get us through. The most important element - a raw desire to serve people and trusting in God's provisions.

Now that is a lovely take.  It could be true.  But when I read the lyrics, none of that comes through. I do read of a push into an uncertain realm, but that the lyrics simply do not furnish that kind of information.

Example Two:  Newest video.  Fall Asleep.  A woman in a wedding dress takes a bath.  People ask: "Is she the bride of Christ?"   "Is this symbolic of baptism?"  (Etc.)  My guess.  Probably not.  She just happens to be heart-sigh beautiful, the visuals are riveting if not sensual, (but not risque or crass) and the whole thing thing shimmers with dream-world intensity.   I have no doubt that JOC use a lot of symbolism.  They tend too, to themes with water and flooding.   But it will do us no good to find concrete meaning where none is intended.

Finally, I would tell you that I  -- even with a poets’ disposition, am struggling to wrap my mind around the highly impressionistic  quality of Inland's lyrics. There are snatches and phrases in these songs  that really jell. I hear references to the altering and sustaining power of love.  I hear (and agree) that few of us were even ready for challenges that love would throw our way.  But we managed as we stumbled through.  I hear too a veiled reference to deity(?) -- All I want is Peace like a river, long life of sanity, love that won't leave too soon, someone to pull out the splinters, the reckless forgiver. (But then this could be a spouse.)

Then there is my very favorite lyric: 

I thought that everything would turn out right, now look what I've become --
A man I wouldn't have respect for -- if I'd met me when I was young

Speaking of honed christian theology... the poverty of spirit here, is downright doctrinal.

I will leave it for others to parse the meaning of the individual songs.  Suffice it to say, there is something “sub-brain” in this album.   I listen.  I yearn.  I hear the pathos but my heart is gladdened.  I feel a sense of adventure…I feel the wind in my heart, and thankfulness for my wife (who has been to hell with me and back)  … I feel like I have taken something in… traveled new ground,  but I cannot put my finger on it. 

This music makes me feel.  And that is a tremendous gift.

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Part 2: Part 2: The Performance.

Earlier on I asked if this band is the same band -- In its soul.  This is not a question I really mean to answer.  I cannot.  (I will explore this question in some detail in part 3.)  However, I can tell you when it comes to concert, Jars fully identified with the full canon of their work…and gave a simply stellar live performance.

There are bands that that suffer outside the studio.  Jars, on the other hand, matched or fully surpassed the excellence of their recorded work.

Perhaps in keeping with their new direction, Jars played at a Little Rock music hall and bar (The Rev Room)  - I felt just fine with the venue but might have had second thoughts about the settings as a youth group leader.  Only drawback - few good places to sit.  And - the crowd was much too small.   Indeed.  Not a crowd.

As it is, Jars spent the first leg of their Inland tour with one of my favorite bands - The Last Bison - then traded out for a couple of new acts, given limitations in the Bison schedule.   I should have loved to hear that pairing, but now follow two new artists, both of whom have drilled new sonic landscapes in my soul.

Note: My original blog post contained my impressions of both intro acts,  Kye Kye and Brooke Waggoner. I've opted to hold those posts for another time and give each their due in a separate post.  Suffice it to say, Mind blown by the talents of both.  I own new music, and relish both acts for different reasons.  I did, however, find the particular match up -- odd.  More down the pike.



9:30 - 11:30 (?)  Final Act.

The set list and performance by Jars of Clay on September 10, 2013 left with one distinct impression.  This is simply one of the finest accousta-rock bands in the world, with the ability to forge music of distinct character...  and varied sounds, and all before our very eyes.   Seeing  the process illumined the body of their work.  This is a band that operates with few overdubs.  When you hear a studio recording by the Jars, you are hearing something very close to their direct (but more energetic) live performance.

As performers, Jars gave their all.  We were a small assembly.  Probably only a hundred at max.  And they played their hearts out, all the while modeling courtesy, energy, craftsmanship, and a real regard for we the listeners.

I have intimated that album Inland, leaves the listener wondering just who this band is, in terms of religious commitments.   But none of those questions seemed relevant in concert.  Jars played from a set list spanning years, and rich in robust proclamations of devotion to Christ, and thanksgiving for his sacrifice.  The band closed the set with requests from the audience.  Surprisingly, most of those requests came from the bands very first land-mark album (and one known for its devotional directness.)  In short, Jars ended the night in something akin to a praise service.  And there very last encore track "Frail" just left me feeling held the strong arms of a healing savior.

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Part 3: Wrap up (for now)

In conclusion, I am both puzzled by and drawn to the "new" Jars.  I want to understand who they are in relationship to their past when they spoke with a more direct voice, at least as followers of Jesus.  But I am left with the fact that I do not know these people on any kind of personal level.   The lack of direct spiritual identifiers could signal one of several things.

1)  Not much of anything, these guys just wanted to produce music with a different focus.

2)  This is simply an effort by Jars (for whatever reasons) to enlarge their fan base, and shed the artistic limitations of CCM culture.

3)  The band no longer thinks of themselves as Jars holding blessed treasure.  They just kept the name.  ((In my mind, less probable.))

 4)  The band or Dan (as driving creative force) ARE in a different place in relationship to their faith walk. There are at least some lyrics within Inland that could suggest a crisis of spirit.  Example::

Every time I look in the mirror
I'm in a shadow of doubt
Maybe I'm as lost as the next guy
Just have to find, just have to find out

The problem is just how to hear such a lyric. Without larger context and clarification, I have found it best not to assume much of anything. However, I do know that Jars, as both Dan and band, are given to the introspective spirit. I would not be surprised if Inland does signal a place of disorientation within the context of lived out faith. The fact that Jars so readily played music from their larger canon, including very overt anthems of Christian praise, suggests to me that this album is part of a continuity and not a break. Even so, it does represent a substantial change in their public identity.  I wait to see where this journey Inland takes the band.  So do Jars.

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Post Script.   Just discovered.  Dan Hasteltine keeps a blog, where he address the relationship between Inland and the band's past works.  His blog clearly does indicate that he (or the band) are in some new territory... a place of spiritual uncertainty.    My response then should be to pray that Dan knows a level of resolution, that leads to deeper intimacy with Christ.   It is no good to have faith bolstered up with tape or a false public presentation.   So I pray this be a tear-down, leading to refreshing.



Side note 2: when I upload the CD,  My I-tunes account lists the songs as "Religious."   It would appear that if Jars are wishing to preposition themselves, they may want to start with a new description on I-tunes.


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Jars of Clay: Redemptions Songs - 2005

(this is another review that, four years late, may not make a lot of sense, but I’m on a theme.)

Jars of Clay: Redemptions Songs - 2005

Modern music renditions of songs with “old words.”

Synopsis:  Thirteen covers of traditional and sometimes obscure hymns (with lyrics spanning several centuries), blending elements of folk, modern-rock, black gospel and “Jars-experimental-fusion”

(For the unacquainted, Jars of Clay is an acousta-rock phenomena, launched somewhere in the Christian world of the 1990’s, but moving (as of 2009) in an art-rock direction and toward broader “mainstream” audience. Early albums mixed elements of orchestral music, even tribal music into rhythmic folk. Later albums showcase a motion to Beatle-esque harmonies and harder edged modern rock, with attending lyrical ambiguity. As if to answer questions about who they are (or where they draw their vision) Redemption Songs is a clear statement by the Jars (2005) in which they clearly confess both their need of, and love for their Redeemer.

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Of my couple dozen hymn-based CD’s this is one I spin less. Not for any lack of quality or spiritual vitality, but because the liberties taken with the hymns and the general styling make this more of a “listen to” than a “sing-with” CD… That, and the fact that several poundy-shrill “covers” kind of grate on my ears. Songs of Redemption isn’t really a rock album – I would call it heavy edged folk with a touch of the blues (reflective of Jars earlier albums) however, if you don’t have an ear for at least some rock, you probably won’t find home here. I personally found song three (God Will Lift up Your Head) too much of something. I might do better with the rock-dissonance in another album context, but find that I go to hymns for certain majesty and repose.)

That said, the delivery and tone of Redemptions songs goes a long way to driving home a message that might be lost to yesteryears piano. The stuff of sin and salvation (and nailing God to a tree) can be a bloody grating affair. And certainly the stuff of sorrow. “Redemption songs” isn’t bleak – indeed, it holds a great body of joy – however, a certain “heaviness of soul” infuses the album -- not unlike black gospel, where radiance flows from certain pain.

The “heaviness” is aided by lead vocalist Dan Haseltine’s multi-hued voice. He sounds at times like a pack-a-day tenor. How is it possible to have a voice that is at once high and melodic, muscled but thin, clear but rough, and tinged with a kind of frail desperation? I sense healing irony when I hear the voice of “nervy” little white man singing spirituals backed up by the very big black baritone voices of the Blind Boys of Alabama. It is as if two peoples, once estranged have found both common home and culture.

As is, Redemption Songs re-presents the songs of several centuries, beginning of all things with the Psalter, a 17th (?) Century adaptation of the book of Psalms, used by old Scottish Presbyterians, the Puritans, the Pilgrims, and even a few --very few-- contemporary assemblies. Later selections pick up with Charles Wesley and John Newton (author of Amazing Grace), both from the “First Great Awakening.” (Think of poetry-doctrine penned before the American Revolution.) Several other songs follow more directly from the Second Great Awakening (think of the fountain-of-blood revival tunes penned after the American Civil war and before World War One. Add to the mix several African American spirituals penned who knows when, and the closing offering – They will know we are Christians by our Love, penned (I think) somewhere in the 1960’s (?)

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As a lover of hymns, I was surprised by how many of these songs I didn’t know. Jars of Clay went out of their way to choose a truly eclectic collection with songs off the beaten path. They chose songs with strong word craft, spanning source denominations and demographics. Even so, there is common denominator in the selection. These are songs for sinners, and the venue, whether new or old … is the rescue mission.

Beyond that, the tunes themselves represent a collage of old, semi old (or seeming new) and brand spanking new tunes. I am not sure of the exact count, but the greater number of the hymns employ “some part” or the original melody, but often reworked, so that we have some sense of antiquity and some sense of originality, twined. A few tunes emerge from the last decade. My favorite new tune – a surprising Beatle-esque adaptation of “It is Well With My Soul.”

Jars themselves do the best job of telling what they want to do with these songs (From a back cover excerpt) : I suppose if you dedicated your life entirely to the building of bridges your eye would be attune to notice things life rivers and canyons….You have in your hands a collection of very old words set to almost completely modern music. The music comes from a place of TRUE REVERENCE and appreciation for the RICHNESS OF OUR PAST and an attempt to leap across YEARS and articulate that the past in a language that could be embraced by 21st century of people of faith…..We hope you are challenged as we are by the unbridled praises that sprung out of the lives that were so deeply bruised with sorrow and struggle. We hope that you are blessed by them as well. Lastly, we hope your find FRESH orientation as your immersed in the rich grace the soaks these songs and that your HEART is ASTONISHED as they boldly and eloquently make that which has become old to us…NEW AGAIN.



I would heartily recommend this album to anyone who wishes to reap the creative and articulate passion of yester-years saints – but with one caveat. I would not give the album to my mom. By contrast to Jar’s other offerings, Redemptions Songs is toned down. It has yukes, flutes and cello. But it still has enough modern-rock sensibilities, that folks who don’t listen to some rock probably won’t like this record.

I do like this record, immensely, as much for the selection as the sound. Listening to Redemption Songs, I feel a deep connection with those who have called Zion their home across the centuries. Bravo Jars, for serving the saints with such skill and passion.


#Save the Hymns