Musical unsung heroes

These are the unsung heroes of my music collection.  They all form an integral part of my music, but none of them get much of a mention from me.  Some because the bands aren't one of my favourite bands in general, some because they do not feature any of my contenders for greatest song ever, some because I've simply never mentioned them in a blog post.
There are some bands, and some albums, that get a lot of 'screentime' from me.  These do not, so here they are.

Doves - The Last Broadcast
Feeder - Pushing the Senses
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way
Sixpence None the Richer - Divine Discontent
Stoney - The Scene and the Unseen
Temper Trap - Conditions

If you get a chance, listen to these albums.

Soundtrack of 2012

Here is my soundtrack of 2012 - the songs I have been listening to most this year.

The Birthday Suit - The Eleventh Hour (no video available)
I love the start of this song - the guitar, drums everything.  A very catchy song, with great melodies.

Bluetree - Burn Me Up
From when Bluetree weren't afraid to be creative.  I love how stripped back large parts of this are.

DC Talk - In The Light
A very funky song.  DCTalk doing what they do so well.  Great sounds, great message.

Dennis - Ella
I love listening to this song.  Very upbeat, and a lot of fun.

Dennis - Carry Me Home (no video available, but you can listen here)
Possibly my favourite Dennis song.  It's just lovely.  I love the build through the choruses near the end.

Easyworld - A Stain To Never Fade
An old song that reminds me of being a teenager.  David Ford's vocals are still ridiculous.

Jenny and Tyler - Song For You
Possibly my song of the year, and on my 'contenders for greatest song of all time' list.  It's just massive.

Jenny and Tyler - Through Your Eyes
Beautifully haunting?  Hauntingly beautiful?  Either way, this song is wonderful.

Jenny and Tyler - Skyline Hill
Not normally the sort of thing I'd go for, but this song grabbed me this year and didn't let go.

Jesus Culture - Come Away/Let Me In
Jesus Culture are so good at what they do.  I love the positivity of this song.

The Last Spectacular - No Resistance (no video available, but you can listen here)
This song, possibly more than any other song, impressed me from the very first time I heard it.  Another on my 'contenders for greatest song of all time' list.

Lifecolour - Faking Masqurades (no video available, but you can listen here)
This song reminds me of Hebron.  I don't know why.  I just love it.

Muse - Follow Me
Another great song by Muse, they just keep coming.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside
An old song, but it's been in my head all year.  It has everything I love about the Chilis.

Rock'n'Roll Worship Circus - Everybody Awake
Fun, optimistic, and a good tune.  This was the first song onto my soundtrack this year.

Sigur Ros - Vaka
A lovely tune.  Interestingly, the only Sigur Ros song I can sing by heart in its entirety.

The Sunshine Underground - The Messiah
I love how this song is less than 6 minutes long, but feels like at least 8.  Some great moments of music here.

A Great Album

I was asked the other day what I look for in an album. What makes an album great? Here are my thoughts, based partly on thinking about my favourite albums.
• The music must be interesting (this discounts almost all of Green Day, for example), to my taste (if you don’t know, this is generally indie/rock-ish), and must have some oomph. By this I do not mean it must be heavy – A Day Without Rain by Enya has plenty of oomph. But I don’t like anything floppy or incidental (Jamie Cullum, for example).
• The lyrics must be inventive, poetic and purposeful (this immediately discounts most pop)
• The themes or message of the album must be something I really agree with. This is a difficult one, because it generally takes me a lot of listening to an album, and quite a bit of research, to work out all the themes. Therefore my appreciation of the music and lyrics tends to come before an appreciation with the theme. This is one reason why a Best Of album could never be a favourite of mine, no matter how good the songs are – a Best Of album is never a complete piece of work, precisely because it is amalgamated.
• The album must hang together well as a whole, rather than being disjointed (the main weakness of Mezzamorphis by Delirious). The whole should also be greater than the sum of its parts (the problem for How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2).
• X factor – the indefinable thing that makes the album special. Sometimes it’s a unique vocal style, sometimes it’s a particular run of songs, sometimes it’s the memories attached to the album.
• Strong ending – the vast majority of albums start relatively strongly and then tail off in the second half (Californication by RHCP and Hot Fuss by The Killers are great examples). A great album is as strong, or stronger, in the second half.
The single album that most completely hits all these points for me is No Name Face by Lifehouse (which I’ve written about before) – my all-time favourite album. The music and lyrics are inspired and inspiring, the theme is superb, the album hangs together brilliantly, and it has a superb second half. I think the X factor is probably the honesty and rawness of the album.

Heat - Can I See Heaven?

Heat are a smallish worship band who, as far as I know, are still together. I saw them at Spring Harvest about 8 years ago and got their EP 'Can I See Heaven?'
For the last 8 years or so I've listened to the album every now and then, but in the last week I've realised how good it is. Only seven tracks, but all of them are beautifully put together. The general theme is prayer - crying to God for what we want to see in the world and in our own lives. The lyrics are fairly simple, but heartfelt and passionate. I don't know what the rest of Heat's music is like, but I expect this album to, 8 years belatedly, become one of my albums of the year.

Isn't is strange how this can happen - you listen to an album for years before realising how good it is.

For me, this has also happened with:
DCTalk - Jesus Freak
Killers - Sam's Town
RHCP - Californication
Sixpence NTR - Divine Discontent
Various Artists - Hungry

I expect there are more to come.