A twentysomething year old guy walked into my office the other day. He said he was on the other side of the building talking to a co-worker and heard that I knew something about Christian music. Could I help him learn what are some good bands out now?
I waited for him to smile or laugh or cuss. Because people at my work are cynical about Christian music. Actually, the most cynical people at my work are the Christians.
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of course i can't let this one go by without a comment.
ReplyDeletemy problem with xian music is not with the music or musicians - it is with the industry. it's the same industry that created and destroyed britney spears. there is absolutely no credibility with respect to innovation and a 'higher' aesthetic. i'm looking for xian artists that have something important to say in a voice that doesn't reek of some a&r rep choosing them for their 'sellability'.
art is subjective. 100%. so i don't expect my tastes to line up with the pablum the pop-music machine sends my way. mainstream xian music is the equivalent of the suburbs to me: mostly white, mostly upper middle class, makes you feel safe, makes you want to buy crap (really? michael w. smith tickets are going to cost me HOW MUCH?!?)... nothing says "unequally yoked" better to me than xian labels being owned and operated by "the big 4" (Universal, Sony BMG, EMI, Warner Music). mainstream xian labels have consistently crushed innovation, alternative voices and perspectives, and the type of music and musician that doesn't fit the corporate demographic. now, is part of this about "style" or "genre"? certainly, but it is also about artistic vision; xian artists need to be the best at what they do if they are claiming to reflect the Great Artist. the xian music i grew up with was a pathetic imitation of mainstream pop - it was the voice of Radio Disney meets The Bible (but only the inoffensive parts). the xian music i was looking for was the voice of the prophets of the OT - the voice of fire and judgment and fear and doubt and hope.
certainly there is room for joy and praise in xian music. david wrote songs of worship; but he also wrote songs of despair. there is a range to the human experience that cannot be communicated by sanitized country rock alone.
in the end i feel like this: mainstream xian music has its place. there are people that love it, people that need it, people that are spoken to by God through it. the christians that are making important art are doing it outside the mainstream, outside the xian ghetto - so that's where i'll throw my support. some people will enjoy the musical equivalent of thomas kincaide. i'd rather hang a rothko.
Not all Christian artists are owned. It's best exhibited by two huge Christian bands fleeing their label and doing their own thing within the last year.
ReplyDeleteNot all Christian artists are Kincaid. or mainstream.