"Beautiful Things" by Gungor

Life has been pretty crazy lately.  Since I posted a month ago I have been out of town a few times, been really busy, and just haven't made it around to thinking through a good blog post.  This morning is really no different, but I saw the link to this video on Scott McGough's facebook, and knew that I should take a couple minutes for a quick blog.This is definitely a change up in the SOTD world.  I do not listen to a lot of "Christian" music because I think that a lot of it is of lower quality, both in regards to music and depth.  However, I am all for people making good music and living out their faith when it is done well, and I think this song by "Gungor" is great.

I didnt know much about this band before I went to write, and since this is a quick post I didnt look up very much, but a few noteworthy things surfaced.  The bands name does not match their sound.  If you asked me to listen to a band called "Gungor" the first thing in my mind would be that I am about to listen to some kind of music that ends in "core" and probably doesn't have any words in English.  Not the case.  In this track "Gungor" features beautiful harmonies,moving lyrics, and delicate strings and xylophone (or some other mallet type of percussion instrument).  According to Wikipedia, the source of all truth, Michael Gungor describes the bands music as "liturgical post-rock."

I think the song stuck out today because of the rain and thinking about everything growing in the springtime.  Great meaning, and its cool to think that the trees and flowers arent the only thing that experience change and turn into "beautiful things."

Hope you like it...

"Oliver James" by Fleet Foxes

This is really the song of yesterday, but I never got around to writing this post.

I love Mondays, and I love Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea (BFCAT).  Mondays are my day off so its normally a nice day to wake up slow, play with my dog, read a book, and meet up with some friends for lunch.  Another regular part of my day off is a stop at BFCAT for a macchiato or a nice cup of coffee.  BFCAT is kind of like my Cheers.  Its just nice sometimes to walk into a place where you can see lots friends and get a good cup of coffee without supporting the corporate machine and needing to remember the difference between tall and venti.  Yesterday was also a nice soaking rain on a warm(ish) spring day, so I had my macchiato on the porch while the rain was coming down.  A little bit later we were inside and Oliver James by Fleet Foxes came on, and instantly it hit me that this was the perfect song of the day.

Fleet Foxes is a Pacific Northwest band that became popular on the music scene with their self-titled 2008 release.  The bands rise to prominence isn't necessarily one that I love, but their beautiful harmonies and wonderful music outweigh any doubts I have about them as talented musicians.  The Fleet Foxes gained a lot of their notoriety and exposure through online venues, and while they are certainly not the only good band to achieve success in this way it isnt the way I would like to see it happen.  It isn't that I think bands that do this are bad, but I think that sometimes they bypass an important part of becoming a good band... the struggle.  I think there is something special about a band that pays their dues playing at dive bars where no one has ever heard their music, driving around in a beat up van they borrowed from their second cousin that keeps breaking down, and exerting as much energy into finding a place to shower as they do into their set lists.  I think it is good for an up and coming band to struggle with success and limitations, to grow together, and to really put in the time and effort that makes them great together before there music matters to the world at large.  The Fleet Foxes, like a lot of other bands in our time, haven't really gone that route, but man can these guys sing.

In a review by Simon Price on a website called  "The Independent" the band is described as a blend of "West Coast hippie rock with Elizabethan madrigals." This band takes their harmonies and vocal energy to a beautiful haunting place that sets them apart from a lot of other indie bands out there.


"Oliver James" does a wonderful job of demonstrating the powerful vocals, and beautifully written music that is found all throughout their self-titled album.  The song caught my ear yesterday as I was looking at the rain outside while the band was singing "Oliver James washed in the rain no longer."  This song, which is seemingly about someone dying, is an enchanting, and the video is incredible.  Enjoy, and I would love to hear some songs that you are listening to right now.