Music: Rock

Something thats actually worth listening to. It seems what alot of Christian rock bands do is just rip off a popular band and change the lyrics to sound Christian.
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Daniel Amos
Lifesavers Underground
The 77s
Breakfast With Amy
Poor Old Lu
Larry Norman
The Choir
Mortal
Starflyer 59

^A lot of those artists started out before the 90's. There's quite a bit of good Christian rock but you won't hear it on your local Christian music station.
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Sufjan Stevens is arguably the greatest Christian musician operating today. His album Illinois is highly praised by countless music critics and outlets, and the rest of his catalogue is very enjoyable, creative, and Christian.

Next there's the folk rock groups. Neutural Milk Hotel is the flagship band of the religious folk movement. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is said to be Jeff Mangum's magnum opus, and it's a fairly impressive album. For a more recent musician, Little Kid makes great lo-fi folk, very minimalistic though. Finally, there's of course one of the greatest songwriters alive, Daniel Johnston. Very interesting enigma, he wrote a series of spectacular albums in the 80's; Songs of Pans, Retired Boxer, Yip/Jump Music, Don't Be Scared, and The What of Whom are all exceptional tapes he put out.

If you want something more pop influenced and "conventional," there's a few bands making music here and there. Family Force 5 are notable for their crisp production and aggressive vocals. Flyleaf, although not a personal favorite of mine, are competent and do a passable job making their own brand of post-grunge.
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Think of this post as a beginner's guide to underground Christian rock. There's more out there but that should be enough for you for now. Please listen to a few of the songs at least.

Some Daniel Amos tracks:

If You Want To: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb42mk2xgKA
The Shape Of Air: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1buCgMd5fc8
The Pool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVAGnbyEaXI

They're like the godfathers of Christian alternative rock. Their first two albums aren't good but from This Horrendous Disc onwards, they're excellent.

They had a side project called The Swirling Eddies that's pretty good too.

Songs from the other bands/artists I mentioned in my first post:

Poor Old Lu- Sin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QvqW9Gk-Zw
The 77s- I Can't Get Over It: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqKpiKJNDEE
The Choir- Sad Face: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_MJZeIF74
Lifesavers Underground- I'm Torn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9biS2otZfc
Breakfast With Amy- Icky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OSbs_8S5Jw
Mortal- Fisherman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y8t7ai4SA8
Larry Norman- Reader's Digest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a7fuXCCfh8
Starflyer 59- All My Friends Who Play Guitar: http://tinyurl.com/a6hkdvz
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http://www.last.fm/user/PsychoMage
My ambient music project: http://castleview.bandcamp.com/

From: EndOfDiscOne | #008

Neutural Milk Hotel is the flagship band of the religious folk movement.

I assumed they were being ironic. But I never thought about the lyrics too much, they're weird as hell.

The "I love you Jesus Christ"? No, Mangum and most of the "band" is religious. He said in an interview he knew the lyric would be controversial, but it's not ironic. You should pay attention to the lyrics too, they're filled with very great imagery, especially Oh Comely. Actually it's all around one of the strongest albums lyrically, there's few if any lyrics that don't work.
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