When Adore and Tremble first came out, I had this idea to contact a few people, who have interacted in the worship genre a good bit, that I thought might consider reviewing my CD. One of the guys I wrote was Aaron Niequist. He has served at some really well known churches, recently as the worship leader at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids Michigan. Aaron was so gracious to write a really nice review for Adore and Tremble. It meant so much coming from such an accomplished artist.

About a month later, Aaron released a CD, and I was able to get a copy of it. I had the intention of writing a review for it then, but got so busy finishing out the school year that it just didn’t happen. So I thought I’d take this Positive Post Tuesday to talk some about Aaron’s CD.

The CD is called “With Broken Fists.” It’s a collection of songs that Aaron has used for corporate worship for the last few years at Mars Hill. There are even a few songs on the CD that were recorded live at the church (”All Sing Hallelujah,” “Bend my Knees”).

The cool thing to me is that this CD sounds nothing like any other worship album that I’ve ever heard. It actually really reminds me of a indie rock album….like The National or something (actually a lot like The National, except for the deep voice).

The songs have these elements that you never see coming, like horns on “Already Here” and “Here are my Hands”….almost Sufjanish. One of my favorite things about the CD is the choir vocals that come in on the bridge of the opening song, “Resistance.” It is a beautiful song about the struggle that Christians find themselves in. We’re a part of a world that is fallen and hurting, but we have these glimpses of hope that remind us of a future with Christ, when things will be made right. This seems to be the message of the CD… that in Christ we have been changed and see a small glimmer of change happening around us. But this change in us causes us to look at all the hurt around us and say “how long.”

The first four songs have such longing to them, so when you get to the fifth song, “Changed,” it’s like you’re ready to go over a hill in a roller coaster. “Changed” has such a beautifully accessible melody….my favorite of the CD.

Aaron does a phenomenal job of expressing expectant hope. This is certainly a bold CD, considering the type of music that most worship songs are set to these days. Aaron is a great writer and musician, and I’m excited to hear how these songs find their way into corporate worship.

You can buy With Broken Fists on itunes, and here at CD baby.

Also, go check out Aaron’s website and blog.

*This post is a part of Positive Post Tuesday

Sorry that I haven’t posted my pics from The Myriad show….I left the card reader to my camera at the church….so I’ll have to post them tomorrow. Andrew got a really great shot though….go check out his picture from last night.

I’m not sure if any of you have read the Ben Gibbard article in the current Paste, but it’s incredible. They let him write it himself, and it’s such an interestingly introspective piece. It’s almost weird how honest he is in the article. He says some things about life and love that I think you’ll all find fascinating.

He also writes some cool things about songwriting that I wanted to post here, especially in light of what David Bazan said in Paste last month about songwriting. Here are a few of Gibbard’s quotes:

I’d like to think I’m a far better writer now than I was 10 years ago. When I first started the band, and I began writing in the way that has marked the trajectory of how I go about making music now, I was convinced that my writing was wildly descriptive and very dense and interesting, and people were really going to have to chew on this stuff. But now I’ll play a song like “Bend To Squares” and it’s like, “What the [junk....he used other words...sorry to be so ccm] am I talking about here? This song makes absolutely no sense.” I would just write what I thought were profound, dense lyrics. They may be about something in my head, but they don’t translate to being about anything that anybody could understand just listening.

I decided a handful of years ago that I just want to write songs that you can understand as soon as you put the record on. There’s no need to veil what’s happening in the song the way I used to.

My goal as a songwriter now is to simply write some memorable turns of phrase. The reaction I’d like from every song is “Wow, I listen to this song, and it’s about such-and-such, and there’s this lyric in there that’s just awesome.” At the end of the day that’s what I want.

Isn’t that great stuff? I’m not sure if he and David Bazan are polar opposites, but I do think that Ben is allot more comfortable with his music having a message.

What do ya’ll think?….where would you fall between the two views…..Bazan: don’t push a message…..Gibbard: don’t get in the way of the message?

I read this article in Paste Magazine the other day, and found it to be really thought provoking…maybe more so for those of us who grew up in the church. I can’t say that I fully agree with his approach to art….but it’s a great discussion to start. I’d love to hear what you think about what he has to say here.

Go check out His stuff here and here.

I grew up in church. For the first 15 years of my life or more, I was singing church tunes every Sunday and Wednesday. By the time I got to high school, I had learned all the songs and was playing along on the guitar. And it’s clear to me that this intimate knowledge of church songs influenced what kind of songwriter I am. When I first started realizing this fact I was paralyzed with horror I wanted to hide all the stuff I was embarrassed by. But I just had to say to myself, “Dude, you are who you are, and you have to be cool with it and own it.” I mean, until I was 14, I was only allowed to listen to Christian music. For me, the purpose of music back then was much different than it is now. What I understood about music, from the culture I grew up in, was that its purpose was to tell people about religion, to “spread the good news.” So it was pretty utilitarian. Officially, no music existed for its own sake. It existed for the sake of proselytizing. Part of the reason why my lyrics are so literal and concrete is because of this situation in my childhood. As I was developing as a songwriter, I had a lot of conflict with this idea. Even in the early years of Pedro the Lion, I was struggling, trying to understand the purpose of music. But its also the reason why I gravitated towards bands like Fugazi or U2, who-for lack of a better term-had something to say. That appealed to me because that’s what I understood about music. Then, from there I slowly learned how to get excited about music for its own sake, and not as a tool for some other end.