Music #1: Top Five Unheard-Of Albums

Call me a smelly hipster; call me a pretentious non-conformist; call me a snob. I appreciate the underappreciated. I'll freely admit that I have a certain kind of attraction to things outside of the popular sightline; this applies to public policies, movies, people, and the medium at hand, music.
Thankfully though, an album's non-notoriety is not by any means the only factor which determines my enjoyment of it. On several occasions, I've picked up a random CD at a thrift store, given it a listen, and never played it again. But, every once in a while, an unassuming and not particularly successful record will truly become a personal favorite. Not just one song, but an entire studio recording. That doesn't happen often, but through the years I've come across enough of them to make up a short list of my favorite anomalies. And so, I present to my non-existent readers, Joe's Top Five Un-Heard-Of Albums.

(Note: I have excluded from consideration those albums which are not known by the general public, but have a large music-lover fan base. Great albums like 'Grace' by Jeff Buckley fit that mold. The below albums, however, are ones which I would guess only a tiny fraction of music lovers would even have heard of, much less listened to.
Also, these aren't in any ranking order. I'm not good enough at picking favorites for that stuff.)

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1.   "Underneath," by David Wilcox
Genre: Singer-Songwriter
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      I still remember the day I first heard this album. It was fall, and my Dad had just picked up a bunch of CDs at some sort of sale. I believe it was a Sunday afternoon, and I was helping myself to a piece of apple pie. Dad stuck "Underneath" into our sound system and continued to go about his day. I think I stopped mid-bite when the first seconds of the first track played. An unaccompanied baritone voice cut through the dining room, musing, "I know that compassion is all out of fashion, and anger is all the rage." Soon, a low yet bright acoustic guitar joined the slow dance. That day I had my first taste of David Wilcox's clear, thoughtful lyrics and wistful, sweet instrumentation. Since then, "Underneath" has accompanied me on late-night walks, afternoon study-sessions, and train rides. This album always makes me think of grand, quaint sunsets in the suburbs and moonlit trees in the country. Wilcox plainly observes and describes the beauty and mystery of inner thoughts on this record, thoughts like those in the first track's chorus: "What is it really that's keeping me from living a life that's true? When the worries speak louder than wisdom, it drowns out all the answers I knew." With Wilcox's signature fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing as a guide, "Underneath" makes you really think about greed, love, figuring out one's place in the world, and maturity. Overall, an amazing record.



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2.    "Punch," by Punch Brothers
Genre: Alternative Bluegrass
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      Don't be scared by the wacky genre name. This album is really quite something. The mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile (of Nickel Creek fame) is a big fan of classical music. As such, he wrote a series of four long-form pieces in a classical style (recurring melodies, dynamics, etc), but written for a bluegrass group. Then he got a group of musicians together who had both the technical ability to perform what he had composed, and the bluegrass background to really feel what he was going for. What came out of this unorthodox combination of sensibilities is, I think, a truly remarkable and enjoyable album. It begins with an introduction song, "Punch", in which the band swings through an uneasy and almost angry-sounding bluegrass rhythm while Thile sings about a woman who's "gonna ride it off to bed" with another man, then claims "I'm not saying.. I'm just sayin'". Then the album enters the first movement of "The Blind Leaving The Blind," which just takes me on a beautiful trip through wheat fields and blue skies as Thile round-about-edly describes the fallout of a divorce. The way this piece so fluidly weaves expert composition into ear-pleasing bluegrass style and instrumentation is mind-boggling. In addition, certain passages of the piece contain blindingly fast banjo or fiddle solos which don't fall prey to the trap of being fast for the sake of being fast; rather they are tastefully composed and mesh perfectly with the piece as a whole. Three standalone songs are placed at the end of the album, each a self-contained and unique short work. The last of which, "It'll Happen," is a favorite of mine; it's gorgeous as it expertly relays feelings of dejected relational frustration. Highly recommend this record to anyone who's into folk as well as composed music.



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3.   "Mark Hollis," by Mark Hollis
Genre: Alternative 
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       I'm not sure what to call this record: Jazz? Experimental? Singer-songwriter? It really captures its own mood and atmosphere. Firstly, the way the instruments sound natural and close makes one wonder if the record was recorded in a living room somewhere, with only a few microphones. But more relevant than the production is the actual performance and composition of the songs. In my eyes, this album exemplifies what it's like to use silence and space as an instrument of its own. Hollis does not simply make really slow, meandering chord progressions and play them lightly on a solo piano. He uses the quietness and space to its full potential. On tracks like "Inside Looking Out," there are actually a number of instruments: upright bass, acoustic piano, acoustic guitars, clarinet, flute, and drums. However, they don't always all play at once. Notably, around the 2:40 mark, an acoustic guitar begins a pattern of silencing itself so that only the pluck of the upright bass rings out for a beat. The whole album is full of fascinating uses of silence, punctuated every so often by pointed clarinets and flutes, and carried along by mellow guitar, piano, and harmonium. In addition, Hollis's voice really is used like another instrument, with careful whispering vibrato and dynamics contributing not necessarily a set-in-stone melody, but more a guiding front to the group. The lyrics (as with Hollis's work with Talk Talk) are mostly abstract, though the last track "New Jerusalem" quite poignantly describes a soldier returning from war, his psyche and outlook on life altered. All in all, this record makes me think of beautifully detailed pencil sketches of nature.



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4.   "The Way Up" by Pat Metheny Group
Genre: Progressive Jazz
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       At fourteen years old, I thought I knew what I liked about music: jazzy grooves, virtuoso guitar players, and rock music. But listening to this single album, alone with my big headphones on the top bunk in my bedroom, was as if I had lived indoors all my life and just now saw the blue skies. Pat Metheny Group's "The Way Up" is an hour-long epic instrumental composition, filled to the brim with energy, gorgeous chords and melodies, cinematic shifts in mood, recurring themes, and too many instruments to count. It's true that 'jazz' can be viewed as the main genre, but the record explores so much more than what one normally thinks of upon hearing that word. And not only is it a mere mashup of different genres and influences, but critically it utilizes this diversity to create what practically is a movie for the ears. For example: in the first seconds of the second track, we come upon a kalimba (African thumb piano) calmly introducing a theme. Pat's guitar doubles the melody, and drums, keys and bass begin to softly accompany. Then the leads unassumingly state a new idea while interlocking background guitars repeat the theme from the Opening track. Before too long, there is a light and contemplative swing rhythm building up, and the kalimba theme is repeated, this time with a subdued power, echoing what is to come. Really, I could go on for quite some time about all the little details of how the piece moves and communicates ideas. Instead of doing that, though, I will simply say that 'The Way Up' opened my eyes to many things: to the grandeur music can create in long intervals (not just short songs), to the beautiful intricacy that can be formed with repeated themes, to the limitlessness of music (many many different instruments and parts), and to the joy of listening to something over and over and noticing new details and perspectives. In short, "The Way Up" showed me that music can do so much more than I had previously thought. Complexity and technicality do not have to be lifeless and grey; rather, they can be formed into a cohesive flying carpet ride that sends your mind plunging into swirling colors and landscapes unexplored.



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5.   "Brother's Keeper," by Rich Mullins
Genre: Christian Alternative
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      'Christian music' can be heard on FM radio 24/7 in most of America. Just tune your radio and there you have it, a steady flow of 'music with a message' or whatever tagline your local Christian station is pushing. Having grown up in evangelical Christian culture, I have been exposed to a fair amount of radio-play Christian contemporary music, aka CCM. And I must admit: I dislike most of it. Sure, what the lyrics are saying may be Biblical, or good advice, but it always seemed to be getting increasingly shallow. There's only so many times I can repeat lines like "Holy Spirit, fall fresh on us" before I wonder if there's perhaps something more that Christians can do with this wonderful gift from God called 'music.' Rich Mullins answers that question with a resounding yes. All his work is amazing, but I've picked "Brother's Keeper" because it's one of my favorites (and isn't as well known as his eighties albums, which had a few radio hits). The title track really embodies the album's overall feel. It's a memorable, energetic song which speaks about real-life relationships from a heavenly perspective, while still remaining down-to-earth. "The plumber's got a drip in his spigot, and the mechanic's got a clink in his car," Mullins sings. "..My friends ain't the way I wish they were; they are just the way they are. And I will be my brother's keeper, not the one who judges him; ..I won't take away his freedom, I will help him learn to stand." Remembering that we all have our own 'clinks in our car' and that we should lift up our fellow man rather than judge him are really prescient topics, but I've rarely heard them expressed in Christian radio-play music. Maybe nowadays people just want to think and sing about heaven, not earth. But, importantly, Rich's music isn't just preaching, by no means. It's real artistic expression, it's worship, it's poetry. And I almost forgot to mention: the style of music on the album is a great blend of alternative and folk-rock influences, with just the right touches of jangly electric guitar, tasty organ and accordion, and acoustic rhythm guitar. In sum, this album shows us a Christian writing awesome songs about his struggles, his prayers, and his daily life.

Joe's Fourth Idea: Compassion at the Train Station

I really had no idea I was taking this picture. My phone does this weird thing where if you flip or bump it in a certain way, the camera app opens. Then if anything conductive brushes the touch screen, it takes pictures. Ever since I got the phone, I've viewed this feature as a useless quirk at best, an irritating memory-sucker at worst.
But today as I write, I smile because of that crazy camera. Without my knowing, it gave me the only snapshot I have of a beautiful experience I had at a busy train station.

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Quick-step down the concrete floors of Poughkeepsie train station, eyes on the prize, Tracks 1 & 3 staircase, train departing at 12:45. Bet I look crazy to the man in the orange safety jacket as I ask him where my train is. I'm wearing a full three piece suit, minus a tie, and tennis shoes instead of black dress shoes.

Train's late. Awesome, I say to myself sarcastically. As I wait where my train will (hopefully) show up, I notice a guy standing to my right. He has on a red baseball cap, and is holding a reasonably large green rolling bag. In the interests of being social (and also possibly gleaning helpful info) I ask where he's headed and if he knows if this is the right platform.

He looks up and, with a confusion clearer than the blue sky, tells me "Uh, I don't know if it is man; I'm like.. going to Hudson."

"So you're getting on the Albany-Renssalaer train then," I ask.

"Yeah, uh, I think so, I mean I'm trying to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well uh I got off a bus from Florida this morning and I've been in.. P-puh-keeepsy? Poh-kipsi? for like a few hours and my uncle's probably getting mad waiting for me."

I chuckle as he tries to pronounce my old stomping grounds' name. It's getting nearer to 12:45, and the track in front of us is still empty. Might as well have a conversation.

I shake hands with the young man, who I'll call Henry. We talk about our respective journeys to the station. I check out the tag on his luggage, and sure enough it shows a bus ride all the way from central Florida to upper New York. Turns out Henry was living in a shelter in Florida for quite some time, and finally acquired the funds for a bus ride to New York in order to reunite with his father.

But I stop our dialogue short when I learn that Henry actually doesn't have a train ticket. Apparently the ticket machines in the station don't take cash, and he didn't know how or wasn't able to buy a ticket online. Feeling led to help him out, I offer up the possibility of running over to the machines, buying Henry a ticket with my debit card, and having him give me the cash.

This really was not too well thought out of an idea; it was already about 12:45 when we ran up. We hurriedly punch the not-too-responsive touch screen and within five minutes we had obtained my new friend a seat on the bus. We start to run down to the track, but my backpack spills open. Bad luck, says Henry, as we pick it up quicker than a wink and speed away towards the platform.

But.. no train!

"Sh*t," we both say. We've missed it.

"Dang, maybe if I hadn't had us run up there, they would have taken your cash on the train," I say apologetically.

"Naw man, it's okay," Henry tells me, though I can tell it probably isn't. He told me earlier that his uncle, who he's supposed to be staying with, has the 'mind of a child.' What's more, both his uncle's and his father's living arrangements aren't the most permanent. So this additional wrinkle in the operation could result in way more stress and uncertainty.

At this point, it would have been prudent to call my mother and tell her there'd be no point in going to pick me up in Albany at 1:50. But, not remembering that it was a short train and forgetting that my mom would be departing on the forty minute drive to Albany soon, I chose instead to call Amtrak and see if Henry and I could make a transfer.

He stands there, pacing slowly around the platform as I talk to the agent. I tell her the situation, and she lets us know that the Albany-Rensselaer train will depart again at 3:45 so we could transfer onto that one. But... there's a catch.

"There's only one seat left," she says, with an empathetic air, but a 'you-figure-it-out' attitude.

I look at Henry. You know, I ponder, who really needs this train more; a teen with a part-time job which I would already be late for if I took the 3:45, or a man with very little money, no friends in the area, not a clue where he is, and a desire to just see his father again? 

"You take it, Henry."

"What? No dude you don't have to do that."

"No no, c'mon buddy, just take it."

"If you're absolutely sure..."

"Ma'am, Henry will take the seat."

"Well, sir, Joseph, you wouldn't be able to transfer," the agent says, this time with an 'I-hope-you-know-what-you're-doing' kind of tone.

"Yes, I know, I don't want to transfer, I'm giving the seat to Henry here."

Pause.

"Alright, what is his reservation number?"

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So, with that, I had just done something most people would see as reckless, irresponsible, and crazy. As you read this, that may be what you're thinking. Frankly, I saw it as all those things occasionally during that time at the Poughkeepsie train station. But, something told me it needed to be done.

Will I make waves, make enemies, or even make sense if I tell you that the 'something' was God? I know these days that that sort of thing isn't exactly discussed seriously in most social circles. It's become a tad popular to dismiss Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc, as simply delusions of grandeur which utterly ignore reason, science, and logic.

And I sympathize with this quest for reason. Often I will be the first one to ask for the science and logic behind claims by politicians, journalists, etc. Both my parents are of the science and math persuasion, and they home-schooled my siblings and me accordingly. And yet, I believe in God's Word, the Bible, and all its crazy claims.

After transferring Henry's ticket, he and I talked for a long while. He was utterly shocked that anybody would give up their seat for somebody they just met. 'You're the first person I've talked to since leaving Florida, and I just can't believe how nice you've been to me.' I smiled and told him that I was just spreading the love that God has for all of us. He sent his only Son to die, really die, to take on the penalties of every human that ever lived, and come back to life. I told Henry that God loves me so much, it just makes sense to show love to everybody else.

He stepped back, letting it sink in, then shook his head, saying he missed hearing people talk about things like that. 'Everybody talks about how science is right and all, but science doesn't really answer all the questions I have,' says Henry.

While hanging out with old friends for VBS week, I discussed literally that exact topic. My good friend Jared talked about the quest for real truth, not just scientific progress, and he let me borrow a book by Tim Keller called 'Making Sense of God.' Though I haven't gotten very far in it yet, it already is enthralling. Logic and reason only get us to a certain point. One of my favorite things Henry said to me was, "science tells me how, but not why."

Henry had an old Bible in his bag that he said he got from a war veteran. I opened it up to one of the verses the kids at VBS memorized: Romans 5:8, 'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' I even attempted a cheesy analogy. 'Kinda like I decided to give up my seat for you, Jesus gave up his whole life just for you; for everyone in fact.'

I had forgotten how good it felt to show compassion to someone. Though of course, it's not about making me feel good. Helping people because I'm a 'good person' or because I'm supposed to is what I want to avoid. Rather, I help people because God shows the ultimate love to me, the chief of sinners, and because I really care about my fellow humans.

You may or may not be wondering if I ever got home; the answer is yes, my mom found out there actually was an earlier train which I could transfer to, so I got back safe and sound (I even went in to work, only about an hour or so late). God worked everything out for the best. I really do believe that God meant for me to meet Henry and for me to help him find his dad. Sometimes things that at first can be labeled as 'going wrong' (like the train being late, or Henry and I missing it), really turn out to be some of the best experiences of our lives. That's a little bit like my phone, I suppose. I wouldn't have thought that the impractical shake-camera feature would make me smile, but it indeed did capture a shot from an interesting upwards perspective. And I feel that this experience has better allowed me to see things in an eternal perspective; to realize that everything happens for a reason, that God is in control of every tiny detail of our lives. And if we listen to His commands and the little voice he puts in all of us, we'll end up taking part in some amazing things.

Update #2: Previews

A few different projects coming soon.

Among them are:

-a recounting and reflection on a story about my chance meeting of someone at a train station who really needed some compassion

-a perspective paper on the Federal Reserve (essentially attempting to examine and critique claims that the Fed is evil)

-any variety of research compendiums on interesting topics I find!

Talk to you soon, nonexistent readers!!! XD