Michael Gungor and band
Sadly. Gungor might be the best we’ve got. By we, I’m referring to the collective Evangelical culture standardized by radio stations such as Shine.FM, K-Love, …Moody? Radio stations pumping out this glowy and manufactured sound must be so excited to hear something that even eeks out something resembling authenticity. Don’t believe me?
Read this Relevant article written about 2 years ago by Tower Schwab of Shine.FM Chicago.
Sure he uses glockenspiels and cellos, but isn’t that just standard fare of today’s music? …Or was it the standard fare of independent music four, five, six years ago? Is he just a Christian copy-cat? Is he just the Christian “Indie” artist. Check out his website, which suspiciously has the look and feel of a Sigur-Ros album (if you don’t know who they are then we have bigger problem than I thought). And since when did Gungor have umlauts on the vowels? It does make it look more Icelandic.
For those that feel that the musical relevance of a band like Gungor could rival the best independent music has to offer, I’d ask you to take a dip in your local record store or look at what culture-making musicians are producing to see how it compares in the cultural landscape. You might not think that you are as far away from Avalon and DC Talk as you thought.
Pitchfork Media called Atlas Sound’s new album Paralax, today’s best new music. Listen to a song from it here. This is the type of ground breaking music being made today. With such harsh rating systems and unparalleled intensity of critique, I can’t imagine what a site like Pitchfork would do with an album like Ghost’s Upon the Earth by Gungor. An indie-music loving co-worker of mine listened to a couple tracks from the album and reported that “it sounded like fairy music” and that she “hated it.” I could only laugh.
If you have time, check out Pitchfork to see what music lovers are making a fuss about right now. You may even find something you like. Until then, Güngör, umlauts and all, might just be the best we have.
Do you love Gungor’s music? Comment below and let me know why. Art can be about taste.