Although Jesus Culture released "Awakening" and Bethel also released "Be Lifted High" earlier this year, it was this project in particular that got regular repeated play with me. Plus "Love Came Down" and "Worthy is the Lamb" are two of my favorite Brian Johnson songs, that this time get the full treatment (Wasn't Love Came Down a gem of an album last year!?). A great year in general for Bethel's worship ministry.
- Here’s my top albums of 2011… And although artists like Civil Wars, Bon Iver, the Breax and the Beastie Boys put out pretty solid albums this year, this is my list of what I played on the regular…
- What’s on your list of top albums of 2011? What were you listening to this year?
(Oh and btw, can I say that Jay Z and Kanye’s “Watch the Throne” was the most overrated album of the year – haha!)
Here’s what I was playing this year (apart from ALL THE WAY by ENCS MUSIC of course… haha!)
(Please note that the albums mentioned are rated purely according to musical and experiential taste as I listen to the projects. By saying these albums are great, I’m not subscribing to every one of these artists worldview necessarily.)
- Raphael Sadeeq still knows how to bring it, and this to me is his best project to date. Just solid soulfulness throughout…
He ain't lost it at all, in fact I'm surprised more people didn't pick up on the new project. At 70 years old, Paul Simon still writes genius tender yet aware commentaries for our era.
This will be and should be on every top 3 list for best album of 2011. This was her year, and this is a classic album. Beautifully raw on every level, with everything perfectly placed.
This one got regular play in my car throughout this year. Great handling of tough subject matter (i.e. where's God when it hurts) lyrically, and no-one can touch Kirk's vocal production. Thankful for this album.
"Ghosts Upon the Earth" is a great experience from beginning to end and is everything I look for in an album - a thorough project that drips of genius musically yet stays cohesive as a story from beginning to end. A logical step up from my favorite worship album of the last 3 years "Beautiful Things".
Although it seemed Black Thought's lyrical prowess was not at it's regular peak on this particular project (don't get me wrong his worst is often better then most MC's best in my opinion) it was pure sonic bliss from beginning to end much to the credit of the industry's favorite drummer Questlove. The album plays out a gangsters life almost Benjamin Button style - starting from the end of his life to his birth, whilst thematically using the backdrop kind of like a hip-hop Ecclesiastes: that all in this life is fleeting...
Coldplay, like the Roots make a welcome return to the concept album, and this one generally put more smiles on faces than most darker albums this year.
My favorite Samoan MC reps Christ hard and this is his best album to date. This one had heads nodding to some of the most consistent theological rhymes ever written. Oh and did I mention T-Dot is Samoan? Had me mumbling "Dum Dum diddy" for half of this year...
One of the best and most underrated lyricists in all of hip hop, Braille comes out of the dark on this one. If last years classic, "Weapon Aid" represented the raw pain that Brian Winchester was going through at the time, then "Native Lungs" represents his journey towards restoration. Great production and great to see DJ Revolution and DJ Rob Swift doing their thing on this too... Hip Hop needs more artists like Braille (download it FREE on http://humblebeast.com)
Neli Atiga 