Music Suggestions?

[ric]

Most of these bands are indie rock, which practically by definition means they're not going to have a lot of catchy hooks.
Also, I'm pretty sure everything I mentioned was reviewed on JesusFreakHideout.com, and IndieVisionMusic.com, if you wanna see their opinions of the music.

My Epic - O_o I didn't realize it was possible to be traumatized by the first thirty seconds of a song. Thank you, "Lower Still".

I'm guessing this is a bad thing. Hey, I think it's a great band.

Deas Vail - I liked "Shoreline", though I'm nervous about that like-hate thing. Still, intriguing.

Like-hate thing? Deas Vail does a lot of songs that seem like normal love songs, but most of them have deeper meanings. Look up "Birds" by them.

Abandon Kansas - I've only heard "I Wonder If It's Me" from them. Any songs you'd recommend?

"Heaven Come My Way," "Like it or Not," and "The Harder They Fall," are the ones that have some good hooks. Most of the other songs are much more subtle/indie sounding - still very good though.

Falling Up - I only remember hearing "Streams of Tears at Acheron", "Bittersweet", and "Magician Reversed" from them. None of their other stuff has ever stuck in my mind.

Many people who didn't like Fangs! or even any of their earlier work extremely like "Your Sparkling Death Cometh," their most recent album. Try "Circadian."

Copeland - Listened to "Brightest". ...Not sure what I think. I either like it, or I am extremely annoyed by it.

Ya, not my favorite song by them. Try some songs off of "In Motion," maybe "Hold Nothing Back" or "Kite." Also, definitely listen to "The Safest Ledge." It's one of the greatest songs I've ever heard.

Future of Forestry - Hmmm... not sure about this one. I'll take another listen later.

Maybe try some of the stuff off of Travel III.

Wavorly - Hey, "Summer Song" sounds pretty nice. ^_^

Ya, it's okay, but I like their hard stuff. "Madmen," "Part One," "Twenty Twenty."

Nevertheless - I think I remember hearing a song by them with great verses and a lame chorus. "Perfect Chemistry" is pretty sweet, though.

Ya, Nevertheless isn't my FAVORITE, but they have some good songs, and I thought you might like them.

ComeAndLive.com - I haven't checked this out yet, but I'll be frank: is it interesting p&w music, or the lame stuff that everyone mass produces?

NO! Definitely not. That's basically their whole purpose in fact. To bring some new MUSICAL stuff to the scene. There are a few mediocre worship bands and hardcore/metal bands on there though, so I'd skip straight to Bellarive, Lovelite, Sons of God, Abel, Honor the Emperor, and maybe Preson Phillips. It's not all just plain worship, some of it is Indie Rock, but all the lyrics are extremely Christian and worshipful.

Sorry, that was kinda long. Just trying to get you into some real music! jk

Btw, have you gotten Vice Verses? You most definitely need to if you're a fan of Switchfoot.

[Danielle Abigail Maxwell]

Since you listen to Casting Crowns *AWESOME CHOICE! Just bought two songs off their new CD out this week. I'd buy more, but I can't seem to remember what they played like, three weeks ago at the concert I attended. dur. My brain is all nursing right now. lol* and Tenth Avenue North, here are some suggestions:

Sanctus Real - everything and all. Matt Hammit also has a song called "All of Me" - amazing song.
Building 429 - their popular songs.
The Afters - popular songs.
Revive - awesome, cute Australian band.
Anthem Lights - Cute guys, and most of their music is actually really good.
Bebo Norman - depends on what song you listen to, but he can be amazing. Wait, he is. n/m. lol
Thousand Foot Krutch - I ECHO THEM. And Hawk Nelson!And Stellar Kart
Kutless
Rush of Fools
FFH
Nathan Tasker – “Love is a Compass” and “Eternity”
Aaron Shust – his new one called “My Hope is in You” And his old ones like “My Savior, My God” and “Give Me Words to Speak” and “To God Alone”
Josh Wilson – “Before the Morning”, “I Refuse” and “Savior Please”

Okay, and yes, I am just throwing out names I can remember. I know specific genre is a little off… but all of Christian music is like AMAZING! I’m also a nut who only listens to Christian stations in her car… Go figure. And, I have gone blank on others. When I’m on my laptop, I’ll come up with more.

[Aeva]

You should also try some Demon Hunter. They are hardcore, but a few of their songs (at least the ones with which I am familiar) are more mellow. These songs are as follows:

From Storm the Gates of Hell: "Carry Me Down" (The music video is amazing.)
From The World is a Thorn: "Collapsing" (This song is somewhat harder than the others, but it's still a cool song.)
"Driving Nails"
"Blood in the Tears"

[Amethystic]

Yanni (Santorini) - Hey, I know this song. The Aperture Science theme was based off of it, as I recall. Awesomeness.
Hawk Nelson - Ehhhh. I get tired of them pretty quickly.
Stellar Kart - They're fun, every once in a while.
Deas Vail - Okay, I think I'm starting to grow fond of this band. I need to listen more, but as of now I'm loving their sound, their style, and their lyrics. ^_^ Oh, and you can't go wrong with a song featuring Matt Theissen. (Except for that one Toby Mac song, but even in that Matt's part was still pretty good.)
Abandon Kansas - Hmmm... I find that while I don't mind them, their music fails to wow.
Falling Up - *listens to "Circadian"* That song... is epic.
Copeland - "Hold Nothing Back" and "Kite" were almost-but-not-quites for me, I think. "On the Safest Ledge" was alright, though. Maybe Copeland is an acquired taste.
The Future of Forestry - "Bold and Underlined" seems intriguing. I'll keep listening.
Wavorly - I listened to "Madmen". It was awesome, and not obnoxiously rocky. I'll try to listen to the other songs you suggested soon.
Sanctus Real - What I've heard of them I've liked, and I own a few of their songs.
Building 429 - "Listen to the Sound" failed to impress. It was nice, but too... typical.
The Afters - "Never Going Back to Okay" seemed pretty good. And they are kind of cute.
Kutless - Every once in a while they're alright, from what I've heard, but the only song I really love by them is "What Faith Can Do".
Rush of Fools - Listened to "Undo". I dunno, I'm not big on it. It might get annoying after a while.
FFH - I've only heard "Undone" by them. Disliked it, liked it, then got bored of it.
Nathan Tasker - Ehhhh.
Aaron Shust - I have "Words to Speak" in my iTunes library. I've listened to it multiple times and still cannot recall a single word of it.
Josh Wilson - Ehhhh. (I'm running out of comments. I'm not huge on "pop" praise and worship for the most part, though there are exceptions.)
Demon Hunter - I refuse to listen to most of their songs. "Driving Nails" was a good song, but it was kind of dark and depressing. Kind of defeats the point of being "Christian", don't you think?

Just as a general comment, I do value all uplifting praise and worship music, but I'm looking for good music rather than good praise. I love Christian music (most, if not all, of my favorite bands are Christian or contain Christians) that upholds godly thinking and worship, but not when it sounds like everything else that plays on the radio. So unless the latest, greatest Christian solo artist really is all that and a bag of chips, I can probably do without.

[Whitty Whit]

A song from the movie "Rigoletto" called "The Melody Within". It's not epic like POTC theme, but I find it nice.

[Steve]

RED You must see them live to fully get them...

[Aeva]

Steve, I love you. Skillet is also fabulous, as is Flyleaf.

Demon Hunter - I refuse to listen to most of their songs. "Driving Nails" was a good song, but it was kind of dark and depressing. Kind of defeats the point of being "Christian", don't you think?

*sticks tongue out at Amy*

Although I must say, some darker songs (like "Driving Nails") can be meaningful, in my opinion, if they express our daily struggle with our sinful nature. Some of RED's songs are dark, but again, I think those songs are intended to express our inner struggles. But that is just my humble opinion.

Now, I have more suggestions. (I'm just going to keep suggesting music until I hit on something that you like. )

Capital Lights: "Outrage" (An amusing break-up song)
"Return" (A rather neat song about the Rapture, although if you don't believe in the Rapture than this song is definitely not for you. )

Cord of Three: "Broken But Undeniably Hopeful"

Evanescence: "Bring Me to Life"

Haste the Day: "White as Snow" (An extremely mellow song from a screamo band)

Nema: "Church Song" (A rocky worship song, although with repetitive lyrics)

Silverline: "Voices in the Night"

Seventh Day Slumber: "Awake"
"Broken Buildings"

This Beautiful Republic: "Surrender Saved My Life"
"No Turning Back"
"My God"

[Amethystic]

Rigoletto (The Melody Within) - Meh. I just saw a live recording of Phantom of the Opera performed at Albert Hall, so most other musical-y stuff pales in comparison.
Demon Hunter - Some sadder songs are very lovely, though I question the wisdom of listening to them repetitively rather than dwelling on the positive. Either way, I decided quite a while ago that "Driving Nails" was a song I could live without, as good as it is.
RED - Some of their 'quieter' songs like "Ordinary World" and "Not Alone" are pretty good--heck, sometimes I even indulge in intermediate-volume songs like "Watch You Crawl". Much louder than that, though, and I'm afraid I'm not terribly interested.
Capital Lights - I own the song "Outrage". I really liked it at first, along with a handful of their other songs from that album, until I realized that the songs were pretty much saying the exact same thing with different words. That whole depressingness thing comes into play again. Maybe I'll grow un-tired of them someday, but for now I'm good. I still indulge in "Mile Away" every now and then, though. ^_^
Cord of Three (Broken but Undeniably Hopeful) - Wow, four minutes of emo. I can kind of tell that they're trying to be encouraging, but their angst content is far to high, I'm afraid.
Evanescence (Bring Me To Life) - Hmmm... maybe. I don't usually like bands with female lead vocalists, but the song sounded kind of neat. And I liked the lyrics, even if they were the tiniest bit dark.
Haste the Day (White As Snow) - Well it's not the worst, but for a spiritual-ish song it sure sounded kind of empty. It's like it was carefully penned to avoid any direct reference to hope and redemption.
Nema (Church Song) - Meh. And the cover art kind of weirds me out.
Silverline (Voices in the Night) - Definitely a step in the right direction. It sounds kind of cool, and the lyrics aren't the result of an emotional black hole. ;P I just wonder if I'd get tired of it after a while.
Seventh Day Slumber - Well, I listened to "Awake". It wasn't bad, just... not very memorable. Same with "Broken Buildings". *shrug*
This Beautiful Republic - I've heard that first song, and own the last one. Good songs, but I never listen to them anymore. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm kind of phasing out of my semi-heavy rock phase.

Oh, and since I missed it before:
Switchfoot (Vice Verses) - Haven't heard anything from that yet, but I like the odd Switchfoot song. I'll keep my ears on the lookout.

[ric]

http://poorlybuiltparachute.bandcamp.com/

Pretty epic.

[Amethystic]

Hey, that sounds pretty cool, actually.

[ric]

Check out The Farewell Circuit. http://thefarewellcircuit.bandcamp.com/

The genre is probably... indie/pop/rock/folk/ambient...awesomeness. I'm pretty sure they're Christians (a lot of their songs are pretty clearly religious, and they reference Jesus on one of their new songs) but they do use a minor profanity on "I Am a Ghost." But all of their albums except In Our Bones which hasn't been released yet can be downloaded for free. (Just click the 'name your price' button and put 0 in the price.) I'd probably give In Our Bones a listen first. It's definitely their best. I can't wait for it to be officially released.

[Epic]

Running Up that Hill by Placebo
Make a Move by Icon For Hire
Shiny Toy Guns
And Then There Were None
Coldplay
A Day to Remember
Florence + The Machine
Broke by Kye Kye
OneRepublic
Within Temptation
30 Seconds to Mars

[Pirate Oriana]

Seriously, you have to at least check out JJ Heller. Some of her stuff is pretty folk-ish, so I would suggest you listen to "Love Can Make You New," "No Fight Left," "Control," and "Invisible Love" They're less folky, and her lyrics are awesome.

[TigerintheShadows]

Kerrie Roberts (specifically "Outcast"), Fireflight, Royal Tailor...I'm trying to think of others that might have the general sound you've got from that list. Epic film soundtracks are always worth a listen.

[Amethystic]

Okay, I've gone through another round of suggestions. If I sound curt, it's just because it's getting late. *yawn*

The Farewell Circuit - Listened to a few snippets... meh.
Running Up that Hill by Placebo - As interesting the sound was, I left feeling a little unsettled. O_o The Youtube comments didn't help any.
Make a Move by Icon For Hire - Not bad, just kind of... depressing, I guess? Not to mention the chick's hair is pink. It's distracting. *shiny*
Shiny Toy Guns - Um, I'll pass.
And Then There Were None - How very dance club. No.
Coldplay - I've heard a good one from them here and there over the years. "Fix You" is a personal favorite of mine.
A Day to Remember - Either that was the wrong band I listened to, or that was a cruel joke. *0.5 seconds of scremo*
Florence The Machine - I've heard them before, but nothing ever sticks enough in my mind to register. It's a little bland.
Broke by Kye Kye - Erm, I'll pass.
OneRepublic - Okay from time to time, I guess, but I've yet to hear a really good song from them.
Within Temptation - Nah.
30 Seconds to Mars - There was an atheistic line in one of their songs. What can I say, I'm picky.
JJ Heller - She was good, but not really my thing, I don't think. *shrug*
Kerrie Roberts ("Outcast") - ...No.
Fireflight - I've heard a song here and there from them, and they seem alright I suppose. I only remember hearing "Those Who Wait" and "Unbreakable" off the top of my head.
Royal Tailor - Too pop. XP

Oh, and I've been listening to that "Prisms" album by Poorly Built Parachute over and over for a while now. I should probably stop before I get sick of it.

Thank you everyone again for this latest round of suggestions!

[Musical Shutterbug]

Kerrie Roberts ("Outcast") - ...No.

I'm glad that I'm not the only person who thinks this.

[ric]

Florence and the Machine, bland? What? Try "Cosmic Love."

[Amethystic]

Okay, okay, it was... different. But still not especially memorable.

[ric]

Try John Mark McMillan. He's worship/folk rock/rock'n'roll. He's on the front page of iTunes, and like...nobody knew him a year or so ago.

This guy is the next big thing.

[Steve]

Brave Saint Saturn. If anything, just try "Starling" and Invictus". (Both are free from http://www.indievisionmusic.com, though "Invictus" is located in File 1 of the Passionate Hope Compilation.

Which leads me to this: Free compilations from this website. That's how I found the ska band "Atombender."