Tag: best of

A lot of the music I listened to was in the past, I mean after all, Spotify labeled me a “Time Traveler” this year, lol? However, there was plenty of great music that released in 2023 that of which got the blood pumping and adrenaline rushing, even some songs more on the “chill” side that could cause one to contemplate the deepest complexities of life (and what that next meal will be). The past year wasn’t without challenges, more so personally and because of which I retreated more and more inward yet the music had it’s way of soothing my soul.… Continued →

I’ve been sitting on this draft since January thinking eventually I’d get around to writing some short blurbs about each of my picks. But here we are in April and I still haven’t done it so I figure I might well go ahead and publish it as-is (especially now that Brandon has shared his list!). So here is, my best of 2022:… Continued →

I’m finally getting around to doing a quick write up on some favorite releases and songs from the past year. These may or may not be in any particular order and is based upon a mix of memory and my 2022 Spotify playlist where I throw everything new onto it for continual playback throughout the year. Read below and feel free to post your own favorites of 2022 that I’m sure were accidentally skipped on my own list (and maybe even have yet to be discovered).… Continued →

Last week I shared my top 20 rock EPs of 2022 with you. This week I’m back with my top 10 pop EPs of 2022. 10. Margot Osborne – Motion This EP is short and maybe not the most original sounding but it’s very well done. “Motions” and “Technicolor (Open Up Your Eyes) are both earworms that have been stuck in my head for months now. 9. Olivia Grasso – Risk Risk delivers on it’s name with a somewhat quirky pop EP. It’s got a great lead single in “Sidelines”, a strong closer in “Disjunct”, and even some thoughtful commentary on “Late Night TV”.… Continued →

A few weeks ago I appeared on the JFH Podcast to talk about my favorite EPs of 2022. In the process of preparing for the episode I listened to a lot of EPs and figured I might as well make the most of it and make it into a list. Rather than a single massive list though I decided to break it down by genre. So here’s part one of my favorite EPs of 2022: 20 rock EPs ranked. 20. November Sky – Out of the Black I am really glad to see the members of Scarlett White moving forward with a new project.… Continued →

This summer my church is doing a sermon series on Psalm 46. It’s something we’ve been doing every summer for the last few years—picking a Psalm and reading through it every week. Naturally as a music lover I enjoy looking to see what artists have made a song based on the Psalm that we’re studying. This year I might have gone a little overboard though. Do you know how many songs titled “Psalm 46” there on Spotify? Yeah, neither do I. As it turns out Spotify’s search function stops at 1,000 songs.… Continued →

In honor of Indie Vision Music’s 22nd anniversary I’ve put together a list of our readers’ favorite releases of 2022 so far. If you’re not a member of the IVM Facebook Group you might not know that I create a new poll every month to find out what new music our readers have been listening to. Since we are now halfway through 2022 I took the time to compile all of those polls into one massive list of your favorite albums and EPs this year. So you without further ado here’s yours top 30:… Continued →

Following up last year’s big 20 I thought it was only appropriate to continue on with these “anniversary” look back at the past type posts. These are my 20 favorite albums from the year 2001, in the Christian Music realm. Read on to see what albums made the list.… Continued →

Continuing my top ten lists I started three months ago, I give you my top ten albums of April-June 2021:… Continued →

Creating a list of my top 100 albums and EPs has been fun and all, but it’s really these last 25 that are my personal favorites of 2020. They’re the ones that I’ve listened to the most and the ones I think I will keep coming back to in 2021. So here it is, my top 25 albums and EPs of 2020:… Continued →

Something I realized once I started breaking my top 100 albums and EPs of 2020 list down into four posts is that each post became a micro-list of its own. For example, I wasn’t really thinking too hard about what album I was going to rank 26th when there were 100 albums. But when I split the list up suddenly being ranked 26th seemed really important as it became the last album a reader will see in this post. The reverse proved be true as well, ranking an album 75th where it’s going to be first album a reader sees when they click my post became important too.… Continued →

Some would say that putting together a year-end list of your top 100 albums and EPs is insane. And I agree. It’s one of the most ambitious things I’ve attempted since I started writing for IVM. So how did I do it exactly? Well I started out by putting together a list of all the albums and EPs I listened to during 2020—a feat in its own right. When I was done I had a list of about 300 releases which I then set out to rate on a scale of 1 to 10.… Continued →

I wasn’t really sure how I was going to do my “best of” list this year. I was considering breaking it down into genres similar to what Casey did. Or splitting my albums and EPs into two lists. Or just doing my top 10 list like I normally do. In the end though I decided to take a page out of Josh Balogh’s playbook and go big. So here the first 25 of my top 100 album and EPs of 2020:… Continued →

"O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." -Psalm 95:1

I should probably be working my Best of 2020 list right now, but as I set out to make my annual Christmas playlist I kept stumbling across great new albums and EPs. So while my top albums of 2020 list sits on the backburner for a few more weeks, enjoy this list of my top 10 new Christmas albums and EPs that were released this year. Oh, and stick around for that aforementioned playlist at the bottom of the page.… Continued →

These are my 25 Best Christian Rock Albums of 1995. This was a monumental year for Christian Music and really the beginning of what was to come over the course of the next 2 decades. Check out my list below along with a playlist featuring some of the songs.… Continued →

1. Brooke Annibale – Hold to the Light Compiling a best of list for 2018 wasn’t easy. There were a lot of good releases this year but very few of them were great. Hold to the Light by Brooke Annibale is one those few though. In fact, Hold to the Light is so good it was the only album on this list I knew where to rank when I started. As you can see it is my album of the year for 2018. Why? Because it’s easily my most listened to album of the year.… Continued →

I love “best of” lists. But I hate waiting until the end of the year for them. Hence my new monthly feature “What Did You Listen To?” Leave a comment and let me know what you listened to this month. Here are few of my favorite releases from November 2017: Kingslynn – Into the White LightWhat Did You Listen to? – November 2017 Into the White Light is the debut album from the indie pop band from Miami, FL. After two EPs, Kingslynn has hit their stride with this album of 80’s influenced synth-pop.… Continued →

Hey friends it’s that time again, time for another “list”. Feel free to offer up your big Laugh-Out-Louds and smirks for some “hits” I found appealing 10 years ago. A lot of stuff from that year was enjoyed by me, some I am rediscovering, and others were missed opportunities. Check out my “list” below and feel free to listen to the playlist I created on Spotify for this list found in the article. Remember kids, “some” of these releases may not have the best language so if you get queasy at the thought of dirty words from general market (do we still use the word ‘secular’?)… Continued →

2016 was a great year for Christian music, so great in fact that I found it difficult to keep up with all of the releases coming out! These are the albums that I found myself listening to the most over the course of the year though, and after spending a few days listening to the others that I missed, I’m quite comfortable saying that these are the best releases of the year! 1. Switchfoot – Where the Light Shines Through 2. Dogs of Peace – Heel  3.… Continued →