All posts by Jonathan Andre

BEST OF 2016- PART 4: TOP 30 ALBUMS OF 2016

Another month (or so) gone, another best of post. Sounds about right? Yeah, I reckon so too. It is nearly towards the end of the year, and while during December, many movies are releasing just in time for Oscar period, albums tend to be winding down releases, in the Christian industry at least. So I guess it’s fair to say that my top 30 albums of 2016 probably won’t change between now and a month from now…if they do change, I’ll just amend it in the comments of this post. Now, without further ado, here’s my favourite 30 albums of 2016. May you have many happy hours listening to great music and enjoy the remainder of 2016.

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Top 10 ___: (Christmas Albums: 2011-2016)

5 weeks to the day. That’s it. Exactly 35 days until Christmas Day 2016. Not long to go isn’t it? Pretty soon we’d all be thinking about buying presents for our friends and family, alongside getting into the Christmas spirit by listening to carols and original Christmas songs. Department stores in shopping centres will start playing Christmas songs (if they haven’t already) and sooner rather than later, we’d see the Christmas decorations and fake Christmas trees that’ll be around the main centre courts of the shopping malls we would frequent between now and December 25th. So what does that mean for our next top 10s post here at 365 Days of Inspiring Media? Our favourite Christmas albums over the last 5 years, that’s what! No seriously, there has been a lot of Christmas albums that have released and therefore choosing 10 albums can be difficult. But we have nevertheless narrowed them down, and have made difficult decisions. So without further ado, here are 10 Christmas albums below over the last few years that have been impactful for us (plus 5 albums that are honourable mentions that didn’t make the cut)!

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MESSAGE MONDAYS – FOLLOWERS

Quite arguably one of the best bands that CCM has to offer, Tenth Avenue North started their career on Reunion Records way back in 2008 with their chart topping album Over and Underneath. Now 8 years and another 4 albums later, we see the quintet release one of their most emotive and encouraging albums to date, Followers. One of the most underrated and heartfelt bands over the last 5 years, Mike Donehey, lead singer, has always had something great to communicate across to us all through video devotionals about the band’s songs over the years. And while their most recent 2014 album Cathedrals only spawned 2 devotional videos (of their singles “No Man is an Island” and “Stars in the Night”), as opposed to the 5 from The Struggle (“Losing”, “Where Life Would Never Die”, “The Struggle”, “You Do All Things Well” and “Worn”), we are nevertheless blessed with what the band have to say for these two tracks. “No Man Is an Island” was a reminder to always live in community with one another, as we remember that we were never meant to live our lives outside of fellowship and relationship with our fellow man- we were meant for community just as God Himself is a community (of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit); while “Stars in the Night” was also a comfort- that as we focus our eyes on Jesus and remind ourselves that in the darkest of nights; it is the stars, or rather, the One who created the stars, that will lead us on, from despair into hope, from uncertainty into moments of clarity, from indecisiveness to direction and focus.

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Top 10 ___: (Rap/Hip-Hop Artists)

Last time we took a look at top 10s, we delved into our favourite Casting Crowns songs over the years, in honour of their latest album The Very Next Thing. Now, we have decided to post something that is unique and different- 10 artists whose ministry is primarily within the hip-hop/rap genre. While we at 365 Days of Inspiring Media love our CCM/pop music, we are a bunch of people who can appreciate a rap song whenever it comes on the radio. In fact, our taste of music has changed and evolved over the years, as we find ourselves listening to more and more rap and hip hop over the years. While our focus and first love has been and always will be contemporary Christian music (pop/rock), rap continues to be appreciated and respected at the site more and more. So what are we waiting for? Here they are below, 10 rap/hip-hop artists that we reckon anyone should at least check out, even if they aren’t a fan of hip hop/rap to begin with!

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