jesus saved me through music

i don't have the musical lingo or the associative ability to spin the way joshua or scott or luke or michael can. but i knows what i likes. and, beyond that, especially now as i endure another dark tea time of the soul period, i realized how much certain music has meant to me--how much has helped me get by, get to another place in my faith, helped me not actually buy that gun and blow away every other person i meet (okay, that's a bit dramatic, but you know what i mean). recently, probably due to our not having more than half an income, i've been unable to get my hands on new music. but today b gave me the green light and i got four new albums. so far, amazing (i did pitchfork and jnf research first). and that brought me to one of those places where i remembered really good music of the past. so i thought i'd throw it down here. 1) anything U2 has ever done 2) Pearl Jam's vs. Not only one of the best grunge albums ever made, but unlassoed raw emotion without being "emo." Rearviewmirror remains my favorite PJ song. Rats, Indifference, Go, Animal, and Dissident all rank up there. I don't know why, but this album was especially important to me after Cobain died. Everytime I listen to this album I end up with laryngitis. 3) Arcade Fire's Funeral. How to talk about death without just getting depressed. 4) Johnny Cash's America series. Johnny never pulled punches. 5) anything David Wilcox has done, although I didn't really like Turning Point. "How did you find me here?" has remained a really powerful song for me. For the most part, he infuses faith into his stuff without getting pedantic. 6) Glen Phillips during and post-Toad the Wet Sprocket. This guy continues to inspire me. He's especially amazing in concert. Really personable, sincere, but funny, warm but not fake. Honest about dark night of the soul stuff. 7) Indigo Girls, esp. early stuff and Come on now social. Good "diagnoser of problems" band. I know everyone turns up their noses at them because their lesbians and all, but come on they're like the female Bob Dylans but way, way better guitarists, vocalists, and also they would never do a Victoria's Secret ad. 8) Radiohead's Kid A. Yes, it makes some people jump out of windows (defenestration). But they're anti-status quo-ers too. Until they become the status quo. Anyway, like to think how it could be worse than it already is. sometimes even that helps. Now that I look over this list, earnestness must mean a lot to me. Earnestness without