Love Sanctus Real! I haven't heard all of their songs, but I really like Whatever You're Doing, The Face of Love, Closer, Everything About You, and The Fight Song.

Queen Susan: Laughing With is a great song. Even though Regina isn't a Christian, it can be seen from a Christian perspective - and basically it says that when life is going well people tend to laugh at God but when things get hard we realize we need Him. Regina's style is so unique. Her voice is a bit odd, but it sounds really natural, almost as if she's just speaking, not singing... kind of weird to describe. If you have the time I would look up some of her other hits - Fidelity and Samson. They are a little strange but in a cool way. Samson has a really beautiful piano part. I'm NOT a huge fan of all of her lyrics - many are hard to comprehend and seem to be random and pointless unless you dig deeper into them, which I don't think some of them aren't worth doing that with... haha.

Right now I'm listening to a lot of Curvine, Thi'sl, and Manafest. I recently discovered Mark Heard, thanks to a casual reference by The Black Glove. His lyrics are simply amazing.

Oh, and I found a new group: Hazakim. Messianic Jewish hip hop. Their debut album is "Theophanies" and I recommend it highly.

Heaps of people in australia like this band named short stack. There alright not a real fan but as anyone else heard of them?

Relient K has a new song up on their MySpace. It's the title track to their album "Forget and Not Slow Down." I like it. It's not amazing and I don't think it really reminds me of the usual RK, but it's still good. Parts of it remind me very oddly of some of the songs off of Mae's (m)orning EP. Wow. I didn't think I'd ever say that RK reminded me of Mae, but I guess I just did.

Hillsongs,
I have liked them for some years now, I have more than a five of their songs that I simply loved for some years now:

He Has Won It All
Angel of the Lord
Thirst For You
Power of Your Love

who can forget Darlene Zchech's Shout to the Lord

yet as recently as early this year I have begun to hear more of their songs, some of which are older, but amazing nonetheless:

Darlene covered Amazing Grace beautifully (though I still prefer Chris Tomlin's version)

Worthy is the Lamb
I Give You My Heart
The Potter's Hand
Nothing But the Blood
We The Redeemed

and the newest I got was yesterday: Ocean's Will Part (my new sig)

Together with Michael W. Smith and Chris Tomlin I just love their worship songs most of all.

Though some of Michael's covers actually were written by Matt Redman whom also has some great songs I love:

The Prayer of the Saints
Now to Live A Life
The Heart of Worship (prefer M.W. Smith's cover)
Blessed Be Your Name (prefer Tree 63's cover)
You Never Let Go
and the most recent Through it All which I just love at the moment.
Redman also covered Nothing But the Blood (but I prefer Hillsong United's take on it)

Relient K has a new song up on their MySpace. It's the title track to their album "Forget and Not Slow Down." I like it. It's not amazing and I don't think it really reminds me of the usual RK, but it's still good. Parts of it remind me very oddly of some of the songs off of Mae's (m)orning EP. Wow. I didn't think I'd ever say that RK reminded me of Mae, but I guess I just did.

Yeah, I saw that a couple weeks ago on youtube. I really like it!! I wasn't blown away by it, but I do like it! The chorus is really catchy and keeps getting stuck in my head. I haven't ever listened to Mae... do you have any songs to recommend?

Yes! I cannot recommend Mae's album "The Everglow" highly enough. It's my favorite album of all time. I especially recommend "Suspension" and the title track "The Everglow." I was speaking more of their more recent songs in my comparison to RK, but they aren't as good as the older ones. "The House that Fire Built" is the one that "Forget and Not Slow Down" reminded me of.

Laughing With is a great song. Even though Regina isn't a Christian, it can be seen from a Christian perspective - and basically it says that when life is going well people tend to laugh at God but when things get hard we realize we need Him. Regina's style is so unique. Her voice is a bit odd, but it sounds really natural, almost as if she's just speaking, not singing... kind of weird to describe. If you have the time I would look up some of her other hits - Fidelity and Samson. They are a little strange but in a cool way. Samson has a really beautiful piano part. I'm NOT a huge fan of all of her lyrics - many are hard to comprehend and seem to be random and pointless unless you dig deeper into them, which I don't think some of them aren't worth doing that with... haha.

Very true about the lyrics to "Laughing With"... Though it must be said that some people do laugh at God--even when they're dying. And yes, she does have a certain... "thing"... to her voice. It does sound... natural. Ok, I'll try to do that sometime.

Very true about the lyrics to "Laughing With"... Though it must be said that some people do laugh at God--even when they're dying. And yes, she does have a certain... "thing"... to her voice. It does sound... natural. quote]
Nice way of putting it! Laughing With is definitely one of those songs that is not necessarily written from a Christian view, but can easily be seen through a Christian perspective.

Thanks for the suggestions Kate! I'll have to let you know what I think of them.

That's true, Queen Susan... I guess some people are "laughing at God" even when they're dying. :S

So today iTunes released Forget and not Slow Down as a single... I just bought it of course... The thing that intrigues me right now is how the ending leads right into the next song - so you can faintly hear this really awesome-sounding piano thing but it's making me so impatient to hear the rest of the album.

The thing that intrigues me right now is how the ending leads right into the next song - so you can faintly hear this really awesome-sounding piano thing but it's making me so impatient to hear the rest of the album.

Haha-- yeah, that'd make me impatient too.

Kind of on a different topic, though it's about awesome piano parts, anyone here like "Remedy Drive"? I can't say they're my most favorite band, but I do like them quite a bit. Saw them in concert once... Anyway, I think they have some really cool piano parts-- the first 9 seconds of "Sapphire" I really love. And "Martyr Song" has some stuff I really like too, along with the whole song.

*listens to Vapor by Skillet*

Ok, please do Kat! I'm seeing Mae in a few weeks and I can't wait! I hope you like them.

I picked up B.Reith's free EP on Amazon. He's pretty good. It's kind of like Jason Mraz with hip hop infused into it.

That's awesome that you get to hear Mae, Kate! Let us know how it is!

I thought maybe we could share our top 25 most played in iTunes or whatever you use to listen to music... Here are mine - http://i37.tinypic.com/25jy59s.jpg
Yes, Forget and Not Slow Down gained that many playcounts in the 3 days since it came out...

Is that "Fireflies" I see on that list MissA? Wow! That's an impressive play count! My top play counts are around 60 or 70. But my computer has crashed a number of times in the past year and I had to start over. My Last.FM profile is a more accurate representation of what I listen to. It includes all my iTunes and iPod plays in addition to the Last.FM radio function.

That list is overall and is therefore missing my top song of the past few months: "From Priests to Thieves" by Deas Vail, who is touring with MAE and will therefore be at the show when I go! They probably won't play that song; it's kind of obscure, but oh well.

Hehe, I find your list slightly amusing, Kat... Maybe since the songs are pretty much half-TAN and half-Re.K

Anyway, I'd probably do mine, but... Everyone else uses iTunes too, so the songs that are most played aren't necessarily played by me. Too bad my iPod doesn't have that setting--I could figure it out then.

But I'll give the list from Itunes anyway...

XP Sounds Song - Microsoft
Wild Pacific Shore - Charlie Zahm
The Fight Song - Sanctus Real
Deeds - Sanctus Real
Mark I - Ramin Djawadi
A Song my brother made on GarageBand (I wonder who listens to that one... him?)
Beer for my Horses - Toby Keith
The Testimony - Christopher Smith
Hero - Skillet
Sink the Bismark -Johnny Horton
Earth Invasion -Skillet
You Are My Hope - Skillet

And that's the first 12--I have to go now... sorry.