BRYAN'S PICKS

Group, Mar/Apr 2004 by Belknap, Bryan

group's Media Editor Bryan Belknap weighs in with his best-of-the-best list of recently released music.

JOHNNY CASH

UnEarthed (Lost Highway)

1 This Man-in-Black collection includes four CDs of unreleased material plus a CD of hits. Highlights include the 15 eternal standards on Disc 4 (My Mother's Hymn Book) and Cash's chill-inducing duet with Joe Strummer on their cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

DUVALL

Volume d Density (Asian Man Records)

2 Former Smoking Popes frontman Josh Caterer found Christ and now leads the emo band Duvall (think Jimmy Eat World), delivering artistic excellence and sparkling rock melodies that glorify God.

HOLLY NELSON

Leaving the Yard (Northern Records)

3 If a woman sang for The Wallflowers, it would sound like this confident debut. Radio-ready, good-vibration songs poetically discuss an accessible faith.

REDCLOUD

Traveling Circus (Syntax)

4 Amazing. RedCloud sounds like a seasoned pro by spitting brilliant rhymes and expertly switching styles. His tremendous talent is rare-almost nonexistent-in Christian hip-hop.

BRYAN BELKNAP is media editor for group and the creator of our online resource MinistryandMedia.com. For a searchable warehouse of biblical discussion starters based on popular music, videos, first-run films, news stories, TV shows, and video games, visit www.MinistryandMedia.com.