Top Ten 2022

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2022:

Iain Archer - To the Pine Roots: “Conceived and recorded in a cottage by the Black Forest and imbued with the voices and performances of friends and family, To The Pine Roots … is an ethereal album … The whisper of instantly recalled melodies, the burring of an age-old harmonium, the ghostly reverb of pinewood walls and escapist rhythms teased from an acoustic guitar, distantly recalling a Celtic past. Iain Archer is a songwriter of the forever-enigmatic mould, unencumbered by musical trends and time constraints. From the hazy recollections of childhood he draws vivid the scenes of "Black Mountain Quarry" and "Streamer On A Kite"; with a playwright's gift for characterisation "The Acrobat" and "The Nightwatchman", pertinent metaphors for life and living; and at the album's core "Frozen Lake", a steepling spire of a love song with a fragile voice, buoyed and raised by harmonium and strings.” 

Hurtsmile – Hurtsmile: “Extreme frontman Gary Cherone took advantage of the band's long gap between the recording and touring cycles, and decided to launch his own band Hurtsmile in collaboration with brother Mark Cherone on guitar… Hurtsmile's self-titled debut is a roller coaster ride through a wide range of musical styles, from classic rock 'n roll to modern rock to country rock and even some exotic touches here and there. Half way through it you won't even feel like you're still listening to the same album, such is the diversity. While it's based on rock 'n roll roots, it takes the listener through a different side of Gary Cherone and co, one that's never been brought to light quite like this before.” 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof: “It seems lifetimes ago that Plant and Krauss released their six-Grammy-winning album of duets, Raising Sand (2007) ... This long-awaited second instalment of enthralling covers is a dose of musical reassurance that, despite the turmoil in which we find ourselves, some things remain constant. Roots music and rhythm and blues have always played a long game in matters of the human condition. What worked a treat then continues to work now: Plant dialled down to a sultry croon or, on Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces’ Searching for My Love, to a yearning kind of blue-eyed soul, Krauss’s country tones alternately limpid, frisky or timeworn, T Bone Burnett producing deftly. A superlative band creates nuanced tension or percolates away discreetly as required.” 

Rev Simpkins – Saltings: “’Saltings' is a loving portrait of the mystery and beauty of the salt marsh wildernesses of Essex, and a meditation on the human cost of the wilderness time of the pandemic. Like Rev Simpkins's last LP, 'Big Sea', 'Saltings' is most of all a record of unblinking realism amidst darkness, and of a hope grounded in human experience. The album weaves together tales of the legendary and mysterious figures of the saltings, such as John Ball (leader of the peasants’ revolt) and Saint Cedd (whose Saxon chapel stands at Bradwell), with reflections on the wilderness’s ever-changing tides, skies, and seasons. ‘Saltings’ is an attempt to share the atmosphere and history of this remarkable place in picture and song.” 

Ricky Ross - Short Stories Volume 2: “These Short Stories records have given Ross a whole other outlet. Here he sits at the piano and with a lack of clutter gives us surmises on home and work and faith … as he was conjuring these songs he was also writing his first memoir Walking Back Home. As a result, we get stories of family and loss … Your Swaying Arms … A beautiful song that incorporates all of Ross’s strengths - story, sense of place, romance and little lyrical depth charges … Short Stories Vol. 2 is a slow burn of an album crammed with the finest of songs. Every return brings a surprise of piano melody or poetic line.” 

Wovenhand - Silver Sash: “Powerful, subtle and intensely deep. Uniting the calm and mystic side of the early Wovenhand years with the straight forward yet still magic songs of his latest albums. Over the last two decades, his prolific work in both Wovenhand and the legendary 16 Horsepower has influenced and inspired a generation of musicians throughout the expansive alternative music world. The band cannot be described in traditional terms. Their sound is an organic weave of neo-folk, post rock, punk, old-time, and alternative sounds. All coming together as a vehicle for David's soulful expression and constant spiritual self-exploration.” 

Mavis Staples & Levon Helm - Carry Me Home: “Much has changed, of course, in the decade since Staples and Helm reunited for this set in Woodstock. Less than a year later, Helm died in a New York hospital, losing his battle with throat cancer after 28 radiation treatments. Cancer also took Yvonne Staples—a force of her own, even at her sister’s side—six years later. But the real tragedy and the true impact of this set stem from how current it feels now and how it will likely remain that way. Staples’ odes to faith and survival, as well as her quips about bad politics, are as relevant now as they were then, if not more. “I’m only halfway home,” she sings during “Wide River to Cross,” the big band lifting behind her. “I’ve got to journey on.” It’s a Buddy and Julie Miller song, presumably about heavenly ascendance. But surrounded by family and friends, Staples grounds it here on earth, making it about the push for everyone’s progress. Make no mistake: This is fight music, rendered with soul strong and sweet.” 

Patti Smith – Land: “Her music is religious—not necessarily in any way that’s particularly traditionally faithful, but in the sense that she’s always questioning the universe, hoping and praying for answers yet still basking in the search for them. And Smith still ploughs onward. It was only within the past decade that she released her instant-classic memoir Just Kids, and its follow up, 2017’s M Train, which brought her prolific catalogue of music and poetry to the ears and eyes and hearts of a new generation. On her 2012 album Banga, she wrote songs about contemporary tragedies like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the death of Amy Winehouse; this year, her collaboration with the Sidewalk Collective, The Peyote Dance, saw her continuing her exploration of mystical interiority through her interpretation of the writing of French poet Antonin Artaud. Of her few peers left standing, it’s hard to imagine anyone else reinvigorating their career in a way that’s anywhere near as successful and, more importantly, evolved as Smith’s.” 

Ho Wai-On – Music is Happiness: “… produced after I survived cancer for the second time … Music is Happiness is a CD of my music, and a 64-page book written and designed by me (CD cover & book cover design by Albert Tang) containing related stories, poems and more than 200 illustrations. The music is performed by excellent musicians. The Chinese character for 'Music' also means 'Happiness'. In the face of adversity, I have found happiness through creativity. In the eight selected works reflecting my bumpy journey of life, the music is very varied.” 

The Welcome Wagon – Esther: “Much of the impetus for their latest came from Monique’s decision to take up painting again after a decade of inactivity. The collage materials she used were taken from the collection of her late grandmother, Esther, whose readings from the Bible (home-recorded onto cassette during the ’90s) kept her company. As Vito’s tentative new songs gathered shape, with Monique’s accompanying artwork, it became apparent that home, family and faith were the three interlocking themes of what became Esther. Simplicity is key to the Welcome Wagon sound. Vito’s guitar is gentle and politic, allowing for their voices – either trading leads or paired in intimate harmony – to carry the soft weight of these devotional songs … Occasional samples of Esther’s voice provide a kind of narrative thread, linking Vito’s originals to sacred hymnals like “Noble Tree” and “Bethlehem, A Noble City”, while “Nunc Dimittis” is a canticle from the Gospel of Luke in traditional Latin. With subtle embellishments of brass, strings and piano, Esther sometimes resembles the work of The Innocence Mission or [Sufjan] Stevens himself: charming, understated and often very beautiful.” 

My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.

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Rev Simpkins - For Every Number.

Writers and artists associated with St Martin-in-the-Fields

My colleague Katherine Hedderly recently made me aware of the connection between St Martin-in-the-Fields and the poet Francis Thompson. Katherine quoted the famous lines from Thompson's 'The Kingdom of God':

'... Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.'

in relation to the installation of Ron Haselden's Echelle on the spire of St Martin's for Lumiere London 2018.

'On a cold winter’s night in 1887, the churchwarden of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, John McMaster, gave an impoverished young match seller a room at his shop in Panton Street, which is just behind the National Gallery. The match seller was also an opium addict named Francis Thompson, who many know as a visionary Roman Catholic poet and ascetic. After being further rescued from himself, Thompson’s first book of poetry was published in 1893. He became an invalid and after years of extreme poverty and addiction, he died in 1907 of tuberculosis, at the still young age 47. His tomb bears the last line from one of his own poems: Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.'

Dick Sheppard was appointed Vicar of St  Martin's in November 1914 and, in the words of Vera Brittain, 'transformed a moribund city church into England's most vital Christian centre.' Sheppard certainly transformed the parish magazine into St Martin’s Review, 'an eclectic monthly that sold on newsstands and outstripped the circulation of the Spectator, with subscribers in forty countries? George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Hardy, Hilaire Belloc and John Middleton Murry were among the contributors to a journal of opinion that Sheppard edited with a flair for controversy and an unsleeping eye for publicity.'

Writers also came forward to lend the Peace Pledge Union, which Sheppard founded in 1935, intellectual prestige, 'notably the feminist Vera Brittain and the critic John Middleton Murry, a convert to pacifism whose efforts to present Christ afresh as a hero of humanity had much in common with Sheppard’s own.'

'In 1933, Vera [Brittain] published her most important and lasting book, Testament of Youth, a memoir of her war experience, and a literary memorial to her brother, fiancé, and their friends. The book was a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the autumn of 1934 Vera embarked on a successful lecture-tour of the United States.'

'On 22 February 1934, at a meeting in the vestry hall of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, the Council for Civil Liberties was formed. Their immediate goal was to make sure that the next ‘hunger march’ was peaceful and safe.' The formation of the Council and their pledge to act as responsible and neutral legal observers on the next [hunger] march was announced in a letter printed on the 24 February in The Manchester Guardian. It was signed by 14 of the Council’s most prominent supporters, including H.G. Wells, Vera Brittain, Dr. Edith Summerskill, Clement Atlee, Kingsley Martin, and Prof. Harold Laski.

'In 1935 [Vera's] father committed suicide, and Winifred Holtby died from Bright’s disease. Vera’s ambitious novel, Honourable Estate, dramatising the recent history of the women’s movement, was published in 1936. As another world war threatened, Vera’s focused her attention on campaigning for peace. In 1937 she converted to pacifism and became a sponsor of Dick Sheppard’s Peace Pledge Union. During the Second World War, Vera wrote a fortnightly Letter to Peace-Lovers, and jeopardized her literary standing by making a courageous protest against the Allies’ policy of the saturation bombing of German cities. In her final decades, she continued to publish historical and biographical works, and to be a significant figure in the peace movement in Britain. In November 1966 she suffered a fall after giving a talk at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, and, following several years’ illness, died in Wimbledon on 29 March 1970.'

'A memorial service was held for her at St Martin-in-the-Fields, crowded with family, friends, and people from all the organisations she had worked with and for.'

She published two books about St Martin's, The Story of St. Martin's: An Epic of London (1951) and The Pictorial History of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (1962), while her novel Born 1925 was based on the life of Dick Sheppard. The story of her friendship with Dick Sheppard and of her Christian conversion is told in Testament of Experience. In The Story of St Martin's she draws principally on churchwardens' accounts (dating back to 1525), but with much on Dick Sheppard - 'I saw a great Church standing in the greatest Square of the greatest City in the world.'

St Martin's has also attracted many artists, such as Peggy Smith, who, like Brittain, devoted her life to campaigning for peace. 'During the 1920s she gave up art school for a secretarial post in the League of Nations Union London Federation. Her poor health (she had spinal tuberculosis as a child) made this work impossible. She found more suitable work in 1929 when, impressed with a doodle she made at a meeting, Fenner Brockway asked her to draw regularly for the journal of the Independent Labour Party, “The New Leader”, of which he was then editor.

During the 1930s, Peggy was a freelance artist: “I drew anybody who came to London to talk to the government or to speak”, as well as musicians playing or conducting in concert halls. In 1936, she was one of the first women to sign the Peace Pledge. She knew (and drew) many of the Peace Pledge Union’s sponsors, being particularly influenced by Gerald Heard. Peggy produced sketches for Peace News, founded in 1936, and supported the paper for the rest of her life, in later years selling copies on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields. From this grew her involvement with the London School of Nonviolence, which met in the Crypt of St. Martin’s. She joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1950s, was arrested 11 times for her involvement in Committee of 100 actions, and in 1968 travelled to Cambodia as part of a non-violent action group to draw attention to the American bombing of North Vietnam.

In 1973, Peggy showed her 1930s drawings to friends who recognised their artistic and historical value. Thanks to their efforts, in 1975, she held her first exhibition: “Music and Line” showed her 1930s drawings of musicians, in the highly appropriate setting of the Royal Festival Hall. Peggy Smith died on 12 February 1976.

Peggy Smith's drawings show individuals active for peace in the 1930s, including Norman Angell, Vera Brittain, Laurence Housman, Fridtjof Nansen, Philip Noel-Baker, Maude Royden, Dick Sheppard, Philip Snowden, Donald Soper, Wilfred Wellock, and Gandhi. There are British politicians: Stafford Cripps, Fred Jowett, Ellen Wilkinson, musicians including Sir William Rothenstein, writers and church leaders.'

'Josefina Alys Hermes de Vasconcellos (26 October 1904 – 20 July 2005) was an English sculptor of Brazilian origin. She was at one time the world's oldest living sculptor. She lived in Cumbria much of her working life. Her most famous work includes Reconciliation (Coventry Cathedral, University of Bradford); Holy Family (Liverpool Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral); Mary and Child (St. Paul's Cathedral); and Nativity (at Christmas) at St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square).'

'Many people encountered the sculpture of de Vasconcellos through her popular interpretations of the Holy Family placed at Christmas in Trafalgar Square and also in other churches and cathedrals throughout Britain. She became a close friend of the Rev Austen Williams at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and organised exhibitions in the crypt to highlight public awareness of the plight of the African poor.'

In 1958 she 'designed a nativity scene for the crypt of St Martin's.' 'The centrepiece was called 'They Fled By Night' and depicted Mary and Joseph resting during their flight from Egypt, with a lively child sitting on Mary's feet.' This sculpture was later presented to Cartmel Priory, at the suggestion of the artist.

Beginning in 1959, she was commissioned 'to construct an annual Nativity scene made of life-sized figures,' (made for World Refugee Year, an international effort to raise awareness of, and support for, the refugees across the globe) 'which became a regular fixture of the Christmas display in Trafalgar Square.' This 'Holy Night crib was a redemptive presence in Trafalgar Square for almost four decades.' 'For many, it summed up the spirit of Christmas' but it 'came to a sticky end during the celebrations after England’s triumph in the Rugby World Cup in late 2003.' 'The shed that had housed the sculpture was wrecked, one angel was stolen and another broken, and the crib was damaged beyond repair.'

'Josefina again contributed to the work of St Martin's by installing in the crypt an African altar which had as its centrepiece a reproduction of [her husband] Delmar [Banner's] early painting of Simon of Cyrene carrying the Cross. Beside it was a life-size figure of an African boy carved by Beth Jukes.'
In the gettyimages archive is a photograph of de Vasconcellos cutting out an anti-apartheid badge as she sets up an exhibition against apartheid in the crypt of St Martin's. The statue and painting can be seen in the photograph.

Gillian Szego's Mother and Child was a painting shown in the St Martin-in-the-Fields refugee action programme in 1972, as part of efforts to raise awareness of the plight of Ugandan refugees. This canvas surrounded by barbed wire depicts a mother and child scene in a refugee camp, but set in such a way that people would mistake it for the Madonna and Child. Szego said at the time that 'if Jesus Christ had been born in 1972, it would have most likely been in a refugee camp.'

Romanian artist Dr Doru Imbroane Marculescu arrived in England in October 1978. By 1986 he had obtained dual British / Romanian nationality. Whilst firmly established in England, he continued to spend periods with his family in Bucharest consolidating all his interests and ideas - producing work which became part of a large personal exhibition. Marculescu's Tortured Humanity, an extraordinary 2.4m (eight foot) high bronze statue depicting the head of Christ together with a hundred faces worked into the shape of a cross, was shown at St Martin's in 1999 as a focus of the church's Easter celebrations. The sculpture depicts 'the dilemmas of modern times, a continuation of the tragedies of the past,' and 'is offered as a symbol of unity for all – irrespective of their religion, race and culture.' 'In it, all of humanity is perceived as taking on a cruciform shape and the suffering love of Christ is recognized as involved in, and bearing up the whole.'

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Francis Thompson - The Kingdom Of God.

Discover & explore: Constantine

Discover & explore: Constantine at St Stephen Walbrook with the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields featured music sung by ‪the Choral Scholars of St Martin in the Fields including: O come ye servants of the Lord – Tye; Psalm 20; Be thou my vision – Chilcott and Most glorious Lord of Lyfe – Harris.

‪Next Mondays "Discover & Explore" at 1.10pm will explore Christianity in Roman London as the #Londinium series continues - https://ssw.churchsuite.co.uk/events/q20myjzs‬.

In my reflection I said:

Throughout its first three centuries, the church went through unimaginable persecution from the Roman Empire, though all the time growing and spreading. It began with a small group from the backwaters of the Roman Empire and after two to three centuries go by, that same group and its descendants have somehow taken over the Roman Empire and become the official religion, in fact the only tolerated religion, of the Roman Empire by the end of the 4th century. The key event, an extraordinary turn of events, was when the Roman Emperor himself became a Christian.

Constantine was a successful general, the son of a successful general (who had been a Christian). In 312, there were two claimants to the imperial throne. Maxentius held the capital city, Rome, and most of Italy, but Constantine held most of the Western empire, had the support of most of the army and had marched on Rome. In October 312, he was camped north of the city preparing for what would be the show-down with his rival, but worried because he did not have the resources to sustain a long siege.In this struggle, Constantine was convinced that he needed more powerful aid than his military forces could give him, so he sought the help of the God in whom his father had believed.

Constantine called on God with earnest prayer to reveal to him who he was, and stretch forth his right hand to help him in his present difficulties. And while he was thus praying with fervent entreaty, a most extraordinary sign appeared to him from heaven – about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the sign of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “By this symbol you will conquer.” He was struck with amazement by the sight, and his whole army witnessed the miracle.

He said that he was unsure what this apparition could mean, but that while he continued to ponder, night suddenly came on. In his sleep, the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies. At the break of day he rose and told his friends about the marvel. Then he called together the workers in gold and precious stones, sat in the midst of them, and described to them the sign he had seen, telling them to represent it in gold and precious stones.

It was made in the following manner. A long spear overlaid with gold with a transverse bar laid over it formed the figure of the cross. A wreath of gold and precious stones was fixed to the top with the symbol of the Saviour’s name with in it – the first two [Greek] letters of Christ’s name, the rho being intersected by chi in its centre. [These two letters look like X and P.] Shortly after this, to everyone's surprise, Maxentius decided to risk a battle outside the city walls and Constantine's army won a decisive victory, forcing their opponents back across the Milvian Bridge into the city. Constantine took the city and became emperor, apparently convinced that the God of the Christians had given him victory. As emperor he constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a safeguard against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it should be carried at the head of all his armies. With this standard leading the way, he consolidated his power by conquering, eventually, not only the West, but also the Greek East where there were many more Christians. Within one person’s lifetime, the Empire went from the most savage of its several persecutions of Christians to embracing Christianity.

His new faith was reflected in his imperial policy; he outlawed infanticide, the abuse of slaves and peasants, and crucifixion and he made Sunday a day of rest. He rebuilt Jerusalem and helped the bishops of the Church to iron out a unitary policy of what a true Christian believes. In 314 three bishops from Britain – London, York and Lincoln – attended the first Council of Arles, one of several synods convened by Constantine. There was much that was positive, therefore, about Constantine’s vision and conversion, not least, the spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire. However, we must also recognise that his actions and understanding changed Christianity irrevocably. Christianity moved from being a marginalized, subversive, and persecuted movement secretly gathering in houses and catacombs to being the favoured religion in the empire. Christianity moved from being a dynamic, revolutionary, social, and spiritual movement to being a religious institution with its attendant structures, priesthood, and sacraments.

While there is much talk of victory in both the New Testament and the Early Church, the victory being spoken of is that of Christ, in his death and resurrection, over the hostile powers that hold humanity in subjection, those powers being variously understood as the devil, sin, the law, and death. This is a victory over spiritual powers which hold sway over all people. Christ died for all human beings, without exception, and taught that we should love our enemies and repay evil with good. Constantine’s vision, dream and standard are, therefore, a complete reversal of Christ’s teachings and actions.

Constantine began the establishment of Christendom by showering Christian ministers with every possible honour, treating them favourably as people who were consecrated to the service of his God, having them accompany him on his travels, believing that the God they served would help him as a result. Instead of renouncing wealth and power, Christian ministers were gaining it. Constantine also gave vast amounts of money from his own personal treasury to the churches of God, for the enlarging and heightening of their sacred buildings and for decorating the sanctuaries of the church. The Church was now able to have bibles copied at public expense. It was finally able to have public Christian architecture and big basilicas. So, a comfortable symbiotic relationship between the empire and the Church developed; a relationship which came to define the cultural powerhouse of Europe and the West. It came about, however, through a reversal of Christ’s teaching about power and wealth.

The dilemmas caused by these changes are captured well in Patti Smith’s song entitled ‘Constantine’s Dream’, of which we have heard an extract read. In the complete song we encounter St Francis and Columbus as well as Constantine and Piero della Francesca. Constantine’s Dream, the song suggests, led to the art of della Francesca and the discoveries of Columbus, but conflicted with the simplicity of Francis’ lifestyle that was close to that of Christ and the harmony of his relationship with the natural world around him. In the New World Columbus encountered the same kind of unspoilt beauty that St Francis enjoyed, yet his arrival led to the destruction of that unspoilt beauty in the name of Empire. The song ends with the 21st century advancing like the angel that had come to Constantine, and Columbus sees all of nature aflame in the apocalyptic night and the dream of the troubled king Constantine dissolved into light. In this way it poses the very valid question as whether the power and wealth that the Church gained because of Constantine’s dream was actually blessing or curse.

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/constantine/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/legitimization.html

http://veritas.community/veritas-community/2014/05/19/constantine-is-the-emperor-of-our-imagination-and-he-is-naked-missional-church-planting-in-the-midst-of-post-christendom

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/aprilweb-only/christusvicarious.html

http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/christendom-murray.pdf

Prayers

Lord God, you rule over every principality and power, every human and every spirit, every tribe and every tongue. You have charged us to make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them obey all your commands. Enable us, as your servants, to speak your word with great boldness. May the word of God spread. Rapidly increase the number of disciples here in the City of London. Teach us the ways of your kingdom. Teach us the ways of your Gospel that comes with the power of humility, love and self-sacrifice. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to yourself: We praise and bless you for those whom you have sent in the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel to all nations. We thank you that in all parts of the earth a community of love has been gathered together by their prayers and labours, and that in every place your servants call upon your Name; for the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours for ever. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant, and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation: give us the courage to follow you and to proclaim you as Lord and King, by practising your love, humility and self-sacrifice and by rejecting the temptations of power, prestige, status and wealth. Draw your Church together, O God, into one great company of disciples, together following our Lord Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving him in his mission to the world, and together witnessing to his love on every continent and island. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Blessing

May God, who gives patience and encouragement, give you a spirit of unity to live in harmony as you follow Jesus Christ, so that with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you now and always. Amen.

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Patti Smith - Constantine's Dream.

The 10 albums that I enjoyed most in 2015

Here are the 10 albums (in no particular order) that I've got hold of and enjoyed the most in 2015:

Sid Griffin, writing on 'The Importance of The Basement Tapes,' describes in Biblical terms how the 'beat poetics' of Dylan's political and urban songs 'morphed into whimsy or Biblical-like prophecies'; 'songs derived from old sea shanties, melodic reflections about life's absudities, hard-rockin' and often hilarious fictitious character sketches, musical tributes to past heroes which bordered on pastiche, musical pastiches so authentic they bordered on being tributes, devout spirituals, C&W laments, a new take on blues balladry, and, yes, love in all its guises'

To mark the 50th anniversary of the freedom marches as well as the Staple Singers’ performance at the New Nazareth Church on Chicago’s South Side, their concert has been remastered and restored to its original setlist and runtime. Pops Staples, patriarch, bandleader and musical visionary, had written a song about the freedom marchers called ‘Freedom Highway’ which was debuted at this concert and which became the family’s biggest hit to that date, a pivotal record, connecting gospel music with the struggle for civil rights, that inched them toward the pop mainstream without sacrificing their gospel message for a secular audience.

'The Staple Singers have left an imprint of soulful voices, social activism, religious conviction and danceable “message music.”' 'Pops and the family were rooted in gospel, blues, and "message music" traditions. He sang about darkness, and he sang about light. He's done it again [on 'Somebody Was Watching' from Don't Lose This], and while the song's arrival might be belated by over 15 years, it's a total gift to hear one of the greats completely owning his lane.'

Bill Fay's 'beautifully hymnal fourth studio album' Who is the Sender? 'contains sublime, heartfelt ruminations on nature and the world.' With less light and shade than Life is People but with a more consistently meditative tone, With profound simplicity, like that of Chance in Being There, Fay mourns the inhumanity of our warlike impulses while prayerfully calling for a new world to be manifest.

Carrie and Lowell is a meditation on grief observed that channels the emotional honesty of C. S. Lewis' reflection on his time in the shadowlands. 'I saw intimacy pass by while going about it's business, like something sung and felt by Sufjan Stevens on his new beautiful solitary and rich record filled with faith and disbelief and the resurrection of trust and dreams.'

Carleen Anderson said in an interview for Huffington Post: 'the spiritual element in my life comes from miracles, in the form of love, like my child being born, or the way my grandparents raised me. It's emotional rescue. Love is a miracle, and from that music is made, as is all art.' 'The one piece of music I'm most proud of is probably a gospel song I wrote called 'Salvation Is Free' [Soul Providence, 2005]. It's about how I feel when everything in life is going wrong; it's about finding peace within all that.'

'Look Out Machines! is ... probably [Duke Special's] best, most complete work for a good while ... it’s broad enough to encompass the big issues. ‘Son Of The Left Hand’ is religious guilt with a dash of William Gibson. The title track is big enough to call down the apocalypse, with the help of Shakespeare and Betjeman: “What’s done is done, so drop the bomb”.' ‘God In A Dive’ is the best song I’ve heard for ages, about religious acceptance of one’s own kind. 'In A Dive', he says, concerns 'my living in Belfast and finding beautiful and profound qualities in people in the most unlikely of places.'

'On The Life Pursuit [by Belle & Sebastian], [Stuart] Murdoch treats church almost as a matter of course – yes, he goes to church, doesn’t everybody?! The references are simply there; they don’t attract attention themselves. Christianity (and church) is portrayed as an almost unspoken factor in the everyday lives of real people, one that is in turns pathetic and profound, but a factor nonetheless. In other words, his references ring true.'

Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices is the second album by The Welcome Wagon, the musical duo of Vito and Monique Aiuto, a Presbyterian pastor and his wife. 'Vito explains: “This album has a somewhat liturgical structure, ordered loosely like a worship service. It begins with the existential and cosmic dread of ‘I’m Not Fine,’ immediately followed by ‘My God, My God, Parts 1 & 2,’ a prayer that rails against God’s seeming absence from this world and our lives. The words are adapted from the prayer of Jesus while he hung on the cross."'

'"Banga" ... opens with the first of two songs about Europeans’ discovery of the New World. Piano and strings drive the rhapsodic, epistolary "Amerigo." On this and other tracks, [Patti] Smith sings with more depth, timbre and richness than perhaps she ever has ... Writing and art-making are recurrent themes on "Banga." On "Constantine’s Dream," the second track about voyages to America, Smith tackles the very nature of art - and the art of nature. Halfway through the 10-minute opus, painter Piero della Francesca shouts this "Horses"-worthy Patti war cry: "Oh lord let me die on the back of adventure/ With a brush and an eye full of light." ... "Banga" is both a return to form and her best album in many years.'

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Carleen Anderson - Salvation Is Free.

Constantine's Dream