One of the many wonderful things that has come my way thanks to my friends at NewRaleigh.

David Bazan

David Bazan is an enigmatic artist that I was introduced to in college by my buddy Josh. (Something of a musician in his own right as I understand.)

I first heard Pedro the Lion in a dorm room at NC State; I was instantly hooked by David’s simple, narrative songwriting, and that voice. It’s been described as mournful, sad, raw, and probably dozens of other adjectives… but the one that speaks most to me, is honest. David’s songwriting spoke to me, as a non-Christian, from a place of honest faith, that had real questions for God, and didn’t presume to have all the answers.

Fast forward some nine years. I’m a self-described born-again Christian, and David Bazan isn’t. Incidentally, his latest musical offerings are just as probing, personal, and meaningful to me as ever. What’s so compelling about a “fallen Christian” to this believer?

His honesty. David Bazan is, in my mind, a man after God’s own heart. He reminds me of another pretty well known David at various points in their respective lives. There’s no doubt that he’s made mistakes in his life, he sings about them often enough, as did King David. How many times in the Psalms does David seem to doubt God? We hear time and time again of a brokenhearted servant who feels abandoned by his God in the midst of trial. Despite that feeling, those doubts, and a colossal fall from from his place of anointing in the act of adultery and murder…

Somehow, God still had a place for him. Not just a place, but a place in the lineage of the Messiah himself.

Why is it then, that in the American Church today we see no room for questioning? No room for doubt? A great, but lengthy, piece in the Chicago Reader on Bazan entitled, The Passion of David Bazan: At the Cornerstone Christian rock festival, a fallen evangelical returns to sing about why he broke up with God.

Speaking of  Christianity, David says:

The last 30 years of it have been hijacked; the boomer evangelicals, they were seduced in the most embarrassing and scandalous way into a social, political, and economical posture that is the antithesis of Jesus’s teaching.

In the article, we hear about the youth crowd’s continued embracing of David as a musician, about their stubborn refusal to accept his own explanation of where he is, and what he believes or in this case, doesn’t believe.  This is a shame, for an artist to be misunderstood so blatantly by many of his greatest fans, but even worse, is the bitter, angry, and decidedly un-Christian way a portion of the crowd responds to this man.

Pointing fingers, probing questions about the man’s faith, and “How his relationship with God is.” I’m not talking about a close friend, a pastor, or a family member here. I’m talking about the self-righteous youth of mainstream American Christianity. I’ve seen it over and over, and it breaks my heart every time. How could we fail so miserably as a church as to give our children just enough of doctrine and biblical knowledge to know how to “identify sin”, but fail to pass on the humility with which to handle this knowledge? There is so much focus on how we “walk with God” that there seems to be almost no acknowledgment of how big God is, and just who is in control.

Furthermore, how is it possible for a person to personally know, and appreciate the weight of the limitless Grace of God, but not then extend that same grace to his brother?

I, for one, don’t think it is possible. I fear that the faith of our generation, is a largely superficial, and shallow relationship that’s more about what God can do for us, than why we need Him.

Regardless, I urge you, if indie rock-and-roll is something that interests you, to give Bazan a listen. He’ll challenge you, he will ask questions that we all find ourselves asking, he’ll occasionally swear, and most of all, I promise he’ll move you.

A new track of his is available for free download here. The song is a take on the beatitudes from the point of a view of a man who has found himself poor in spirit, a mourner, and most certainly hungry. It’s both pessimistic, and hopeful.

Today I was greeted with the realization, not only that Guns N Roses’ Chinese Democracy was actually coming out (After 14 years of hype, and several leaks of songs at various stages of completion) but that the whole thing can be heard right now online.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to attempt to live up to that kind of expectation, but having now heard about half of the new album, streamed here via myspace… I’m impressed enough to actually buy it. That might not mean much to some people, but in the last year I have purchased only two physical albums.

Incidentally, this also means somebody owes me a Dr. Pepper… and I intend to collect.

In another amusing piece of news today, Pitchfork Media reports that Rage Against the Machine was barred from performing on stage in Minnesota! Given RATM’s propensity for getting a crowd excited, one might expect that this series of events would turn out very, very ugly. (More information below the fold, including video from the rally)

Amusingly enough though, that is not at all what happened. After being told they could not perform on stage (by means of a seemingly bogus technicality related to the Ripple Effect’s permit for the day’s event) the boys from RATM went into the crowd armed with just a single megaphone and performed a few of their hits with Tom Morello orally reproducing his guitar skills and Zack de la Rocha on vocals entirely a capella. The result is a rather endearing, and as the Pitchfork Staff put it “cute” moment.

While this particular performance hardly lives up to Rage’s reputation, no doubt they’ll remember it as some kind of pivotal moment in the 2008 election year. (I’m reminded of a RATM cover band we heard playing outside of the Capital on Independence Day this year… That performance also left much to be desired, but at least the band who played managed to get a stage to play on.)