Anyway, since posting that list I've since discovered/rediscovered four albums that I now believe could be included. Two of them were released late in the year (thus not squeezing into many "best-of" lists), and two were released earlier in the year and were staples on several such lists (I just didn't give them a chance until recently.)
The four:
Welcome Wagon, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon: It's no secret that I have a small man-crush on Sufjan Stevens (seriously, the man is extraordinary), so it's no surprise that something he's affiliated with moves me as much as this debut does. The husband-wife duo of Vito and Monique Aiuto, aka the Welcome Wagon, have much to owe Sufjan, their friend who signed them to his label (Asthmatic Kitty), played nearly every backing instrument on the album (which he produced), and then gave them booming publicity simply at the drop of his name. With or without Sufjan, though, the album is remarkable, equating to Sufjan's work on his phenomenal album Illinois, but if all of the lyrics were about Jesus.Oh Jesus, you say? Yes, Jesus. Vito Aiuto happens to be the Reverend Vito Aiuto, a small-church preacher from Brooklyn with a guitar to strum and wife to croon. The passion and soul that the Aiuto's find in Jesus - the beauty, the love - is dripping from the music, from the intimate ballad "Up On a Mountain" to the stomping gospel tune "But for You Who Fear My Name," probably the best track on the album. Pushing each song are blues guitar riffs, gospel choir praises, and brass instruments to boot, all of which underscore the joyous celebration the Aituo's successfully shout towards the Man Upstairs. This, to me, is true worship music, the kind that doesn't just riff on a catchy melody, but which cries from its knees the power and majesty of our God.
Click here for more.
Also, Sufjan is blogging about the Welcome Wagon over at his website; highly recommended.
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