Playlist #1: Indie Rock’s Dark Night of the Soul

Hopefully the first of many playlists to be featured on the RD blog, here’s a list from S. Brent Plate to accompany his article on the latest take on religion from angst- and doubt-filled indie rockers.

Negative/Mystical Theology

Arcade Fire, “Black Mirror” (from Neon Bible)
Vic Chesnutt, “Flirted With You All My Life” (from At the Cut)
Salome, “The Witness” (from Terminal)
Arcade Fire, “City with No Children” (from The Suburbs)
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse featuring David Lynch, “Dark Night of the Soul” (from Dark Night of the Soul)
King Missile, “Title Track” (from This is Mystical Shit)

The Problem of Evil

U2, “Wake Up Dead Man” (from Pop)
XTC, “Dear God” (from Skylarking)
Bad Religion, “Only Rain” (from The Dissent of Man)
Flaming Lips, “Mr. Ambulance Driver” (from At War With the Mystics)
The Mountain Goats, “Matthew 25:21” (from The Life of the World to Come)
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse featuring Iggy Pop, “Pain” (from Dark Night of the Soul)
PJ Harvey, “The Garden” (from Is This Desire?)

The Sacred in the Everyday

Eels, “Something is Sacred” (from Daisies of the Galaxy)
Belle and Sebastian, “Ghost of Rockschool” (from Write About Love)
The Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize?” (from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
The Mountain Goats, “Isaiah 45:23” (from The Life of the World to Come)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “God is In the House” (from No More Shall We Part)
PJ Harvey, “You Said Something” (from Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea)