It's been too long since I've rattled off what's running on my MP3 player. And since I've had precious little time to blog about weightier matters, this strikes me as really super easy to do in the meantime. So here's a cheapskate's dozen of what's in heavy rotation right now:

1. Follow You - Geoff Moore ... this is me kicking it a little old-school. 1989 to be precise. I maintain that the album this comes from - "Foundations" - is not merely Geoff Moore's best, but it holds up as one of the best albums of it's day. Oddly enough, though, there's two reasons I love this song. First, it was initially recorded by secular artist, Glen Burtnick, and the album that he did is one of the true gems of album-oriented rock from the 80s. Secondly, I like listening to this and substituting what I presume to be a mandolin in the recording for a banjo. To date, it's the only song I know that could easily seque from banjo opening to a hard rock tune in midsong. If I ever learn to play banjo, I'll perform it that way just to prove my point.

2. How Your Halo Fell - Roper ... this is me kicking somewhat less old-school. 2004 to be precise. It's an international travesty of the first order that Reese Roper isn't recording a new album every month. I love this album and suspect that if you check back in a decade, I'll have something from it in rotation at any given time.

3. Enter This Temple - Leeland ... I can't claim to be the biggest Leeland fan in the world because I kinda missed the first boat on them. Now their huge and everyone loves them. So I'm gradually trying to develop a taste for their stuff and make up for lost time. As luck would have it, the first MP3 I got of theirs, I love enough to keep in rotation. So far, so good.

4. When the Summer's Gone - Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken ... Webb & wife record together and their EP is golden. My only concern is that since I paid up front to get the immediate MP3 download of the new EP, I run the very real risk of some of this stuff being a bit too played out in my mind by the time the physical disc ships in a few weeks. Still, this number is catchy as all getout. I guess I was thinking ahead when I added Webb's acoustic CD along with it. Man, I can't wait for that to arrive.

5. If A Song Could Be President - Over the Rhine ... I guess OtR fills a gray area in the realm of Christian music, but they at least play Cornerstone again this year. I'm totally and unabashedly in love with this song. The only struggle I have is that certain friends of mine accuse me of listening to "suicide country" everytime I crank this one. I make no apologies ... I have a thing for pedal steel.

6. Forever Mercy - Altar Boys ... there can never be a setlist of mine without either Altar Boys or Stryper. "Never, never, never" you might say.

7. Surrender - Lincoln Brewster
8. Another Hallelujah - Lincoln Brewster ... I went cruising for Lincoln's take on "Hallelujah" after posting the Over the Rhine take on the song earlier here and found an extra tune to fall in love with while I was at it. It speaks volumes for me to suggest that Lincoln's version of the song is more favorable to me than that of OtR. I mean, I love 'em both and all, but Linc's lyrical twists on the song are just incredible. Surrender is just one of those songs that I play over and over again and wish I had the chops to perform it. My sense is that it'd only work if I could sing it halfway decent (that is to say ... not a shot of this ever happening). Otherwise, I'd be tempted to overplay the guitar parts.

9. Gotta Good Feeling - Dan Gomez ... I'm officially shamed for not ever getting around to reviewing some of the great CD's I've picked up lately. This, Ryan Bell, and Josh Myers all high on that list. Dan's stuff has a nice 80s AOR vibe to it that I thoroughly get a kick out of. The rhythm guitar stuff on here is just plain addictive.

10. Light Gives Heat - Jars of Clay ... Somewhat similar to my oversight on all things Leeland, JoC represent a longer omission on my part. I'm certain that I'm the last church-going musicophile to ever own a copy of this band's material. Truth be told, the cheap pricepoint of the "Live Monsters" EP was a draw for me to test out some of their stuff. Even worse is that I probably spun this about a dozen times as background music before realizing that there might be a song or two on here that I really really like. Turns out, this one is far and away a favorite. I tried to go back and listen to the studio version to see if I got into it as much, and oddly enough ... I just don't. Still, I've always had a lot of respect for this band based on what I've read of them. I'm at least on alert for new stuff of theirs to add to the library.

11. Carry Each Other - Mars Hill Band ... Got this as a freebie from Rob Bell's church website. I've been enjoying it so much that I probably ought to just go ahead and pick up the full EP of tunes they've got this packaged with. For those of you keeping score at home: YES, this is exactly how drug dealers conduct business.

If you know of any tunes that might cross-reference with some of the styles you see there, I'd love to hear 'em. Naturally, I don't pretend that my MP3 player is innocent of any secular tunes. But since several of them have no words whatsoever, I'm tempted to ask for a waiver for those of you beginning to pray for me on that issue. As for my infatuation with The Flirts' "(Jukebox) Don't Put Another Dime" ... well, commence praying.