December 17, 2008
CD Review - Benjamin Payne - The Way of Truth
Ok, I know, I know. I'm an atheist ex-Christian and I'm reviewing a Christian worship album. Crazy I know, but it's also really good music. I listen to all sorts of music, with all sorts of messages.
This CD is a wonderful combination of great musicianship, terrific song writing, wonderful vocals, and oh yeah, lots of hand raising, foot stomping worship music! There's something for everyone on this CD. Fast, slow, loud, soft, it's all here. The arrangements are lush and really put one into a contemplative mood. Benjamin has been one of my best friends for many years, so you might think I'm biased, but ask any of my friends if I'm afraid to criticize their music. I'm not. One thing about Benjamin, he means every word on this CD. He completely gives his all to God, and this CD shares a little bit of that dedication with all of us, even those of us that don't share Benjamin's faith.
Benjamin Payne - The Way of Truth
It can also be found at digstation.com
I posted this review at cdbaby.com, digstation.com, merelyadequate.net, and atheistsandchristians.com
Posted by Mike at 7:18 PM | Comments ()
October 9, 2007
No posts for months and then two music posts
No posts for months and then two music posts in a row.
Oh well, I guess that just means everything is as it should be.
I remember days of music being more than just the backdrop to my life. I fondly remember sitting for hours on end just listening to music...really listening to it! I listened to music because it could reach into the depths of my soul and touch places that I never even knew existed. I would sit and listen to the same album over and over and over, and once I was done, I would listen to it again. Somewhere I lost that passion.
I've written before about digital music and massive music libraries taking the focus off of individual albums. I think I've finally broken free of those chains. I've been listening more with headphones and they really help me focus on the music. I don't know if it's my ADD tendencies that, in the past, kept me switching from song to song to song, or what, but suddenly I have the ability to listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon and really appreciate it. Before I would have listened to the first 10 or 20 seconds of a song and then switched to the next one. Many albums over the years have told a story, and if one doesn't listen to the story as a whole something can be lost. It's like reading an abridged book, it totally bastardizes the intention of the artist who created it.
Today I read an "article" from Blender "magazine". It was titled The 40 Worst Lyricists In Rock and they had some interesting choices. They called one of my favorites, Sting, THE WORST LYRICIST EVER(All caps was them, not me.)
Of course they also have this at the bottom of their web site: "Top Artists: Britney Spears¦Paris Hilton¦Kayne West¦ Justin Timberlake¦Diddy¦Jay-Z¦Beyonce ¦ Jennifer Lopez ¦Michael Jackson¦50 Cent ¦Madonna¦R Kelly¦Fall Out Boy"
So take what these "journalists" write with a grain of salt.
If you enjoy music, listen to it. If you like a lyric, enjoy it. Don't listen to the sad, lonely souls that must be critical of everyone and everything just so they can feel better about themselves.
Music is only good if it moves you. If it moves you and only you it doesn't have to move anyone else...It has met it's goal. Enjoy it. Internalize it. Make it a part of you.
Posted by Mike at 7:40 PM | Comments (6)
October 6, 2007
Joni Mitchell - Shine - 2007
This summer Joni Mitchell released a new album, her first in 9 years.
I've listened to it quite a few times now and here are my impressions.
One Week Last Summer: This piece is gorgeous! I love the piano and the lush sound of the other instruments, synthesized though they may be. Bob Sheppard's alto sax compliments the surprisingly organic sounds of the synthesized instruments. She does a good job on the instrumentation though I would love to hear it with all real instruments. I love the recording of the piano, it sounds great!
This Place: That voice! Her voice is so expressive and unique. I never get tired of it. Her other instrumentation is every bit as unique and interesting as her guitar playing. This song has such a wide open arrangement, with the steel guitar reverberating in the back ground. It really gives you a feeling of open spaces.
If I Had A Heart: If I had a heart it would break at this song. Another beautiful, lush arrangement. The lyrics are haunting in these times of war and greed. Her phrasing is, as usual, wonderful. It's like her piano and vocals are performing a dance with the other instruments.
Hana: Wow! This track catches you off guard after the first three. I listen to all sorts of music, so combining elements from different genres is always interesting to me. The percussion sounds like it came from The Prodigy. With the slightly distorted kick drum, to the constant shaker it drives the song along nicely. Another gorgeous, lush arrangement, but this time interspersed with distorted sounds. Bob Sheppard's soprano sax sounds playful and jazzy at times. "Light the lamp."
Bad Dreams: "The cell phone zombies babble through the shopping malls" This song is a place of rest after Hana. While it is lush and peaceful, lyrically it may just fill your heart with despair. Haunting is the word I would choose to describe this one.
Big Yellow Taxi (2007): One wonders if she did this reworking of her classic tune to reclaim some ownership of it. Hearing this one there can be no doubt that it is hers. It's refreshing and organic, and it easily makes one forget the Amy Grant and Counting Crows versions of more recent years. She has such a wonderful knack for arrangements that you would never think would go with the lyrics, and this is such an arrangement. I'll never forget the version of Woodstock from Shadows And Light, it gave me the same feeling of a song being bourn anew. The message is as relevant today as when it was first released.
Night of The Iguana: Brian Blade's drums and Larry Klein's bass are the heartbeat of this one. The rest of the instrumentation is the blood. Joni's voice is the breath. You can visualize the scenes she paints with the brush of her words.
Strong and Wrong: Such a soft voice making such strong statements. Such emotion in the melodies, harmony, and instrumentation.
Shine: This song is basically a prayer and would be even without words. Sonically it reminds me of Sting's take on Little Wing from ...Nothing Like The Sun or Chick Corea and his Elektric Band II performing Space from the Paint The World album. Very open, peaceful and soothing. Like all the other songs on this album, it will make you think.
If: This song is probably the most radio friendly of the album, but that doesn't make it bad in any way. It's just more conventional in it's sound. It still has that lush, jazzy sound, but is more traditional in it's presentation. I've been listening to a lot of Steely Dan recently and this reminds me of some of their stuff. Pop with a jazz sensibility.
I highly recommend it.
Joni Mitchell - Shine at Amazon.com
Posted by Mike at 2:45 PM | Comments (7)
February 17, 2007
After today, consider me gone
Today while driving in my Car, listening to my iPod, which was plugged into my car stereo, it dawned on me that the concept of the killer CD that you can't stop listening to, may be dying.
Back in the day, one would buy an album on vinyl, cassette, or CD and, if it was good, they would play it till the record skipped, tape wore out, or CD froze up. Now we buy tracks, we may even buy whole CDs, but how often do we listen to the whole thing?
I know some people still do that, but I really don't. I create mammoth mixes of differing genres that can play for hours or days without repeating. The major downside of that, is that I don't know the songs by heart anymore.
The title of this post is a line from a Sting song Consider Me Gone, I knew it and the few other tracks from those CD's by heart. That was because I would be so enamored of them that I listened to them all the time, but that was also because I had done that with previous albums and grown tired of them. It was a cycle, buy a record, play it to death till the next one came out. Now, I know a line or two from a song, but usually, it gets played once and then I am off to listen to one of the other 13,336 tracks in my iTunes library. That's 40.2 days worth of fresh, non-repeating music.
I'm surprised I know any of the new songs at all!
Posted by Mike at 8:00 PM | Comments (4)
April 17, 2006
Easter Song
This has always been one of my favorite Easter songs. I was searching for the lyrics and found many, many copies with "hear" spelled as "here" and almost all of them were incorrectly attributed solely to Keith Green. Keith Green wrote an additional verse, but the original song was written by Annie Herring. Keith's version is the one I know best though. Here it is.
Easter Song - Annie Herring with an additional verse by Keith Green
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead
The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead
Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing, they're singing
Christ, He will reveal it now
The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus' power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour
Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah, hallelujah
The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead
Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
If you are curious about who Keith Green is, here is a link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Green
Posted by Mike at 7:00 AM | Comments (3)
November 27, 2005
Seasons of Love and Will I?
Below are some lyrics from Rent. The first is from the most popular song from the show, the last is from my favorite.
Seasons Of Love
COMPANY
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Moments SO Dear
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure - Measure A Year?
In Daylights - In Sunsets
In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches - In Miles
In Laughter - In Strife
In - Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life
How About Love?
How About Love?
How About Love?
Measure In Love
Seasons Of Love
Seasons Of Love
All
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Journeys To Plan
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure The Life
Of A Woman Or A Man?
SOLOIST #2
In Truths That She Learned
Or In Times That He Cried
In Bridges He Burned
Or The Way That She Died
ALL
It's Time Now - To Sing Out
Tho' The Story Never Ends
Let's Celebrate
Remember A Year In The Life Of Friends
Remember The Love
Remember The Love
Remember The Love
Measure In Love
SOLOIST #1
Measure, Measure Your Life In Love
ALL
Seasons Of Love...
Seasons Of Love .
Will I?
STEVE
Will I Lose My Dignity
Will Someone Care
Will I Wake Tomorrow
From This Nightmare?
GROUP #1
Will I Lose My Dignity
Will Someone Care
Will I Wake Tomorrow
From This Nightmare?
GROUP #2
Will I Lose My Dignity
Will Someone Care
Will I Wake Tomorrow
From This Nightmare?
GROUP #3
Will I Lose My Dignity
Will Someone Care
Will I Wake Tomorrow
From This Nightmare?
GROUP #4
Will I Lose My Dignity
Will Someone Care
Will I Wake Tomorrow
From This Nightmare?
Will I? Is sung in round form and is just gorgeous.
Posted by Michael Welsh at 5:18 PM | Comments (7)
November 21, 2005
Benjamin Payne
If you use iTunes, click this link.
I had no idea his music was available from the iTunes music store! How cool!
Posted by Michael Welsh at 10:37 PM | Comments (3)
July 9, 2005
Garageband 2 or Logic Express 7?
I love Garageband, I really do. I love it's simplicity, I love that I can make music that I like, in a fairly short amount of time. I love Garageband, but it has it's limitations, so I long for something more. Garageband was first released as part of Apple's $50 iLife suite, now iLife '05 is out, and Garageband 2 is included, it has some cool new features, but they want $80 for it. Now that doesn't seem like much of an upgrade path. I'm used to buying a software and then getting minor upgrades for free, which I did with Garageband, and major upgrades at a discount. Apple couldn't care less that someone bought iLife before, they will charge you full price to buy the upgrade. Now, it's not a $999 piece of software, so most people won't go broke upgrading, but it's not worth it to me, at this point. Maybe I'll upgrade when they release Garageband 3.
In the meantime, I've been looking at the $300 Logic Express 7, it's the lighter version of the $1000 Logic Pro 7. Logic Express 7 added a lot of the functionality of Garageband, it can import Garageband projects and it uses the same loop library as well as the same synth instruments. Now that I have said all that, let me state the following. Logic Express 7 is NOT Garageband 2, it works completely differently and you will have to learn a new program. I'm playing with the Logic Express 7 Demo, so I know of what I speak. That said, Logic seems to be a very solid and powerful program, I'm just not sure if I want to start so close to square one. If I buy it and don't like it, I'm out $300 I shouldn't really spend anyway. I can play with the demo for 29 more days, Let's see what it can do. I will probably just end up staying with Garageband for now, and not even upgrading to Garageband 2.
I guess what I really want is Garageband Pro, something that looks and works just like Garageband, but with more power and more features. Come on Apple, step up to the plate!
Posted by Michael Welsh at 9:33 PM | Comments ()
July 1, 2005
New Uploads of My Music
Good evening! I received a comment from Rob. He's put together a monthly collection of music that he finds on MacIdol. It's called My Best Of Collection. To my great and pleasant surprise, he's putting one of my pieces in the August listing. I'm quite flattered. The August issue isn't out as of this posting, but the current issue has some very nice music. Check out MidiOrleans, very nice arrangements. The works by Pan are pretty amazing too.
Oh yeah, and you can check out my music at the link below.
Posted by Michael Welsh at 7:10 PM | Comments (2)