Smalltown Poets: Christmas Time Again

Band: Smalltown Poets

Album: Christmas Time Again

Genre:  Modern Rock with an acoustic underbelly.  Christmas Songs.

Release: Pledge Music November 25 2014

Quick Spin.  Genre bending.  A Christmas album and audio extravaganza that somehow manages to wed Christmas sensibility across several centuries.  There are times I hear the 1714’s catapulted to the now.   Decidedly sacred in focus, Christmas Time Again features some of the standards, a few obscure carols, and a handful of self-penned songs that are the equal of any ancient carol.  Outstanding musicality throughout.

Smalltown Poets are: Michael Johnston: vocals, guitars; Kevin Breuner: guitars; Miguel De Jesus: bass, guitars; Byron Goggin: drums, vocals; and Danny Stephens: keyboards and vocals.   (I am not going to list the cast but it is also obvious that there are lots of folks on other instruments from the cello to the panavox…an instrument developed in the 2020s.

  

Oh the wonder of Pledge Starter.  I “ordered” this disk some months back, followed the band as they put out newsy and sometimes cheesy stuff about the ongoing production (even wondered if they would make it.) then found the disk neatly in my mailbox on the delivery date. 

I was first made aware of Smalltown Poets what must be nearly twenty? years ago.  They have been off my radar for some years.  This represents something of a “reunion” disk as former members got together to ignite that old sound.  (Note:  the hiatus has not been that long, turns out I missed a disk or two including a 2011 Christmas album!)    For the initiated, Smalltown Poets are (or were) a modern rock band of Christian conviction.  I place them in the same box in which I store Jars of Clay, the Normals, and the Waiting.  (There are times the lead vocalist Michael Johnston sounds remarkably like Dan Hasteltine of Jars of Clay, but with a slightly rougher edge.  What made Smalltown Poets remarkable (given their compare with some very talented bands) was their spiritual desperation and authenticity.  Their first album will always play a special place in my heart, in that I sensed the band or lead singer was coming face to face with temptation, spiritual depravity, and our utter need of redemption.  That, and a certain choral/chimey sound I associate with the band.   When I listen to Small Town Poets I often have the sense of all the members singing vigorously… in a sea of chimes.

But back to the project at hand.

What does Smalltown bring to the table that warrants another Christmas disk?  A:  A deep commitment to the musical process, play - risk - sensitiviity --  and that same vulnerability of spirit which marks their early cannon.

I don’t know just how long it took Poets to record this album, but I have a sense it was on the order of many months.  And it shows up… in the layering, in the musical dallies and experiments, the multiple audio pallets.  You can tell these guys had a lot of fun.  They rock, they contemplate, they turn on a dime.  Christmas Time Again somehow manages to fuse musical idioms seldom joined:  Blue Grass, space music, 90s grunge and chamber music.   And what attention to sonic detail!

This may be an odd comparison.   Just a few weeks ago I watched the absolutely astonishing sci-fi move, Interstellar.  Interstellar plays with the idea of Pan-time (an idea that has been part of the Christian narrative for millennia, as we understand God to be a being outside of time.)

So what’s he connection?  Christmas Time Again is forged in “Pan Time.”   It contains elements that span from medieval Europe to Dickens to Kentucky 1920  to 2020… or something like that.   And it is not just that one song has this flavor… and another, another – Some songs span the distance with all the elements all at once!   Talk about whack… what a jarring an marvelous mash of sounds in the Wassil Song. And man, do I ever dig those spacey choral elements.

Of the offerings, at least ¾ are traditional carols or hymns.  A few more are songs that we have never heard and at least two are self-penned. The Song “This Day in Bethlehem, co-written by M. Johnson and D. Stephens captures the full marvel of Christmas – as an event outside of time, culminating in a great rescue act.  It belongs in our hymn books right beside Silent Night and Oh Come all ye Faith.

As for tradition.  My favorites: Patapan and Sing We  Now of Christmas. Man, I did love that musical mashing.  Sounds like old times.

Should I have any criticism of the disk it might be this.   Poets are at their pinnacle when they write their own music, or go all wonky with traditional tunes.  But there are few remakes of iconic standards that just sounded like modern noise adaptations.  Not many.  Just two.  Or maybe one.   And Now I wish I hadn’t said that. (Cause I think if I listened to it really loud, it would suddenly shimmer.

So, final word.  This is one to crank.  May not work for Grandma’s ears, unless she is really hip.  These guys paid attention to the details.   They had fun, they loved God and loved us by giving so richly of their musical talents and idiosyncrasies. 

Thanks guys, you blessed my ears… and thumped my heart  I feel captured by the marvel of it all.   I am so glad to be part of your community of support.  I heartily endorse this album!

The Last Bison: VA - Album review by Kirk

Album: VA     (Virginia)

Band: The Last Bison

Genre: Indie Jamboree Parlor Jazz  (Describing this stuff is half the trick)
Release: September 2014

VA (Virginia) : I see what you did here.

Quick Spin:  VA,  Depending how you count, this is either The Last Bison's second or fifth recording (two of the five count are EPs, while one of the long plays is a rougher hewn "pre disk" that was massaged into their first major release.  As for me... I count this as three point five. And how sweet it is.  Kinda what you might hear if Vincent Van Gogh could sing while painting the Aurora Borealis over the Chesapeake Bay while riding an antique big-wheeled bike through the parlor of Thoreau..  (If that didn't make any sense, you are just gonna have to listen for yourself.)  

The Last Bison are: Dan, Teresa, Ben, Annah, Amos, and Joel

For the unacquainted, The Last Bison is a multi-instrumentalist troupe (comprised of family members and friends) who together, weave sounds both elegant and jarring, round the continent-of-a-voice that is Ben Hardesty.  This is a band that should be heard live… but if not, this album is like stepping into a sonic sunrise.

It goes without saying that people who make music like to listen to sounds, but then, not all music is about sound in the same way.  When I think of the Last Bison, I think of a band that is simply in the love with the very color of sound, then twining those vibrant hues together in a deep aural tapestry.  

Stylistically, The Last Bison share common elements with the Lumineers, Mumford and sons, and now a little more of Eisley.  That is, they work from a largely acoustic palette and sometimes sing together like pirates,  but have -- with VA -- opened up to the prospect of electricity and Steinways.   Even so, I am worried that those comparisons may not really give you a sense of the vitality, range and imagination of this music.

(hear some TLB here:)   or see and hear here.

As is, I wrote a longer review  of the Last Bison’s earlier albums, Quill and Inheritance, so if you are wholly unacquainted with the band, you can get somesense of them here…But no words of mine are really adequate to describe this band’s unique approach to sound and voice.

And now it is that much more uniquer…

The album VA takes the same recipe that made their earlier works so lively, but now drives the sound in a slightly different direction.    The band has described its earlier music as Fall-Winter, this as Summer-Spring.   (I guess these guys are not from Arkansas where we think of summer as sweating in front of you air conditioner.)

But I get the picture.   More color, more fluid,  more May-poles and picnics…slightly less jagged yet full of texture and turns. The strings paint rivers, and singer Ben Hardesty still manages to throw in a heavy dose of bull elk, But what’s this… Could it be a jazz singer under those Viking horns?  And Oh… who is this female vocalist I hear climbing into more of the mix?  (I simply love the haunting female vocal at the end of “End View.”)  

When I hear the last Bison, I really do hear paintings.   Perhaps it is the shtick… The Last Bison dress like they just came from the Little House... and pull instruments from the great frontier… So naturally,  When I listen to older works I see Moran… Yellowstone… French Fur traders etc.   This time… More like Degas or Van Gough…  Laughing French girls in their bloomers or high hated men riding bicycles and smoking cigars at the circus. The whole is just a little more civilized… But not tame.  Never tame.

for illustration:  Barn Dance by Clyde Singer

Truth is, I am hearing something akin to jazz.  Not the instruments, but the freedom.  Ben’s voice is all over the place: Barking, bending swooning, pulsing between hyper masculine and falsetto.  The strings too dip and swoon.  Chimes, bells, jubilant bombast   And now with added electric bass and piano. Some of the aural-scapes are downright expansive.

It may be harder… if the Last Bison continue in this trajectory to keep their old school look.  Certain songs here call for togas, tights and laurels in the hair.

I haven’t said much yet about the lyrics.  That is because the lyrics are about as impressionistic as the music style.  They kind of make sense when I hear them… then I read them and think… That doesn’t make a lick of sense.   So I am content to hear the words and phrases as snatches that kind of feed into a larger aural dream.   I hear of roots, and tattooed lashes.. deep molasses…eternal light… I hear too of a calling card beyond this world.   “All who are weary, come lay your burdens down.”  (My personal fave.)

It is strange to listen to a music where I am not as aware of specific content… but when I come away, I feel gladdened and refreshed… and alive with life.   Like I have just come from a good swim.  Unburdened.

And then there is that final song… so plaintive so simple and filled with beauty and grace.  The album just ends with a sigh.. and way too soon.

I will be honest, VA took me a few more listens than might be standard to climb onto my Best music in the History of the World – list.   Why?  Because the compositions are just complex enough that it takes a while to cut grooves through this aging grey mass.  I will also agree with another reviewer who found this album only gets better as you get farther in.  I highly suspect that the second track “Every time” with its swelling chorus, will get the airtime (If such a thing exists anymore.) but it is the freeform latter half of VA that just dazzles my sense of music.  How do people even hear this stuff inside their heads?

At this point, I really don’t know where to go.  Other people have written better reviews. (Sample 1:Daily Press)  (Sample 2: PopMatters)  But I am listening and cannot think too much.  I am listening to the song called Sleep, and moonlight and shadows and curtains are pouring thru my soul and my heart is too in love with the sounds to pay much attention to what I write.

Ps.  I almost forget.   As a kind of fringe friend of the Band (Members stayed in my house a couple years back when they hit Wackarusa, an Arkansas based hippy-fest)  and having shared back and forth on Facebook, they asked if I might supply a photographic illustration for the lyric book that goes with this album.   So happens the song “Come What May”  is a song about siblings.   So I furnished a picture of my two neighbor boys, fraternal twins Matthew and Neil.   And this is what I came up with for the book.  (The book I now have, but cannot find on your web page:)

Thank you Bison….. for making my brain such a fun place to live.  You have filled me with good sounds.

Joanne Hogg - Uncountable Stars

Artist: Joanne Hogg

Album: Uncountable Stars

Release: August 2014

Quick Spin:   I keep rewriting this little quick spin, cause I want to get it right.  What can I say?  This treasure of an album by UK vocalist Joanne Hogg is so utterly tender and lovely and good … even at times vivacious, that I feel like a portion heaven has been downloaded into my heart.   Were it in my means, I would buy this disk for everyone I love, and whom I would want to know the extravagant love of the Eternal Groom.  I am swooning within.

 *****

Do you ever open an album (or a trifold CD) literally jittery with excitement, because the PACKAGING  itself is just so lovely.  I am not sure how mere cover-art did it, but the before I ever heard a sound I knew that something here is -- or will be  -- extra magical.  (I don't mean to scare anyone with the ‘magic” word… I should say extra-ordinary glory spangled!)

First,  a Kingfisher… in suggested spray, which in turn, looks like the stars echoed in the album title:  Uncountable Stars.

Then I open the fold and spy the title poem.

Gazing Up at

Uncountable Stars

Unimaginable Glory

Unfathomable Mercy

Unconditional Love

Unhindered Freedom

Uncontainable Joy

Undeserved Favor

I am

Undone under the Unfailing

Arms of God

There’s is something in those very words that warms my heart like a love letter… I haven’t even heard a note, and I am already primed for rainbows round the throne room. 

As is, I own the larger body of Joanne Hogg’s works, most in her association with the band Iona.  I also own a couple of her solo works, so I kind of know what to expect when she sings with her band, or how her presentation changes when she sings solo…I am expecting something, minor, sober, elegant, refined and pensive…decidedly acoustic, build on a foundation of classical piano.

I start the disk…

What’s this?  

Utter surprise.

Waiting….

Wonked out.

          Yes.

This is working.

Really really working.

Sheer extra-ordinary glory saturated sounds… but with a MUCH different feel than anything I have heard sculpted by Joanne’s gifted vocal chords.


The music has all the sophistication and beauty I would expect, but it is charged.  Like  -- with electricity.  (Literally and Metaphorically).   I am hearing passion …  and play, Beauty with a capital B… even something bold and strident.   Can we use the world Amorous?   I am not sure I will get the right string of adjectives, because the moods and vocal approaches from song to song vary substantially, and  I would have to make a list for each song.

Ps.  I am writing this live, even as I listen.  I just hit track 8, Mountain of Debris… and I am stunned.   My mind is racing with all kinds of visual images.  Surreal images, dark and swirling… I want to use this track for a time lapse… I see images of deserts and death… and healing and things which are broken coming together… but mostly., there is one big idea hidden here, and behind these many tunes.

I am hearing in each song, saturating this disk… the extravagant mercy of God.

--

Not sure I want to do a song by song evaluation, and I am hoping there are places you can go to sample this music if you are unfamiliar.

But let me cut to the chase.

This album offers things I have never heard before. (Sometimes in Joanne, sometimes ever)

First... New vocal treatments, sometimes brassy or charming... the softness is still here, but with all kinds of new colors in this collage.

Another reviewer compared the tilt in sound on a few tracks to something like "Florence and the Machine."  I hear that edge, but I hear too, billow clouds.. and a track the feels almost Indian) 

The poetry is earth bound (anchored in creation) but fused with heaven too.

The writing is first rate.  transparent, with flourishes of concrete detail.

The styles are genre defying, ranging from jazzy ballads to ambient pop to stage-musical  (Most of the tunes are asymmetrical, (meaning they don't follow a traditional verse chorus verse chorus style.)

I am hearing a freedom of expression I have never heard in Joanne before.  

I feel all glowy inside. 

There are some things (in the world in general) which are powerful, but not good.  This album is potent, amorous, sensory … and baptized in goodness.

I feel held.

This may be the best album in the history of the world.   (Make that in the top 20 anyway.)

--

Not much of a review.  But you get the picture.

Ps.  Now hearing second to last track.  Lay down.   Oh Oh my.  This is silky gorgeous.   I suspect it may just be a "regular love song"  but I hear in it kind a double edged application.  I have in my life heard many songs sung to Jesus.   And I have heard many more love songs sung by men and women to each other.

Now I have heard a song that sounds like Jesus singing to me.  (No Gender confusion here. I hear Joanne as the Male, and me  -- the male --  as the bride.)  I am wearing white, and we have just been married and Jesus is taking me on a picnic.   (Okay, that sounded weird….)

--

Now on about my fifth listen.  Hearing new things each time.   There is a darker hue to some of these songs than I heard in the initial listen.   New impression... A soul, waking out of heavy season of soul, into glorious light and freshness.

Ps. Ps.  I was going to say more about the writing, but I have already loaned out my disk.

Itunes: for sampling.. though best to order the disk from Jo directly.

Home: Kim Walker Smith and Skyler Smith: an album review by Kirk

Artists:  Kim Walker-Smith and Skyler Smith  (wife and husband)

Album: Home (2013) Jesus Culture Music.

Genre:  Adult-contemporary with a neo-folk edge.    Home is rightly described as a Christian worship album, but if you listened without hearing the words, you might first hear it as a series of passionate love songs...And it indeed it is......aimed straight out of this world into the next.

My recent discovery of the music of Kim Walker Smith is a bit like Columbus discovering America.   I thought I had made a big discovery… but a whole lot of folks living on the continent already knew she was there.   ((And now... a couple of weeks later, I am simply shaking my head... How could I NOT have known about KWS..  Now, this review sounds kind of ignorant.:))

I confess, when I picked up the album “Home” by the married couple,  Kim Walker Smith and her husband Skyler Smith, I had never heard of either person (nor of  Jesus Culture Music)    All I knew is that the cover art said “This could be music you"ll like”  --  and it was on sale.

There is this adage, never judge a book by its cover. I thoroughly reject said advice, as I find the cover is part of what makes a book enjoyable.  Same goes for music.   Great music in a bad package is less good in total, and average music with a great cover is a tad bit better, as the package frames the experience.   But that is a different idea.

I bought Home, because the cover, featuring a couple on the porch of a country home… looked kind of arty and smart, minimalistic and rootsy.  I saw a subliminal nod to the painting “American Gothic.”   I liked the guy’s glasses… (they are kind of like mine.)   Beyond that,  I thought the female looked ever so lovely with her straight blond hair, minimal makeup  and Laura Ashley dress…  Her pensive look suggested this music might be thoughtful and restrained, while her dark roots under the blonde, suggested the possibility of an indie vibe :)

I was about 69 percent right. 

Smart, yes.   Restrained.  Sort of.    Rootsy. Just a touch.

Some folks might call this folk, but that would be a stretch.   The  instrumentation highlights strong piano throughout and includes dallies with instruments like the banjo and cello… but  the sound is just too big for folk and too "rockless” for pop.  All in all, the sound is what I call “Adult contemporary with a real-music underbelly.”  Or something like that.

And though the music throughout is excellent, that is not what drives Home over the top.

    

First, there is that voice.

Hers.  And His.   Of the two, hers is the knockout punch.  But there is chemistry when these two twine other that is simply magic.

(I am not sure if this is good form, but if you want to hear Kim and Skyler sample this Youtube upload: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-thXGxaCN8

When I think of couples who stand out in duet I think of Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright (With You I am Born Again), or… in more current terms… the music of Joy Williams and John Paul White (The Civil Wars) or Glen Hassard and Marketa Irglova (from the movie Once.)   These couples tap something primeval in the human soul. 

As is, I think Skyler sounds a little like the lead singer of Cold Play, or maybe Glen Hassard, (soft, earthy, heartfelt.)  however,  Kim does not sound like Merrketa.   Not a difference in beauty or skill, but a difference in volume and vibe.  Kim simply belts power and tenderness and passion.  I might even call hers a “Diva” voice, but it is without the saccharine silliness or sensual vibrato of many of our current sirens.   Perhaps it is the message, but her voice just sounds powerful and pure.  Like a river, out of the city of God….

All of which is a set up for the greatest strength of Home.

Home is a worship album.  It it not so much intended to be listened to, but to be listened with. Home reaches deepest when we (whatever our vocal skills) jump in the seat and drive with Kim and Skyler as fellow worshipers.   It took a few listened to have these tunes soak into my being, but it time, I was there with them, before the throne.

(Thoughts on the major themes: to be developed.)

Thank you.

I noted at the beginning that Kim is already known by a lot of folks. I had no idea just how many, but a quick survey on Youtube shows that Kim has been a vital leader in live, dynamic church worship for some time.and affiliated with a group called Jesus Culture*   In fact, if we looked at the number of videos in which KWS is  a part, then multiplied those videos by the number of folks who have watched them, we may find is that Kim is one of the most loved Jesus singers ever.   So what do I know.

You can hear a body of her work here:   (As is, I seldom listen to Christian radio, as I find much of it intolerable.   So I miss some things.  Vital things.  (but not much?)

I am also surprised that the Kim I hear on Youtube and the Kim I hear on Home, are slightly different women.   Kim on Youtube is sheer tidal wave of energy and passion.   Home shows Kim in somewhat quieter mode. Still powerful, but restrained.    There is even the hint of majesty.  (Note: Syler and Kim are much aware of how this music differs from Kim's larger body of work.  See their thoughts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_br5RS5O07U#t=91

I suspect, given the compound name (Walker Smith) and the dominance of the Kim Walker name on Youtube, that "Smith" may be a more recent addition to Kim’s world.   But that union seems to have infused a maturity and beauty to what was already a passionate world.

--

There is one more thing I wanted to write about this album that I may regret later for its candor.  I hope it is not unseemly, but it is just what came to mind when I heard the song the Relentless Pursuit...

There is probably no more humbling and sublime words that a groom might hear from his beloved than “Do with me as you will.”   These are not words of licentiousness… but surrender in a climate of absolute trust (the groom will only ask that which is good. ) There are moments in this album that suggest that level of intimacy between us, the bride,  and Christ our eternal groom.  This is an invitation to be ravaged by the lover of our souls, with full confidence that our undoing will be our greatest gain.

Ps.  I heartily recommend this album.


---

Addendum:

In searching around the internet, I came across one group (Appraising Ministries) that is critical of the Jesus Culture (as a ministry) and the larger church community in which Kim Walker Smith and her husband operate.  I questioned whether I should even note the criticism, but I want to be rigorous, honest with self, and careful of what I put into my heart.   (The Critics of Kim Walker Smith work from a Reformed perspective, and  take issue with the strong Charismatic foundations of Jesus Culture and the Smith's  supporting church.)  As is, I am neither equipped, nor eager to get into that debate, but I will confess that I too am wary of things I have seen in the signs and wonders circles.    But here is the rub.   At what point, or upon what issues should I,  as a "patron of the arts" or as a consumer of gospel music, break ranks with others over very real differences in doctrine or ethos?  I suspect each person will have to make up his mind on where he draws his boundary lines.   I know for instance,  that I thoroughly enjoy and am deeply ministered to, by the works of Roman Catholic troubadour, John Michael Talbot.   I also know that I am critical of Roman Catholic theology at foundational points.  As for content, I do sometimes hear things in the music of JMT with which I might differ, but by an large his music is such that I, as a son of the Reformation, find deep nurture and common ground.  The same would apply to this music.   I simply do not hear anything in the music as presented that should cause me to pause.  Indeed, I hear things in this music that should be common ground for all who seek to love God with heart and mind.    So, while I will keep the concerns of Appraising Ministries before my eyes, I stand firmly behind my initial recommendation.

Arthur Wachnick and Let Us Run (before God in our Linen Ephod) review by Kirk

ARtist: Arthur Wachnik

Album: Let Us Run

(Limited Time Noise Trade Download)

released 4/11/2014

Mano Mano… another Noisetrade home run.

I love the happiness my ears feel when they discover something new,  and (given the dynamics of a marketplace without center)  might not ever encounter-- Then (given the magnetic super talent collecting arms of Noisetrade)  I am floored by artistry that is just part of another planet.

This week’s hyper-delicious  serendipitus astonistastic release belongs to Arthur Wachnik  -- and like I said, I've never heard of the guy.

But I will now.   A lots.

In as much as you can listen to the samples just like I did, and determine if this feeds your ear and heart, I won't wax extravagant except to say… Let us Run is an audio playland and a living Psalm.

For just a quick sample check out "Selah" on the Noisetrade link.

As it is, I keep thinking... Hmm.  I have heard this voice.   Sounds like something my daughter owns.  Then I read another review, and they intimated "Ben Folds" and I thought, yup.  Getting close.   Same kind of zinninesss and vocal dexterity.   (and if it looks like I cannot spell, or that I am making up  words, I am, because this work just has that kind of flexiness.

I am hearing Broadway, Gypsy, zydeco, grunge, 80s titan-voice punk  jazz, swing, Klezmer, and Gospel themes all rolled into one swagwanimous-phantom opperatus volley of praise.   There are times when Arthur's voice sounds modern (ie, kind of nervy),  then other times smooth as glass, yet other times like a Vaudeville singalong.

I don’t know how Arthur is making this music (how much is synthesized, how much of it is session players, how much is talented friends, or  how much he plays himself  but I am hearing loads of instruments, and all kinds of audio experimentation with nods to eastern Europe.   (Third listen in ... man, the strings are so smooth and shadowy like rainbow colored smoke... or something like that.)

But most of all, I am hearing creative abandon as Arthur – like David – dances in his *underwear" before the Arc. 

So, give this a listen, and see if you too are not blown away by the sheer fun of lifting hands, swaying, or jigging it up before the throne of God.

Thank you Arthur!

Ps.  You can parts of Arthur’s first album here.

Water-Sky album review and Winter-Sky tour announcement featuring Phil Keaggy and Jeff Johnson

Water Sky Album Review (Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy)

Winter Sky Tour announcement  

Artists:   Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy

Album: Water-Sky

Genre:  New-Coustic  (New Age, experimental jazz, instrumental)

(late summer 2012)

Quick Spin:  a simply extraordinary  sonic treat from two of our planet’s premier instrumentalists (when they are not singing) who, together have crafted an intimate -- somewhat brooding and minor --  sometimes  quiet and colorful, shimmering and bold, audio diary of a “Place.”   

WaterSky is something of a follow-up to the duo’s first collaborative work, Frio Suite, and draws on the same recipe and place.   (You can read my review of that work here.)

Before I get on with my album review I want to interrupt with a commercial

Kirk Jordan’s Bucket list (abridged)

1) Take a tornado/selfie combo picture, presumably with the cone over my shoulder.

2) Eat Thai food in Thailand.

3) Figure out how to map biblical predestination and free-will.

4) Give a grandkid a shoulder ride.   (First things first,  a daughter or two to be wed etc.)

5) Hear Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy together in concert.

--

Songbird at Midnight: The Legacy of Fanny Crosby; Amanda Noel

Album: Songbird at Midnight  (The Legacy of Fanny Crosby; Vol 1)
Artist:  Amanda Noel (vocalist)  with husband Jonathan and friends.
Song Craft: Fanny J. Crosby 1820-1915

Genre:  Christian Hymns as written by Fanny Crosby, recast with modern country and adult contemporary production.  (Compares with similar re-hymn efforts by the Indelible Grace Group.)

Switchfoot Switches Feet: Fading West, album review

Artist/Band: Switchfoot (w. Jon Foreman frontman)
Album: Fading West

Genre: techno, singing pirate, effervescent power-pop , indie rock – or something like that.

Release: Jan 14, 2014

Authors Note:  There is small part of me that does not want to be associated with Switchfoot anything.  As a man of advancing age, who has yet to surf and who thinks Jon Denver represents the pinnacle of pop music,  I am afraid I may loose curmudgeonly credibility if I sometimes listen to music that might be played on the radio.  This is not my music.  Except.   Well, Saturdays when I need music to overpower the vacuum or shake the cobwebs from the corners.  (Nothin like being found with  air guitar in one hand, dust rag in the other!)

Charlie Peacock: Lemonade

Artist: Charlie Peacock

Album: Lemonade.  (Digital Only)  Itunes and Amazon.
release: Jan 2.2014

Genre:  Solo Piano, improvisational jazz

Quick Spin: Charlie Peacock, sans Charlie Peacock.

Beautiful, surprising, and somewhat plaintive piano dallies (though not always)  --  from ever the ever-altering  singer-songwriter, producer, and performer --  Charlie Peacock.

In my house, Charlie Peacock is a household word.

For those already familiar with Charlie Peacock’s jazz hands, this stripped down piano offering is no surprise.  We have heard Charlie go voiceless in his 2005 release Love Ex-Curio  featuring a small riotous ensemble, followed by Arc of the Circle (2009) an improvisational “dialogue” with Jazz sax-man Jeff Coffin.

And now here’s Charlie, stripped of  sax, budget, interplay,  and  electric gizmos. While I did hear one hummy-thing that might not have been a broken piano string, this is about as immediate as it gets.

I count among my instrumental piano library, music by these key-bangers: Duke Ellington,  Liz Story, George Winston, Douglas Trowbridge (aka:   Richard Souther ) Phillip Aabegg, Tom Howard, Jeff Johnson,  David Arkenstone, Ken Medema,  and others.  This is probably the Jazziest of the lot  (excluding Duke -- but  that is jazz of a different timbre) and  shares in common traits with at least two of my faves, Liz Story and Ken Medema   In short, I hear the complex melancholy tones of Liz, delivered with the improvisational flourish of Ken Medema.

(Charlie points to some of his own influences here.)

Forgive me as a non-musician for trying to describe something in layman’s terms, but the thing that makes this recording stand out:  Timing.

Intricate,  tripping and balanced….cascading feather-flourish to slow, turning on a dime….poly rhythmic…  or single finger  --- I am looking for words.  In short,  I have the sense that time-signatures are flying all over the place, but Charlie never falls down.

Ps.

I cannot hope to explain what you can readily hear for yourself (ie, the short clips provided by I-tunes or Amazon – except to say, Please listen.

This is authentic, creative, skilled and emotive music, most worthy of a larger audience.   And how do we grow that audience.  One ear at a time.

Warren Barfield: Redbird; Album review by Kirk

Artist: Warren Barfield
Album: Redbird
Release Date:  Oct 12, 2012
Genre: Neo-folk, southern fried country without the twang.

Quick spin: Lone guy on a guitar or with small ensemble -- muscled baritone, singing gospel-colored story songs about growing up southern fried. No direct voice comparison, but his delivery shares qualities in common with to James Taylor, Pierce Pettis, Tim O'brien, Marc Cohn, maybe even John Mayer.

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I have a theory about bargain bins. They hold the worst… and the very best the music that the world has to offer. Actually found this on Ebay for a buck. Never heard of the guy. Liked the art and the description, took the gamble. Won big time.

Turns out Warren is not a new kid on the block, this would be his fourth album. Also turns out, after reading some reviews, this album represents a turning point for Warren, one that may loosen some of his fan base, even as it adds new followers.

In short, Warren started out with a denser sound, sort of a countrified adult contemporary Nashville fare.  I read that his first album scored strong air play, even as he teamed with a contemporary Christian group Need to Breath, and (or then) recorded a song that was used in the indie/Christian film “Fireproof.”  (Sample)

Since purchasing Redbird, I have started listening  to Warren’s older work. For me, it's a mixed bag… Songs range from: "Oh my, how did I miss this"… to …"that was for someone else."

As it is, there are bucket loads of extremely talented people associated with CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) industry of Nashville, but the place readily suffers from an insular sound. I have come to view the CCM label as the kind of thing you don’t want to be saddled with, even if you are extremely talented – and a Christian singing in a contemporary context!  With Redbird, Warren leaves any vestiges of CCM formula music behind. (good luck getting most of this heard on the radio:)  This album represents a dynamic shift toward the kind of music I thoroughly enjoy: stripped down singer-songwriter artistry of the highest order.

The character of his voice is different, but I would readily compare the “new” warren with another southern Folk-master, Pierce Pettis.

Songs.

Redbird opens with a song that seems at once ancient… and modern.  They lyrics to The Time is Now are chiseled and direct, the voice like rugged oak.    The chorus (make that choral groups calls to mind cotton fields, chain gangs or the black church...with old women in white hats (or something like that.)





I cut my teeth, on the back of an old church pew
I learned to walk in the ways of light and truth
And I was told not to speak til I was spoken to
I heard it preached, what I should and I should not do
And the choir sang
Woh oh oh oh oh oh oh Woh oh oh oh oh oh oh



Listen between the lines and see if you don’t hear…Martin Luther King, Atticus Finch, or  thousand others who have stood their ground in the face of the boot.



The remaining songs trace a small body of heart-felt themes: Some bright and sing-along, some darker hued, even Faulkneresque.

If I were to choose a theme for Redbird it would be this.  Sticking it out.

Sticking it out in the face of injustice, sticking it out in a climate of short term love, even sticking it out when the world might crush our delight in the indwelling God.   (This albums themes  run horizontal, but that last one is strongly implied.  It is the indwelling God who grants us the power to endure.


My favorites:

The bold opener – The Time is Now, followed by the genuinely lovely Red Bird, the darker-toned Love Does -- the concrete, detailed, heart-teaching ballad anchored in the life and enduring spirit of Warren’s Grandparents, They Don't Make'em Like They Used To -- and the outrageously gorgeous duet “Once You Find Love.” Truth is, you can read a much better description of each song and probably the whole album here (but then it wouldn't be my review.)




Short form: God working through Ebay… led me to this treasure, and I wanted you to know about. My ear is open.   Thanks Warren for taking this risk.  I deeply appreciate it.

Jars of Clay: Inland

Note:  10/5/13:   I wrote the bulk of this review before I discovered  Dan Hasteltine's personal Blog.  (Dan is the lead singer and front-man for the band Jars of Clay.)  That blog clearly spells out that Dan is in a different place - What he calls a "middle space" with respect to his spiritual pilgrimage.   So take my comments below in the context of my first exposure to Inland, sensing that this album signals an identity shift for the band, but not knowing much of the personal context of the recording.  Should I write this review today, I suspect I would hear the album differently, then grapple with what it means to be "in a middle space."



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This review consists of three parts.  1)  A review of the album Inland, by Jars of Clay, followed by 2) a review of the Jars of Clay Little Rock performance on September 10, 2013. Followed by a little 3) summary guess work.

Band: Jars of Clay

Album: Inland

Release: August 2013

Genre: Accousta-Art-Rock of a surprisingly melodic character.

Quick Spin.

Inland, by Jars of Clay is mini “indie rock” masterpiece, drenched in gorgeous melody and impressionistic lyrics of a personal hue.   My ears are fully delighted.  Perhaps the only thing I am working with is "how to hear" what I am hearing.  This has more to do with who Jars is (or are?) historically.  For almost twenty years Jars has operated under the umbrella of the Contemporary Christian Music novelty market.   With Inland, Jars actively sheds the last trappings of  CCM world. It will be interesting to see if their traditional fan base is good for the ride into new territory.

Inland borrows its name from a line out of Homer’s Odyssey in which "Odysseus is told that his adventures will end and he will finally be at peace when he travels inland carrying the oar of his ship to a point where people have never seen the sea or a boat, and mistake the oar for a winnowing fan use to separate grain from chaff."

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik (not related to this album) gives this insight to the Oar Metaphor: 

In other words, he reaches a place where people are totally oblivious of the world he inhabits and all ideas that are familiar to him seem unfamiliar to them.

What is the story trying to tell us? It informs us that what seems so familiar and important to us -- the sea and the ship in case of Odysseus -- mean nothing to people in other parts of the world. So vast is the universe. The oar is most critical to Odysseus to survive the seas. But it makes no sense to those inland who have never even heard of the sea. What is critical to one is not critical to another.

Now I am not quite sure if this is what the band is chasing with the title, but it certainly could mean that the Jars are given to a quest where the old language and delivery no longer make sense.  So -- New territory, intelligent music wed to personal, poetic, if not somewhat baffling lyrics. I love this album, but am still trying to figure out “how to think about it.” Perhaps I will have to hear it with some other organ.

This is Jars of Clay’s 11 studio album; the first on their own indie-label. (Gray Matter)    Fans and critics alike have noted: Jars of Clay, as a band just keeps mutating (while keeping pretty much the same folks.)  No two albums chase the same vibe;  Just when you think have pegged the band, they alter the spice and veer some new audio or thematic direction.   Jars = variation within continuity.   Sometimes those changes reflect the fact that Jars has their ear to what other folks are doing, sometimes Jars are the very fount of innovation.  In my mind people should be talking about who sounds like Jars of Clay; however it would be impossible not to note the dept that Jars  owes to bands like Cold Play, Mute Math, the Killers, the Beatles,  Death Cab for Cutie, and Toad Wed Sprocket.   (On a personal level, I am calling this my second favorite Jars of Clay Album, just slightly behind my all time favorite "Much Afraid.")

As is, there are certain things that make any Jars' album a Jars' album.   First there is lead singer Dan Haseltine’s plaintive, nervy, high, melodic -- even desperate voice.   Then there are those highly rhythmic, complex compositions, colored in the stuff of Appalachia, movie soundtracks, and Vivaldi.  Finally, there is a core commitment that the band has a being God's workmanship – even jars made of clay.   “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”    (from the bible book of Corinthians.)  So there you have it... God showcasing his glory in weak human vessels.)

A question I now ask (and will think through as we go is, "Are Jars of Clay still the same band that it was (or they were) when they recorded their first highly-regarded and self titled album some years ago?"  Are  they a band who might write and sing "Flood"  or" Love Song for a Savior"  -- Are they still vessels holding blessed treasure.   Or something else?



Quick take.   Yes.

That is, I have strong reasons to believe that they are still fundamentally "Jars"  -- But different.  This may take a bit to flesh out -- But know this, the sacred/secular dichotomy is nothing new.  Bach, a man who worked unto God with great awareness, created a large body of work, some for the church, some for the dinner party. He saw nothing inconsistent with giving God glory through the full range of his expressions, even those intended to get the people mincing, under the spell of fine wine.

As a “sound” Inland is an utterly delicious sonic treat.  Lead singer Dan Haseltine has never sounded better.  The tunes, while of varied emotional hue, are melodic, layered and crunchy. Inland features lots of curve-ball inner elements, including little dings and chings, novel percussion, floating harmonies, effervescent  counterpoint, plunging strings, galloping guitars, rattled pianos, crickets, and varied forms of audio extravaganza.  My ears cannot love this enough.   This wouldn't be a Jars' album without a brooding melancholy under-current, however… There is a brilliance, even a radiant joy that shines through many of the selections.  Beyond that, this work (with a few exceptions)  is just so smoothhhhh.  

Odd note:  I did not realize until watching Jars live, that front man Dan leads with a drum stick in hand.   They sometimes employ a second drummer with the big sit-down ensemble, but Jars is, at its heart, a band built around a hand drum or snare.   So it is kind of interesting to hear how sublimated (and delightfully complex) the percussion elements are throughout the recording.   It appears, to my amateur ear, that all kinds of things are operating as percussion that are not drums as such.  And many of those things have melody built in.   Think of a percussive rainbow.

If you want you can play this in the background as you read… but be sure not to get so detracted that you fail to come back;)

On Tuesday, September 10 2013 I had the opportunity to hear Jars live.  Front man Dan Haseltine explained: “This is an album that we have been waiting twenty years to write.  We could not have written this album when we started.”  (Loose, from memory).  He explained that the process behind this album was different.   First, this is their first wholly independent release.  They were not beholden to anybody, be they in the marketplace or in the pew.  Jars set the parameters and took the creative risk..  Second, most jars albums are built around a particular sound or focus.  They have a theme.   I think this album does too, but Dan explained that this is more like a collection of disparate songs, written by the band during the course of life and travel on the road.    They began with a large pool of collected songs and then whittled down.   The resulting collection radiates horizontally.  These are songs about relationships.... even the relationship of the self to self in introspective conversation.

Perhaps, most peculiar, are the lack of any songs that make sense as the product of a Christian Band – at least in the sense of Christian music as a commodity. (Now the title “Christian band” is multifaceted, and the theme I mean to explore further down – but it is quite apparent from their name and  past travel circuit, not to mention the bold and routine presence of Christian based themes, that Jars is rightly called a Christian band.   And I have no sense whatsoever that they have traded in their identity as sons of the King, for something else.    But that lack of “Christian identifiers” either in lyric or linear notes IS peculiar at minimum.  (An earlier alum by two -- Long Fall back to Earth clearly hinted  this direction.  But that album held a song or two that said... we are fallen men, in need of rescue.  Inland, on the other hand, has no song that even whispers "Christian radio."  Perhaps most peculiar, the preceding Jars release, The Shelter, a full voiced sing "Praise Music" singalong with other notables in the Christian Music arena, was explicitly "religious."   So the contrast is even more pronounced.



As is, I have been tickled by the efforts of people to find "Christian" meaning in lyrics.  Go to You-tube and scroll through the responses to the (three) new video offerings.  They are replete with people who wish to ascribe a range of direct or biblical interpretations for the poetry.   Example One  (A response to the song Inland by a phderrik)

I think (Inland) is  a beautiful song about the great commission that Christ had set us out to do.
In the mission field, there could be no clear plans for us to follow as no one may have done it before us. Faith in God & courage to overcome uncertainty will get us through. The most important element - a raw desire to serve people and trusting in God's provisions.

Now that is a lovely take.  It could be true.  But when I read the lyrics, none of that comes through. I do read of a push into an uncertain realm, but that the lyrics simply do not furnish that kind of information.

Example Two:  Newest video.  Fall Asleep.  A woman in a wedding dress takes a bath.  People ask: "Is she the bride of Christ?"   "Is this symbolic of baptism?"  (Etc.)  My guess.  Probably not.  She just happens to be heart-sigh beautiful, the visuals are riveting if not sensual, (but not risque or crass) and the whole thing thing shimmers with dream-world intensity.   I have no doubt that JOC use a lot of symbolism.  They tend too, to themes with water and flooding.   But it will do us no good to find concrete meaning where none is intended.

Finally, I would tell you that I  -- even with a poets’ disposition, am struggling to wrap my mind around the highly impressionistic  quality of Inland's lyrics. There are snatches and phrases in these songs  that really jell. I hear references to the altering and sustaining power of love.  I hear (and agree) that few of us were even ready for challenges that love would throw our way.  But we managed as we stumbled through.  I hear too a veiled reference to deity(?) -- All I want is Peace like a river, long life of sanity, love that won't leave too soon, someone to pull out the splinters, the reckless forgiver. (But then this could be a spouse.)

Then there is my very favorite lyric: 

I thought that everything would turn out right, now look what I've become --
A man I wouldn't have respect for -- if I'd met me when I was young

Speaking of honed christian theology... the poverty of spirit here, is downright doctrinal.

I will leave it for others to parse the meaning of the individual songs.  Suffice it to say, there is something “sub-brain” in this album.   I listen.  I yearn.  I hear the pathos but my heart is gladdened.  I feel a sense of adventure…I feel the wind in my heart, and thankfulness for my wife (who has been to hell with me and back)  … I feel like I have taken something in… traveled new ground,  but I cannot put my finger on it. 

This music makes me feel.  And that is a tremendous gift.

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Part 2: Part 2: The Performance.

Earlier on I asked if this band is the same band -- In its soul.  This is not a question I really mean to answer.  I cannot.  (I will explore this question in some detail in part 3.)  However, I can tell you when it comes to concert, Jars fully identified with the full canon of their work…and gave a simply stellar live performance.

There are bands that that suffer outside the studio.  Jars, on the other hand, matched or fully surpassed the excellence of their recorded work.

Perhaps in keeping with their new direction, Jars played at a Little Rock music hall and bar (The Rev Room)  - I felt just fine with the venue but might have had second thoughts about the settings as a youth group leader.  Only drawback - few good places to sit.  And - the crowd was much too small.   Indeed.  Not a crowd.

As it is, Jars spent the first leg of their Inland tour with one of my favorite bands - The Last Bison - then traded out for a couple of new acts, given limitations in the Bison schedule.   I should have loved to hear that pairing, but now follow two new artists, both of whom have drilled new sonic landscapes in my soul.

Note: My original blog post contained my impressions of both intro acts,  Kye Kye and Brooke Waggoner. I've opted to hold those posts for another time and give each their due in a separate post.  Suffice it to say, Mind blown by the talents of both.  I own new music, and relish both acts for different reasons.  I did, however, find the particular match up -- odd.  More down the pike.



9:30 - 11:30 (?)  Final Act.

The set list and performance by Jars of Clay on September 10, 2013 left with one distinct impression.  This is simply one of the finest accousta-rock bands in the world, with the ability to forge music of distinct character...  and varied sounds, and all before our very eyes.   Seeing  the process illumined the body of their work.  This is a band that operates with few overdubs.  When you hear a studio recording by the Jars, you are hearing something very close to their direct (but more energetic) live performance.

As performers, Jars gave their all.  We were a small assembly.  Probably only a hundred at max.  And they played their hearts out, all the while modeling courtesy, energy, craftsmanship, and a real regard for we the listeners.

I have intimated that album Inland, leaves the listener wondering just who this band is, in terms of religious commitments.   But none of those questions seemed relevant in concert.  Jars played from a set list spanning years, and rich in robust proclamations of devotion to Christ, and thanksgiving for his sacrifice.  The band closed the set with requests from the audience.  Surprisingly, most of those requests came from the bands very first land-mark album (and one known for its devotional directness.)  In short, Jars ended the night in something akin to a praise service.  And there very last encore track "Frail" just left me feeling held the strong arms of a healing savior.

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Part 3: Wrap up (for now)

In conclusion, I am both puzzled by and drawn to the "new" Jars.  I want to understand who they are in relationship to their past when they spoke with a more direct voice, at least as followers of Jesus.  But I am left with the fact that I do not know these people on any kind of personal level.   The lack of direct spiritual identifiers could signal one of several things.

1)  Not much of anything, these guys just wanted to produce music with a different focus.

2)  This is simply an effort by Jars (for whatever reasons) to enlarge their fan base, and shed the artistic limitations of CCM culture.

3)  The band no longer thinks of themselves as Jars holding blessed treasure.  They just kept the name.  ((In my mind, less probable.))

 4)  The band or Dan (as driving creative force) ARE in a different place in relationship to their faith walk. There are at least some lyrics within Inland that could suggest a crisis of spirit.  Example::

Every time I look in the mirror
I'm in a shadow of doubt
Maybe I'm as lost as the next guy
Just have to find, just have to find out

The problem is just how to hear such a lyric. Without larger context and clarification, I have found it best not to assume much of anything. However, I do know that Jars, as both Dan and band, are given to the introspective spirit. I would not be surprised if Inland does signal a place of disorientation within the context of lived out faith. The fact that Jars so readily played music from their larger canon, including very overt anthems of Christian praise, suggests to me that this album is part of a continuity and not a break. Even so, it does represent a substantial change in their public identity.  I wait to see where this journey Inland takes the band.  So do Jars.

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Post Script.   Just discovered.  Dan Hasteltine keeps a blog, where he address the relationship between Inland and the band's past works.  His blog clearly does indicate that he (or the band) are in some new territory... a place of spiritual uncertainty.    My response then should be to pray that Dan knows a level of resolution, that leads to deeper intimacy with Christ.   It is no good to have faith bolstered up with tape or a false public presentation.   So I pray this be a tear-down, leading to refreshing.



Side note 2: when I upload the CD,  My I-tunes account lists the songs as "Religious."   It would appear that if Jars are wishing to preposition themselves, they may want to start with a new description on I-tunes.


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Audrey Assad: Fortunate Fall

Artist:  Audrey Assad

Album: Fortunate Fall ( August 2013)
Genre:  Piano driven ballads given to direct and intimate worship of the Living God.

This quality image was "borrowed" from the Internet.  I do not know whom to credit.  If you object to my use of it here, please let me know and I will remove it, or credit - pronto.

Quick Spin:  Fortunate Fall features a collection of Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs by Singer/songwriter/pianist – and now producer – Audrey Assad, as she empties her heart in fully satisfying acoustic-colored worship of a plaintive hue.   She invites us to drink at the well.  I left fully satisfied. 

*****   I can't really type a half star, but I don't need to.  This gets the full 5.  
I am Just a few listens in, but Fortunate Fall is headed to Desert Island status, that is… one of the dozen or so albums I would take with me to restart civilization.

My wife and I sometimes have this discussion about the feminine ideal in terms of physical appearance or dress.   I try not to say too much about physical appearance (because I don’t want to get busted) but then I offer my thoughts on dress.

Women, I say – are served best by a modest, figure flattering dress…  

In short, I like the look of something we call “Peace-Corp Chick” (sounds like Sheek).   Such a woman should have flowing hair…kind of wavy.  Maybe red.   Or perhaps she has straight black hair or an Afro.  And if she has grey, she lets the grey remain.   The looks is simple.    Linen tweed blouse-soft pastel, peasant skirt with earth tones, perhaps a muted floral design.  And sandals.   Beyond that, she rides an old school bike with a bell and woven basket, with tulips  flowing over the edge and a book by Dostoyevsky.   As for lipstick… ever so faint.  If she wears any kind of stuff about her eyes, we sense the glow but must not know it.   And of course.  Nice teeth.   You know.  Simple.  Elegant. Earthy.

Then my wife proceeds to tell me just how unnatural… and how very expensive that look is.   “It takes a great deal of money to look like your "little hippy-librarian.”

Example two.   My wife and I watch figure skating.  The couple glides resting in each other arms.  The whole thing looks so smooth and  effortless…

All of that is to say… the new album by Audrey Assad… sounds at once spare, elegant, and effortless.

Then I listen again, and find out just how much mind-bending thought, work, and talent is behind the illusion of simplicity... and the very real beauty of this album.

They say you cannot judge a book by it cover, but I disagree – For me, the cover of a book is always part of the larger book experience.   In that same sense, just savoring the packaging of “Fortunate Fall” is part of my larger listening experience. The front cover of the CD appears to hold a stylized photo illustration comprised of broken flower parts and petals.  There is river of petals, shaped like bird. And you must open the CD art before you ever see Audrey’s face.  Then the photography, of the recording session itself:   Classy black and whites that have a retro feel.   Everything here breaths quality.

As for Audrey’s voice; It is lovely --  Deeply feminine.   (I hear touches of Sarah McLaachlan or Sara Groves.  Suffice it to say, Audrey can sing really big,  but here gives deference to her quite voice.…. And singing with herself in exquisite harmony.   

   

From what I understand, Audrey herself produced this album.  I don’t know much about the process, but the pictures show a studio replete with piano, chimes, an organ, and various stringed instruments.   And while the production is certainly deeper than mere parlor music, there is a real sense that this is living, breathing music.    I am relishing the restraint.    That, and the slightly minor chord cast.   Listen for cello, bells, wind, and the beating heart.

This is my second Audrey album.  It appears that I missed a most worthy studio release in-between this and her first full-length studio release - This House You are Building. (And from what I read, I now need to find and purchase Heart.)  As is, I wrote a review of  This House -- and gave it a quality review, but also wished that she might have toned to down some of the glossier production elements.  I don’t know if Audrey’s ear has aged, but I want to publicly thank her for paying so much attention to my thoughts, and making this album just for me:)   and Now, here I am.  Fully satisfied.   No unwanted gloss.  No ready made hits for the frothy often waste-land of Christian radio.   I love, love, love the production through out, but am most surprised by the volley of sounds in “Oh Happy Fault.”   Oh, and the beautifully orchestrated song  “Spirit of the Living God.”   My soul just turned to butter.

Odd note:  Many of these songs have a sense of space.  I mean physical space. Not the 80s sense of singing in a can, but I really do get the sense of being in a room, with depth, dust and light.  A few even open into a cathedral.

--

I have this theory that art is often best served by what is left out.  When it comes to song craft,  Audrey knows when to leave behind.  The songs are honed.  We hear echos of the  Psalms, Augustine, and perhaps even elements of catholic liturgy (some of which may escape me.)  But mostly, we are invited to listen to melodic prayer.  These songs are first and foremost offered to God, and we are invited to join her in the room.

Finally,  It is not often that the mere title of a work sells the package… but there are some very big thoughts behind the album title (and song)  “Fortunate Fall.”  

Which of us -- upon seeing the first-couple crack the skin of the forbidden fruit would then celebrate the Fall of the human race?   But as says Augustine (whom she quotes) :

"For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist."

or , as sings Audrey:

Oh happy fault, oh Happy fault
that gained for us so great a Redeemer, 
Fortunate fall, fortunate fall
that gained for us so great a Redeemer.

On a personal level, I have puzzled much over this.   Would it be better to live in a world never damaged by sin, disease and pain (and likewise never know the depths of our depravity) or..Is it better to know in ourselves the sickness of the Fall, and then experience healing love of our rescuing and redeeming Savior?   I claim the latter, though sometimes the pain is such it is hard to imagine God even making possible such choice.

But now… I am much ahead of myself. Fortunate Fall is in not a heavy-headed big-think album. I think the theme Fortunate Fall, is more of a setting. Because God is who he is, He is able to see through this current confusion to the end of the day.   He is good to us, despite our double-hearts. He is most worthy of our adoration.   Finally, God has given to some of his children, fingers, vocal cords and the inner sense to create things of great beauty.

I thank Audrey for providing a vehicle that let us join her in the shadow of the throne.


Ps.  Not sure how much longer it will be up, but you can download two of Audrey's songs from Noisetrade/ tip or free.  (One found on the album, the other a "collector's item"  -- one of my favorite hymns. 

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song to the Living God.   (image by Kirk Jordan)





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