I don’t often get excited for instrumental/ambient records, but then again I don’t often(ever) hear those records made by guys with this kind of creative rock sensibility. This southern ambi-rock band dubbed All The Bright Lights consists of James Duke, Jon Duke and Jacob Arnold, two brothers and a good friend.

The self titled album opens with a short track called I saw You Running which threw me into the tumbler of what to expect with the rest of the record, a good teaser. But the next track, The Chest of Drawers, really made me come to attention by somehow beautifully combining dark, rich guitars and church bells with this alt-country riff. The song is really an incredible sonic journey and gets you really excited about what’s possible with the rest of the tracks by letting you know loud and clear, this isn’t going to be a let down.

To say it’s a completely instrumental or ambient album is not entirely correct, there are some beautifully haunting vocals in The Door which leaves you hanging onto the line “you came and made a way.” That line introduces the core concept of the album, redemption, that is echoed by some other tracks with vocals, The One That Gave It All, Walls and Shadow of the King. These are simple songs of redemption woven through and exposed through the rich sounds of redemption.

Each song sets the plate emotionally, they are each moving and beautiful, not incomplete but yet allow room for the listener to reinterpret. I find myself singing new songs over each listen and that makes for an incredibly enjoyable album. One that I suspect will remain so for quite some time.

Close Your Eyes is a perfect closing crescendo for the album, the longest song, full of surprises and twists that introduce some new elements but also wrap up what was really a sonic journey. All the Bright Lights combines remarkably rich textures with a driving tension and soaring guitar melodies that resonate just right. If you’re looking for a soundtrack to life, then buy All the Bright Lights. or Amazon.

Also make sure to checkout my interview with James Duke from All the Bright Lights.

All the Bright Lights on myspace.

Fresh out of the Valley of the Sun, comes Brandon Kagel a.k.a. “The Rep” with his sophomore project- Say No More courtesy of Blood Marked Entertainment. This album is a definite banger with beats by Mustafas Beats and guest appearances by lyrical monster Lee Green as well as vocals by Suzie K and L Sol.  This masterpiece contains incredible diversity, tracks that will make you bang ya head till ya neck hurts on tracks like Say No Names, as well as melodious heart hitting tearjerkers on Dear baby which is a letter to his son, and Unborn Child which is a rhyme from the inside of the womb of a pregnant woman.

The Rep is definitely a Phoenix Son and his music reflects the essence of the inner city and cries out for the redemption of our blackout generation. “He was age 5 when the movie Goonies came out, and put 5 on a doobie when the Looniz came out..” If you can relate to that, then this album is definitely for you.

I definitely admire and respect the boldness that is brought forth on this album with straight up no BS truth about struggles that our generation faces today. With hard knock punchlines and similes that you don’t catch until 8 bars later. The Rep is a BEAST on this one and it is a must. Go pick this one up,  you can thank me later.

I am pleased to report that Chris Lizotte’s new album, Signal Hill Revival, is now available! I recommend, no I urge, I implore you to go download this album. If you missed it earlier I interviewed Chris and he talked about the making of this album in depth. Chris is an amazing songwriter and his brand of blues-gospel with a splash of rock is really refreshing and so needed in what can be a monotonous contemporary Christian music scene. If you need further convincing then checkout the video of one of the singles,”Brighter Day”, on You Tube. Look for my review of this album soon.

On April 1st Delirious released Kingdom of Comfort and Hillsong United released their 2 disc live album The I Heart Revolution: With Hearts as One. Both of these bands are in my “buy first think later” category, they’ve earned it. Delirious continues to pour out songs from their ministry in Africa. I’m almost surprised Bono didn’t appear on this album, it would have made a lot of sense given both of their missional work there. 2 songs immediately jump out at me on the cd, All God’s Children and My Soul Sings. I heard them play this live in Phoenix and man, incredibly anointed, powerful, worship.

Hillsong United does their usual praise and worship destruction. I’ve heard some complain about the concert/performance atmosphere and “emotional” songs. Here’s my take. These guys love God, no doubt about it. They seek to honor God, they’ve devoted their lives to it and are anointed leaders. I think people equate professionalism to selfish performance and that’s too bad. They play to God in excellence they sacrifice and offer first fruits. This is their authentic pouring out of themselves. I love the anticipation people have of God’s presence at their “concerts”. I’ve been in lines that wrapped around buildings as people wait to experience God. I think that’s great, this should be the atmosphere every Sunday morning. We serve the King of Kings, I think there is something wrong with us if we don’t have tremendous anticipation of the Holy Spirit moving in power. Where this turns to worship of art or the artist, we’ve gone astray, but I don’t believe just because Hillsong plays in excellence and people are excited to be apart of it, that is misdirected worship.

BTW I just saw on Amazon they run a deal if you buy both albums…stinky…I bought it on iTunes before I saw this.

Christmas is my favorite time of year!! I try and put my decorated, over priced, christmas tree up as early as possible and leave it as long as possible. I truly squeeze the holiday of all it’s worth. One of my joys durring this season is the ability to listen to Christmas music so freely and regularly. If you were to come across me in my car, house, or even working out at the gym with my IPOD you would most definitley find me avidly listening to some Holiday tune. Music moves me and I find Christmas music moves me even more. I was litening to Natalie Grant’s Believe album. It is filled with Christmas goodness. As I was driving home last night track 8 came on which is a medley of 3 different songs, Silver Bells, Savior Came for Me, and O Holy Night. The song is over 8 minutes long. But it is a beautiful rendition and as I had my heater blazing and my teeth chattering from the cold, track 8 rounded the corner of the final tune, O Holy Night. I suddenly found myself turning up the volume until it was as loud as I could physically stand and I simply listened, before I knew it I felt something wet on my cheeks and realized tears were falling down my face. I was taken aback by my response because I have listened to this song many times before, but I believe this was the first time that I not only listened with my ears but with my heart (as cheesy as that may sound). As the music built with anticipation and a full string orchestra blared in the background, the words echoed on, “Christ is the Lord, Oh praise his name forever. His power and glory everymore proclaimed. Fall on your knees & hear the angel chorus, oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born, oh night divine… oh night, oh night divine.” I was moved to pull my car over and get out on my knees in adoration for my Heavenly King.

I know Christmas music can be cheesy and definitley over done, but I would hesitate in being so quick to label all Christmas music in such a way because I believe there are songs such as the one above that describes the importance and greatness of what Christmas represents, that will cause all who hear to acknowledge the divinity of our Saviour who was born on that blessed Christmas morn. As I am observing as of late, some Christmas songs have lyrics that should not simply be reserved for one part of the year but should infiltrate all other genres of music because they are powerful and true!

I was sent Sovereign Grace’s latest Christmas Album, Savior, to review by Worship Matters blog. I’ll be honest, my expectations were not that high considering the genre. Christmas music is most often a broad road of lyrical cliche surrounded by cheesy instrumentation and bad group vocals. There are a few exceptions to that terrible generalization and thank God for those exceptions. So I tried to clear my head of any expectation and listen with an open mind and heart. I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. I’ll give a song by song blow, and then my overall summary. I go with a 5 star system, 5 stars being great, 1 star being not so great.

1. Christ the Lord is Born Today – Pleased to hear a good acoustic guitar mix, recorded very well. Production on this song is really spot on, the Christmas bells weren’t over used, I think they really helped the song. Vocals are great, harmonies are well placed and the melody is interesting while remaining singable. Lyrics are a traditional rejoicing in our Savior’s birth, glad there’s only 3 verses and didn’t go way traditional with 8-9 verses. Mission accomplished on this song, glad to start this record off on a good note, let’s hope it continues. (4 stars)

2. Hope Has Come – Dang, why did they use that drum sample. It sounds straight out of a Casio keyboard Radio Shack gives away in their business card drawings each month. And not in a cool, retro, “yeah we were trying to get that sound” sort of way. Really any sample but that would have done. Mercifully they stop it at verse 2, now I can get back to seeing if the song is good. The chorus is nice, it’s not terribly interesting, but it’s pleasant and engaging. Here come the group vocals, sounding pretty good at first, wish they would have only sung on the “Alleluia” lines, got a little over bearing there for a bit. The ending to the song is very strange, doesn’t seem to fit the progression or vibe of the song, a little out of left field. (2 stars)

3. Emmanuel, Emmanuel – 3rd song in a row with an acoustic guitar into. Hoping this pattern breaks soon. Like the pianos on this song, strings are borderline over used. Not quite ready to say they are yet, but dangerously close. But overall the production is good. This is quite lyrically jam packed, a lot to get out in the verses. Chorus gives a nice change of pace. I like the melody on the final “Emmanuel”, wish that would have been more of a centerpiece in the chorus. (3 stars)

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