Get Well
by
They Sang as they Slew Christian music has a polite, pretty face. You can experience it on Christian radio and hear it in your local Christian music store. I'm not knocking it, but in my neck of the woods, what the radio plays...
The Resistance
by
They Sang as they Slew For those of you joining the debate over whether Christian music has a certain (bland) sound to it, I enter as exhibit "A," They Sang as They Slew's second album, "The Resistance." While the lyrics are...
A History of Light and Shadows
by
Sarah Sarah Masen recorded "The Holding" in 1995 at the age of 19. She's been a favorite ever since. Her voice is delicate, often fragile, and adds a sense of both beauty and dramatic tension to whatever she...
Excellent Second Helping | Posted October-01-2008
For those of you joining the debate over whether Christian music has a certain (bland) sound to it, I enter as exhibit "A," They Sang as They Slew's second album, "The Resistance." While the lyrics are more obscure than their first album ("Get Well," 5 stars), this is still not your fathers' Christian music.
This is a brooding, darkly melodic album, at times driving and insistent (Brain Damaged, The Flood) and at times haunting and chilling (Crush, Running in My Head). If you read my review of "Get Well," you know that I really like this band. They are creative giants and their talent for writing great songs is simply amazing.
A favorite track is "The Flood," which has a fantastic bass line that drives the song while it evokes the image of a driving rain. If you listen carefully, you can hear the people not on the Ark saying "It's not as if they didn't warn us...." Another lyric shines as a sarcastically brilliant commentary on the vain philosophies of this world: "Doesn't it seem so strange that there are those that want to explain that the flood is all in our minds, while they slip under the noontide..."
There is a lot to like about this album musically. The main guitar line in "Running in My Head" will live up to the song title, running through your head for days. It also underscores the theme of the song, returning again and again. As with other songs on the album, this one deals with a heavy subject, namely the Matthew 12:43 passage about the demonic tendency to return after they are kicked out. There is also the ironic line: "Happiness is elusive unless you buy it and nail its skin to the picket fence...It doesn't make sense..." Of course, once you've nailed its skin to the fence, it's dead.
It's not all tough sledding, though. The final song, "A Definite Return" reflects the sure hope of Christ's return. There is a dig at Darwin, who neglected the soul in his calculations, and this line: "An end to all nights, And so much pain, So much pain and suffering. It's not what should have been, it's not what's going to happen!
Don't give up, don't give in, For what my promise is worth, it's going to get so much better..."
If you think all Christian music sounds the same, try this band. They are better musically and lyrically than 98% of anything else out there.
Among the Best of 2007 | Posted September-15-2008
Sarah Masen recorded "The Holding" in 1995 at the age of 19. She's been a favorite ever since. Her voice is delicate, often fragile, and adds a sense of both beauty and dramatic tension to whatever she sings. You hear her lightly touching notes that are breathed quietly, almost tentatively. It's like watching a butterfly float on the wind and wondering if it will be able to land where it intends.
On her collection of three EPs from 2007, she blends her sensitive voice with spare instrumentation and lyrics that paint with watercolor brush stokes. Many songs are built around just voice and guitar, and it is left to the lyrics and melody to make them work. A lot of songs can't survive this kind of minimalism--they just don't have strong enough writing. It's a measure of Sarah's talent that all these songs bear repeated listening well. They are beautiful, engaging and satisfying.
The lyrics are often collections of poetic word pictures, loosely tied together around a theme. On "Try" from "A History of Light and Shadows" she begins with, "I could make a Heaven out of Hell. Give me time. I could make a Hell out of Heaven. In my mind" You get the idea that she is well aware of how easy it would be to complain about all the work and trials of new motherhood. Instead, her songs celebrate marriage, children dancing, and the peace that comes from laying down our sin and burdens.
Also from "A History of Light and Shadows" is the truly stunning second song. It starts with a encouraging, happy declaration:
Triumphant!
Victorious!
Our One True King comes to us,
humble riding on a donkey.
After further proclamations of Jesus's deeds there is a pause. Then you hear Sarah's little-girl voice declare, in drawn out form, "Let's kill Him." The contrast between her sweet voice and it's perverse message is terrible to hear. It vividly makes the point that each of us is guilty of the murder of the gentle, wise One who came to love us. This is one of my Top 10 songs of all time.
Moving to the next EP, "Magic that Works," the songs have a little more instrumentation and would fit stylistically on any Simon & Garfunkel album. Among the gems are the folk-rock "Together we live!" The lyrics are:
With hope for each other
Trembling arms, extended out
What is all this talk of fault
There is good work to be done
The children are waking up
Together we'll be enough
So unsure we will get there
Now trembling I forget where
With hope.
For now we wait in the dark
I see you when there's a spark
This is godly motherhood encapsulated in a 2.5 minute song. There's no sense of hurry, just a day ahead to enjoy and get our work done. The future is left to God, who is seen in glimpses throughout the day.
The third EP in the set is "Women's Work is Alchemy." Two of the songs are re-mixes found on the other EPs. However, the other three songs are strong enough to warrant your attention. My favorite is "Burt and Elvis." It's a slice-of-life song, again reflecting everyday moments of motherhood. The lyrics open with:
Burt and Elvis in the Red Room
My daughter's dancing in the next one
There's a poem in every turn
There's a baby in our bedroom
And he's crying like a small bird
I am praying he will sleep soon
Oh, am I not tired?
There's another world in this one
And it's spinning like my dancer
In the midst of the endless work and tiredness of motherhood, she finds "a poem in every turn," the love of God revealed in the simple joy of a daughter's unselfconscious dance. What a wonderful representation of both the blessings and weariness of parenting.
This review is repeated under the other two EP titles. Though they are sold individually, if you like one, you will enjoy them all. It's hard to find samples to listen to online, so I hope the poetry of her lyrics and description of her music as among the best folk/pop will convince you to explore. One cool benefit to her independent status is that every single CD jacket is a hand painted original. It's sad that someone as talented as this goes largely unnoticed while Britney spreads trampiness to the masses. Buy everything Sarah Masen puts out and support the good guys :)
Fantastic Folk/Pop | Posted September-16-2008
Sarah Masen recorded "The Holding" in 1995 at the age of 19. She's been a favorite ever since. Her voice is delicate, often fragile, and adds a sense of both beauty and dramatic tension to whatever she sings. You hear her lightly touching notes that are breathed quietly, almost tentatively. It's like watching a butterfly float on the wind and wondering if it will be able to land where it intends.
On her collection of three EPs from 2007, she blends her sensitive voice with spare instrumentation and lyrics that paint with watercolor brush stokes. Many songs are built around just voice and guitar, and it is left to the lyrics and melody to make them work. A lot of songs can't survive this kind of minimalism--they just don't have strong enough writing. It's a measure of Sarah's talent that all these songs bear repeated listening well. They are beautiful, engaging and satisfying.
The lyrics are often collections of poetic word pictures, loosely tied together around a theme. On "Try" from "A History of Light and Shadows" she begins with, "I could make a Heaven out of Hell. Give me time. I could make a Hell out of Heaven. In my mind" You get the idea that she is well aware of how easy it would be to complain about all the work and trials of new motherhood. Instead, her songs celebrate marriage, children dancing, and the peace that comes from laying down our sin and burdens.
Also from "A History of Light and Shadows" is the truly stunning second song. It starts with a encouraging, happy declaration:
Triumphant!
Victorious!
Our One True King comes to us,
humble riding on a donkey.
After further proclamations of Jesus's deeds there is a pause. Then you hear Sarah's little-girl voice declare, in drawn out form, "Let's kill Him." The contrast between her sweet voice and it's perverse message is terrible to hear. It vividly makes the point that each of us is guilty of the murder of the gentle, wise One who came to love us. This is one of my Top 10 songs of all time.
Moving to the next EP, "Magic that Works," the songs have a little more instrumentation and would fit stylistically on any Simon & Garfunkel album. Among the gems are the folk-rock "Together we live!" The lyrics are:
With hope for each other
Trembling arms, extended out
What is all this talk of fault
There is good work to be done
The children are waking up
Together we'll be enough
So unsure we will get there
Now trembling I forget where
With hope.
For now we wait in the dark
I see you when there's a spark
This is godly motherhood encapsulated in a 2.5 minute song. There's no sense of hurry, just a day ahead to enjoy and get our work done. The future is left to God, who is seen in glimpses throughout the day.
The third EP in the set is "Women's Work is Alchemy." Two of the songs are re-mixes found on the other EPs. However, the other three songs are strong enough to warrant your attention. My favorite is "Burt and Elvis." It's a slice-of-life song, again reflecting everyday moments of motherhood. The lyrics open with:
Burt and Elvis in the Red Room
My daughter's dancing in the next one
There's a poem in every turn
There's a baby in our bedroom
And he's crying like a small bird
I am praying he will sleep soon
Oh, am I not tired?
There's another world in this one
And it's spinning like my dancer
In the midst of the endless work and tiredness of motherhood, she finds "a poem in every turn," the love of God revealed in the simple joy of a daughter's unselfconscious dance. What a wonderful representation of both the blessings and weariness of parenting.
This review is repeated under the other two EP titles. Though they are sold individually, if you like one, you will enjoy them all. It's hard to find samples to listen to online, so I hope the poetry of her lyrics and description of her music as among the best folk/pop will convince you to explore. One cool benefit to her independent status is that every single CD jacket is a hand painted original. It's sad that someone as talented as this goes largely unnoticed while Britney spreads trampiness to the masses. Buy everything Sarah Masen puts out and support the good guys :)
Light and Shadows in Full Color | Posted September-16-2008
Sarah Masen recorded "The Holding" in 1995 at the age of 19. She's been a favorite ever since. Her voice is delicate, often fragile, and adds a sense of both beauty and dramatic tension to whatever she sings. You hear her lightly touching notes that are breathed quietly, almost tentatively. It's like watching a butterfly float on the wind and wondering if it will be able to land where it intends.
On her collection of three EPs from 2007, she blends her sensitive voice with spare instrumentation and lyrics that paint with watercolor brush stokes. Many songs are built around just voice and guitar, and it is left to the lyrics and melody to make them work. A lot of songs can't survive this kind of minimalism--they just don't have strong enough writing. It's a measure of Sarah's talent that all these songs bear repeated listening well. They are beautiful, engaging and satisfying.
The lyrics are often collections of poetic word pictures, loosely tied together around a theme. On "Try" from "A History of Light and Shadows" she begins with, "I could make a Heaven out of Hell. Give me time. I could make a Hell out of Heaven. In my mind" You get the idea that she is well aware of how easy it would be to complain about all the work and trials of new motherhood. Instead, her songs celebrate marriage, children dancing, and the peace that comes from laying down our sin and burdens.
Also from "A History of Light and Shadows" is the truly stunning second song. It starts with a encouraging, happy declaration:
Triumphant!
Victorious!
Our One True King comes to us,
humble riding on a donkey.
After further proclamations of Jesus's deeds there is a pause. Then you hear Sarah's little-girl voice declare, in drawn out form, "Let's kill Him." The contrast between her sweet voice and it's perverse message is terrible to hear. It vividly makes the point that each of us is guilty of the murder of the gentle, wise One who came to love us. This is one of my Top 10 songs of all time.
Moving to the next EP, "Magic that Works," the songs have a little more instrumentation and would fit stylistically on any Simon & Garfunkel album. Among the gems are the folk-rock "Together we live!" The lyrics are:
With hope for each other
Trembling arms, extended out
What is all this talk of fault
There is good work to be done
The children are waking up
Together we'll be enough
So unsure we will get there
Now trembling I forget where
With hope.
For now we wait in the dark
I see you when there's a spark
This is godly motherhood encapsulated in a 2.5 minute song. There's no sense of hurry, just a day ahead to enjoy and get our work done. The future is left to God, who is seen in glimpses throughout the day.
The third EP in the set is "Women's Work is Alchemy." Two of the songs are re-mixes found on the other EPs. However, the other three songs are strong enough to warrant your attention. My favorite is "Burt and Elvis." It's a slice-of-life song, again reflecting everyday moments of motherhood. The lyrics open with:
Burt and Elvis in the Red Room
My daughter's dancing in the next one
There's a poem in every turn
There's a baby in our bedroom
And he's crying like a small bird
I am praying he will sleep soon
Oh, am I not tired?
There's another world in this one
And it's spinning like my dancer
In the midst of the endless work and tiredness of motherhood, she finds "a poem in every turn," the love of God revealed in the simple joy of a daughter's unselfconscious dance. What a wonderful representation of both the blessings and weariness of parenting.
This review is repeated under the other two EP titles. Though they are sold individually, if you like one, you will enjoy them all. It's hard to find samples to listen to online, so I hope the poetry of her lyrics and description of her music as among the best folk/pop will convince you to explore. One cool benefit to her independent status is that every single CD jacket is a hand painted original. It's sad that someone as talented as this goes largely unnoticed while Britney spreads trampiness to the masses. Buy everything Sarah Masen puts out and support the good guys :)
Strong Alternative Pop | Posted August-10-2008
Cornerstone Music Festival, 1994. I already owned Jimmy Abegg's first album and his work with Charlie Peacock and Vector. Not sure about this, but it may have been my very first Cornerstone (I would have been 33). Anyway, one day I was walking through the product tent and there sat Jimmy at his booth. We chatted and I bought "Secrets," which I added to the roughly dozen CDs of new music acquired at the fest.
In the mornings I would listen to my new purchases before heading off to concerts or seminars. For some reason, I never got around to "Secrets." The fest ended and I packed everything into my aging gray Mazda pickup. On the front seat, stacked precariously on top of whatever I didn't want to get wet, was my jam box. Somewhere between Bushnell, Illinois and Dallas, Jimmy's new album went into the player.
First up was "Perfect World," which would become my second favorite on the record. Lyrically, Jimmy catalogs how things would be in a perfect world, and is then loudly reminded by a chorus of voices that "This ain't no perfect world." It's a creative way to express the longing for Heaven, and you can hear Jimmy in the background saying, "This ain't the way it ought to be." There's a wistfulness to it, and you start to appreciate Jimmy's heart based on the things he wants in his perfect world. Musically it's an upbeat alternative pop piece that's fun to sing along with.
So I'm driving and listening, and the album is enjoyable and keeping me interested and awake. "Sweet Angel" impresses me with its prominent guitar line in the opening. "If You Only Knew" is a father's wish, based on his own pain, for his children to stay innocent and guard their hearts until marriage. "I Believe" is a well-done statement of faith and priorities set to a catchy melody, again in an alt pop vein. Finally I arrive at song 12, "The Dream."
Completely different from any of the other songs, I'm instantly captured by the unusual instrumentation and pulsing vibe. The music flows and ebbs and sets a strong dream-stage for what follows. Into the surge and swell of music comes Jimmy's voice narrating a dream he had. This is cool stuff, and as the tale unfolds I find myself more and more identifying with the story. The thumbnail is that Jimmy and his family are camping in the wilderness and see a train coming from a long way off. They understand that it's the train they have to be on, so they run to meet it. But the train is going way too fast, and there is no way they can catch it. It's hopeless.
Then, in a dream stop, the train comes to rest right where they are, and they realize that it was coming for them all along. As they are invited onboard, they see that the train is full of "the crippled, the blind, the poor in spirit, the meek, the last, the lost fools dressed in rags." And there, on an empty row or seats, are the names of Jimmy and his family.
As a father with four children, I immediately connected with the idea that a my main job is to make sure all of my family know and love God and make it to Heaven. It's my fundamental purpose. This song impacted me deeply with its picture of finding all their names engraved on the seats. Still on the highway, my eyes were watering by this time and I had to pull over so I could sob in earnest.
Maybe only fathers will relate, but the anticipation of that moment on the train, and all the fear for your children that precedes it, taps an emotional well for me every time I hear this six minute ride.
The final words of the song are Jimmy talking about stretching a canvas to paint something now that he's on the train and safe. His subjects include "Humans dancing. People embracing. Or maybe just a train. Lush, green, blue. Maybe with babies and bright colors. Yeah, babies and flowers. Little babies, and big flowers." It's a painting I want to see. It's a dream I want to be part of.
OK, so not all hip hop is awful | Posted August-09-2008
Most of us get stuck on the music of our high school and college years. It seems that the sounds that please us then draw boundaries around what we will like in later years. If you are not there yet, don't be too quick to say, "Not me." I said that too.
I also said that the words "rap" and "music" should not be used in the same sentence, unless there was a "not" in there somewhere. I grudgingly made an exception for DC Talk's "Jesus Freak," but always thought the song would have better without the rap.
Then I read a positive review of 4th Avenue Jones' album "Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul." I tried the song samples. I debated. I broke down and ordered it. And this is not easy to admit. It grew on me. Here's why:
It's hugely melodic.
It's reminiscent of 70's soul music
It's got fantastic vocal performances
Another factor is that most of the raps are interspersed with singing. It's more like "rap lite" instead of non-stop patter, and it works. Ahmad and 4th Avenue Jones have created a fun, rocking record that drips charisma and style.
Personal favorites include "Monumental," a song about getting "enough for me and all my kin folks" (including a big, huge, monumental, stretched out, four door Continental). It's a reflection of life in South Central LA and dreams of better. Ultimately, it communicates the deeper longing for Heaven, where all things are fair and right and good.
Another that follows the same theme is "Caesar." Ahmad builds the song one instrument at a time until he's ready to add his lyrics. It's a catalog of wrongs perpetrated by the powers that be, and a warning that the Messiah is going to set things to rights.
For me to give a record with any rap in it a 4.5 star review is, um, monumental. Try it--it's worth the trip.
We are such stuff as angels' dreams are made of. | Posted August-09-2008
If you are not familiar with Sarah's music, let me cut to the chase and say that everything she has done is at least very good. She has insight into the human condition and a way of expressing it that are a joy to hear. The music is folk, not in a nostalgic way but in a modern girl-with-a guitar way.
More interesting than anything I might say are these notes from the artist herself:
To avoid some possible misconstruals, I’d like to begin by suggesting that it’s not quite right to assume that this newest collection of songs is about angels. What is rumored to be their passion, though, the longing that apparently keeps them going IS a notion that deeply informs these attempts at stories (the songs). Word is that the angels are crazy about us; that our miraculously mundane lives (to the most graphic and minute detail) amount to something into which the angels, in fact, long to look. Or, to borrow from
Prospero in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” we are such stuff as angels’ dreams are made of.
On June 26th, 1999 I found myself pushing (like a woman possessed) a soulful, squealing little girl called Dorothy Day into the hope-ridden wreck of a brand new world. My husband and I were amazed by what a frail and violent process birth is, yet it is happening all the time…even now. Some old guy with an amazing smile is feeding squirrels somewhere while a child is forming words for the first time and a man is watching his wife sleep. Is anyone taking notice? Shouldn’t somebody be bearing witness and writing it all down?
On June 27th, 1999, while getting acquainted with our new resident alien, my husband David and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I think
Shakespeare also said something about brevity being the soul of wit. We certainly enjoyed the new life, and found ourselves laughing at the memory of close friends suggesting on our wedding day that they would see a new little one in nine months time. David and I are not much for planning.
When Dorothy was a very mature two months old, we started traveling again, performing solo acoustic concerts a few times a month. Though it has been
nearly three years since my last album, the music has continued to be a very big part of my life. I feel as though I’ve been able to step back in order to bear witness to the miracle happening around our everyday lives.
This new album contains songs that are born out of some of these everyday observations, a taking note of preciousness and trouble and many a moment of
encouragement in my own life and all the wonderfully strange lives around me as we begin to learn how to value one another properly. They generally surfaced in the context of home-based songwriting, put together in response to whatever was happening or being talked over around the house. “Love is Breathing”, for instance, began as (and remained) a meditation/prayer concerning the life growing inside me. But the life and Dorothy herself come to represent the breaking-in of beauty all around us and what we're looking
to do about it. “We Are a Beginning” has a similar story. I wrote the song for my wedding as a kind of determined hope statement, but it was performed during the ceremony by a motley crew of chums from our assorted community. My husband and I (and now Dorothy) are a beginning certainly, but they are too. As U2 put it, “We get to carry each other.”
Very happy to report that the studio experience was a natural extension of what this collection of songs seemed to nurture. I met producer John
Jennings through a mutual friend and found in him a benefactor-angel of the music. He rounded up angel friend musicians, Tim Lauer, Harry Stinson, and Glenn Worf and we recorded the basic tracks of “Dreamlife…” in a week. This required a good deal of relaxation and observation on behalf of the band. And in the spirit of the album, the poetry of everyday life was there, and in my opinion, captured in the music.
We are A Beginning, Hope, The Valley, and Give a little bit are songs for the community to sing. They are new folk-song prayers of blessing and
release, meant to be caroled in four part melody-harmony-rhapsody-everybody sing spirit.
Girl on Fire, Hit-n-run, home, She stumbles through the door, and midnight, are stories of love and loss, hope and despair, chance and providence. These are meant to be listened to with compassionate affinity-mercy ears. I hold
the suspicion that our troubled existence is the soil (the only soil) out of which grace and joy and mirth can break through. The trembly, embarrassing bits are part of the plot, a crucial part I'd say, and often in need of an affectionate glance.
I expect the music to fall into the hands of people, like myself, who are frustrated with the popular outlets of faith and community, and longing for lives of integrity and beauty as a result of being haunted by the fact that we're made for better community, friendship, and neighbor-love than most of us are settling for.
If the rumors are true, and angels, throughout our history, have been about the business of finding our levity and struggles staggeringly beautiful,
maybe we can start looking at ourselves (each other) that way too. Maybe we should. Maybe this is what it means to be really realistic.
We get to listen to such stuff as angels’ dreams are made of. Imagine that.
Yay for independent music! | Posted January-26-2011
Christian music has a polite, pretty face. You can experience it on Christian radio and hear it in your local Christian music store. I'm not knocking it, but in my neck of the woods, what the radio plays is generally closer to easy-listening than innovative rock. The great surprise for many is that Christian music also has a deep well of underground artists who never get airplay, advertising or label support. For those who suggest that Christian music is bland, welcome to the creative underground.
They Sang as They Slew (TSATS) hails from Toccoa, Georgia, about 50 miles from Athens. TSATS is the new incarnation of a band called Canary. Here is the band's self-description:
"Started as a side project to a much more well known rock outfit in 1995, Canary began to play tunes to pass time...the time passed and the side project became the main project. After numerous name and line-up changes Canary began to play in earnest in 1999. Thoughtfully independent, concerned more with freedom of expression and artistic integrity, Canary operates with a strong "do it yourself" paradigm firmly rooted in place... Like smoke, Canary vanished...but was re-invented as They Sang As They Slew."
So what has TSATS done to earn 5 stars? It took me a while to figure that out myself. When it arrived in the mail I put the CD in my car and left it in the player for months. Eventually I realized that I had not wanted to change to something else in a long time. OK, that proves it's got serious musical chops. That's when I took the CD to the big rig in the music room and gave it some serious attention.
Check out these lyrics from "I Want to See with My Eyes Closed."
I want to stare into the sun without blinking
I want to walk through walls
I can see with my eyes closed
I want to know what you're thinking
I want to take a new pill and start living
And that's not all
I want to see you in the right clothes
Turn those cameras off
There is nothing here to see
We traded it all for a form of vanity
Turn those cameras on
We've got something that you might want to see
Gonna strip it all down and walk transparently
I want to stare into the light without blinking
I want to make the calls
I want to see with my eyes closed
I want to know what I'm thinking
I want to feel a new thrill about living and shake the fall
I want to see us in the white robes
I love the contrast between the earthy first stanza and the Spiritual second one. The first is all about powers that would be nice to posses and making things easier with a pill. Oh, and make sure you dress fashionably. In the second, it's about being able to see God clearly, making our own decisions regardless of peer pressure, understanding ourselves in light of who God is, sanctification, and the hope of heaven. Brilliant, poetic and thought provoking.
Then there's this stanza from "Death in the City:"
I spooned my soul
It measured well
Despite the words and songs of my youth
I never knew that one could be so unwhole
This world rots your bones
But there's One who comes in kindness
Won't you pull off your blindness?
Using "spooning one's soul" as a metaphor for taking a Spiritual inventory is evocative, and I like the richness of saying that one is "so unwhole" rather than something trite. Not all the lyrics are this clear, which adds to the drama of discovery.
Musically original, you can hear quiet influences from Pink Floyd, Lovedrug and U2. Aside from being wonderfully melodic, the music does a great job of supporting the lyrics thematically. A favorite example is the song "Get Well," which starts off as the song "Palace Arms" played backwards. After a full minute, the sound get brighter and brighter until it breaks like a wave. As it fades you hear a clear acoustic guitar begin to play to the lyric:
I fumbled into the daylight out of hell
I'm finished trying
I'm done dying
Broke the spell
For in the gloom, the words rang out like a bell
Come on
Get well
I got well
It's a stunning example of creativity. The backwards section is representative of a confused life at odds with God, followed by the clarity of a life cured. When I hear "Get Well" I'm powerfully reminded of grace and the done-ness of our faith.
This is a true "WOW" album, full of great musical expression and thoughtful, challenging lyrics. It's a creative masterpiece. Too bad you'll never hear it on Christian radio. You can, however, hear it on TSATS' MySpace page and buy it from Northern Records:
The Desert Island Winner | Posted August-08-2008
Music reviews don't actually tell you much about an album. "Writing about music is like like dancing about architecture," so the quote goes. One solution is just to tell readers what you like to listen to, and if they like that stuff, they'll probably like whatever you award a positive review. If you want to go that route, check my profile for what else I enjoy.
Even so, "With Abandon," the one and only Chasing Furies album, is so good it deserves at least an attempt at accolades.
So you'll know where I'm coming from, I was born in 1961, have attended maybe a dozen Cornerstone Fests, and have enthusiastically built a music collection over several decades. What I look for in an album is the music, the lyrics, how well the two support each other, and, if it's there, the cohesiveness of an album and how the songs work together.
Lyrically, there are too few albums that take you someplace interesting. I'm not against straightforward lyrics in a praise song, but I do like some mystery, poetry and picturesque themes to paint an image and let the story breathe. In "Thicker" you hear Sarah grieve a friend who drifted away from clarity into the fog. What she remembers most about her friend is their laughter. It's a simple yet powerful lament, and expresses the sadness of wanting so badly to reach someone.
Another example is from the song, "I surrender," The lyric says, "I let you in with good intentions, and soon you'd stolen what I should have given." It's a deep thought expressed in a few words, and worth spending some time with.
Musically, there's a lot to like. The song "Thicker" opens with a quiet piano piece that is soon overwhelmed by drenched guitar. The juxtaposition is dramatic and does a great job of adding tension to the song while showing the move from the clarity and simplicity of the piano solo to the fog of the full band.
"I would drown" uses guitar effects to give an underwater feeling to the song, and the vocals also have a hollow, processed tone. In the background you hear a swaying vocal part that brings to mind seaweed swaying to the surge of the sea. It's touches like these that run throughout the album, making it the rare album where the sonics truly support the imagery of the lyrics. This is so rare that even if the music were second-rate melodically, it would be worthy of mention. That it's not second-rate is what makes this such a special album. You could buy it just for the melodies. You could get drawn in by the lyrics. The way they work together is transcendent. I am not often moved to drop everything and offer praise, even during praise songs. I can agree with the words and be thankful they are true, but not connect emotionally. This album, especially, "I Surrender" and "Enchanted" get me there with no effort. It's powerful stuff, and though the music is too hard to be added to the hymnal, it's my favorite praise album.
There's plenty to discover, both lyrically and musically on this collection (if you enjoy it, Sarah got married and is producing new music as Sarah MacIntosh, though nothing as dramatically wonderful as this album). As mentioned in the title, if I had to choose only one album in my collection to take on a deserted island, this would be it. Get yours while you can still find a copy.
Salvation in Lights | Posted August-08-2008
At Cornerstone 2008 there were a lot of good acts, a lot of good shows. Near the end of the fest, a relatively unknown and unhyped Mike Farris took the Gallery Stage for the midnight concert. It was guitar, bass, drums and two gospel backup singers. Having listened to Mike's album for several months, I was ready for a good show. What I wasn't ready for was the amazing level of performance. He played most of the songs from Salvation in Lights, so there wasn't anything new to get excited about. But, oh! the performance....
The backup singers harmonized amazingly, and their swaying, soulful voices were heavenly. A surprise was how accomplished a gospel singer Mike is. He has a fantastic voice, and his technique astonished. It was a magical night, and even the emcee was impressed, calling it the best show of the fest (an assessment with which the crowd eagerly agreed). While no album can capture a moment like that, it's a great CD. One upside to the CD is the full band, including horns and keys.
If you appreciate Delta blues, if you like gospel harmonies, this is a can't miss album. A lot of good acts were at Cornerstone. This is a great one. Samples available at Amazon.
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