Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Your Mercies Are New Today

"Contemporary Christian Rock & Praise & Worship since 1982."

mercies every day
A few weeks ago Louis Tata offered some copies of his new CD on Facebook; happily, he sent me one! You can find both CD and individual MP3s on amazon.

Your Mercies Are New Today compact disc on amazon

The entire CD features a rich, open, resonant, full, acoustic sound that literally could not be better! I hardly can overemphasize the importance of sound quality; I've given away too many CDs where the performances themselves were fine, but the sound didn't measure up―to such an extent I didn't want to listen.

Music, lyrics, and arrangements on Your Mercies Are New Today all are fairly simple "rock & praise & worship," yet in a surprising variety of musical styles. Needless to say, I prefer some tracks; after a few listenings, the slower, more somber songs (2, 6, and 9) still didn't appeal to me as much as the others did. Once the website is live again, you can get chords for all these songs to use in worship.

1. Hungry for Your Love 5/5
Exquisitely beautiful, and a great set opener! "It's Friday night, and I don't know what I'm doing... it's been so long... Hungry for your love; thirsty for your word." I love this mellow, hope-laden rock!

2. Would You Turn Me Away 4/5
"waiting for an open door, to a life that's so much more..." this track is mid-tempo, a little morose.

3. Your Mercies Are New Today 5/5
"Woke up this morning with the sun in my eyes! new day!" CD title track with wonderfully energetic rockabilly!

4. Will You Dance? 5/5
"we bring an offering, his praise do we sing; we serve a mighty king, alpha and omega, first and last..." blues with laid-back energy and an unforgettable, hands in the air, celebration style!

5. Waiting for You 5/5
"Waiting for you; Jesus, here I am! I want to see your glory in my life!" Who would not relate to this? This song moves right along!

6. Here I Am 3/5
"You are holy, Lord, mighty is your name..." Although lyrics are solid, I don't relate much to the somewhat dragging, mournful style of this track.

7. You Are Lord 5/5
"You are life; you are love; you are Lord!" A glowing, easy to follow, basic tempo, worship opener!

8. My All for You 5/5
"I will worship; I will sing to you from the depths of my soul, till the day you call me home! I give you all my life, give my all for you..." I especially love this mellow, gently, rocking song! 6/5

9. You Are the Lord 3/5
This track also has a kind of melancholy sensibility; lyrics and music are ok, but it drags, and comes across as not very hopeful.

10. Only Believe 5/5
"Listen to the Spirit as it breaks through... it's God's perfect love, trying to get you in touch." "Only believe in the Son of God, in the Holy One..." this one's also a winner!

11. You Are Here 5/5
"...in this place, in this place. When I think about it, what I feel for you is not only in my mind, it's from deep within my heart; I always trust in your love to chase away my fears!" A perfect conclusion to an outstanding concert!

CD info: original music and lyrics by Louis Tata; released July 17, 2012 on the CD Baby label.
other credits include: Paul Frederickson – background vocals; Art Leather – harmonica; Keith Tata – rhythm Guitar; Don Spaulding – acoustic guitar; Keri Tata – graphics

When I last checked, Louis' music and production studio web pages were down; here are his Facebook pages:

Louis Tata Music

IHPM Production Studios

my amazon review: Contemporary Christian Rock, Praise, Worship

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe Trail CD Cover

1. The Santa Fe Trail (Theme)

2. Independence Missouri (Trailhead)

3. Human Beings (Osage, Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, Apache)

4. Incident at Council Grove

5. Vengeance on the Plains

6. Sorrow

7. Race Across the Colorado Desert (Timberwolves and Coyotes)

8. Taos

9. Sangre de Cristos

10. Americana Santa Fe (Terminus)
Santa Fe Trail CD back

I've been enjoying the Natural Encounters CD series very much; I especially love the historical narrative in the liner notes for this Santa Fe Trail album! Ten instrumentals describe a journey along the Santa Fe trail from Independence, Missouri ("edge of the frontier"), finally into Santa Fe New Mexico ("wilderness of the American West"), appropriately riding the last phase of the trek alongside the Pecos River.

The notes tell us the music celebrates "all that is American Indian, Anglo, Latino" coming together to share the fruit. Musical style and scoring are bright, colorful, reflective, and evocative, without becoming wildly dissonant. You might want to stop for a while to listen, or play Santa Fe Trail in the background as you work through other tasks. This CD is © 1998.

my amazon review: journey into a wilderness

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Aaliyah: I Care 4 U

Aaliyah, I Care 4 U on Amazon

Out of production, issued in 2003, with bonus DVD included in the initial pressings.

Rhythmic, sultry, relaxed, spirited, introspective, stellar—those words and more describe the outstanding performances on this retrospective of the late Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in August 2001, at the age of 22. I'd describe the music's general style as contemporary R&B that she sings with such confidence and musical maturity – yet with a sense of innocence, too – this CD makes me wonder how much further Aaliyah would have progressed artistically by now, let alone a couple of decades from now. To enhance anyone's listening pleasure, audio on the Blackground Records CD hardly could be better. If you're remotely into any of the musical genres this CD represents, or if the track titles intrigue you, you need I Care 4 U in your collection!

tracks:

1. Back & Forth
2. Are You That Somebody
3. One in a Million
4. I Care 4 U
5. More Than a Woman
6. Don't Know What to Tell Ya
7. Try Again
8. All I Need
9. Miss You
10. Don't Worry
11. Come Over
12. Erica Kane
13. At Your Best (You Are Love) – Isley Brothers classic
14. Got to Give It Up

my amazon review: I Care 4 "I Care 4 U"

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

soul picnic

Soul Picnic CD on Amazon

soul picnic front




Would you believe I bought another CD majorly on sale? And it's another major winner! ... btw, this is news since it's been a few years since I've routinely brought new CDs into my living space. Playlist includes tracks with fun, casual titles:






tracks:

1. Down to It
2. Soul Picnic
3. Made in the Shade
4. Some Like It Hot
5. Wanna Be There
6. Barbeque
7. Cool 'N Easy
8. Sweet Love
soul picnic back


"Made in the Shade," "Wanna Be There," and "Sweet Love" all are so very joyful and forever listenable! The music and performances are way far too smooth to describe as funky, but the contained energy and clear recorded sound makes up for that and besides, who says all the music on Soul Picnic needs to be funky even when that's my mood? Highly recommend!

My Amazon review: forever listenable

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

7 sacred songs

Some of my favorite Contemporary Christian piano repertoire:

• Lord, I Lift Your Name On High // Rick Founds

• We Bow Down // Twila Paris

• Thy Word Psalm is a lamp unto my feet ... Psalm 119:105 // Amy Grant and Michael W Smith

• Lamb of God // Twila Paris

• Lord, Be Glorified // Bob Kilpatrick

• Glorify Thy Name // Donna Adkins

• He Is Exalted // Twila Paris