cd review: Walking With the Wise

Sovereign Grace Kids' newest CD (released in June 2010) is all about wisdom. Walking with the Wise contains thirteen new songs done in the typical lively and interesting Sovereign Grace Kids' style that children ages 6-10 years will love.

Each song is based on passage or passages from Proverbs (the references are given under the titles of the songs in the liner notes, along with the lyrics). Songs are on topics of friendship, speech, deception, laziness, cheerfulness, listening to parents, and more. Of course the odd bit of humour (like the narrator trying to get some action from Lazy Bones in the song "Lazy Bones") adds to the appeal.

As on other projects, these tunes are ear-friendly to adults, and kids. The arrangements encompass a variety of styles from rock ("Wisdom"), to country-rock ballad ("Make Me Wise"), to pop ("Where it all Begins") and include sections with interesting blues ("Nuggets of Gold"), bluegrass ("To Tell the Truth"), and big band elements ("A Cheerful Heart"). The instrument list on the liner notes attests to the musical variety: drums, percussion, bass, a variety of guitars, mandolin, banjo, trumpet, trombone, accordion, even Gameboy sounds.

These songs are  also singable. A children's choir (usually in unison) backs a more mature solo voice on most cuts, so the pitch isn't overly high nor the sound shrill. Arrangements are easy to follow, making the CD a good one for singalongs. The enhanced CD contains accompaniment tracks (mp3 format) as well as guitar and lead sheets (as pdfs).

This CD would make a great addition to any home or children's ministry collection. The variety of topics and their relevance to kids' lives would make it a good companion to whatever Sunday School or school curriculum you're using. The lively contemporary style of the songs will have kids and their adults listening to this CD over and over — a wonderful way to make wisdom a part of mental and spiritual DNA.

Sample and buy the album here.
The album is also available on iTunes.
(Check out the free download of "Lazy Bones"!)

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I received Walking With the Wise from Sovereign Grace Music for the purpose of writing a review.

CD reviews: Awesome God and To Be Like Jesus - worship music for kids

A variety of singable kid-friendly songs with theologically sound yet easy-to-understand lyrics are what you’ll find in the two CDs of worship music for kids (7-10 years) produced by Sovereign Grace Music.

“How do children learn about God’s greatness? One excellent way is to sing songs that express God’s character and nature in words that kids understand.”

(about Awesome God - Sovereign Grace Music)

Awesome God, released in 2004, contains twelve songs that explore the attributes of God. In music styles that range from rock to folk, these songs touch on many aspects of who God is and what He is like. He is proclaimed creator (“Almighty God”), eternal (“Forever God”), omnipresent (“You Are Always With Me”) and omnipotent (“Sovereign One”). There are songs about Jesus (“Mighty Mighty Savior”) and the trinity (“Three In One”). The album ends with a strong presentation of the Gospel in “The Gospel Song and “Have You Heard?”

Lead voices (not all children) combine with children and teen choirs to give the songs lots of variety and keep it from being too treble-shrill (something that easily happens when only children’s voices are used).

The lyrics, besides being biblically based, are easy for kids to relate to. What kid wouldn’t understand:

“When I’m all alone and afraid
I will trust in You....
When I don’t get to have my own way
I will trust in You” (from “Sovereign One”)

Songs are sung in a straightforward way, making the CD easy to sing along with. The Awesome God project has a choice of four CD case pictures so kids can choose their own covers. Of course lyrics are included.


Listen to clips and purchase Awesome God here.

“Did you know that God says your life is supposed to be like a fruit tree?

He’s talking about something much more important than apples, oranges, or bananas. The fruit God wants in our lives is the kind the Holy Spirit produces in us when we know and follow Jesus.”

(about To Be Like Jesus - Sovereign Grace Music)

The To Be Like Jesus project (2009) has a spiritual fruit theme. Its twelve songs address topics like “Joy,” “Peace,” patience (“Gotta Wait”), Kindness (“Show Me Your Kindness”), hope (“Jesus You’re My Hope”) and more.

Many of the songs have the same rock band sound of the earlier project. If anything it has even more variety in musical styles. “Gotta Wait,” for example, sounds a lot like the Beatles, “You Show Me Kindness” has a reggae sound, while “Give Me Self Control” has bluegrass overtones. The same mix of vocalists (adult and child leads, along with a couple of children’s choirs) again tones down the high-pitched sound of children’s voices, ensuring a very listenable CD.

I highly recommend both these musical projects. Give them to your kids for personal use, or sing the songs and talk about them during family devotions at home. Teachers in church or school will also find them useful to supplement teaching about God and how to live the Christian life. The original lyrics (included in the CD notes) are solidly based on Scripture. The original tunes are lively and done in a modern style kids (and their parents) will relate to.

Listen to clips and purchase To Be Like Jesus here.


To Be Like Jesus from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

(I received these CDs as a gift from Sovereign Grace Music for the purpose of writing a review. The opinions expressed are my own.)

cd review: Under the Gaze

Before I got my Mac it was simple to ignore the Apple iTunes store. Not any more. It's way too easy now to click on over and start browsing (with that direct link from my iTunes app), thus putting myself in the way of all kinds of temptation. That's what happened last Saturday night -- and before I knew it, I was the proud owner of Carolyn Arends' 2004 release "Under the Gaze." After all, I said to myself, how often do I find myself loving every single clip of a whole CD?

I'm not exactly sure what classification this album falls into. It's part folk, part pop and has a definite roots feel to it (accompanied as Carolyn is by Spencer Capier - roots musician par excellence -- Plays Well With Others -- and his managerie of acoustic instruments from fiddle to sitar with lots of guitar and mandolin in between). Arends' voice is plaintive. It's been called a "little girl voice" and she's been compared to Carole King and Joni Mitchell. Her voice also reminds me of the female Rankin Family singers.

Arends' lyrics are the real treat for me, though. This 12-track album (13 if you count the short and most adorable hidden track) begins with what I think of as an appetizer song, "This is the Moment" (you've been waiting for) -- an upbeat tune that exudes anticipation and hope.

Here are some other highlights:

- "Any Given Sunday," a song about the church, complete with sly humor ("you can count on singin' every kind of music /.... most of it's in tune").

- Personal songs "Getting Ready for Glory" (a song about Steve Bell's grandmother); "Your Laugh" - a love song to and about her husband; "Only Time Will Tell" - a story song about a friends' baby born with a hole in its heart - chokes me up every time I listen to it.

- "Not a Tame Lion" and "Under the Gaze" (fav lines: "Every hair is measured / Every prayer is treasured), "Half a Million Reasons" and "Who You Are" - songs about God and the big picture of where we humans fit with Him.

- "May You Live," a song of blessing, ends the album. Tight harmonies on this one remind me, again, of the Rankin Family.

If you want an uplifting, rootsy, and very listenable album with poetic lyrics that never cease to surprise and delight get yourself a download or the actual CD of Carolyn Arends' "Under the Gaze." You won't regret it.

Listen to clips and view album lyrics (and the story behind each song) from this link (click on [AUDIO/LYRICS/LINER NOTES] beside Under the Gaze).


Carolyn Arends - official website
(She's in Calgary - First Alliance Church - this weekend)
Carolyn Arends - on MySpace
Spencer Capier - on MySpace
Christianity Today interviews Carolyn on "Under the Gaze"

greg sczebel

Wonderful Saturday afternoon - part of it spent shopping for music! We had this $20 gift certificate for the Campus Crusade Bookstore from last Christmas which, for once, we didn’t leave to expire under the paperweight on the file cabinet. We came away with six CDs having spent under $10. Now that’s hitting the jackpot!

Admittedly, the five cheapies are a gamble - but for $2 a pop, not much of one. The disc I’m really stoked about is "here to stay" by Salmon Arm’s rising star, Greg Sczebel. Since his CD was loaded into the listening post, I could sample each cut and I know I’ve come away with at least one treasure.

His songs are all Greg-written originals. His style is pop, rhythmic and danceable (not that I’m a dancer). I love the way he uses his voice - flips like a gymnast into falsetto, does that levitate-around-the-note thing gospel singers do, and here and there slips in smoky jazz notes. His keyboards (he plays them) and the band that backs him, remind me of a couple of records (yes, records!) by Michael Omartian from years ago.
I love it when I find a new artist. Especially when that artist is Canadian and from my home province!

songs from bright avenue

I popped Bob Bennett’s CD "Songs From Bright Avenue" into the car for wherever we were driving on Friday - and have let it play and replay all weekend. It’s one the few CDs of mine which can bear that kind of relistening.

I first heard Bob Bennett in concert a few years ago when he toured around our area with Steve Bell and Carolyn Arends. From his first song, "Here On Bright Avenue," I was hooked. I liked the whole package - the skillful acoustic musicianship, the mellow voice, Bob’s honest, self-deprecating personality, but most of all, his lyrics.

As a writer who dabbles in poetry, I sometimes find the lyrics of modern Christian music cliche-ridden and trite. My theory on why it succeeds is because those cliches make a connection in the quick way that songs must as they fly by. But after the initial delight, one soon wearies of them. Bob’s lyrics aren’t like that. They are many-layered, honest, spring from deep wells and make tangible connections to life.

Bob wrote the songs on this album while he was going through a divorce. Cuts like "No Such Thing as Divorce" and in a way, "Angels Around Your Bed" echo his transition to his new role as a single dad. "The Doing of the Thing" speaks to the issue of having made a covenant, then breaking it.

His lyrics aren’t always full of pathos, though. He can be very witty. "Our Codependent Love" and "The Place I Am Bound" prove that.

The two songs that move me most deeply, though, are "Hope Like a Stranger" and "Singing For My Life."

Who of us hasn’t at one time or other, felt the despair that whispers - life won’t have any more sunny days - and what’s the point anyway? "Hope Like A Stranger" takes us through that kind of thinking and ends pointing to the Author of all hope: "Hope like a stranger, came to my door / But He’s risen and He stays / A stranger no more."

"Singing for My Life" I think of as a kind of Christian artist’s manifesto. In this song, Bob talks about his identity as a singer/musician and that he’s "...tempted to think / It’s the only time that I can do any good." He says an implied thank-you to his audience: "I sing these songs and you listen to me / But who’s doing the favor for who?" Finally he admits he comes to his vocation as a faulty vessel with a "deep dark secret." So he prays, God, do something in me, with the words I sing: "May the words in my mouth fall to my heart..."

I too understand the feeling of being defined by what I do (writer). I also can relate to the feeling of gratitude toward any audience which responds to my work, giving it a full-circle feel. But Bob’s lyrics push me further into a realization of why any of this is significant: "And remind me why I live and breathe / Is it not to know You? / Is it not to believe?

If you want bread, wine and oil for your spirit, get this CD!

(And if anyone reads this and would like to talk about a favorite CD and why - please be my ‘comment’ guest - I’d love to hear about it.)