Categories
Art Beauty Faith Life Music

Hiraeth: A Lenten Mixtape (2017 Edition)

Songs for waiting.

Hiraeth is a Welsh word for which there is no direct English translation. The word evokes a sense of homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed; a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness, and an earnest desire for a place that is hereafter beyond one’s reach across the echoes of time.”

Hiraeth: A Lenten Mixtape (2017 edition)

01. Ólafur Arnalds – Þú ert sólin
02. Lowercase Noises – I Need Thee
03. Bifrost Arts – Psalm 126 (feat. Molly Parden)
04. Sufjan Stevens – Ah Holy Jesus
05. Young Oceans – Come to Us O Lord
06. Hammock – Hiraeth
07. Sandra McCracken – Have Mercy
08. A Rocha Arts – Tree of Life (feat. Andy Gullahorn)

Categories
Art Beauty Music

Sandra McCracken – Psalms

Beautiful new album from the talented Sandra McCracken. I’ve been listening to it non-stop for a couple of months. Highly recommended.

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Categories
Beauty Faith Media Music

Easter Mixtape

Here’s an Easter Mix I put together a few years ago made up of songs by Andrew Peterson and Jill Phillips. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

01. Andrew Peterson – All Things New [0:00]
02. Andrew Peterson – Serve Hymn / Holy is the Lord [3:50]
03. Jill Phillips – All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name [8:02]
04. Andrew Peterson – High Noon [11:34]
05. Jill Phillips – Praise to the Lord the Almighty [16:01]
06. Jill Phillips – Hosanna [18:58]
07. Andrew Peterson – Hosanna [24:15]
08. Jill Phillips – Christ the Lord is Risen Today [28:28]
09. Jill Phillips – Fairest Lord Jesus [32:25]
10. Jill Phillips – Man of Sorrows [36:49]
11. Jill Phillips – Lamb of God [40:08]
12. Andrew Peterson – The Good Confession (I Believe) [45:09]

You can get these songs from the following albums, which are highly recommended:

Andrew Peterson – Love and Thunder

Andrew Peterson – Resurrection Letters, Volume II

Jill Phillips – Kingdom Come

Categories
Culture Faith Music Musings

Derek Webb: Feedback

Derek Webb released his new instrumental electronic worship album today, entitled Feedback.  Before the album dropped, Derek wrote a bit about his intentions and thoughts behind the album.  After giving it a few listens, I had a few additional thoughts, as well.


First, I think that Derek has really dialed into how to successfully price and differentiate various product tiers in order to 1.) maximize value to his customers, 2.) encourage customers to consider the upper tiers, and 3.) provide a range of options that will satisfy customers regardless of whether they prefer a physical product over a digital one, lossless audio to high-bitrate mp3, or could care less as long as they get the music immediately.

Like I said, I really, really like how Derek has priced his product tiers. Tier 1 gets you an immediate high bitrate MP3 download for $10.

For $15, Tier 2 gives you the option of getting the album in lossless format immediately, adds a physical cd, and includes 5″x5″ prints of the two companion art collections, 18 art prints in all. That’s alot of additional product for only $5 more.

Tier 3, at $30, gives you all the above, plus a t-shirt, plus digital high-resolution files of the paintings, plus multi-track stems of the album tracks for remixing, plus several video interviews and short films.

I personally chose Tier 2, but I strongly considered Tier 3.

Now, on to the music itself:

On the whole, I like Feedback. I like what Derek is trying to do, and I appreciate how different it is from the status-quo in the Christian music arena that Derek often finds himself in. However, as a person who listens to a fair amount of post-rock / electronic / ambient music, “Feedback” didn’t blow my socks off (on the first listen, at least). I’m still figuring out how each musical piece interacts with or represents its respective title, and I’m trying to see how this album will “draw me into worship.” I’m not sure yet. I certainly think that I’m going to need to give this a few spins before I make a final judgement.

This is a largely untapped sound for the Christian market. That being said, I would say that this sort of stuff is done more powerfully in non-“Christian-specific” arenas by other artists (Hammock, Sigur Rós, Balmorhea, Jesu, Max Richter, The Album Leaf, Eluvium, Helios, etc.). To be honest, I find some of that stuff quite worshipful, at times. Derek’s Feedback project is interesting, especially in how it is framed, but I wouldn’t say it is groundbreaking, as a whole.

Now, what is interesting to me is whether Derek is using Feedback as a sort of bridge for Christians to learn to appreciate and pursue the sort of expression found in this other arena and find the beauty in it, to draw Christians out of their tendency towards sub-culture. I might be overthinking this, but that’s what I’m considering right now as I pore over the music.

In the credits to Feedback, Derek thanks Mako Fujimura, which I think is really cool. Mako is one of my favorite artists; I love the way he integrates his faith into his art without distancing himself either from Christians or members of the larger arts community. He makes good art that speaks for itself, and I like that Derek is trying to channel and highlight that. I am well aware that I’m not Derek’s “standard listener;” stylistically, the breadth of the music I listen to is atypical. For some that listen to “Feedback,” it may be mind-blowing and completely out in left field. I just wish he had gone a little farther and hit a homerun.

In sum, one of the key things to acknowledge about Feedback is that is a paradigm shift from much of the “noise” of established stereotypical CCM worship music. I think it’s healthy to dispel a narrow conception of what “worship” is and take it outside of the box. I admire Derek’s art and what he’s done since becoming a solo artist; Derek has the ear of people in the world of music and art, both Christian and non-Christian, and that’s a wonderful thing. As Derek said on twitter yesterday, “there are christian and secular people who make art. there is no christian or secular art.” Let’s support good art, regardless of where it’s made.

By the way, my favorite tracks after the first few listens are 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8. What are yours?

Categories
Art Music

William Fitzsimmons: Finding Home

I ran across this documentary of William Fitzsimmons a few days ago entitled “Finding Home,” which documents his most recent tour.   If you love William Fitzsimmons, you’ll enjoy watching it.

If you’ve never heard of William Fitzsimmons, trust me, you’ll love William Fitzsimmons.

Anyway, give it a watch if you like good songwriting and great music.

You can pick up his music here, here, and here.