Tag Archive - new music

Israel Houghton “Love God. Love People.” Giveaway

August 23, 2010 in Music, Worship with 19 Comments

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 28:36-40

It is around this core Biblical theme where Israel Houghton chose to center the heart of his new album, “Love God. Love People.”  Israel is no stranger to pushing the musical envelope and creating a virtual stylistic melting pot and the new album, recorded at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios, is bursting at the seams with fresh sounds and expressions, all the while never straying too far from the signature Israel Houghton sound.

Songs like “Yahweh (The Lifter)” and the first single “You Hold My World” could easily be adopted by church worship teams while the title track and Israel’s take on Chris Tomlin’s “Our God” bring new sounds into the mix, and the result is quite remarkable.

My favorite song is probably “Surprises”, which features a guest vocal from Fred Hammond. I love the lyrical concept, the production and the way the song progresses and develops, ending much different than it began. It’s quite dope, actually.

Here’s a little taste of what you can expect from the album:

“Love God. Love People.” does not release until August 31, but the good people at Integrity Music are giving 5 AnIdolHeart.com readers an opportunity to WIN IT BEFORE YOU CAN BUY IT! Pretty awesome, eh?  Who loves ya, baby?!?! :)

There are 2 ways to enter!

1. Leave a comment below with what your favorite worship song is right now.
2. Twitter a link to this post. You can do so automatically by clicking here!

This giveaway will only go until 10:00am CT Tuesday, August 24.  At that time, I will randomly select 5 entries from all the comments and tweets and those 5 people will each receive a copy of Israel Houghton’s “Love God. Love People.” before it is even available in stores, courtesy of Integrity Music!

Red Light, Green Light, GO!

 

Signs Of Life: Natasha Bedingfield

May 27, 2010 in Culture, Music with 4 Comments

I’ve been working this week to move my blog to a new host. That, combined with a ridiculous pace I’ve been keeping for the past week or so, has resulted in no new posts for several days. Sorry about that. I’m about to kick it back in gear with lots of new thoughts, observations and life commentary.  In the meantime, I wanted to share some new music with you.

I’ve enjoyed Natasha Bedingfield’s music ever since I first heard “Unwritten” about 5 years ago. I dig her voice, her soul-meets-Brit Pop sound and the fact that her music always has signs of life, truth and purpose woven throughout.  While the latter certainly sets her apart, it isn’t as surprising once you know Natasha is a member of Hillsong London church and is a frequent contributor to their worship material, most notably “Shout Your Fame”.

Natasha has been working on her upcoming 3rd album, due out later this year, but the first song has surfaced, called “Touch” and I LOVE IT!  Check it out!

Natasha Bedingfield - Touch

Always one to bring substance and significance to her lyrics, with “Touch” Natasha tells a story of how the seemingly insignificant details and mundane happenings of our daily lives aren’t really insignificant or mundane at all, but rather part of an intricately woven life tapestry where our lives and stories collide with one another and result in purpose.  In other words, we stumble upon purpose “when we dance, we we laugh, when we touch.”

Every choice we make, and every road we take
Every interaction starts a chain reaction
We’re both affected when we least expect it
And then when we touched
And it all connected
– lyrics from “Touch”

I don’t know when the album comes out yet, but if you dig “Touch” you can buy it here.

What do you think about the song?

 

Inspiration From Iceland

April 7, 2010 in Culture, Music with 10 Comments

I’ve got a lot of half-finished blog ideas and things written, but honestly, the last couple days I’ve felt a bit worn out and needing some inspiration.

Enter “Go”, the new album from Sigùr Ros lead singer Jónsi, which was just released yesterday.  I’ve blogged before about my love of Sigùr Ros’ music and how it moves me.  I won’t rehash all that, but you if you haven’t read that post yet or heard their music, you are really missing out.  Sigùr Ros hails from Iceland and Jonsi sings mostly in an unintelligible, responsive language called “Vonlenska”, which is translated as “hopelandic”. I know, pretty dope, right!?  There are actually a lot of English lyrics on “Go”, which is pretty cool when contrast with the “vonlenska”.

“Go” is brilliant and has been infusing me with mad inspiration.  The album is stunning!  The harmonies, the rhythms, the musical textures… it’s an incredible work of art.  The album is vivid, bursting with creativity and teeming with life!

It sounds like beauty.

It sounds like Spring.

It sounds like hope.

It sounds like redemption.

I wanted to share the video for the song “Go Do” with you.  I know it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but for the rest of you, hope you enjoy and are inspired!

Jónsi – Go Do from Jónsi on Vimeo.

For a limited time, you can purchase “Go” at Amazon MP3 for just $6.99. I recommend getting on that. :)

What is inspiring you today?

 

Beautiful Things

March 9, 2010 in Culture, Faith, Music, Worship with 17 Comments

Gungor - Beautiful Things

About a month ago I had the opportunity to see worship artist Michael Gungor’s band, Gungor, perform their new album, “Beautiful Things”, live in its entirety at the re:create 2010 Conference.  I had been listening to a pre-release copy of this album for a good couple months and as much as I loved it, the CD did not prepare me for what I experienced in the live setting at the conference.

I don’t wait to be overly dramatic, but what I experienced that day was quite simply the most beautiful, riveting and stunning God-inhabited live music and worship experience I have ever had. It was a collision of God and art unlike anything I have ever experienced. Ever. Anywhere. Ever.

Here’s a short video that will give you a tiny taste of what went down that day.

If you’re in the market for a new music purchase, I cannot recommend “Beautiful Things” enough.  It has stayed in heavy rotation in my iTunes and iPod since I first heard it, but even more so since the live experience.  The album is profound, elegant, simply complex and just plain genius.

The truth is, “Beautiful Things” is worth every single penny you would spend on it, and then some. However…

I’m excited to announce that AnIdolHeart.com is partnering with Brash Music and Nside Management to give away 5 copies of Gungor’s brand new “Beautiful Things” CD!

There are 2 ways to enter (and you can do both!)

1. comment on this blog with your answer to to following question: What is your favorite worship song and why?
2. follow me on Twitter AND tweet about this giveaway with the following: @anidolheart is giving away 5 copies of Gungor’s “Beautiful Things” CD! http://bit.ly/atCgwh (pls RT!)

Sounds pretty easy to me. :)

From all the comments and tweets received, I will randomly select 5 winners on Friday morning, March 12, and those folks will each receive a copy of the “Beautiful Things” CD.  Don’t want to roll the dice and wait until Friday?  You can buy “Beautiful Things” here now.

Ready? Set. Go!

 
Page 2 of 2«12