New Tunes
Posted at 6:21 am on February 24, 2010 by Catherine
Every now and then I’m given the chance to preview some new music and share my thoughts. I don’t know about you, but my kids behave a lot better if there is some music in the background, so I’m always eager to give something a try. Here are a few recent listens.
Celtic Woman
It had to be a good sign when my husband walked into the house, said “Oh, Celtic Woman!” and popped the CD immediately into the player. Once I heard their voices I realized how he knew them – and you probably do too – they often show concerts on PBS. I’ve always enjoyed Celtic music, and these five ladies are known for their modern twist on the ancient sounds. The CD I have, Songs from the Heart covers hits like Sting’s “Fields of Gold” and Billy Joel’s “Goodnight My Angel” with their unique sound. Unfortunatly, Sting and Billy Joel aren’t my favorites to begin with, but I do enjoy listening to this CD; I can only assume I would enjoy others even more.
If you’re interested, check out a map of their upcoming tour. And better yet, you can watch videos of the Celtic Woman in concert.
La-La-Lisa
Another new CD in my stereo is La-La-Lisa’s The Big Green Alligator. I have to admit, I have high standards for kids music – I even wrote a paper in college about the very few that meet my standards, and I wasn’t even a music major! I would say this is cute, fairly standard fare as far as kid’s music goes, but nothing that would have gotten a mention in my college paper years back. However, a few of the songs (My Little Brother and The Countdown Song) are starting to get into my blood. And she is giving a portion of her sales profits to a charity called “Teen Mothers Choices.” So at least stop by and find out more.
Jennifer Shaw – Love Broke Through
To be honest, when I heard this album for the first time the image that came to my mind was listening to a sound recording of myself singing in a church worship band. When you’re singing into a mic, because everyone else at church is singing along you really are just the loudest singer in a huge choir – you’re not trying to sing a solo and it doesn’t sound like a solo. But you can’t tell the details until you hear what the people in the sound booth hear. And I’m not making this up – I’ve been helping lead worship my entire life (ok, since I was eight) and my husband often runs sounds. I’m not enitrely untalented, but the view from the sound booth isn’t so nice.
That was the long way around, but its a pretty good description of how Jennifer’s CDs sound to me – like a homemade recording of a home-town worship leader. Which isn’t bad, just now what we’re used to hearing on the radio and iPod. But as I continued listening I realized that her songs are really really good. Then I found out that some of the songs on this CD are being used in thousands are churches, beginning this month. So it seems my instincts were on track – her emphasis is on writing great worship songs, not on being the next American Idol. And honestly, I think I prefer it that way.
The jury is still out on all three of these albums – will they graduate from my CD player to my MP3 player? Only time will tell. But don’t let me miss an opportunity to point you in the direction of a few kids CDs that I can recommend without an ounce of reservation – even though they weren’t around when I was writing my paper years ago. Curious? Visit here and here (you’re be hearing more about the second one in the coming weeks – its a great resource for DuPage Mamas!) And then come back and let me know what you’re listening to.
For kids’ music, we really love Billy Jonas’ album, “What Kind of Cat Are You.” Even the adults can listen to this one over and over. That says something.