Ilsa sings and plays music from Doctor Who

I guess my love of all things Who has rubbed off on Ilsa...

It's hard to recognize, but she is singing the Doctor Who theme song, and playing a song from the 5th season of Doctor Who.

how to write a truly awful worship song...link

This is a spot-on blog post by Mark Altrogge about the dubious talent of writing a bad worship song. (I'm Stephanie J. in the comments, by the way.)

I get frustrated by church worship music with a melody that is impossible for the congregation to sing, therefore rendering the worship song as PERFORMANCE by a WORSHIP BAND on the stage. That is not congregational singing. That is a concert.

There are many poorly written hymns as well -- with registers so high that only a coloratura soprano at The Met could sing. But generally speaking, the reason hymns are so easy for a congregation to sing, is because the melodies are EASY to sing. There are many modern hymns being written as well. Check out gettymusic.com.

love songs

Mars Hill Church has posted music from their Good Friday Service. I chose a few of my favorites. Click here for more.

What Wondrous Love is This
"

Jesus Paid it All
"

virtual choir

This is AMAZING! As David Murray explains on his wonderful blog, Head Heart Hand:

In this astounding video, American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre spliced together nearly 250 videos of individuals singing individual parts of "Lux Arumque." He sent out the music, auditioned the singers, and then chose 250 of the submitted videos, which he spliced together to form this "virtual choir."

As I watched in wonder, I could not help thinking of how Christ our Mediator gathers His people's praises from every church and every believer in the world every Sunday and presents them, as a perfect choir, to His Father.

Then my mind went further and "I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."

two music faves have new albums

Mark Altrogge (Sovereign Grace/Forever Grateful Music) has just released the 9th album in the Hide the Word series - scripture memorization set to music: Walk Humbly. There are twenty scriptures (from the ESV) set to high quality contemporary music. Each verse is repeated at least three times, and the reference is given.

Canadian band, Down Here, who kind of exploded on the American Christian music scene last year with their song, How Many Kings has released a Christmas album; it includes the thoughtful HMK, along with as well as a remastered version of How Many Kings, 13 songs in total. I particularly like the reggae-ish "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Down Here is so different from many contemporary Christian artists. Their lyrics are thoughtful, Scripturally sound, with interesting harmonies and high quality musicality. They are currently the only contemporary Christian band that I "follow" (I'm a little uncomfortable with that term, but not sure what else to call it). The album is available on iTunes or you can order from the band directly. I'm already listening thanks to iTunes.