Canter Bridge

Hector Berlioz missed the memo on the KISS Rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

It’s a good thing, that. Even better is the presence of conductors like the supremely attentive John Nelson, who give themselves and their formidable talents to works that might otherwise languish in abandonment, too far off the beat track for markets and beancounters to pay atttention. (more…)

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I Musici is rivaled perhaps only by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields when it comes to predictably crystalline performances of the Baroque masters. When I Musici, Felix Ayo, Heinz Holliger, and Maurice Bourge turn to Albinoni’s concerto repertoire, the outcome is never in doubt. (more…)

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Songs 4 Worship, Shout to the Lord is an anthology of conventional and well-known songs in the ‘Praise and Worship’ Genre. The value of this double CD set is its collection of twenty-two old (at least by the conventions of modern worship music) standards in one place.

The set does not break new ground. Rather, it presents many favorite musicians doing their signature pieces: the Maranatha Singers, Paul and Rita Baloche, Darlen Zschech, Twila Paris, Delirious?, Amy Grant, Rick Mullins, Graham Kendrick, Keith Green, Pete Sanchez, Jr, Joseph Garlington, Charlie LeBlanc, Ed Gungor, Don Moen, Kent Henry, J. Daniel Smith, Marty Nystrom, Ron Kenoly, and David Butterbaugh. (more…)

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Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

Five for Fighting’s John Ondrasik seems finally to have got over himself and down to the business of singing about life. The result is a splendid CD called, enigmatically, ‘The Battle for Everything.’ It promises to endure as a mile marker in his career, to say nothing of the annals of good listening.

The album’s opener, ‘NYC Weather Report’, fairly lilts. Ondrasik’s irony seems less bent on anger venting than on description of life as a stranger, one passing through with wistful memories of places and relationships that failed but somehow cast their expectation forward into destinations that await the end of this moment in the journey. Back, yet somehow forward, to New York City. (more…)

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Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

Delores O’Riordian has a voice like no other, perfectly suited for the upfront Irish anger of this 1994 album. Single digits ahead of the St Valentine’s Day accord and its imperfect afterlife, O’Riordian and the Cranberries lament–this *is* the dominant tone–the things that are wrong with families, fathers, lovers, and the hatred that has made ‘the Troubles’ so linkable an expression with Northern Ireland.

The front lady’s severe, alto and usually unaccompanied voice drives each song forward with self-propelled force. You either love it or hate it. Not too many simply liked this album. It was one of those musical offerings that invoked strong response from across the spectrum of listeners. (more…)

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This private-label collection of Messianic Jewish worship services highlights the tenor voice of the author and a moving collection of biblical texts that are sung in both Hebrew and English.

The spare arrangements mean that one hears a lot of McConnell, arguably the album’s strength andweakness. His voice is fluid and not unpleasant, but not blessed with immense range. If you like it, you get a lot of it. If you don’t, ditto.
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