Music Time

It's been a pretty good while since I talked about music, so I figured it'd be a good topic for today.  The other day, I got an email coupon for a discount on CDs from Amazon and I took the chance to pick up a couple of albums I had been wanting for a while.

First is Chris August: No Far Away (MP3 $5.00, CD $8.99).  I've been hearing "Starry Night" on the radio for what seems like forever now and I've always wanted to pick up this album just based off that one song.  When the new single, "7x70", started playing a couple of weeks ago, it kicked me into overdrive wanting this CD.  I haven't had the time to really listen to it like I want to, but from what I've heard, the rest of the CD is just as good as the first two singles.  August is nominated for several Dove awards this year and it's pretty obvious why.

Next up is Matthew West: Story of Your Life (MP3 $7.99, CD $8.99).  After having listened to this CD two or three times and reading the liner notes, I'm convinced that every single person should own a copy of this album.  When West got ready to record what would become this album, he asked fans to send him the stories of their lives.  He took those thousands of stories and read them and then wrote this album based off them.  The liner notes contain the lyrics for each song followed by a summary of the story (or stories) that inspired that song.  It's an amazing project that simply and beautifully testifies of God's love and grace and providence.  West covers a broad range of topics and in the end there's inspiration to be found in pretty much whatever situation you're facing.  You owe it to yourself to get this CD, and I would encourage you to get the actual, physical CD so that you can really read the liner notes.  On top of the stories, the songs on their own are really good.  Anyone that listens to Christian radio has heard "My Own Little World".  The rest of the album stands up to the quality of that single and even surpasses it at times.  Best $9 I've spent in a long time.

So that's the two newest CDs I've been listening to.  Have a good weekend and I'll see you back here on Tuesday.

--Paul