Category: Books/Music/Movies

Posted on

Music Review: ‘Warr Acres’ by Warr Acres

Title: Warr Acres
Artist: Warr Acres
Genre: Worship/Pop/Rock

iTunes / YouTube / Spotify

Tracklisting:

  1. Undignified
  2. Sound The Alarm
  3. You Are Joy
  4. Maker of Miracles
  5. Hymn of Remembrance
  6. Shout Your Love
  7. Heaven Bound
  8. Saviour, Crucified
  9. Hold To This Truth
  10. Shadow of The Steeple
  11. Our God Lives

Review: Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love music – and especially how much I love Worship. From the hymns of old that stir the passions and build a solid bedrock, to the intimacy of a Vineyard album, to the all out big style of Hillsongs – and about everything in between (well, with one or two notable exceptions)

I got sent this album to review for the Cross Rhythms website, along with three others, and listened to it pretty soon after opening the jiffy bag.

Just so you’re aware, I hadn’t heard of this band and had done no research at the point of my first hearing it so I didn’t know what to expect and wasn’t anticipating the sounds that burst out, nor the depth of the lyrics that accompanied them.

It didn’t take long to dig out a wealth of information on the group, they’ve got quite a presence in the States and are actually the worship band formerly known as VMusic from Victory Church in Warr Acres, Oklahoma (hence the name). With the addition of some new members, a tweak to a more pop/rock sound, and a more “commercial” image they have recreated themselves as this eclectic mix of tunes with worship still at the core.

When I say”commercial”, that isn’t a negative remark – please don’t get me wrong there! But they’ve shifted from the stage based worship leading image that you see in the VMusic videos on YouTube to the very dramatic and quirky-mainstream style that is visible on their video for Undignified (see the HD link at the top of this article, or the lower res video at the bottom)

So we have here a band that has re-imagined itself, kept it’s core heart of worship oriented music and launched this collection of songs – some that were previously recorded with VMusic and others that are brand new. What is the end result of this?

One word sums it up – WOW!

Seriously, this is a brilliant album that mixes up inward, upward and outwardly focussed lyrics to both build faith, praise our Creator and challenge us to get off our blessed assurances and look beyond the four walls of our churches.

“Undignified” is a rousing opener that leaves you in no doubt as to the passion of the band. The vocals are provided by Dove Award nominee Kristy Starling and the lyrics are a bold declaration of praise and worship. If this song doesn’t get your toes tapping and your head bouncing then you’ve probably not got the volume turned up as there is no way this song can be enjoyed as a passive listener.

“Maker of Miracles” is a wonderful ballad style song but with an uplifting chorus. The words pick up on the life and words of Christ, as well as His promises, bringing a real sense of majesty, awe and hope as the duet of Kristy along with Lael Louthan rings out and surrounds you with a sense of the majesty of the King.

With its catchy and somewhat retro beat, “Heaven Bound” is a great pop track – but don’t make the mistake of dismissing it as a jaunty bubblegum tune as the songwriting passions cut through once again full of scriptural roots, uplifting visions of eternity and the ever-present thick vein of worship that runs through this whole collection of songs.

I could go on and on about the tracks, they are all worthy of mention, but the one I really do need to mention is “Shadow of the steeple”. This is a call to action that leaves you in no doubt of what our call is – to get out and be Jesus to the people around us, on the streets, in our neighbourhoods and in the communities that we live in. Those comfy chairs in our churches suddenly feel rather itchy, those pews are definitely growing thorns as you take in the words of this brilliant song.

I can’t wait to hear more from these folks – I am genuinely excited by what I hear and I cannot stop listening to these songs. Go listen to the album on YouTube, Spotify or Last.Fm and then buy it. You won’t regret it and you may find yourselves being challenged, energised, raised up and drawn closer to God as the passionate heart of the music pumps out your earbuds/speakers/tin-cans.

Score: 5/5

Warr Acres – Undignified
Posted on

Book Review: ‘Split Second’ by David Baldacci

Title: Split Second
Author: David Baldacci
Genre: Crime/Thriller

Storyline: Guarding a radical political candidate, Secret Service agent Sean King is distracted long enough to allow for an assassin to kill the protectee. Several years later fast rising Secret Agent, Michelle Maxwell, is lead agent for a candidate who is kidnapped. When dead bodies start turning up to unravel Kings new life, the two disgraced agents join forces to unravel the web of lies, murder and vengeance.

Review: This is the first of the King & Maxwell series of books although not the first that I’ve read and it’s always interesting to see how a story begins. I realise a lot of people will have started here and moved through the series but I tend to pick books up when I see them on offer and give them a try so can’t always guarantee going 1.2.3 😉

Baldacci is a great storyteller, writing in a smooth and easy manner that means your focus is on the characters and the plot rather than deciphering the overly-clever style that some authors can use. He’s also an author who doesn’t resort to sex and swearing to sell the story – I struggle when a book is full of F-bombs for no reason. Seriously, if I met people who swore as much as some of the characters in some books I would probably choose to go deaf voluntarily!

There are twists and turns aplenty in this book, and you are never fully sure who to trust or where to focus and this makes for a really enjoyable ride.

I’ve now read 3 books by Baldacci and have to say that his books are definitely going to be a permanent feature of my bookcases from now on. 🙂

Score: 4.5/5

Posted on

Book Review: ‘Killing Hour’ by Andrew Gross

Title: Killing Hour
Author: Andrew Gross
Genre: Crime/Thriller

Storyline: After his troubled nephew is found to have committed suicide Dr Jay Handler is drawn in to a legacy of murder, torture, manipulation and betrayal – plus buried secrets in his brothers past. Convincing anyone that there was more to this than meets the eye pushes him to the edge of sanity and threatens everything, and everyone, he loves. Can he piece it all together, is there a deeper and darker truth, and just how far back does all this go?

Review: This is the fifth book from the bestselling author, and the third that I have read (you can read my review of ‘The Blue Zone’ here) – and it’s always interesting to see how an author develops, especially after having co-written with a prominent author such as James Patterson. Andrew Gross is definitely not a Patterson clone and writes with a very fluid and addictive style. One of the joys with Patterson novels is that I can’t put them down and I just devour them, this is proving to be very true here.

With a tragic foundation in the real-life death of his bi-polar nephew the author draws us into a tangle of lies, deceit, murder and the lasting effects of a long-dead cult. You can’t take anything for granted and there are surprises all the way to the last page of the book.

The characters are well-rounded and you are drawn in very quickly, finding yourself caring about Jay and his family whilst also despising and cringing away from the odious cult leader. It’s this depth of character that really provides the flesh and identity for the skeleton of the story, and it’s this emotive connection that marks Gross out as a real standout talent in the ever-crowded genre (not that I’m complaining about the depth and variety of authors that are out there at the moment – it gives a load of variety and ensures that there are always new ideas and new stories to read)

The flow of the story is at a pleasantly fast pace, not too fast to rush by and give no detail but avoiding the slow, procedural, drudge that some authors can slip into as they flood you with more detail than is needed. The twists and turns are a mix of the anticipated, the expected and the complete shock. If it were possible to be made to jump whilst reading a book then there would definitely be some moments in this book.

If you are a fan of Deaver, Patterson et al then you will find this an easy book to get into – but a hard book to put down.

Score: 4.5/5

Posted on

Music Review: ‘10,000 Reasons’ by Matt Redman

MR10kReasons[9]

Title: 10,000 Reasons
Artist: Matt Redman
Genre: Worship

iTunes / CrossRhythms / Spotify

Tracklisting:

  1. We Are The Free
  2. Here For You
  3. Holy
  4. 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
  5. Fires
  6. Never Once
  7. Where Would We Be
  8. We Could Change The World
  9. Magnificent
  10. O This God
  11. Endless Hallelujah

Review: When a prolific songwriter like Matt Redman releases a new album, a lot of people sit up and take note. With songs like “Heart of worship” and “Blessed be Your name” becoming regular features in churches, conferences and house groups alike, there is always an air of expectation and anticipation.

‘Facedown’ found it’s way into CD and MP3 players across the world and is widely seen as his best album to date with ‘Beautiful News’ and ‘We Will Not Be Shaken’ providing good, solid tunes but nothing as ground-breaking as the prior live project.

So along comes ‘10,000 Reasons’. Recorded live at the LIFT conference in Atlanta this is a completely focussed album of worship, praise and back-to-basics music that picks up where ‘Facedown’ left off – and as a sequel it is just as strong, if not stronger.

If you’ve seen Matt live in recent months, be it at the Big Church Day Out or at other events, then you’ll immediately know some of the songs with the opening track providing one of the most addictive hooks in recent years (my youngest lad calls it the “oh oh song”) and making it impossible not to sing along in true hairbrush mic style. “Here for you” continues with the anthemic sound, and is best know as the title track of this years live Passion conference release.

Moving away from the up tempo and livelier tunes we then get into the meat of where Matt has truly impacted lives – the intimate, worshipful, deeper songs. There are so many to chose from but the four that have really struck me personally, and have made me pick up my Yamaha guitar, are ‘Holy’, ‘10,000 reasons’, ‘Never Once’ and ‘Endless Hallelujah’ – each of them featuring choruses and lyrics that you will wake up singing, hum through the day and go to sleep with them ringing through your mind. No bad thing really!

‘Never Once’ has hit me especially at this time and really speaks into those difficult situations we all face every now and then – but never face alone. The title track is almost hymn-like and I find myself never wanting it to stop… singing “Bless the Lord Oh my soul” long after the music faces (see what I did there)

I could go on to discuss all the tracks but there really isn’t a need and I am sure that every person will find their own favourite tunes resonating where they are as they listen to the CD.

Simply put all I can say is that you should get this album as quickly as you can – you won’t regret it.

Score: 5/5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhUaqP-CQVY&ob=av2n[/youtube]

Posted on

Book Review: ‘Damaged’ by Alex Kava

Title: Damaged
Author: Alex Kava
Genre: Crime/Thriller

Storyline: A floating box of body parts, an approaching category 5 hurricane and a fatal mystery outbreak at a naval medical facility lead to a rollercoaster of a ride for FBI Profiler Maggie O’Dell as she gets involved with the Pensacola Coastguard in working out where the body parts came from. Her “friend” Col. Benjamin Platt in the meantime is also deployed, without her knowledge, to the Pensacola Naval facility to investigate the mysterious deaths of multiple patients who are all succumbing to an unknown virus.

With twists, turns and interweaving storylines the clock is ticking…

Review: It’s always interesting picking up a new author – well, new to me anyway. Having read loads of different crime and thriller books, from a good variety of authors, I had decided to try out another writer to see what they were like (always on the lookout for more books to stuff my shelves with 🙂 )

Damaged was a strange book in that the tagline on the cover never really comes to the fore, leaving you expecting something that doesn’t materialise. You are always aware that the three main strands, four if you include the hurricane, are going to collide at some point and this can feel a bit frustrating as I found myself almost shouting at the book because the obvious seemed to be overlooked far too often.

I don’t want to come over as being down on this book, but it’d be a lie if I didn’t express disappointment. There’s no real profiling involved, which was something that I was looking forward to, and the first 2/3’s feels drawn out with the final 1/3 feeling rushed and needing more room to breathe. In fact the final page came as a complete shock as it did feel as though Kava had set herself a page target, hit it, and stopped dead.

In a genre that is packed full of knowledgeable, tense, and well-written books this is an average story and as a result it was a disappointment. Would I buy more of her books? Sure, so long as they are in the bargain bins – I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to buy them otherwise.

Score: 3/5

P.S. Yeah, I know it’s been a LONG time since I last reviewed a book or anything but I thought I’d give it another shot and expand to cover music, movies and stuff as the mood takes me. Especially as I am now a music reviewer for Cross Rhythms. 😉