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8th July, 2008

KRIS BATHER

Album/DVD: Alive and Transported

Artist: tobyMac

Year: 2008
Label: Forefront/EMD
Web: www.tobymac.com
 
In A Word: Blistering

"Toby’s voice sounds more powerful than ever and he never loses a beat throughout the concert’s entirety on memorable beats like Boomin’, Made To Love and Extreme Days."

dcTalk helped me become a Christian. I saw their Welcome to the Freak Show live concert on VHS and couldn’t believe they were a Christian band. Surely Christian music had guys in braces playing harps and singing, “Hallelujah,” all the time. Right? Wrong-thankfully. I loved that album and listened to the tape so many times I destroyed it. Then when Jars of Clay, Newsboys and delirious came along all my misconceptions about Christianity were swept away. Contemporary Christian music has been an integral part of my life since.

dcTalk’s last album of new material, 1998’s Supernatural, was certainly a fitting swansong from the groundbreaking boys, and the demand for an immediate re-union was high. I don’t think many people expected tobyMac to be the most successful solo artist after the split. With the soaring voices of Michael Tait and Kevin Max “that guy that does all the rapping” had to work hard to get noticed. But he did, and it paid off.

With his three solo albums (Momentum, Welcome to Diverse City and Portable Sounds) each better than the last, he continues to shine in the hip-hop arena.

Alive and Transported is his first live DVD. He looks as young and as energetic as he did when he first made an impression on me all those years ago. With the hits from his albums, plus dcTalk’s anthem, Jesus Freak, this 20 song collection won’t allow you to stop grooving. The CD and DVD collect the same songs, but the DVD has a nifty bonus; an almost one hour long doco on the man himself as he discusses life, touring, family and the sometimes mundane, sometimes extraordinary ways he met his current band mates. Toby’s voice sounds more powerful than ever and he never loses a beat throughout the concert’s entirety on memorable beats like Boomin’, Made To Love and Extreme Days. It must be exhausting, but moved by the adoration of the huge crowd and his passion for Christ, the guys just keeps rocking, and rapping. It doesn't have the multimedia extravagance of a U2 show or the choreography of a Justin Timberlake show, but these guys (and girl) know how to party.

The DVD needs big speakers and a big TV to really show the power and enthusiasm coming from the stage. The editing adds much colour and motion to the event and it is a feast for your eyes as well as ears. Though he has had moderate success in the mainstream music scene, with songs being used in TV ads and films, Toby doesn’t shy away from his Christian roots. He’s not ashamed of the Gospel, and like his friend and collaborator, the equally awesome Kirk Franklin, he spills out spiritual authenticity along with his creativity. One of the greatest blessings of being a believer is that we have music like this, that honours God and gets your body moving.

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PAST MUSIC REVIEWS:

THE BEST THE JARS HAVE TO OFFER (AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING!)

Bring together titles like Flood, Show You Love, Crazy Times, Worlds Apart, Frail and Love Song For A Saviour and you have a set that represents millions of album sales worldwide, a whole bunch of movie soundtracks, and, no doubt, the soundtrack to a few people's lives.
      Jars burst onto the scene [pun possibly intended] in 1995 with their platinum selling self-titled album, fuelled by the massive success of the single Flood. Relentless writing and touring ensued. The beautiful thing about their story is three-fold: 1, they sound like nobody else I can think of; 2, the lyric is always uncompromising in its artistic depth and its spiritual reality, and; 3, they sound like nobody else. It’s true and it’s worth noting twice.
      Recently the boys have become independent artists again and, as such, we get to see this collection come to light.

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ALL THE BIG NAMES COME TOGETHER FOR THE PERFECT BBQ STARTER

Although I’m still sure that most compilations get listened to a few times and then popped on the shelf for posterity or an upcoming family BBQ, this one has quite a few gems that you may want to rip into your player for future jogging expeditions.
      There are the regulars here including Newsboys' In Wonder, Stephen Curtis Chapman with Miracle Of The Moment, Chris Tomlin’s always popular version of Amazing Grace and tunes from Barlowgirl, Third Day and Jeremy Camp. All of the tracks have been hits in the US and at least half should be well known to Aussie 'n Kiwi Christian music radio audiences.

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SINGING WITH A PASSION

OK, hands up if you love the Passion movement?  Haven’t heard of 'em?  Bet you have.  Try this; hands up if you’ve seen any messages on DVD lately from a guy named Louie Giglio?  Hands up if you’ve sung How Great Is Our God with the hymn of How Great Thou Art attached?  Now hands up if you’re au fait with names like Tomlin, Crowder, Redman and Hall.  Chances are, you’ve heard of from the Passion movement and just don’t know it yet.
     Well, each year, this university-based outreach movement in the US pulls together a conference, makes a pretty amazing recording and let’s us listen in once it’s all put together. God Of This City is this year's effort (Oh, and PS, it’s going on tour and will arrive in Sydney live later this year). These songs were recorded at events in Atlanta, Boston and Chicago and significantly, the title track was a collaborative effort credited to ‘Bluetree’. 

    JUSTIN MICHAEL on the Passion movement's God Of This City... | more... |

FOR MORE PAST MUSIC REVIEWS... | more... |

11th February, 2008

WES JAY

THE WINNERS in the seven Gospel categories of the 50th annual Grammy Awards were announced in LA this week shortly before the live telecast of the major awards across the globe. The Clark Sisters won three awards: tieing for Best Gospel Performance with Blessed And Highly Favored alongside Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige with Never Gonna Break My Faith; and winning Best Gospel Song with Blessed And Highly Favored and Best Traditional Gospel Album with Live - One Last Time. Israel & New Breed was extremely excited to receive the honor for Best Contemporary Pop Gospel Album with A Deeper Level ahead of tobyMac, Michael W Smith, Mandisa, and Casting Crowns. Ashley Cleveland won her third Gospel Grammy with Before the Daylight’s Shot beating Skillet and Pillar for the Best Rock Gospel Album category. She told the crowd that she just turned 51 a few days ago - one year older than the awards – so winning the ‘gramophone’ again was the nicest present anyone could imagine. Other winners were: Fred Hammond for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, and Ricky Skaggs - Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album. Robert Randolph and Michael W Smith appeared in the pre-telecast as presenters.

DELIRIOUS? IS SET TO RELEASE its final CD featuring drummer Stew Smith in mid April. The CD Kingdom Of Comfort is the result of the band’s journey over the past few years where they have encountered life and situations so far removed from all we know in the West. Martin, Stu G, Tim, Stew and Jon have been irrevocably impacted by the poverty and deprivation that they have seen, causing them to ask the question have we grown accustomed to our kingdom of comfort? This is the group’s 11th CD.

HILLSONG UNITED is set to release its new CD iHeart Revolution : With Hearts As One. Lead singer Joel Houston says the new project includes 28 songs recorded during the band’s 2006 world tour to Cape Town, Toronto, Chicago, Buenos Aires, and Manila.

WOODLANDS MEDIA this week enters its tenth year publishing The Rock Across Australia chart. Wanno - the 17 year old voice who’s heard presenting the InfoZone segment weekly on The Reality Zone - compiles the chart from playlists submitted regularly by more than 20 stations throughout the country. When the first Top 30 was published on 15th February, 1999, the number one song was DC Talk’s Supernatural.

NEWSBOYS WIN HONOURS, READY FOR REZFEST. Newsboys has been named Australian Christian music’s Artist of the Year while its hit Something Beautiful has been named Song of the Year. The band, which started in a garage in Queensland and played one of its first gigs at a local pub, has sold well in excess of six million records, had four Grammy nominations and scored more than 25 number one hits. But despite being based just out of Nashville, the Newsboys still consider themselves very much an Aussie band with lead singer Peter Furler delighted to have been given the Australian accolade after so many years. “It’s something we are proud of (being Australian),” he said from his home in the US. “Aussies have done some fantastic things and from such a small nation there have been so many achievements. It’s where we cut our teeth and you can’t forget your roots.” In recent years, Newsboys has been a regular entry on Business Review Weekly’s list of top earning Australian overseas artists. The band is well known for some of the most spectacular shows in music with 33 metre catwalks, drum risers which spin the drummer upside down, and a pod which takes Furler about 10 metres into the air above the crowd. Three of the band, including Duncan Phillips (drums) and Melbourne guitarist Paul Colman, formerly of the Grammy nominated Paul Colman Trio, are Australian while the fourth member, Jeff Frankenstein (keyboards), is from Detroit. Newsboys also picked up the award for Song of the Year for Something Beautiful, one of three number one hits off the new album Go. The honours were announced by Australia’s national Christian music charts, The Rock Across Australia (TRAA). The charts report radio airplay from more than 20 Christian stations throughout the country representing more than a million listeners each week. In March, Newsboys will return to Australia for a national tour which includes the RezFest Festival in Melbourne (23rd-24th March) at the historic Point Cook Homestead. Tickets for the two day festival, sponsored by Wyndham City Council and Wyndham Ministers' Network are $37 per ticket per day.  A special discounted weekend ticket is available from 18th February to 9th March only for $55 (incl GST). Tickets available from Word Bookstores, Koorong, online at lightfm.com.au, or by phone (03) 9741 9400.

Source: TheRockAcrossAustralia.com