Provident Label Group
Release Date: August 2nd 2019
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Tenth Avenue North– No Shame (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Category Archives: Features
MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 23: SKILLET
MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 22: NEWSBOYS
What do you think about when you think of the term ‘Australian Christian artist/band’? What comes to mind? Frankly, you immediately think about Hillsong (all its facets) and the deeply polarising nature of the megachurch and their music arm and ministry. Or you can think about Rebecca St. James, who raced to stardom way back in the early 1990s, and then went on to release several chart-topping albums, and is now an icon and a champion of abstinence with her own ‘purity’ song ‘Wait For Me’. for KING AND COUNTRY is another Aussie band that is getting traction, popularity and influence now, and ironically, both brothers in this duo are related to the once-popular Rebecca St. James…but yet, even though all these artists have been popular throughout the years, and do command great influence within the history of Christian music from the land down under; there is in fact one band that I firmly believe is responsible in staking a claim that Christian music not necessarily from the U.S., is firmly and very much ok. The Newsboys, who started their venture in the late 1980s as a band trying to make it on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia; are now entering into their 4th decade.
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Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 4: Alessia Cara
If you were to travel anywhere in the world, either to live or just to travel for a holiday, and the place in question wasn’t in the country you grew up in, or lived in most of your life; where would it be? Would it be somewhere like Africa where you could help the orphans and the poor by giving out food and basic needs? Or would it be in the U.S.A, simply because of the theme parks and the famous people you could meet everyday? I know I haven’t been the most well-versed traveller over the years- my current job as a café owner prevents extended travel plans- however recently I’ve been intrigued by the concept of travelling to Canada for a holiday. Probably not before the U.S. though, but sometime in my lifetime. Of course the main reason why anyone would want to go to Canada is to see Niagara Falls (and for other places which I don’t remember off by heart, you can check out a list of places to visit in Canada here!), while I personally would want to check out quite a lot of the places where they filmed TV shows in Vancouver. But first and foremost, one of the main reasons why Canada appeals to me is that I am certain about the sincerity and genuineness of many people there. Considering many music artists, celebrities and actors alike such as Celine Dion, Michael J. Fox, Downhere, Dan Aykroyd, Donald Sutherland, Hawk Nelson, Ryan Reynolds, Justin Bieber, Rachel McAdams, Seth Rogen, Manic Drive, Avril Lavigne, Keifer Sutherland, Keanu Reeves, The City Harmonic, Michael Buble, Shania Twain, Shawn Mendes, Thousand Foot Krutch and Dwayne Johnson are all from Canada- either born and raised or now considered a citizen of Canada; it makes sense to make that extrapolation that all Canadians are just overall nice people.
MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 21: MICHAEL BUBLE
Sometimes I sit and wonder which artist from my 100 influential list, has been the hardest to discuss and write about. From when I did start off this once a week (or so) blog posting session, till now; which artist has stretched me the most, in terms of music, lyrics, my very own perceptions of the band/solo artist, or even what I tend to believe about them as a person? Has there been an artist that has challenged my own thinking of music in general? For me personally, I don’t think an artist has come to me just yet, but as of this moment, there is an artist that is coming extremely close. Michael Bublé has been in the music business for a while, and his name as been thrown around here and there- I’m sure people have heard of him, even if they themselves haven’t heard of his music. Born and bred in the deep heart of Burnaby, British Colombia in Canada; Michael has been making music for quite some time, and while his name right now wasn’t as popular as it was back when he was creating music on a regular basis in the early to mid-2000s; we as listeners are nevertheless blessed to hear and appreciate and artist like Michael. While I wasn’t totally in the know about the blues/swing/jazz genre that Michael embodies in a vast number of his songs; I was however game enough to listen to Michael and give it a go. The result- my appreciation and admiration, respect and reverence, for Michael as an artist. Though even now Michael’s music, and I guess jazz in general, won’t be my go-to music; I can nevertheless listen to such songs without much, if not any, disdain. The same cannot be said of me even 5 years ago. And so, if Michael’s music (as similar stylistically to Frank Sinatra’s, way back in the day) can move the needle a little and challenge myself into thinking outside the box of what styles of music can be enjoyable; then Michael Bublé and his songs have served their purpose.
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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 20: KELLY CLARKSON
Singing competitions are all the rage nowadays. You have The Voice, originating from Holland and spawning a lot of franchises around the world, a format where contestants are voted in initially solely on their voice, rather than any other appearance or mannerisms. The Got Talent franchise was founded in Britain by legendary judge and world-renowned name Simon Cowell, and though not necessarily a ‘singing competition’ per se, but rather, having individuals and groups compete against each other with their own unique ‘talent’- be it singing or anything else; musicians are nevertheless discovered every now and again on this lesser known competition platform. The X Factor, again originating from Britain, also features Simon Cowell as the founder of the show, and instead of focusing a lot on the voice of the artist as with the criteria of the singing show The Voice, The X Factor allows people to listen to singers on the criteria of something they could hope to bring to listeners that is way different from anything else in the market. Sure, I reckon all these singing competitions are great. Yet for me, I’ve felt that I don’t necessarily see much long term value there is, for anyone who places their sole purpose and identity in these shows as a means to be famous or earn a lot of money. Because frankly, only a tiny proportion of artists that succeed in shows like this, tend to go on to bigger and greater things in the industry.
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WOW HITS 2020: WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION (PART 5)? [FINAL PREDICTIONS]
So, a few months has gone by, and here we are in July 2019, and so what does that mean? One final WOW Hits 2020 predictions, of course! We all know that WOW Hits is the album that causes many polarising views out of any album of a Christian nature, that releases each and every year. And since my last prediction in mid-May, we’ve come to hear some more great songs of hope and encouragement. Should WOW Hits 2020 be timely to current radio songs and trends, or should they stick with proven artists and songs time and time again? Maybe, a bit of both. Here’s hoping this year’s compilation gets it right, but it’s highly doubtful. So ahead of the official WOW Hits 2020 release in either early October or late September, and the official WOW Hits 2020 track listing releasing in August sometime; here’s my fifth and final educated guess at the tracklist for WOW Hits 2020. Happy predicting!
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BEST OF 2019- PART 5: TOP 20 MUSIC VIDEOS OF JANUARY – JUNE
Hi everyone, it’s about 12 days into July- starting to firmly flow into the second half of the year. So what do you think we are posting about today, that isn’t a review, nor a Momentous Mondays post nor a Flashback Fridays post? Yep, it’s time for us to unveil 20 music videos from January til June this year, which have resonated with us as a site. So without further ado, here they are. What are yours? Let us know in the comments. Til next time!
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BEST OF 2019- PART 4: TOP 20 SONGS OF 2019 (APRIL – JUNE)
Hi guys, July is here. Well, we’re 5 days into July (4 if you’re living in the U.S.), so let me all give you a 4th July present! What is it, you say? Well, it’s time to announce the 20 songs of this quarter which have impacted us the most, and have impacted our walk with Jesus significantly! So without further ado, here are 20 songs that are our most favourite of April-June 2019.
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FLASHBACK FRIDAYS: WEEK 44 (Comeback albums!)- Jesus Is The Ultimate King Of The Comebacks!
Over the past year, I reckon I haven’t blogged at the same intensity as when I did last year. Last year, I started this series in about January, intended it to be 52 weeks only, and was so passionate about Flashback Fridays that I in fact blogged every week, and I did speak about a wide range of topics. True to my own original word, I only spoke about one album per blog. But if you look back on this year, you could probably tell that my writing style has changed, and there are more gaps within the weeks. Sometimes I’d write blogs two weeks in a row, but in the year of 2019, I have found that inspiration strikes not week to week, but in blocks of time that are random. Which is why you may have found the last blog to be about a month ago, then two weeks before that, then at other various intervals during the year which are in fact random…and so on and so forth. Most of the time I’d write about a theme that encapsulates multiple albums (without going too much into depth on each album!) as opposed to one album per week like early last year. Which brings me to what I’ve been thinking about lately.