I don’t do a lot of music reviews at this site, but that doesn’t stop me from recommending a good album when I find it.

Melanie Penn is on staff with Redeemer City to City in New York City. I’ve heard her sing before, particularly at the Dwell Conference in NYC a couple of years ago.

I got to meet Melanie this week. Turns out she’s just released an album and it’s excellent. She’s not only a great singer but a songwriter as well.

Here’s a review by someone who knows a lot more about music than I do:

Composed mostly of originals, Wake Up Love is a fun, well-arranged pop gem. Produced by Ben Shive (who has also worked with Sara Grove), it has a stellar cast of musicians on board, including Ron Block of Union Station and Andrew Osenga (both of whom I’m an adoring fan). The arrangements pull conceptually from a whole host of singer/songwriters – a dash of Sufjan Stevens, a heaping scoop of Paul Simon, and references to Sixpence None The Richer, Over the Rhine and Emmylou Harris.

It holds together very well, and through it all Melanie’s airy, pure and beautiful voice shines. The amount of detail in the arrangements lend themselves nicely to headphone listening, and doesn’t wear you out. The front half of the record has some of the more adventurous ideas, like “Wake Up Love,” with it’s Russian dance breakdown near the end, while the second half gets a little more intimate and straight-forward. My personal favorites are “The Wind” and “Train” – a great take on the classic Americana theme of the railroad.

Definitely worth checking out. I know I’m enjoying it. It’s playing right now.

Find out more at MelaniePenn.com, or Melanie’s MySpace page. Or just buy the album at Amazon or iTunes.

I’m pretty picky when it comes to my Christmas music. The old songs have been done so often and it’s hard to improve on them. The news songs don’t always measure up. But I’m glad to recommend this album by Canadian group Downhere.

The song that got me hooked is the title track How Many Kings. This new song is good enough to add anyone’s Christmas repertoire, and I’ll be using it this coming Sunday morning. If nothing else, buy this one track from iTunes or Amazon MP3s.

The rest of the album is good too. There are fun parts and some good covers of traditional pieces. My favorite cover is Silent Night.

Glad to find this Canadian group. Good work.

More at Amazon.com | Amazon MP3 | iTunes | Downhere.com

One problem with CBC Radio 2 is that I keep finding new music to buy. Just heard Michael Kaeshammer on Sunday night. Love his music!

Speaking of CBC Radio and great music, the audio from a Daniel Lanois concert I attended in December is up. Lanois is an amazing musician, and the concert was one to remember. The audio was a bit funky in the first song, but don’t let that stop you. Lanois is a musician’s musician.

Joshua Netterfield is a talented young musician who recently wrote a song called Blindfold. He and my daughter Christina recently performed the song at a recital. Here’s the MP3 of the song – not the live version, mind you. I quite like it.

Blindfold MP3

I heard a song on CBC Radio 2 today that I knew I’d have to buy when I got home. It’s by Mother Mother, and it’s called Try to Change.

Try to change..
I try to change..
I make a list of all the ways to change my ways.
But I stay the same,
I stay the same…

I will try and try to change
but the list I made of changes to make,
it blew away.

The lyrics work really well when you hear them, and it’s kind of a fun song. It’s on iTunes, at least in Canada, if you want to check it out. I may have to play this song once in a while when I’m tempted to preach a moralistic sermon.

The new Serena Ryder CD is out today in Canada. Cool.

Amazon.ca | iTunes Canada

Any street cred that I had left is about to disappear with what I am about to admit.

In 1989, in the age of the cassette tape, I owned, and loved, Michael W. Smith’s Christmas. About a month ago I mentioned this recording to my daughter and decided to look it up. I already knew it wasn’t on iTunes (at least the Canadian one), but I tracked down the CD and ordered it online somewhere. It arrived this week and (here it goes) I love it.

I do have a few favorite Christmas songs in my music collection but not really a whole album – except this one. It’s not your typical Michael W. Smith album from that era. It features a full orchestra and choir, and the songs are arranged beautifully.

This is easily my favorite Christmas album and I’m glad to own it again. You can check out other reviews at Amazon.

Opera singer Paul Potts (I mentioned him a while back) is on The Hour on CBC tonight at 11:00 p.m.. It’s late but my recorder is set. Enjoy it if you can.

Paul Potts has finally arrived on the Canadian version of iTunes. It’s at Amazon (US and Canada) too.

I like it!

If you didn’t catch his first appearance on TV here it is: