What About Bob

Matt Maher - Empty and Beautiful

I got a chance to get a pre-release of Matt Maher's new CD, Empty and Beautiful, released by Provident Music's Essential Records.  Matt isn't a widely-known CCM Artist but has an impressive work including "Your Grace is Enough" record by Chris Tomlin. 

From a Worship point of view, there are two songs I think could work as congregational worship.  Check out "As it is in Heaven" and "Great Things."

"As it is in Heaven" is a song based on the Lord's Prayer.  Love the pre-chorus with the secondary dominant which leads well into the chorus.  The chorus is strong and not too long with repetition.  The bridge picks up the scripture prayer with a lot of energy.  Love how the harmonies build in this bridge.  This is a solid worship song with a great biblical foundation. 

"Great Things" is a song of praise base on the song of Mary, the Magnificat.  I love the content of the song.  I've always loved the Magnificat.  It's the very first song of praise to God as a result of His Son, Christ.  Matt is quoted as saying, "I'm always looking for biblical songs for teh church, and here you have this amazing prayer song by the first human being to accept Jesus Christ into her being; a 14-year old girl who literally carrie God in her womb.  Amazing."

"Great Things" has a country rock feel that I love.  But if you pick up the tempo a bit, you can rock it out even more.  It has a great hook and a great pre-chorus.  The bridge has alot of energy and encouraged alot of congregational participation.  I can see this song working well in worship.

To listen to both songs, go to his site and check it out.  Click HERE. Or check it out on iTunes.

 

Ratatouille Review

While many yahoos were waiting in line to buy an iPhone, Brandi, Eli and I decided to check out Ratatouille, Pixar's latest creation. 

It's hard to fall in love with a Rat. Do you remember the movie Ben?  It was basically a movie based on the Michael Jackson's song about a boy and his pet rat.  It certainly wasn't an endearing movie. 

Ratatouille may have a better chance.  The main character of the movie is Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who has a higher level of taste for food than his family and friends.  The story of Remy intersect with the story of Linguini (voiced by Lou Romano) who is trying to break into the gormet cooking at Gusteau's Restaurant.  The only problem:  Linguini can't cook.  But Remy can.  There is a love interest - Colette (Janeane Garafalo) - Skinner (Ian Holm) is the villain and head chef at Gusteau's. 

Ratatouille is a little boring a first.  It's starts as a typical cartoon of the world from a rats perspective. Even after a Skinny Grande Latte from Starbucks, I found myself dozing off during the first 10 - 15 minutes of the show.  Things picked up when the story of Remy the rat and Linguini, the young boy intersect.  These characters are searching for a purpose and they find that purpose in the kitchen of Gusteau's Restaurant. 

I like the movie.  Walking away I was impressed with the quality of the film making.  Writer/ Director Brad Bird and his team did an excellent job of making the characters real both visually and conceptually through the script.  I love the scenes of Paris which brought about a romantic feel to this work.  Voice work was excellent.  The movie was entertaining and instilled values of family, honesty and being who you are.  My 5 year old really enjoyed it as did all the adults in our group. 

I give Pixar 4 stars but rank this one a little lower than some of their previous projects like Toy Story, Cars and Monsters Inc.  It's not a Nemo, but it's still an uplifting movie that the entire family will enjoy.