Lost and Found!

“Lost and Found” is soon to be here!

I’m very excited. The last song of my second CD, “Lost and Found” is done. I only have to tweak the mix. From there, I get the graphics made, the CD’s duplicated, and it’s out! I’m so excited. I’ve been working on this one since “One United Generation” came out almost exactly three years ago.

Has it been that long?

Wow!

I’m very pleased with the tunes on this one. Some of them are my favorites of mine. Can I have favorites of my own songs? Yeah, sure! Like “How Beautiful”, with the choir arranged by John Newman, or the driving beat of “Dance with the Devil”. There are some great tunes on this one.

Like I did last time, I’d like to offer it up to bloggers first. Kind of a “pre-release” release. Here’s the deal. If you’ve got a blog, especially an LDS-related blog, especially especially an LDS youth-related blog, I’ll send you a copy of the CD when it’s done, free. All you have to do is agree to review it with a link back to my main site. You don’t even have to promise a good review, just as long as you write it up and link. Even if you're not an LDS blogger, or if your blog isn't particularly "LDS" in topic, I'll still make the offer!

If you’re willing to do that, then jump to this page, and I’ll get you a copy as soon as it’s done (probably mid march).

Thanks so much!

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com

And Now for Something Completely Silly...

Here's something funny. I was checking my traffic, and I noticed someone hit me with a search for "Mormon Blasphemy"! I come up on page one! Wow! This is even better than being snarked!

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com

The Songs of Zion

Hymns Anew

By Clayton Pixton

Sometimes I think that in the pre-existence, when we were developing and growing and getting ready to come down to earth, some of us signed up for some music classes. We might have even signed a pre-earth recording contract. And in that contract it must’ve had a “hymn clause”. This said that if, in the earth life, we were to become musicians, and we were to end up doing recordings, we would be spiritually obligated to do an complete album of hymn arrangements.

And every time I see one in a store, or on a website, a part of me wants to roll my eyes and say, “Oh, no, not again…”

But then I listen. And it turns out that about half the time, I’m surprised. I mean, I admit, I’m jaded. I’ve heard so many flowery new-agey-solo-piano versions of our best loved hymns, that I think I’ve heard them all. But at least half of them still catch my ear and make me say, “My word, that’s NEW!”

That must be what Clayton was aiming at when he chose the name for this CD: “Hymns Anew”. As I listened, I was just amazed at how fresh and original the arrangements were. And they’re simple. Not a lot of orchestration. Overall, there was a folksy feel to most of them, yet with a contemporary edge. There was an energy to them that I usually don’t find in Hymns.

The first one to really grab me was the driving piano of “Come Come Ye Saints”. Wow. This sound would make me want to stand up and follow. And then later on the CD, there was an a capella, do-wop-ish version of the same arrangement. That was cool.

“Adam-Ondi-Ahman” (also known as “The Earth Was Once a Garden Place”) Had a really fun touch with the tin whistle and the guitar, and the tempo was a little livelier than I was used to. “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” was one of my favorites arrangements of one of my favorite hymns.

The only track that I felt didn’t really live up to the others was “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief”. It was performed well, but as a piano solo, it just didn’t carry anything new for me. Not like the others did. I felt like I’d heard that one before. But it still sounded great, and was very well done.

I’d strongly recommend this CD. It’s truly Hymns, done Anew.

It also made me think of what I'd like to do when I record my contractual hymns CD...

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com