The Free Christian Music Blog

Free Sampler from You to You

Well, kind of.  What I’m talking about is a free sampler CD featuring a trendy combination of independant & signed artists, almost all of them being currently under-the-radar.  It’s available free as a promotion from Huntington University, the “Youniversity” (and thus the “You” in the title), a Christian college in Indiana.

I stumbled on this accidently while I was researching the band Attaboy after Gospel Music Channel featured one of their songs.  To be honest, the major reason I signed up to get the CD was Hello Kelly.  Once the CD arrived, however, I got a pleasent surprise.  The first track, Attaboy’s “Ready to Run” was catchy, anthematic, and clearly featured on Christ.  After the pop-rock track, Red Umbrella comes on with “Straitjacket”, a much rockier song, but still good.  Immediately after that, The Contact comes on with a eerie and driving song called “Black Sea”.  It kind of weirded me out the first time I heard it, but after that I really started to enjoy it.  I think it’s one of the best songs on the whole CD.

I suppose I could just go on and review the whole thing song by song, and as much as I’d love to do that, it’s getting late, so I’m going to need to hurry this up a bit.  Right after The Contact, a name that should be familiar, Inhabited, rocks out with a song from their latest CD Love.  After that, there’s a dramatic genre switch to the hip-hop beats of Heath McNease.  I had never heard of Heath before, and “Where I’m Not Wanted” left a good first impression.  Then Hello Kelly came on.  Now, the whole reason I signed up for the CD was because it has Hello Kelly and Attaboy, so I had high hopes for the song. Unfortunately, they were only partially fulfilled.  The song itself is fine, sunny and fun, but it’s also a love song.  Until that point, all of the songs had kept the focus on God, so  “Simple Love Song” just felt out of place.

After that small hiccup, Betsy Walker and Alisa Turner offer their respective tracks, both of which turn out to be soft, acoustic piano songs.  They are followed by another Attaboy songs, The Fabulous, One Life Lost, and Sevenglory, who wrapped the CD up.  One the whole, I was impressed with the quality of the music and production.  All around, it’s a worth-while album, particularly since it’s free.  I’m going to get quite a few more listens out of, for sure.

Wow, I just realized how long I’ve been typing here.  I guess I got carried away.  Sorry!  Anyway, to get a free copy of the CD in the mail, open the link below, and then click on the brown boy, furthest to the right.  That should pull up the track listing.  Once you get that done, located the button that says “Get Your Free CD”, and click it.  Fill in your information, click submit, and in a couple of weeks you should get your music in the mail.  Not as a cool as an instant download, but I guess you’ll just have to be patient.

-Huntington Youniversity-

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I haven’t gotten any other mail from Huntington since I signed up.  I know some colleges can be a bit “aggresive” when it comes to marketing, so I’m happy to announce that Huntington has yet to flood me with promotional material.  That said, don’t worry about sharing your information.

Update:  Ugh, it appears I spoke too soon.  Since I wrote this up, recieved several letters and emails from Huntington, trying to convince me to attend there.  It’s what I was expecting when I first signed up, but I wish they would have started mailing me before I wrote the above paragraph.

Tags: Alisa Turner, Attaboy, Betsy Walker, Heath McNease, Hello Kelly, Inhabited, One Life Lost, Red Umbrella, Sevenglory, The Contact, The Fabulous

Unexpected Sources of Free Music – Part 1

I know this isn’t totally free, but when a friend emailed me about this, I knew I had to feature it…

ChristianBook.com is got Absolute Smash Hits Volumes 1 & 2, a four disc CD se

t (think a WOW Hits clone), on sale for $5.99.  That’s 50 songs for 6 bucks.  50 songs!  That’s 8.3472454090150250417362270450751* cents per song.  That’s approximately 91 cents cheaper per song then iTunes.  Not bad at all, for a collection of some of Christian music’s greatest hits.  In fact, it’s a steal.  Not as good as free, but almost.

Of course there has to be a downside.  In this case it’s the selection.  It’s almost all somewhat under-the-radar artists CCM artists.  The loudest it get’s in 12 Stones and Skillet.  But, that maybe perfect for you, in which case that would be a plus and not a minus.  So, anyway, it’s worth checking out.

-Absolute Smash Hits Vol. 1-2 on ChristianBooks.com-

*To be precise.

Tags: 12 Stones, Andrew Peterson, BarlowGirl, Big Daddy Weave, Big Dismal, Broken Frame, Building 429, By The Tree, Enter the Worship, Exit East, Ginny Owens, Grits, Inhabited, James Clay, Jeff Deyo, Jennifer Knapp, Jill Phillips, Jonah33, Monk & Neagle, Mute Math, Natalie Grant, Nate Sallie, Out of Eden, Palisade, Paul Wright, Pillar, Plumb, Salvador, Sarah Brendal, Shane & Shane, Shaun Groves, Sixpence None the Richer, Skillet, Stellar Kart, Superchic[k], The Swift, Todd Agnew, Tree63, Warren Barfield, Watermark

11 Bands to Watch for in 2008

11. Stellar Kart. If we really can Expect the Impossible, it must be pretty cool.

10. Inhabited. Their new album Love has been getting good reviews already, and looks to be an great CD.

9. Inhale Exhale. After a great debut, their sophomore disk looks to be great as well.

8. Pillar. With the apparent return to their older style, For the Love of the Game looks to be a worth squeal continuation to the Pillar legacy.

7. Hawk Nelson. If past awesome-ness is a sign of future awesome-ness, they are in great shape.

6. The Afters. After, what, three years, the band return with their second album, which looks to be as good or better then then I Wish We All Could Win.

5. P.O.D. (Payable on Death). Overlooking there new CD, When Angels and Serpents Dance, would be a serious mistake.

4. Showbread. Is a so crazy. They are releasing two different CDs on the same day. Who know what will happen? For sheer unpredictability, you need to keep an eye on them.

3. Kutless. With a new CD supposedly on the way, the massively popular band will definitely be one to watch for.

2. Underoath. The hardcore phenomenon. The mere fact that they are doing a new CD has music fans around the world in desperate anticipation.

1. Family Force 5. In two years, they went from unknowns to one of the hottest bands in Christian music. With a new, untitled CD on the way, the dance party that is FF5 will likely continue to spread.

Honorably Mentions:

A Rotterdam November. Despite being unsigned and unknown, they landed a hit with “City Without a Heart” and look to be a promising band.

Fireflight. Looks Unbreakable.

Leeland. Blindside. Switchfoot. Anberlin. John Reuben. Krystal Meyers. Deserved to fit in the top 11, only I ran out of room.

Tags: A Rotterdam November, Blindside, Family Force 5, Fireflight, Hawk Nelson, Inhabited, Inhale Exhale, Kutless, Leeland, P.O.D., Pillar, Showbread, Stellar Kart, Switchfoot, The Afters, Underoath