Jason Upton and The Goodland Band
On The Rim Of The Visible World [2009]
Key of David Ministries
From its opening notes, On The Rim Of The Visible World is warm, folksy, and rich with heartfelt expression. Including 10 songs recorded at home and 6 recorded live, the album speaks profusely. It develops with more of Upton’s memorable tender and reflective language towards God and others.
In recent interviews, Upton has declared that he was sick of going to studios and just wanted to record his music as a family. This album exudes everything good about the home life and is certainly very hospitable to the ears. For an album recorded at home with kids, it possesses a charmingly ironic serenity, and is replete with love.
On The Rim Of The Visible World is driven by piano, vocals, and jazzy folk rhythms built around the snare drum. Whoops and wails calling out to Christ in celebration intersperse the live performances in similar character to many of Upton’s older albums.
On the album’s website, it gets described as “a musical documentation of songs, friendship and following Jesus. What could be a better environment for such an endeavor than the living room of Jason's house?” Accompanying the tracks of the album are two short essays by Brad Jersak and Alfred Sergel, witnesses to the creative and spirit-filled process behind the album.With each album and each tour, Jason Upton and the band are becoming increasingly well respected and loved not as “rockstars”, as some have phrased it, but as worship ministers. Their candid worship jam sessions have provided a place of solace and renewal for other musicians. Throwing in quotes from the likes of Søren Kierkegaard alongside heartfelt messages on worship and the power of God, Jason portrays a unique, raw, and balanced view of God with plenty of food for thought for his listeners.
United Pursuit Band
Radiance [2009]
United Pursuit
Producing music out of their home studio on Bank Street in Knoxville, TN, the United Pursuit Band was birthed out of a common desire to seek God and enjoy expressing worship to him through music. More of a collective than a band with a set lineup of musicians, the United Pursuit Band has a large number of members whose involvement is fluid.
The concept behind Radiance is creative and unusual; different members of the band take turns leading and directing particular songs, so the album is highly textured. Each track is stylistically distinct whilst they share commonalities in terms of theme, tone, and instrumentation.
The opening track `Even Now` begins hushed and almost forlorn, before a surreptitious swell, metamorphosing into a truly rocking chorus filled with anthemic lyrics of passionate surrender inspired by God`s goodness.
The message of this album is what unites it. The title says it all: pursuit. Rather, it is a double pursuit; God pursuing us and us pursuing God. Joy and honesty characterize this album. Whether it is in the delicately plucked strings of `Waterfall` or the driving rhythms of `Fill Me Up`, the fact that these kids believe what they`re crying out is tangible.
