Review Detail
Chair and Microphone Volume 2 - Enter the Worship Circle
WL Quicktip: There are a couple songs that would be congregational songs, and the fact that all chord charts are available free online is good incentive for worship leaders to pick this one up. Okay, so the whole Enter the Worship Circle thing is kind of confusing. Less a single group, and more a series of worship releases, Enter the Worship Circle is the definitive, creative indie take on worship music. Branch one was the
Circle series, of which they have so far released three CDs. Then, there is the
Chair and Microphone series within the series where the title is at once clever and highly explanatory. These songs were recorded following the minimal credo: a chair, a mic and the heart of a solo singer/songwriter poured out with the strumming of his guitar.
Volume 1 featured founder of EWC Ben Pasley; this time, it's artist Aaron Strumpel who pours out his non-operatic Damien Rice-esque passion in unabashed song-prayers to the Savior. And the album is quite captivating. It memorizes you in raw emotion combined with a well- designed improvised feel. And to say authentic is to understate Strumpel. He feels as real as the dust that layers your arms when you've spent the day playing soccer with children in an orphanage in Mexico, complete with the pain that sticks to your heart. That said, minimal music like this won't work for everyone. Its appeal will reach the college groups in your church, and maybe certain high schoolers. However, worship leaders would be wise to give
C and M Volume 2 a good long listen. The quiet and raw timbre is something that needs to permeate more of our services of worship.
www.entertheworshipcircle.com
