descriptions of some music used 1998-2001:

Talvin Singh . OK
album
Mix of ambient and drum n bass type stuff of a distinctly Asian flavour. ‘Traveller’ is particularly good for the start of worship. There’s a remix of Traveller knocking about which is crying out for some lyrics.

Nitin Sahwney . Beyond Skin
album
Bradford sounds pretty much like this album - especially when the festival is on in summer and the city is filled with music. A mix of Asian and western and all beautiful. We’ve used ‘Immigrant’ several times as a backing track to communion.

William Orbit . Pieces in a Modern Style
album
Ambient reworkings of classical pieces, some are very effective in creating an atmosphere of peace and calm in worship. The more recognisable pieces are also useful for occasions when there are people in the congregation for whom our usual mix of dance-y music might be alien - this music provides a point of reference.

Moby . Play
album
Several tracks on here lend themselves to use in worship. Especially the singles “Why does my heart feel so bad?” and “Natural Blues”

Labyrinth - the instrumental mixes
album
The CD was originally created for the labyrinth at St Paul’s Cathedral in March 2000. The music is largely ambient, often restful and ideal for worship.
www.proost.co.uk

BT . Movement in Still Life
album
A mix of styles with tracks that build and evolve, “Mercury and Solace” has the vocal hook ‘reach out to me’ that’s ideal for use in worship. We’ve put words to the track “Namistai”. Most of the album is suited to upbeat or dance worship than a meditative setting.

Aphex Twin . Selected Ambient Works vol2
double album
All sorts of stuff from distorted beats to haunting noises. Some are very good for background sounds to readings, rituals & meditation.

Orbital . The Middle Of Nowhere
album
The first track begins with some lovely bell sounds which are good for a communion setting if you’re not afraid to go upbeat, it’s probably got a strong enough tune to write some words to should you be feeling inspired. Nice album really.

Orbital . CD [the green album]
album
Ten years old and still sounds great. Most of the tracks are upbeat but somehow gentle enough to fit into many worship environments. And ‘Belfast’ still takes some beating as the perfect pre-worship come down track.

EZRollers . Walk this land
single
No, not a rave reworking of the Graham Kendrick tune (thank goodness) but a poppy drum and bass type thing with an optimistic tone and fairly appropriate lyrics. Fab 60s sound-alike beginning too.

LTJ Bukem . Horizons
single
Uses a sample that talks about the horizon offering new promises of change. used as a background for video news images to prompt intercessory prayer

Fat Boy Slim . Right Here, Right Now
single & from the album ‘you’ve come a long way baby’
You know this - big build up, all bombastic and we fit some lyrics to it.

Fat Boy Slim . Praise You
single & from the album ‘you’ve come a long way baby’
This is really about a boy praising his girlfriend, but the chorus can be used in worship: It repeats “praise you like I should” over and over. We used it in a valentine themed service and deliberately played on the ambiguity to visually ask questions about how and what we choose to worship. You can just replace ‘baby’ with ‘Yahweh’ in the verse and use it as a hymn.

Bob Marley vs. Funkstar deLuxe . Sun is shining
12″ single
“Do you believe?”

Brian Eno [with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno] . Apollo [atmospheres and soundtracks]
album : 1983 Virgin EG records EGCD53
This is an album of ambient music Eno composed for a film of the Apollo moon landings. Some of it sounds a bit dated, but a couple of the tracks are really beautiful and ideal for using during meditations and prayers. Track 5 “An Ending (Ascent)” has a particularly uplifting majestic feel.

The JAMs . It’s grim up north
single
Totally mad and yet strikes a chord with us northerners. Finishes with an over-the-top blast of Parry’s Jerusalem. Fab.

Brand New Heavies . You are the Universe (remix)
single
Brand New Heavies . Shelter
album
Some BNH lyrics are fairly pseudo -Christian if you wish to interpret them that way. It’s funky-soul-acid jazz stuff. We’ve used “You are the Universe” in a service that celebrated creation, “Sometimes” as part of a rebellion theme and “Shelter” to accompany a reading of Psalm 23. The lyrics are printed in the Shelter CD booklet which is handy if you want to sing along in the worship.

Wiretapper
Free CD series with The Wire magazine
The Wire is a magazine that covers avant garde, jazz and electronic music. The CDs that sometimes come free with it often have music that’s good for the background in prayers, meditations and readings. Recent Wiretappers have had some nice urban/radio interference/breakdown stuff which reflects our being an inner-city church (although you’d be really pushed to find a use for some of the more avant stuff).

Sounds of Blackness
Various records
A gospel group who re-mix their records as dance music. I don’t know if they are still going - we borrowed some early 90’s 12″s from a friend. Most of their tracks have a positive message although not all are heavy on Christian themes.

Tina Cousins . Pray
single
A commercial dance single that charted in late 1998. It has a strong Christian confession/intercessions theme although we couldn’t make out all the lyrics. The 12″ version has a nice instrumental bit in the middle which is perfect for reading a prayer over - especially if you build up as the music does.

Radiohead . No Surprises
from the album Ok Computer
This is also a track that asks questions such as do we want our lives shaking up or are happier with a safe quiet life. In the narrative the singer decides the perfect end to a quiet life is suicide - so be careful about using this with young people.

Free music(!) from www.mp3.com
There’s loads of music in mp3 format to download free on the web, these can be played on your PC and converted to wav files (the sort your CD player can read) using free software. We recommend musicmatch jukebox. Details of how to get that are also on mp3.com. You’ll need a CD writer to burn the wav files onto a CD from your PC.

We’ve found some really nice ambient & trance stuff (look for ’seveneyes’ and ‘tom aragon’) and the joy is you can download, listen and if you don’t like it just bin it! No cost, no pain. If you find some nice stuff the CDs can be ordered through the web site and they’re pretty cheap.

We’re always looking for more tracks to use in our worship, if you have one to reccomend use the comment form below.

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