mark cullen

Fresh Sounds

2012-01-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of new records that I'm really loving right now.

First is the new one from Rend Collective Experiment: Homemade Worship By Handmade People. RCE consists of a core of five people from Ireland who collaborate with many others. As a result the sounds and songs are many and varied. Accordians and acoustic guitars to toy piano, brass instruments, banjo and various unconventional percussion instruments (garbage cans and more), sit alongside the usual rock band instruments to produce some very compelling orchestration.

At the heart of it all though is a real heart for worship. Honest lyrics that aren't afraid to say things in unexpected ways, fresh arrangements that range from gentle and intimate to soaring declarations and raucous celebrations, this is really interesting music that rings with authenticity. I love it!

Here's a short video that introduces what they are about.

The second is Be Lifted High - Live Worship from Bethel Church. What I love about the Bethel team is that they take us into the presence of God and are in no hurry to leave. The production is big and clean, but the songs are mostly very simple and singable, inviting you to get lost in the moment, to linger and to love on God.

There are five different lead vocalists on this record and they are all amazing. While they all "perform" flawlessly, I truly get the impression through the music that their singing is an extension of who they are as real life worshipers.

There is a real prophetic edge to this music (these people, this church!) that stirs up faith in me. Let's face it - we all need that!

Yeah, BUT...!

2012-01-25T12:48:00.001-08:00

Why do we sing?

Psalm 147:1

Hallelujah! It's a good thing to sing praise to our God;

praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.

This is reason enough, but there are many other reasons also.

Here's one: Often the facts get in the way of the truth. The facts want to set themselves up as the authority in our world. But the facts don’t always tell the whole story.

This is when we have to turn around and face the facts and say, “Yeah, but…”

I’m so alone. No one believes in me. No one seems to be in my corner.
Yeah, but… God is with me! God is for me!

I didn’t get the job I was hoping for.
Yeah, but… He has plans that give me a future and hope!

I’ve messed up - yet again.
Yeah, but… If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us!

The pull of temptation is so strong. Addiction has a hold of me.
Yeah, but… God is stronger!

There is no way out of the situation I’m in. Nothing and no one can fix this.
Yeah, but… With God nothing is impossible! God can make a way where there is no way!

Speaking and singing the truth helps us get a correct perspective on the facts.

The facts say that our troubles, worries, fears, sins, pain and issues are great. The truth says God is Greater!

Time For Recording

2011-07-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of people ask me when I'll be making a new CD, and if I have recordings of certain songs. I've been feeling the itch to record again for some time and have decided to go forward with a new project. So now is the time! But I can't do it on my own.

I recently came across a great platform for partnering with people to bring creative projects to fruition, that without that partnership may never see the light of day. Check out the video below and click the link to go to Kickstarter.com to get all the details of the project and see how we can partner together. I hope you'll join me on the journey!

Time For Singing

2011-05-28T21:35:00.003-07:00

Tim Hughes is not new to the world of worship music for the church. His first album had the song Here I Am To Worship, which it seems by now would be known by most churches on the planet. He has also written other widely known songs, including Beautiful One and Happy Day.

Love Shines Through is Tim's fourth studio record, and in my opinion this is his best yet. He's always been a great songwriter, penning meaningful and engaging lyrics as well as memorable and accessible melodies. That continues here on Love Shines Through. But what takes this record to a whole new level is the production.

Produced by Martin Smith, the echoes of Deliriou5? ring through time and again. Fantastic job Martin! Musically interesting and tonally rich, there is plenty to hear each time you listen. These songs will stir you spiritually and get you singing. Some great guest appearances certainly keep things lively too. Kim Walker-Smith of Jesus Culture really raises the energy in a couple of spots. And it certainly doesn't hurt any to have Michael-Guy Chislett (Hillsong United, Hillsong) playing guitar ...

In fact, this album sits comfortably alongside United's latest offering, Aftermath. And that's saying something! Check it out!

Lightplay

2011-04-28T18:27:00.003-07:00

I originally started this blog around the same time I began to get really interested in photography. I posted some of my pictures here along the way, but a little while back I wanted to create a photo blog where I could display larger pictures with better color quality than I am able to achieve here.

I am still very much enjoying the search for form, emotion and beauty through photography. I share some of my discovery through my photoblog Lightplay. I try to post there regularly, but since it is a hobby I don't post every day. Go check it out, leave a comment and click the Facebook Like buttons. (If you keep clicking on the image it will go back to the previous image.) I hope you like it! Let me know what you think.

Recent Favorites

2011-04-12T18:37:00.008-07:00

Here are some of the records I have been loving recently:

First, Hillsong United may have made their best record yet with Aftermath. This is only the second time that they have done an all studio album and the freedom that affords them has paid off in many wonderful ways. The songs are great, lyrically rich and melodically and texturally beautiful. They have approached the sounds from many new angles and have still been able to have music that at once sounds fresh and classic. Now that is an achievement. I loved this album on the first listen!
Of course, I am a guitar music fan and so here are a few great releases I've been enjoying.
Jeff Beck is a legend and is only getting better with age. This album has some beautiful interpretations of some classic music like Somewhere Over The Rainbow and Nessun Dorma with full and lush accompaniment of a 64 piece orchestra! There are also some great guest appearances - my favorite being Joss Stone singing on a couple of tracks.

Joe Bonamassa has been at this for a while. This is his twelfth album! To be honest, this is the first album of his that I have bought, but I love it. Great blues rock (and some country too). The boy can play and has some tone dripping on this record.
Oh, this boy can play too! Matt Schofield is a british bluesman who obviously has been strongly influenced by Robben Ford - and that can not be a bad thing. Tasty, smokey, bluesy guitar lines all over the place. Very nice.

OK. This one I "discovered" while looking for something else. It's one of those albums you come across every couple of years that really impacts you. This record is absolutely beautiful. I could listen to it over and over for a month. This completely took me by surprise because it is a piano album with some string quartet and a little bit of ambient guitar and that's about it. But the beauty of the notes and the richness of the tones is sublime. Check it out on iTunes.
Enjoy!

Hillsong '08 (Part 2)

2009-03-09T18:52:00.013-07:00

Darlene, Joel, JD and Ben.

JD - full-on as always...

Marty Sampson - one of my favorite Worship Leaders. Writes amazing songs too.

Michael Gungor bringing the rock! He writes, sings and plays incredibly. It was a treat to see these guys in this environment.

cool as always...

Reuben Morgan - the best Christian songwriter in recent history!

Ali's hands!

Brian and Bobby Houston. My highest honor and respect to these guys. What a legacy they have already - and there's more to come!

Hillsong 08 (Part 1)

2009-03-02T22:18:00.006-08:00

Here are some images from the Opening Night of Hillsong Conference 08. It was amazing!
2 giant cubes about 12 feet square descended from above the stage...
The opening sequence was "ONE". One creation, one people, one love... One God.Video was used to great effect and then the band started to play... the singers were in silhouette, and then we realized that the figure on the left playing harmonica was none other than Israel Houghton. Very cool!
I love nothing more than seeing people fully engaged in worship, and there is nothing better than seeing 20,000 of them at once. It is awesome!

San Clemente Pier

2008-12-19T22:01:00.002-08:00

I took this at sunset in the middle of Summer. It was warm and a little hazy. I kind of like the effect of taking virtually all of the red out of the picture.

Ironically, today was crystal clear and very crisp. There is snow on the Saddleback ranges - lots of it! Gotta love California!

Sydney, July 2008

2008-11-17T17:12:00.003-08:00

After the Hillsong Conference in July, Ali and I had all of Saturday to explore Sydney city. It was a perfect day and we walked all around the city and The Rocks area. It was awesome.

Early the next morning we picked up Daniel who had flown in from Melbourne (where he stayed while Ali and I were at Hillsong). We had a couple of hours to spare before we needed to check in for our flight to LA, so we took a quick trip up to Bondi for breakfast and to see this famous sight. The weather had changed overnight, but it was still gorgeous.

Great Music!

2008-09-21T15:37:00.006-07:00

It's been a while since I mentioned music that has been grabbing my attention... so here goes:

Firstly, I have to say Hillsong's latest album This Is Our God is fantastic - perhaps one of their strongest ever, and I think they are always pretty strong. There is a whole bunch of killer songs in this collection. We have been doing "Stronger", (a Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan tune) at church for a while and it is really going off. Other standouts for me are Brooke Fraser's two songs, "Desert Song" and "You'll Come", Reuben Morgan's "This Is Our God" and Ben Fielding's "He Is Lord". "With Everything" (Joel Houston) is a powerful closer which really does finish with the team leaving everything on the field. The DVD is beautiful to watch too. This really is a must have for any Worship Leader.

Chris Tomlin also just released his new project "Hello Love" which I am pretty impressed by too. I have usually needed a few listens to appreciate his music, but this time around I liked it first time up. Ed Cash's production helps of course - the man knows how to give a song that extra something, and he's done it many times on this record. The first song out is "Sing, Sing, Sing" which is totally infectious. We just added this for our congregation today and it went really well. I think the strength of the songs is their simplicity and congregational friendliness (if you do the songs in a key normal boys can sing in!). Some anthems here for sure in "Jesus, Messiah", "Praise the Father, Praise The Son", "God Almighty". I can easily see this becoming Chris's most successful album to date.

Here's one I discovered only a few months ago: Robbie Seay Band - Give Yourself Away. Produced by Tedd T. (Mutemath, Toby mac, Newsboys, David Crowder Band), musically it is punchy and interesting. Robbie has a great voice and writes great songs.

Of course this one goes without saying: Coldplay! "Viva La Vida" is classic the first time you listen to it. I love it! To me they're breaking new ground but still being everything that we love about Coldplay at the same time. I'd be surprised if you haven't got this yet, but if not, get your hands on it. These guys are having a huge impact on the direction of modern popular music (just check under influences on virtually every band's MySpace page!).

Here's another one I love: Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. This is raw, passionate, joyous, celebratory, vast, moving, magnificent! Plenty of ethereal soundscapes building into whirling, driving, percussive carnivals. My favorite track is the 9 /2 minute Festival - it will lift you!

Real Faith Series at Coast Hills Church

2008-09-21T15:02:00.011-07:00

We're in the middle of a 5 week series at Coast Hills - Real Faith. Digging In (getting in to God's Word), Hanging Out (Prayer), Helping Out (Service), Reaching Out (with an emphasis on Forgiving / Empathy), and Speaking Out (sharing the story).

This was last weekend with Gina leading worship (I was playing electric and Bobby on acoustic).

We're kind of proud of the set because Daniel (our son) did all the graffiti and tagging! He did a great job. It makes it a bit more "authentic street" - although it's a lot more LA South Central than Orange County!

(Photographs courtesy of Gary Sutherland our lighting tech.)

Lilydale Lake

2008-07-27T21:27:00.004-07:00

Remote controlled yacht

On Golden Pond...

Mt Evelyn, Victoria, Australia

2008-07-27T21:04:00.007-07:00

These shots were taken while we were staying in Mt Evelyn with Ali's parents for a few days.White CockatooNanna's garden

Perth From Kings Park at Dusk

2008-07-26T20:58:00.000-07:00