Mark Roach is arguably my favorite new Contemporary Christian male discovery for 2008. After seeing the chart progress of his hit Inspo single Surrounded, I was drawn to his MySpace, where I discovered an artist with an ear for memorable, sing-able melodies and a skill for producing earnest lyrics that speak of God’s goodness and majesty.

While it was easy to predict the Top 10 potential of Surrounded, Roach’s second Inspo single The Least I Can Do betters it across many levels. First of all, The Least I Can Do has a much easier, more memorable melody to sing. Second, the lyrics are easy to sing, with a hook that worshippers will find easy to remember. Third, The Least I Can Do’s two main topics – the heart of gratitude for what God has done and for the sacrifice of His Son on the cross for our sins – speak on both personal and community levels, making it a potent double threat that should make it a ready staple for church worship.

Assuming Warner Bros. stands behind this track and given the previous success of Surrounded, I predict an easy Top 5 finish for The Least I Can Do, with a #1 finish not entirely out of the question. Easily one of my favorite tracks of 2008.

Listen to Mark Roach The Least I Can Do mp3
The Least I Can Do Mark Roach lyrics after the jump. Read more

I’m so happy! I used the US$25 Amazon gift certificate I won from Toni’s birthday contest to buy four CDs. That’s one for each of us in the family.

The first CD I bought - for Nicki - was Veggie Tales’ Bob & Larry’s Sunday Morning Songs. We had a cassette copy of this album back in the day, but I can’t find it, and even if I could, I’d have to have it converted to CD, which would cost me a minimum of PHP350, without the CD booklet and everything… it just made more sense to buy it from Amazon (despite its being almost US$2 cheaper on MusiChristian.com, which won’t let me buy these CDs thanks to EMI; thanks a lot, EMI!). This album is a real keeper, with more than 15 Sunday morning songs that Nathan already enjoys, including Give Me Oil in My Lamp and I’ve Got the Joy Down in My Heart. I’m sure Nicki will enjoy it just as much.

The second CD, this one for Nathan, is also a Veggie Tales album: Veggie Tales: On the Road With Bob & Larry. This looks like a great CD: 15 tracks of songs one can sing along with while driving in the car! I confess I’m not too familiar with the songs - just one, actually, The Surrey With the Fringe on Top - but the reviews were great and I want some sing-along music with Nathan there. Also, there are backing tracks so we can sing without Bob and Larry. He he he.

The third CD is for Cathy: Vanessa Williams’ The Sweetest Days. This is one of her favorite albums, and she only has a copy, cassette pa. It contains The Sweetest Days and Constantly, one of her favorite songs of all time.

Finally, I wanted to reward myself as well, so tadah, early Christmas present: Mandisa’s Christmas Joy EP! Hahaha, I’ve wanted this since last year! (Her new album, Freedom, is being recorded right now, and word has it she’s recording a new Christmas CD; yeah, girl, you go and be the Kimberley Locke of gospel! Make Christmas singles every year!) Total cost of CD haul: a little less than US$30. So I spend only US$5 extra (because the entire purchase qualified for free shipping! Whee!

Special thanks to Toni again for the wonderful gift and to my best friend Raft3r, to whom I’m shipping these CDs in the US and who will be coming home with them. Now there’s even more reason to celebrate my best bud’s return!

(Listen to Lose My Soul by TobyMac featuring Mandisa and Kirk Franklin. You may also read the TobyMac Lose My Soul lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer The Katinas mp3’s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

Lose My Soul has a very special place in my heart. It was the very first post-American Idol recording for Season Five finalist Mandisa, who, as my regulars know, is one of my favorite Contemporary Christian artists of all time. After Mandisa was unceremoniously booted off the show, I thought she was done for, but she soon recorded Lose My Soul, and soon thereafter released True Beauty, which has since gone on to sell almost a hundred thousand copies and spawn three hit singles on the Contemporary Christian charts.

For some strange reason, Lose My Soul has been released to Christian AC radio only now. This is extremely odd for three reasons: 1) Portable Sounds, the TobyMac album on which Lose My Soul may be found, is more than two years old; it’s way past its single-release prime; 2) Lose My Soul wasn’t up FYC to radio during that time, despite its near-universal acclaim; and 3) You’d think Lose My Soul would’ve been released during last year’s Dove Awards, during when it was performed as the opener to the televised broadcast.

Not that I’m complaining. Lose My Soul is a perfect single. With Kirk Franklin and TobyMac trading rhymes, Mandisa blasting full-sonic on the bridge, and, of course, that perfect perfect perfect sing-along chorus, I’m surprised Lose My Soul wasn’t released sooner. Radio, pick this one up!

Listen to TobyMac’s Lose My Soul mp3
Lyrics to Lose My Soul by TobyMac, Mandisa, and Kirk Franklin after the jump. Read more

(Listen to Because by The Katinas. You may also read The Katinas Because lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer The Katinas mp3’s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

I am a Katinas fan. Ever since I heard Lifestyle, the amazing worship album on which the Katinas covered, among other amazing songs, I Love You Lord, I Give You My Heart, and Trading My Sorrows, I’ve fallen for this band hook line and sinker. The Katinas have since gone independent, but that route hasn’t shaken the band; if anything, it’s given them more resolve to make the kind of music that really glorifies God in a major way.

On Because, the first single off the Katinas’ independent release, Still, Joh Katina’s voice is in fine form. A driving praise song with a killer chorus and harmonies that are as tight as ever, Because has everything necessary to return the Katinas to the top of the charts where they belong. Rumor has it they’ll visit Manila on November 28; add me to the list of people who’re sure to line up for tickets!

Listen to The Katinas Because mp3
Lyrics to Because by The Katinas after the jump. Read more

(Listen to We Sing Jesus Christ by  Adam Paul Williams. You may also read the  Adam Paul Williams We Sing Jesus Christ lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer  Adam Paul Williams mp3’s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

I learned about Adam Paul Williams when I saw his new single, We Sing Jesus Christ, listed as one of last week’s gainers on RadioandRecords.com’s Inspo chart. After I visited his MySpace page, I was struck by the pureness and range of his voice. What I found even more impressive is that Adam Paul Williams dared take on my favorite worship song of all time, Unrestrained, and, for the most part, holds his own against the versions of vocal powerhouses Calvin Nowell, Myron Butler, and Mandisa. (I’m sorry, but the countrified version of Tony Sutherland, co-writer of Unrestrained, doesn’t do it for me.)

Williams has a Hymns album, but it’s not clear to me right now whether or not We Sing Jesus Christ is on that album. Nevertheless, it’s a straight-to-the-point worship song in the vein of Don Moen, with shades of Sandy Patti and Twila Paris. We Sing Jesus Christ has the makes of a classic song tailor-made for Inspo, and is perfect for that market.

Listen to  Adam Paul Williams We Sing Jesus Christ mp3
Lyrics to We Sing Jesus Christ by Adam Paul Williams after the jump. Read more

(Listen to The Right Thing by Mandisa off the original sountrack album of Big Idea’s The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. You may also read the Mandisa The Right Thing lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer Mandisa mp3’s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

I am a huge Mandisa fan, and when I heard that Mandisa was going to sing a Matthew West-penned song for the VeggieTales movie The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, I basically flipped out. I love Mandisa, I love Matthew West, and I love VeggieTales, so this is my dream come true! (Kulang na lang, Avalon singing backup!) Months later, I finally grab hold of a copy of The Right Thing, and it is everything I dreamed it would be. It’s got a message of positivity and faith that Jesus Christ can provide the strength we need to do the right thing. The Right Thing has got a killer sing-along chorus and an awesome vocal delivery. Mandisa delivered the goods yet again, and my homeboy Mathwesta (long story here) has penned yet another home run! Two thumbs and ten toes dancing!

Listen to Mandisa The Right Thing mp3
Lyrics to The Right Thing by Mandisa after the jump. Read more

(Listen to One Life to Love by 33Miles off its new album Hello Again on Six Steps/Sparrow Records. You may also read the 33Miles One Life to Love lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer 33Miles mp3’s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

33Miles’ new album, One Life, is going to be spectacular, if we base it on the emotional new single, One Life to Love. 33Miles - Jason Barton, Chris Lockwood, and Collin Stoddard - deliver those hair-raising harmonies with more dedication than expected, and One Life to Love will reach deep into the hearts of those who have even remotely gone through the situations the group sings about (and you’ve got to listen if you want to know if they’re singing about you). If What Could Be Better, Thank You, and There is a God introduced us to 33Miles, One Life to Love and the album that comes with it will cement its unique position in Contemporary Christian Music’s current crop. Two thumbs straight up!

Listen to 33Miles One Life to Love mp3
Lyrics to One Life to Love by 33Miles after the jump. Read more