All of Josh Garrel's music for FREE!

Here's the song that made me a fan. It's a live recording so sound quality could be better. But it's an amazing song, and the reason I put this album on my Christmas list:



For the next ten days all of Josh's music is free. If you choose to "tip" the artist he is donating all the money to World Relief in the Congo.



Enjoy! And you're welcome.

And don't forget, Page CXVI and the Autumn Film are also giving away their music for free right now!

Seven years worth of free music from Page CXVI and The Autumn Film

My dear, talented friends Page CXVI are currently giving away every song they've ever recorded because they have decided to give up making money for Lent (not really... it's to celebrate their bandiversary). That's seven years worth of beautifully re-imagined hymns from Page CXVI as well as their original music as the band The Autumn Film. The seventh year is the "Jubilee" year, and in honor of that they are giving all their songs away for free. Go get them!

They've also just released this fun animated video of one of the songs from their "Lullabies" album:



And, if you're unfamiliar with the band, here's a beautiful version of "Joy" that I've always been partial to:



You can read about why Tifah re-wrote the song this way here. It's a really powerful song.

I don't know what you're waiting for... go get the music. And tell them that Matt sent you. And that he says hi and everything.

"Jesus Loves Me" by Page CXVI

This video is from my dear friends Page CXVI and is full of many friends and people I love. Enjoy!

Get Page CXVI's HYMNS album for FREE (!!!!). No, really. Free.

Today through May 4th you can download, for free, the entire first Hymns album by up and coming rock band Page CXVI.  Here's the link for that album.  Page CXVI has an amazing sound, and I'm glad they're giving this album away.  Part of the idea here is that you will love the first album and want to buy the new one, which is releasing this week.  You will want to buy the new one.  I'm going to go buy it right now.


You may recall that I've written about this band before.  They are always trying to be all anonymous because they want people to focus on the music and not get caught up in a celebrity lifestyle.  Well, I don't want you to have to worry about it, so last year I revealed their identities.  I have listened to this album (the first one) about a thousand times.  It's really amazing, and it has done exactly what they designed it to do... brought new life to beloved hymns.  I love hymns, I really do, but frankly I do not listen to them outside of the church building.  Or I didn't before this album.  If you're skeptical (why be skeptical, it's FREE!), take a listen to a couple of songs.  I love their version of "Joy".  And, well, their version of everything.  It's powerful stuff.  Take a listen and leave your thoughts here, if you like.

Their name and logo, by the way, comes from C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew. Page 116 is the page (in the edition they were reading) that Aslan sings the world into being.  They wanted to allude to the creative power of God and the power of godly music to transform and create. In my edition it's the part where the witch tears out the lamppost and goes after the taxi driver with it.  Which would have made a cool logo, if you try to picture it.

Look forward to hearing what you think!

Free (Good) Christmas Music

I don't know about your family, but in my family Christmas music is allowed to be played starting on Thanksgiving day and going through all the way until about December 31st.  Which means now is the time to start gearing up for Thanksgiving.

Friends of the Revolution, Page CXVI sent out a note a bit ago that there is a free download of a Christmas EP from Oh, Starling... I just downloaded it and I like it a lot.  Take a listen and then buy it, start a fire, put up your Christmas tree and bring me some figgy pudding.

Page CXVI on Twitter PLUS free song giveaway

The amazing Page CXVI Hymns Project is now available for purchase as a physical CD (downloads should be available soon).

You can also follow their exploits on Twitter now.

And, if you want to hear what you would be getting instead of just taking my word for the fact that it's one of the greatest albums to come out in the last year or two, you can download a free song from the album.

And, finally, if you want to book the band to come lead worship at your church or event, apparently they are no longer so mysterious that you cannot get them to come to your house. Just send a note to booking(at)pagecxvi.com. Be sure to tell them that Matt Mikalatos sent you.

Who Is PAGE CXVI?

You know in LOST how they slowly reveal the mysteries and then all of a sudden in one episode it hits you (SPOILER) that Ben is really Kate and Jack's love child that has been sent back through time and when they figure out what is going on they send a cloud of nano-bots into the past to prevent children from being born on the island which has come unstuck in time so as to prevent Ben from growing up and getting super powers from the yellow sun of the Earth?

Yes, there's something fun about a mystery. Right now a lot of people are trying to figure out who this band Page CXVI is. I sent them a note and asked for them to do an interview or something with me so I could help reveal who they are for people like Nick G who are trying to figure it out. But they told me, "For now we will remain shrouded in mystery."

I do know who they are, though. And I promise that when they give permission I will fill you in. I know some of you readers out there know who they are, too... so don't give it away until the time is right.

Okay, okay, fine... I told them I could only hold out so long, so here it is:

1) Paula... lead singer. Paula has this amazing voice, and she loves to use it to really bring some soul to the tunes.

2) Randy... plays guitar. Amazing guy. So much older than you would think from looking at him, Dog. And... weirdly enough... he loves kittens.

3) Simon... the meanest junkyard drum player to ever come out of Britain.

Wait... I am getting a little confused. My wife makes me watch a lot of American Idol. Pretty soon I'm always thinking that those guys were over at my house. We sing a lot of karaoke.

Anyway. I'm sure Page CXVI will reveal themselves pretty soon... in the meantime, if you've heard the music, I'm sure you're looking forward to the album release, which is pretty soon I'm told. And if you haven't heard it yet... hang in there, True Believer. Your time is coming soon!

Page CXVI

If you haven't heard of Page CXVI you are going to hear about them Very Soon. And not just here. Page CXVI is a band that that is about to release a hymns album. Right now they're sending out a limited number of free downloads for pastors and people in ministry, and since they're my buddies they sent me a copy and it is SPECTACULAR.

You guys know I am really cranky about my music, and I cannot imagine someone not liking this album. I was listening to it today and I got all choked up a couple of times. This band is really gifted... they have a way of bringing the music in a fresh way that brought the message of the songs out in a way that reminded me to listen to the music and recognize the powerful God behind the theological references. It truly is excellent.

Page CXVI's hymn album should be going into general release in the next couple of weeks (I think) and I'll give you info on how to get it then. In the meantime, if you're a pastor and want a sneak peak during the preview, send me an email and I'll get you a link.

Matt.Mikalatos(at)gmail.com