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Oceans Above Artist: Oceans Above Label: Sparrow Records Length: 15 Tracks/73.46 Minutes

Let's make this very easy on you, the potential music consumer.  Imagine worship music that sounds like MySpace faves The Postal Service (with a little Joy Electric, a dash of Polyphonic Spree or electropop pioneers Kraftwerk thrown in for good measure).  If that punches your ticket, you will want to pick up the new self-titled CD from the worship collective known as Ocean?s Above.  The premise of Ocean's Above is simple and effective:  popular worship songs re-imagined and retooled with an cool and slightly left-of-center indie rock vibe.  When I popped this CD into the player my 16 year old MySpace guru made a beeline for me and said "I gotta have it. The Postal Service is doing worship music."  High points are the very cool version of the David Crowder classic "Oh Praise Him (All This for a King)" with a luscious symphonic keyboard foundation and the surprising choice of Sanctus Real's "Everything About You."  Ocean's Above loses points for including a cover of perhaps the most over-covered song on the planet at the time "God of Wonders."  Therein lays the only complaint re: Ocean's Above. I would love to hear some originals from these folks.  Maybe next time. 

Oh, and the cover makes me happy.

Barry Nothstine hosts Soul Frequency Radio (http://www.soulfrequency.com), a weekly freeform FM radio show showcasing progressive rock, instrumental rock, power-pop, psychedelic rock, rock classics, blues, and more great rock for the ages!