iShine Update
Dec 10, 2009 CD Reviews, DVD Reviews
Posted by
wiegmake
iShine Update
There is a lot of activity to report on the iShine brand recently. Including the addition of a new artist Paige Armstrong and the release of at least three new projects. The Rubyz and Mission Six both have new EP’s and there is also a DVD titled “iShine Live.” With these new projects the iShine label is perfectly poised to strike at the heart and soul of the Disney pop crowd with their blend of fun tween pop and a strong gospel message.
The Rubyz – Sound Off
The best of the three new releases is “Sound Off” by The Rubyz, a tween duet that consist of Alexis Slifer, a homeschooled high school sophomore and Cammie Hall, a college freshman, a perfect age combination to span the market of teens. The girls harmonize well together and on this particular project they took some ownership over the content as they co-wrote on all 5 tracks.
The soundtrack is a typical dance beat but the lyrics are incredibly original and uplifting. The lead track on the album is called “Ladies and Gentlemen” and it hits hard at the dangers of relationships at such a young age. Taken from a press release, “It’s about how girls and boys should treat each other – like ladies and gentlemen,” says Cammie. “Kids can lose sight of God in those relationships…” A highly important message that most parents are having a hard time conveying to their children.
The fun part of the album includes the track “Watch the Girl” which is sampled with a nod to the Eurythmics’ song “Sweet Dreams.” The EP is 5 tracks long; there are however duplicate tracks for each song with a “sing-a-long” tag. The sing-a-longs are more bent towards an anthem like soundtrack.
Mission Six – Not Too Young
Mission Six is a quintet of friends who were all attending the same Christian school in Evansville, Indiana. The friends collectively worked their way up to a label contract with iShine through practicing hard and playing live as much as possible. It is a very different formula than boy bands in the past. I find it very affirming that they have come up this way and I think it gives their message a bit more credibility as well.
Their new EP is a mix of pop and rock that is refreshingly upbeat and mature for their age group. Probably has something to do with the title – “Not Too Young.” The title is taken from the verse 1 Timothy 4:12 which says not to let anyone look down on you because you are young.
Like the Rubyz EP, “Not Too Young” also includes sing-a-long tracks at the end of the album. Another highlight is the remake of “I am Free,” a song formerly recorded by the Newsboys. All together the “Not Too Young” is much more mature than expected and if the band can play live as well as the recording came out, I bet we’ll be hearing more from them as they transition from the tween world to the more adult rock scene.
iShine Live DVD
Sadly, this is a very disappointing DVD. Although it is titled “live,” I do not believe the soundtrack is totally live. It is more like live footage dubbed over with studio audio and poorly dubbed at times. It took a lot away from the project and I just could not get into the DVD. Also, I was looking forward to a live appearance by Paige Armstrong, but it did not happen. Paige was onboard sharing her personal testimony, which is totally relevant and powerful, but the DVD did not include a performance by Paige. Lastly, the parts that did sound to be live were quite muffled and not recorded that entirely well. I would imagine that companies get paid big money to produce such a product, so I do not really understand why this one falls so short on the audio production.
You can find information on all of the iShine artist and their projects at http://ishinelive.com.
- Ken W.
Tags: iShine, Mission Six, The Rubyz
