Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Greenbelters who kept an ear to the ground last August may have heard about the goings on at The Seahorse. As the blurb on this fundraising album puts it, The Seahorse is "a centre where artists could recap their vision and inspiration from other artists and professionals could dream dreams." Sounds good and here they present us with an interesting compilation. The opener is by the awesome Over The Rhine who offer "Murder", an out-take from 'Eve'. OTR fans will need to read no further. If you are not an OTR fan beg, borrow or steal (well, perhaps not steal - this is a Christian magazine) something - anything - by this excellent band. The subsequent 10 tracks on 'Seahorse' are almost as good and give a good snapshot of the current alternative scene in a way similar to the 1989 Greenbelt album 'Down By The River'. So here we have Henderson, Disreali Gears, The Spire Cranes, Jonathan Day, Eden Burning, Dan Donovan - with Paul Northup and by himself, The Potboilers, Kidblue and Why?. If some of these names are familiar to you then you will want to buy this album. All you have to do is send a cheque to The Seahorse and Matt the manager promises to drive your parcel to the post box himself. Anyone vaguely interested in the Dan Donovan - Eden Burning end of the CCM spectrum should appreciate this album and may well find several more acts to investigate. If you have not heard of any of the acts listed you probably haven't been reading Cross Rhythms for very long. Here is an excellent opportunity to catch up.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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