Small Planes

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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 11   Total Length: 34:30

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Mike McGonigal

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Mike McGonigal is editorial director for YETI publishing and the author of three little music books. He lives in Portland, OR, where he spends his time assembli...more »

04.22.11
The ideal soundtrack to the Sunday drive after church.
2001 | Label: What Are Records / IODA

A collection of previously unreleased songs, this 2001 release of beautiful Christian-influenced ballads sounds remarkably cohesive and of-a-piece. The Innocence Mission is remarkable for the subtlety of their tunes, the melodic and sing-songy nature of the guitar playing (which brings to mind a jazzier Dean Wareham) and Karen Peris 'fragile, high-pitched voice (which brings to mind no one else, really.) As with Ida, Ten Thousand Maniacs and Kristin Hersh, the music is backgrounded to place more emphasis on the vocals, but somehow the listener winds up paying more attention to the moody and ethereal Americana the more it melts away. Powerful, hypnotic and understated, this is the ideal soundtrack to that Sunday drive after church.

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Definitely not horrible. Good, even.

chaduran

this collection of unreleased songs is actually really great. It doesn't have the flow of a full-length album, because it wasn't conceived as that, but I will take 34 minutes of hodge-podge by innocence Mission over a proper album by almost anyone. The best tracks are: 1,2,4,5,6,8.

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Horrible

TangerineLemming

Unlike all their albums, this album is dreadfully dull. Every song is a listless formula of plaintive vocals and methodical instrumentation. There's no heart. Check out "Befriended" instead - it's much better than this.

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Hauntingly Beautiful - As Always

Dawn1222

The Innocence Mission has been one of my favorite groups for many, many years. I first heard them in 1988 and it is great to see that they are still recording. If you haven't listened, give it a shot - you will not be disappointed. Hauntingly beautiful.

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Essential Contemporary Christian Music

By Mike McGonigal, eMusic Contributor

In the late '60s and early '70s, a small group of determined artists sought to revitalize Christian and gospel music by mixing it with pop and rock. With time, the music grew and grew until it developed into a multi-million dollar industry, with its own stadium tours, trade shows and awards ceremonies. There are Christian analogues to every single secular form of music, including the most abrasive noise music. There are also forms that exist… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Unfortunately for their fans, the Innocence Mission albums are few and far between. After the critically acclaimed 1995 album Glow, there was a four-year hiatus and a label switch before Birds of My Neighborhood. The band was composing a number of songs during that period, however, and Small Planes issues some of the ones that had been left behind. Albums of this sort are often full of juvenalia and throwaways, but this collection of unreleased songs is as good as many bands’ major works. Karen Peris’ voice is as ethereal as ever, and the stripped-down, hypnotic accompaniment conspires to create an introspective mood. Songs like “Migration” document the melancholy, depressive feelings that the Peris had when they were trying to conceive a child, while the self-explanatory “Some Clear Joy Is Coming” is pure innocence and blessedness. Always spiritual, but rarely preachy, the Innocence Mission have manage to produce another album that is unique and special, gentle, pure, and precious. – Stacia Proefrock

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