back to life

it's september.

where i live, kids are back in school. cottage season is ending. everyone is back from holidays.

and we're on schedules. we're busier. campaigns start. sales pick up. meetings get booked. end-of-year planning. next-year planning. prime-time tv season. sports season. gym memberships renew. we rush around. coffee on-the-go, lunch on-the-go. we don't have dinner together. we optimize and prioritize and try to be efficient and multi-task. traffic builds.

....but what would happen if we slowed down a little bit? what if we, for one day tried a little experiment?

yes, us. what if we - for one day - looked at ourselves and at one other as we really are? instead of as humans, with bodies and thoughts, opinions, motives and actions... what if we stripped it all away, stepped back and felt ourselves and each other as we really are?

as souls?
........what would happen?

the only thing we want as souls, is peace. so i challenge you, to a day of soulfulness. try it with family, with co-workers, with friends, with that lady at the corner store, with strangers on the train. interact soul to soul. see if it opens a doorway to peace. even in the busy times. even in september.

soul to soul - back to life:


more soulfulness:

• nina simone - sinnerman
  
• stevie wonder - free
  
• finley quaye - even after all
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm / pink solidism

get this at amazon

aussi beau que bon... bonobo

pure bliss...

there is something deep inside simon green that understands the relationship, the dance, the interplay between a guitar and double bass played in parallel, between the bass and drums played in tandem, and between the horns and xylophone played in turns.

then there's the relationship between simon's instrumentation and that magical, sensual, sweet voice that is bajka. you'll hear her throughout his third album, days to come.

it's on 'walk in the sky', that he creates a world that exists in the twilight, a world where i happily live, dance, dream and love... where words describe a private little utopia and where the percussion - that sweetly syncopated drum, triangle, and cowbell make my temperature rise higher and higher. but it's not just the pure attraction of complimentary sounds, it's also the substance that reels me in: the bliss, the universal truth:

"they live happily
for they know from the past
life simply doesn't last
so they live for today
for tomorrow they may
not be able to walk in the sky..."

bonobo - walk in the sky (feat. bajka):


the whole album is masterful. pure musical genius, aussi beau que bon! if you wanna shake the spell off... read 'between the lines', "we can't change the world but we can change the way we live"...

bonobo - between the lines (feat. bajka):


and finally, off the bonus CD... 4 minutes and 22 seconds of pure instrumental jazz-induced sonic breakdown...

bonobo - hatoa:


related:

• sonar kollektiv orchester - rej
  
• heliocentrics - sirius b
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm

get this at amazon

magic sound fabric

in my waking life i found i've started to appreciate the tonal, the nonverbal and the silences in between conversations - finding that most conversation is a means-to-an-end rather than the end. 'talk is cheap,' i say, 'show me some action!'

enter magic sound fabric. cameron akhunaton (the name self-styled after the ancient egyptian sun-worshipping pharaoh) is a veritable empresario of formless mind-expanding ambient music. on uplift drift, however, he goes out on a limb, picking up percussion and rhythm, and blending the electronic with the acoustic, the profound with the carefree. what he's created is utterly clean, gently disciplined, undeniably infectious.

electronic voice-over, sultry basslines, surprise waves of wah-peddling electric guitar, trumpeting horns, poignant piano riffs, hints of celebratory hand-claps and a pensive tabla solo give 'my thoughts have become visible' its delicious and unexpected flavours.

expertly sequenced, the tracks on this album flow effortlessly with a perpetuum that exudes the very motion, the very relentlessness of life, the drama of nature unraveling with birth, death and everything that happens in between. without words. expect the unexpected.

but i digress. yes talk is cheap, let me listen-you the music.

magic sound fabric - my thoughts have become visible:


magic sound fabric - galaxy rise:


magic sound fabric - space traffic control:


can't wait to lay my hands on this year's release, observer. listen to this or get the release at www.magicsoundfabric.com or amazon.com

related to this:

• four tet - as serious as your life
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm
  
• bruknahm project - siba dub plate
  
• heliocentrics - once upon a time

novalima

a few weeks ago i did something i don't do enough of and checked out a little-known band at a local music venue.

novalima is a multi-member outfit based in peru. my friend jc returned from a visit to lima in 2007 with novalima's eponymous (and rare, to my dismay) debut cd. it quickly fell on heavy rotation, bringing some heat and spice into the dying days of my winter... i've lost the cd and long to hear novalima again...

their first toronto gig was not something i wanted to pass up.

the latin-loving lula lounge was a hot, packed, sweating room throbbing with the deep polyrhythmic syncopations of this talented crew... and a whole lot of boogy-ing fans. the stage was almost too small but no lie, they made some big sound. the best way i can describe it is a groove-salsa-meets-conscious-electronic-dub-pounding-hop.

i had fun.

and until i get my hands on their first cd (rafael - if you're reading, send it on!), this will have to do...

novalima - ruperta/puede ser:


novalima - africa landó:

PS - i got them... thank you rafael...

related to this:

• up, bustle + out - all out king
  
• amadou + miriam feat. manu chao - senegal fast food
  
• hanine y son cubano - arabo-cuban improvisation

you can find this at www.novalima.net

sometimes i get a good feeling

derek vincent smith - finally moving

this colorado producer takes mood music to the next level. wanna throw your hands in the air? take a drive through the desert? tell someone how they make you feel? throw this on for size. smith has put his double length filling up the city skies up for download on his website. here he takes electonic music to the next level, sampling riffs, blips and vocals transcending vintage soul to current hip hop... part 1 is smith's self-styled "organic downtempo" autobiography. part 2, worthy of some major rump-shaking action, is what he plays at his live shows. don't take any of this lightly. smith is a mastermind of sound.

he ties up part 2 with a remix of finally moving, a track that he opens with the deep, velvety souldarling etta james introducing something's gotta hold on me... then comes an electrosonic ride complete with video game sounds, broken violin beats, thumping bass and vintage guitar riffs à la hendrix. the skies clear for a moment when etta returns rippling over a flourish of piano keys. just barely long enough to catch your breath before hopping back on the soundwave...

i get a good feeling... and i don't wanna get off.

pretty lights - finally moving (remixed):


related to this:

• up, bustle & out - all out king
  
• four tet - as serious as your life
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm / pink solidism
  
• the blow - the love that i crave (strategy's strata club mix)
  

if you like what you hear, give a nod to smith... he's continously sharing his brilliance.

bach on the dancefloor

anjelika akbar - orkide I, orkide II

i couldn't resist posting more because never mind my head, this is what it sounds like... in my body

anjelika akbar - orkide:


anjelika akhbar - orkide II:


you can find this album here

related to this:

• anjelika akbar - çöl gülü
  
• uakti - minimal 13 m1
  
• hanine y son cubano - arabo-cuban improvisation
  
• peter gabriel - with this love
  
• nina simone - sinnerman
  

more mulatu...

just because i can't get enough, here's more mulatu for me and you...

this time accompanied by the dancing stylees of mike long. no matter where he is in the world, you can see him dance... his way, every day.

mulatu astatke - kasalèfkut hulu ("from all the time i have passed"):


apologies... some time after this was posted, the mike long youtube account was deactivated and is no longer! all things good and bad change, right?

related to this...

• mmm... mulatu
  
• mama afrika forever
  
• yamasuki singers, black blood.. a.i.e.o.a
  
• rokia traore
  
• gigi shibabaw