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

moonrise

in light of tonight's full moon...

harnessing the creative energy coursing through me - i'd like to interpret one of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite producers.... here's my loose lyrical adaptation of nitin sawhney's slow-moving boundary-crossing love letter, "moonrise", vocals courtesy of rai singer, cheb mami and brazilian vocalist, nina rocha miranda.

don't feel sadness
when my light fades away
you'll leave the dark life
when you see the moon play
taking its place
you'll find waves of sadness
for your grace

and so one day
a story of peace
after the storm washes the pain
and a future that couldn't be
calm after the rain
with eyes that even in the dark, still see

and no, i don't speak brazilian portugese... if anyone can take on the arabic i'd be impressed...

nitin sawhney - moonrise (featuring cheb mami and nina rocha miranda):


related:

• hanine y son cubano - arabo-cuban improvisation
  
• la nina de la puebla - la zagala
  
• gigi shibabaw - gela
  
• anjelika akbar - orkide I + II

catch nitin sawhney in toronto this summer at the luminaTO festival.

get this at amazon

seven nation army

ahhh the city is getting ready for a whirlwind of activity as leaders from 8 and 20 of the earth's nations come together for the big talks.

yeah that's right - getting ready for the g8 and g20 in canada and right here in toronto. and i feel the way this track sounds.

counting down until it's happening
and when it's happening
we'll be counting down until it's over.

sometimes i feel like alice russell-
trapped in a grant phabao remix-
of nostalgia 77's cover-
of the white stripes' seven nation army.

and there you have it. superbly belted out by ms. russell. love how it maintains the rock and blues integrity of the white stripes' original, even with a roots reggae element and then adds a little russell to infuse it with just so much sweet soul!

nostalgia 77 feat alice russell - seven nation army [grant phabao mix]:


related:

• nneka - africans
  
• marie queenie lyons - see and don't see
  
• derek vincent smith / pretty lights - finally moving remix
  
• nina simone - sinnerman

get this at tru thoughts records

even after all

i finally finished masaru emoto's hidden messages in water. i think the guy's on to something.

emoto ran extensive research about the effects of words, music and environments on the quality of water. he found that water molecules emulate the beauty of positive words, melodic music and healthy environments by forming flawless crystals when frozen. you can only guess how water reacts to polluted environments, nasty messages and crap music!

so from emoto's findings and knowing that the adult human body is 75% water, we have pretty good reasons to be discerning about the quality of the music we listen to... even the voices we surround ourselves with!

and with that, i present to you... finley quaye.

finley quaye - even after all:


related:

• bonobo - walk in the sky
  
• nneka - beautiful
  
• stevie wonder - as/another star
  
• peter gabriel - with this love

get this at amazon

heligoland dream

when i was in south africa a couple of years ago i went to the home of a traditional healer, or sangoma. there were several of them gathered, throwing cowrie shells, chanting and calling to the sprits. it was fascinating watching them at work.

one approached me near the end of the night and asked me if i dream. "no", i told him, and if i do, i don't remember them. he advised me to blow my nose before sleeping.

and so i did. and i dreamed...

paradise circus, off of massive attack's latest album, heligoland captures the feeling of my dreamland, where even the most surreal scenes are met with a level head. nothing seems extraordinary, not until i wake in a daze and recall the twists and turns of events.

funny, more and more my dreams give me perspective. to remember them in all their fantastic imagination, is surely to understand life so much better.

dedicated to the sangomas in kwa zulu natal...

massive attack - paradise circus feat. hope sandoval
(feat. hope sandoval):
and for the dreamers... video
scenes taken from tarsem singh's surreal film, the fall. full of dalí-esque visuals sure to make you feel like you are dreaming:



related:

• sonar kollektiv orchester - rej
  
• nina simone - sinnerman
  
• lhasa - on the living road

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

6.0 yamasuki singers - aieoa, black blood - aie a mwana, bananarama - aie a mwana

after a little departure from posting music... i've returned with something special. i'm happy to see my folks back from uganda safe and nicely toasted, and to celebrate i'm posting something that was conceived in the '70s, made its way to the african continent and traveled north and west, but kept it's original soul...

the japanese yamasuki singers first issued the track "aieaoa" on their wacky album "le monde fabuleux des yamasuki":


the track then took an african twist when it was reissued by a '70s band from zaire. we used to dance around to this as kids. if i played it for my mom she'd go wild. [edit! they were actually belgian - which explains how the track got play in europe... read on]
black blood - aie a mwana:


three models heard the black blood cover in a paris nightclub and went home to london to record the song on their debut album.
bananarama - aie a mwana:


thanks to wfmu.org

and totally unrelated...

• bill cosby and quincy jones - hicky burr, sargeant pepper's lonely hearts club band
  
• go go golem