Abu Dhabi to Host Ethnic Music Festival Womad

Silvia Radan, Khaleej Times, 23 January 2009

ABU DHABI - One of the largest ethnic music festivals in the world will be held in Abu Dhabi in April. The three-day presentation will mark the festival’s debut in the Middle East.

Spectators enjoy one of the WOMAD concerts.—Supplied PhotoAn agreement to this effect was recently signed by the World of Music Arts and Dance (WOMAD) and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH). According to the ADACH, the dates and list of musicians have not been finalised, but the festival will take place in the open, most likely in three locations in Abu Dhabi. “There will be performances from North Africa, ME, India, Pakistan, as well as other parts of the world,” said Isadora Papadrakakis, from the Arts and Culture Department of ADACH.

Founded as an organisation in 1980 in England to promote music of other cultures, the first WOMAD festival took place in 1982 and saw the reunion of Rock star Peter Gabriel, founder and chairman of WOMAD with Genesis, his former band in order to raise additional funds for the first 1982 festival.

Libel Arts: Wayne White

Filter Magazine, Thursday, January 22, 2009

Having worked on “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” in 1986 as a set and puppet designer (winning three Emmy awards for his work) and also art directing Peter Gabriel’s smash-hit video, Big Time, Wayne White’s career has been both prolific and evolving.

These days, however, White is turning heads with his novel, though some say trendy, re-workings of cheap landscape paintings found in thrift stores and yard sales across the U.S. Taking banal landscape paintings and then overlaying his own phrases and lettering onto the work, White creates new art from old—and in many cases—unremarkable paintings. White’s work is lately getting placed in not only galleries, but fine art museums as well. And if you get the chance, definitely make a trip to see the work with your own two eyes.

And if you have never seen White’s glossy 3-D paintings, perhaps you’re familiar with another one of his works…the album cover for Lambchop ’s 2000 Nixon LP, featuring White’s painting of the same name.

And just for old time’s sake, how about a little Big Time for good measure? Long live Peter Gabriel:

Concert du Hadouk Trio au Mail de Soissons

Hadouk : mot valise composé de : Hajouj ou gumbri basse africaine et de Doudouk hautbois arménien.

Bien plus qu'un concept fédérateur, l'utopie est l'essence même du trio Hadouk, sa nature profonde, sa force vive depuis plus de dix ans, son âme insaisissable aussi. Car Hadouk est un monde par lui-même, fait de racines aériennes et de terres rêvées, un continent imprévu qui pointe entre l'Afrique et l'Orient, un rivage improbable qui s'avance entre jazz et world, une véritable rose des vents qui se dessine sur le portulan des musiques du monde. Bref, Hadouk c'est une cosmologie en soi, avec ses constellations et ses horizons libres, ses lignes de grande transhumance et ses astres de première magnitude.

Charmeur de vents, Didier Malherbe attrape de son phrasé inimitable, les mélodies que zéphyrs et alizés lui apportent de toutes les latitudes. Cofondateur du mythique Gong avec Daevid Allen, il défend ensuite bec et anche la trille alerte et le slap éolien auprès de Jacques Higelin et de Brigitte Fontaine, de Robert Wyatt et de Pierre Bensusan. Depuis longtemps, à côté du saxophone et de la flûte, Didier apprivoise la bourrasque et cisèle la volute dans ces exquis réceptacles à turbulences que sont le bansouri, les ocarinas, et bien sûr le doudouk, hautbois arménien en bois d'abricotier au son doux et pensif. Grand connaisseur du roseau et infatigable babilleur, il a également publié un recueil de sonnets intitulé L'Anche des Métamorphoses.

Méhariste éclairé, Loy Ehrlich a été de toutes les équipées trans-sahariennes, aux côtés de Youssou N'Dour, Touré Kunda, Geoffrey Oryema, mais aussi de Peter Gabriel. Poly-instrumentiste, fin joueur de kora et de sanza, spécialiste du hajouj, la basse des gnawas, Loy a également mis dans ses claviers toutes les épices des marchés du monde. On le connaît aussi comme arrangeur et producteur, ainsi que programmateur du festival d'Essaouira.

Bourlingueur invétéré, Steve Shehan promène quant à lui son grand sac à rythmes sur toutes les coutures de la planète, pour en capter les forces sismiques. On l'a entendu avec Paul Simon, John McLaughlin, Paul McCartney, Christian Vander, Brian Eno et tant d'autres... Bois et argiles, cuirs et métaux n'ont plus de secret pour lui. Car Steve joue avec le temps comme avec la matière, et c'est le diaphragme du monde qui bat entre ses peaux. Il a par ailleurs à son actif plus d'une douzaine d'albums.

Après avoir célébré la chimère totémique (Shamanimal) et s'être hissé au sommet du perpétuel présent (Now), Hadouk emprunte désormais l'orbe altière du gyroscope cosmique. Après l'amble du désert et le groove végétal, voici le swing météorique ! Placé sous les auspices de la toupie céleste, ce cinquième album fait ainsi la part belle aux élans tourbillonnants, valse, pulse ternaire, danse spiralée et autres envolées giratoires.

De nouveaux instruments ont rejoint la panoplie de nos chasseurs de sons : khen, orgue à bouche du Laos, gumbass assemblant la caisse du guimbri et le manche de la basse électrique, hang au croisement chatoyant du steeldrum et du gamelan . Autant de territoires sonores qui s'inventent dans la distance prise depuis le terroir d'origine...

Hommage de trois navigateurs au long cours, à celui qui fut le pionnier de la world music à travers son concept de Quatrième Monde, Hadouk invite le trompettiste américain Jon Hassell sur trois morceaux : dans un ultime envoi, l'utopie rejoint alors l'orbite des grands empires imaginaires. Entre toupies et utopies, voici donc une nouvelle série de belles tourneries et de rêveries nomades, qui enlacent et emportent sur l'autre face du monde.

Bruno Heuzé?source : happy aisne

Green business in full blossom on Mare Island

By RACHEL RASKIN-ZRIHEN/Times-Herald staff writer, Posted: 01/19/2009

Besides being international musical superstars, what do Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney and Madonna have in common?

They've all been clients of Vallejo's Suite Treatments owner Jacqueline Barsotti of Vallejo, who provides "green" event and dressing room decor for entertainers and others. Suite Treatments is in The Coal Shed artist's studio on Mare Island, which serves as Barsotti's home base, though much of her work involves travel, she said. Originally from the Concord-Pleasant Hill area, Barsotti, 41, said she moved to Vallejo by way of Yosemite in 2005. "I chose Vallejo to start my business because Mare Island is a great place to have a business," she said.

Divorced and with no children, Barsotti said she got her start pampering rock stars when she worked for Bill Graham Presents. Her office is lined with in-concert photos of superstars like Sting, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Dave Matthews and the Judds, which Barsotti said she shot herself in her Bill Graham days.

"I started as a runner and worked my way up to producer and then I decided to go out on my own," she said. "I learned that many entertainers want plants in their dressing rooms, and I knew that was a business I could do." Now, she and her team create "green," relaxing spaces for special events and dressing rooms and has more than 150 clients, she said. She's handling decorations for Willie Nelson's event at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in honor of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration, she said.

Barsotti said she's not star-struck, is rarely interested in meeting the clients and never asks for autographs. She's much more interested in subtly sending "green" messages wherever she goes "I'm a green business," Barsotti said. "I run my vehicles on bio-diesel, and if someone wants me to advertise, I ask a few questions, like do they print on recycled paper. This can sometimes create a chain reaction."

Though unwilling to disclose any really juicy stories, Barsotti said when working with stars and other important people, one can't help but learn things. "Peter Gabriel was awesome, a very nice person," she said. "The Rolling Stones are easier to work with than you'd think." One of her anecdotes involves rap artist Snoop Dog's six-foot bong. "Snoop Dog has his candy, and (last year) we made this huge bong to hold it," she said. "He loved it, and now it's on tour with him."

Some stars are notorious for making what seem to be strange, unreasonable demands, but often there's a method to that madness, Barsotti said. "Sometimes they ask for difficult-to-find things to see if the promoter cares enough to read the rider," she said, adding that her firm is most often hired by promoters seeking to pamper a favored client. The world's water has been among Barsotti's main focuses since her only brother drowned in the Napa River after a solo vehicle accident in 2005. He was 31. "I took his ashes to the Ganges River - the holiest river in India - and that started me thinking about the state of our water," she said. "I needed to get people to do things differently, and if artists do things differently, people will pay attention."

Another defining moment in Barsotti's life was seeing her grandparents lose everything in the Oakland Hills fire. "It helped me realize that you don't really need anything," she said. In addition to her Suite Treatments work, Barsotti hopes to join Valcore Recycling's board of directors and is involved in a planned bio-diesel manufacturing business coming to Vallejo, she said. "That's the future. It's very exciting," she said. Valcore's Jane Bogner is equally excited about Barsotti. "She has a wonderful green company and an incredible green spirit and such energy, it's really exciting to be around her," Bogner said.

Though she works with the rich and famous, Barsotti said she also does private parties and events and would love to find more work locally. No budget is too small, she said. "The rock 'n' roll industry taught me the concept of 'cheap and cheerful,' " she said. Even as a child, Barsotti said, she knew she was meant to be involved with the music industry."I had boyfriends who were in bands, and I just always liked the atmosphere," she said. "I think it's the vibration from the crowd. They give off more joy than anything."

Winners announced at Independent Music Awards

by Larry Rodgers - Jan. 16, 2009, The Arizona Republic

Folk-rocker Martin Sexton, late blues master Jeff Healey, British crooner Jamie Lidell and banjo wizard Tony Trischka are among this year's winners in the eighth annual Independent Music Awards.

The awards were handed out this week in 50 album, song and design categories. Judges included recording stars Peter Gabriel, Roger Daltrey, Suzanne Vega, Buddy Guy, Keith Urban and George Jones.

Sexton's career-spanning Solo CD won in the Live Performance Album category.

Healey, who died in March, won Best Blues Album for his 2008 release, Mess of Blues.

Trischka won Best Americana Album for Territory, and Lidell won Best Pop/Rock album with Jim.

Denmark's A Kid Hereafter won for Best Punk Album with Defenders of the Faith, and Rebecca Martin won the Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter category with her latest CD, The Growing Season.

The IMAs are produced by Music Resource Group, publisher of The Musician's Atlas and the AtlasOnline Web site.

Full list of winners: independentmusicawards.com.

A Column About African Pop Music

John Doran, The Quietus, January 16th, 2009

A Column About African Pop Music: First Up, Nigeria And Mali

The Quietus starts a new regular column on the music of Africa with a look at the sounds coming out of Nigeria and Mali

In order to kickstart this irregular column about pop music either from or directly inspired by the African continent, it's necessary to cover some of the amazing reissues and new albums that have been out in the last few months - if only to convey something of the Kanutian task at hand.

Or perhaps this should be described as Sisyphean - as in pushing a boulder up a hill for all eternity. If someone asks you what sort of music that you're into and you say 'African', it's pretty much like being asked what you want to eat in a restaurant and saying: “Oh, you know, some food." It is this bewildering panoply of taxonomically confusing sub genres and categories that probably allowed the survival of the understandable but totally useless category 'World Music' for so long. As much as the manic culture of album reissues might be keen to ignore the saturation of the market in music; the Foppification of record collections and the disastrous cultural strip mining effected by peer to peer file sharing, in this arena it is creating sizeable waves of interest in wider pop and rock fans.

This would have been unlikely ten years ago and unthinkable twenty years ago. Mainstream perceptions of Africa as a sonic continent are no longer seen as a beam of light blasted out of Jon Hassell's trumpet, filtered through Peter Gabriel's goatee beard, refracted through Paul Simon's spectacles and bounced off Brian Eno's big shiny head.

This internet/reissue culture has allowed the vast African landmass to slowly fragment and shatter - in front of our eyes, not just into composite countries, but into cities and towns and across class and religious divides. Again, I've got to stress that if you're a specialist consumer, you'll probably find this tedious to say the least but for the rest of us, seeing these new musical vistas, suggesting themselves, slowly feathering into view, then finally achieving crystal clarity is magnificent to say the least.(....)

Thoughts from The Golden Globes Red Carpet

My favorite pre-show moment: Peter Gabriel quipped:"This is my favorite awards show: it's short, there's food and plenty of alcohol," then just when I'm thinking why am I watching interviews about party insights, he goes ahead and talks about "The Elders," a project he's doing with Nelson Mandela and others: "If they can connect people on the ground who are suffering with people who can make a phone call to anyone and get it picked up, maybe we can get something done"...

Peter Gabriel Talks About The Elders

January 12, 2009 by Tim Saunders

Rock star and humanitarian Peter Gabriel has commented on the inspiration behind forming The Elders, the group of public figures he established with Richard Branson to solve global figures.

“People have lost trust in a lot of institutions around the world, but they still have faith in certain of key individuals,“ said the 58-year-old. “We felt that if we could get a group of elder statesmen and women together, they could have an influence and leverage and help on a few situations. We went to Nelson Mandela and he set it up a couple of years ago. We have Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan. They can connect people on the ground who are suffering with people who can make a phone call.”

The Global Elders group was set up in 2007 to bring “almost 1,000 years of collective experience” to work on solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems like climate change, HIV/AIDS, and poverty, and “use their political independence to help resolve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts.” There are currently 12 active members, including Jimmy Carter and Aung San Suu Kyi. They have launched peace missions in Darfur, the Middle East, and Zimbabwe.

More information about the work of the Global Elders can be found at their official website.

The music behind movies

By A. ASOHAN,thestaronline ,Monday January 12, 2009

(...)The Last Temptation of Christ (Peter Gabriel)

Speaking of what idiots we critics can be at times ....

Okay, I know there was a great hullabaloo over what Entertainment Weekly ranked as No.6 of the 25 most controversial movies of all time. Yes, it was an ambitious and contentious movie, with Willem Dafoe as a very human Jesus who has a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey). Yes, the religious folk were mightily irritated, and it was banned in many countries, including Malaysia.

I really wanted to watch it in 1988, but only managed to do so more than a decade later. I was mightily unimpressed.

Indeed, the fact that it was originally envisioned as a US$14mil movie but was finally shot with a US$7mil budget shows ... very badly. The sets were horrible.

The acting? We’re talking a stellar cast here, some of the finest actors of their generation, directed by a maestro, Martin Scorsese. So what if in true Hollywood fashion, the bad guys (the Romans) had British accents (including one David Bowie in a Pontius Pilate role originally slated for Sting) and the good guys spoke like Americans?

But when did Jews of olden days speak like modern New Yorkers ... what were you thinking, Martin?

Never mind. The Last Temptation of Christ had great music, composed by former Genesis frontman and creative force Peter Gabriel, who was deep in his “world music” phase. It was so good that he worked further on the music to release an album about a year later called Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ.

Some say it’s his best work ever, drawing from inspirations and influences from all over the world, but especially from the Middle-East and Africa. It introduced the greater world at large to such artistes as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Youssou N’Dour, and should be in the personal collection of anybody who calls himself or herself a fan of world music.

And as any role-playing gamer will tell you, it’s perfect for a Dark Sun campaign. (No, I’m not going to bother explaining the allusion to non-RPGers – it would take too long.) (...)

il est court,il y a de la bouffe et de l'alcool

PHOTO: AP

Paul Journet, La Presse, Le lundi 12 janvier 2009

Slumdog Millionaire et Winslet brillent aux Golden Globes

L'équipe de Slumdog Millionaire est repartie avec les trophées du meilleur drame, du meilleur réalisateur et du meilleur scénario. On voit ici, tout sourire, le réalisateur Danny Boyle et les acteurs Freida Pinto et Dev Patel.

Les 66es Golden Globes auront été ceux de Slumdog Millionaire et de Kate Winslet. Le film a gagné les prestigieux prix de meilleur drame, de la meilleure réalisation et du meilleur scénario. Quant à l'actrice anglaise, elle a réussi un rare doublé?: meilleur premier rôle (Revolutionary Road) et meilleur rôle de soutien (The Reader), catégorie drame.

«Pourquoi c'est mon gala préféré? Parce qu'il est court et parce qu'il y a de la bouffe et de l'alcool», a dit Peter Gabriel, dimanche, en direct du tapis rouge des Golden Globes, décernés par l'Association de la presse étrangère de Hollywood. (...)

Miley Cyrus: Golden Globes Pre-Party Girl

Mingling with fellow guests, Miss Cyrus chatted it up with Peter Gabriel and Golden Globe nominee Jeff Steele, also joining her parents for a portrait family photo.

Thousands to march through London over Middle East conflict

Rashid Razaq and Jack Lefley, Evening Standard ,09.01.09

Thousands of protesters will take to the streets this weekend in demonstrations over Israel's assault on Gaza. A national demonstration against the attack will march from Speakers' Corner at Hyde Park tomorrow. It will be followed on Sunday by a pro-Israel rally in Trafalgar Square and march. The protests follow a series of demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington which have led to small businesses in the area losing thousands of pounds.

The pro-Palestinian demonstration is expected to be joined by stars including singers Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel, actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave, and Children's Laureate Michael Rosen. Their march will end near the Israeli Embassy in Palace Green. The Board of Deputies of British Jews has planned a rally to call for peace from 11am to 12pm on Sunday in Trafalgar Square. Half an hour later protesters will congregate at Marble Arch and walk to Belgrave Square.

Last night, hundreds gathered at the Friends Meeting House in central London. Speakers condemned the Israeli and British governments, with former Labour Cabinet minister Tony Benn calling for the Israeli ambassador to the UK to be expelled. The protests, which have seen up to 2,000 pro-Palestinian supporters bring Kensington High Street to a standstill, have affected independent traders who have reported takings down by more than 50 per cent. Many have struggled to pay staff and cover overheads.

Residents want the protests moved to Kensington Gardens or Hyde Park. Maryam Taghavi, owner of Foubert's Café, said: "We couldn't open on Saturday or Sunday." Craig Teasdale, manager of Brasserie Gerard, said his restaurant had had virtually no bookings since the protests began on 28 December. Police said they have had talks with organisers, but there are no plans to relocate the demonstrations.

Activists protesting invasion put best foot forward

By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter, Published: January 08, 2009

Dubai: A collection of old shoes is due to be delivered to the Israeli embassy in London this weekend as part of an organised protest against the invasion of Gaza.

The organisers of the protest, who call themselves the 'Stop the War Coalition', say they are inspired by "the spirit of Iraqi journalist Muntadar Al Zaidi, who used his shoes to protest George Bush's war crimes".

Organisers are encouraging protesters to bring along old shoes, which will be delivered to the embassy at the conclusion of the march that begins at Speaker's Corner (London's dedicated protest platform) in Hyde Park at 12.30pm tomorrow.

Shoes were also collected after a January 4 protest march, with the aim of delivering them to Downing Street. However, after being prevented from "delivering" the items, protesters flung the footwear in the general direction of Downing Street.

A host of British actors, musicians, politicians and writers have added their names to the forthcoming demonstration, including politician George Galloway, who was reportedly injured when a previous protest against the Gaza attacks on January 4 led to clashes with police.

Other famous names being associated with the action include singers Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel; politician Tony Benn; musicians Michael Nyman and Nigel Kennedy; actress Vanessa Redgrave; and comedians Alexei Sayle, Mark Thomas and Billy Bailey.

The Stop the War Coalition has organised daily protests outside the Israeli Embassy since January 5.

PM briefed

Community warning

A group of prominent Muslims who advise the government on security issues have written to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warning that Israel's invasion of Gaza could fuel violent Islamist extremism. Anger within Britain's Muslim communities had reached "acute levels of intensity", the letter said, calling for pressure on the US to change its approach to the crisis. "The Israeli government's use of disproportionate force to combat threats to its security has revived extremist groups and empowered their message of violence," it said.

momix goes tropical at warner

BY BRYNN MANDEL REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN, Thursday, January 8, 2009

Dancing dinosaurs and fluttering human-sized flowers invade Torrington's Warner Theatre Friday night when the Washington, Conn.-based dance troupe Momix debuts its latest, fantastical and nature-inspired piece.

"Botanica" flits through the seasons and the natural world, as envisioned through the prism of artistic director and founder Moses Pendleton's imagination.

Partial to illusionist imagery, the inventive Pendleton employs props paired with his dancers' grace and near-superhuman strength to create otherworldly scenes. PVC craftily helps a dancer contort into impossible shapes. A beaded curtain-cum-headdress spins with a dancer's momentum into a glinting cobweb.

Set to a score that ranges from birdsong to Peter Gabriel, the dancers embody earthworms beneath winter's hard shell and birds and bees doing a dance of pollination and procreation.

As creators of several recent "green-themed" projects, including a commission by Mercedes-Benz, Momix adopted a green concept for "Botanica" by reusing props and items used in previous shows.

The 28-year-old dance company that resembles a moving cross between Cirque du Soleil, David Copperfield and a Rene Magritte painting tours internationally, and will bring "Botanica" to Italy after its local run.

Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets, $29.50 to $50, available online at www.warnertheatre.org, by calling (860) 489-7180 or by visiting the Warner's box office, 68 Main St., Torrington.

Robert Lepage : Le Trident accueille Le Dragon bleu

Photo LE JOURNAL DE QUÉBEC – DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE

Robert Lepage et Marie Michaud se retrouvent pour Le Dragon bleu, présenté au Trident à compter de jeudi.

Serge Drouin, Le journal de Québec, le 11-01-2009

Après le méga-succès de ses pièces La Face cachée de la Lune et Le Projet Andersen, Robert Lepage revient au Trident pour présenter sa nouvelle création, Le Dragon Bleu, qui prendra l’affiche ce jeudi à la salle Octave-Crémazie du Grand Théâtre de Québec.

Pour ce retour dans nos murs, Robert Lepage retrouve Marie Michaud, sa complice de longue date. En effet, il y a quelque 25 ans, le duo avait proposé au public La Trilogie des dragons. Les compères se retrouvent comme auteurs et acteurs pour cette prochaine production du Trident. «Plus de 20 ans après La Trilogie, on avait envie de refaire quelque chose ensemble pour voir où l’histoire nous amènerait et où nous sommes rendus comme artistes», confiait récemment Lepage au Journal de Québec.

De toute évidence, le public est heureux des retrouvailles du duo puisque les représentations du 13 janvier au 7 février affichent toutes complet, même la supplémentaire du 14 février, en après-midi, en plein coeur du Carnaval de Québec, est à guichets fermés. (...)

Peter Gabriel Would Have 'No Objection' To Full Genesis Reunion

Photo by: WENN, atricle by Jason Gregory, Gigwise, Wednesday, January 07, 2009

He speaks about old band...Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel has said he would have “no real objection” to a full reunion of the band. Gabriel didn't take part in the group's 2007 tour, which included 20 dates around the world. At the time, he said he was “happy” that drummer Phil Collins, bassist Mike Rutherford and guitarist Tony Banks were touring, but wanted to concentrate on his own material. However, in a new interview with Word, Gabriel said: "In principle I have no real objection to playing with Genesis at some point in the future." Gabriel hasn't performed with his former band since he left the group in 1975.

Un retour de Genesis au complet?

Photographer: Insidefoto / PR Photos
Scoop People le 09/01/09

C'est en tout cas ce que Peter Gabriel a laissé sous-entendre à ses fans! En effet, le chanteur originel qui avait quitté le groupe en 1975, cédant sa place au batteur Phil Collins, a récemment déclaré "Il se peut qu'on se reforme avec le groupe Genesis." Le groupe s'était déjà reformé en 2007 pour une tournée mondiale avec Tony Banks, Phil Collins, et Mike Rutherford mais sans Peter Gabriel, qui n'en avait pas eu la possibilité. Tout comme AC/DC, il se pourrait que le groupe de rock se reforme donc complètement, puisqu'il a ajouté "Je n'ai aucune objection à rejoindre Genesis à l'avenir." Et tout comme les fans de AC/DC, les fans de Genesis risquent d'exploser de joie à l'annonce officielle de ce retour tant attendu!

Gabriel : "full Genesis reunion is still possible"

Peter Gabriel has fuelled reports of a full Genesis reunion after telling a British music magazine he has "no real objection" to touring with his former bandmates.

Gabriel insists other commitments forced him to step back from a 2007 Genesis reunion, which became a 20-city world tour, but he remains interested in a get together.

The Sledgehammer hitmaker tells Mojo magazine, "In principle I have no real objection to playing with Genesis at some point in the future."

If he does take part in a reunion, it will be the first time he has officially performed with his bandmates since he quit the group in the mid-1970s.

Contactmusic.com 07/01/2009

B&W Music Club Offers Lossless Audio Downloads

Posted by Admin on Thursday, January 01, 2009

Bowers & Wilkins and Peter Gabriel lead the fight for high-quality downloads with lossless music service.

Bowers & Wilkins has teamed up with Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios to offer the world's first music download service that is about quality rather than quantity. Music Club members can download a specially recorded album each month. The album is DRM-free and delivered in either the Apple Lossless or FLAC formats, providing members with a true CD-quality recording.

The B&W Music Club is a unique partnership between Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios and Bowers & Wilkins. Part of B&W's Society of Sound (http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/sos) an online community for audiophiles and music fans, the B&W Music Club offers exclusive monthly albums to its members, which are downloadable in the Apple Lossless or FLAC formats to provide CD-quality sound.

For a small annual or six-monthly subscription fee, B&W Music Club offers one specially commissioned album each month, recorded in dedicated live sessions at Real World Studios near Bath in the UK. Albums are available to download for one month only and are provided without Digital Rights Management (DRM) to enable use across a variety of playback media.

Alongside B&W Music Club, B&W's radically updated and expanded Society of Sound website is created for people with a passion for sound. As well as blogs and feature articles, Society of Sound features regular podcasts hosted by Martyn Ware (Heaven 17, Human League) and video interviews with its Fellows including; Real World's Peter Gabriel, composer James Newton Howard, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and the seminal British designer Kenneth Grange, amongst others.

Dan Haikin, Brand Director, B&W said at the launch: "B&W's business is built on being passionate about music and sound quality. In Society of Sound we have created a meeting place for people who share our passions. The B&W Music Club takes this a step further by providing exclusive opportunities for people to hear an eclectic mix of new music from a diverse range of artists at super-high fidelity."

"For many people today, music has become a background noise or commodity. The MP3 revolution has placed convenience over quality. B&W Music Club redresses this by creating exclusive live albums from a hand-picked selection of leading musicians as high quality downloads."

The music offered on B&W Music Club spans many different genres and styles from new and established artists from all across the world. Two months after the live sessions are first offered to B&W Music Club members, B&W returns the rights for the albums to the artists.

By providing free studio time, mixing sessions and eventually returning the rights to artists, B&W Music Club provides a great opportunity for new bands to professionally record new material, as well as offering more well-known artists a chance to experiment or collaborate on interesting side projects.

Peter Gabriel said: "This collaboration with B&W is unique as far as I know and it's going to allow a lot of interesting projects to happen. For artists, B&W Music Club is a dream proposition because they get some great time in the studio, access to really good recording facilities and can experiment without being committed to anything or anyone beyond a month with B&W."
Since it's launch in May 2008, B&W Music Club has brought members a wide variety of different musical styles, all from exceptional artists: Little Axe, featuring legendary blues guitarist Skip McDonald; Grindhouse (mondo cane) a new collaboration from Dominic Greensmith (Reef) and Gareth Hale; Gwyneth Herbert; Dub Colossus; former Suede frontman Brett Anderson; guitarist Tom Kerstens; LA's Julianna Raye; and 16-year old piano prodigy Benjamin Grosvenor.

Future releases include offerings from UK Jazz four-piece Portico Quartet and Dengue Fever, a Los Angeles band that blends Cambodian pop music with West Coast psychedelic rock.

Membership of B&W Music Club costs $39.95 for six months or $59.95 for a year. Based on a yearly membership, this means B&W Music Club members receive 12 albums for less than $5 per album. B&W also offers free trial memberships via its website, where users can download a four-track EP a month for three months. Each download will be supplied DRM-free in lossless format, at around half the file size of a CD recording and will include printable color sleeve artwork to enable members to create CD albums from the downloaded files.

For further information please visit http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/sos.

About Bowers & Wilkins

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Byrne baby Byrne

by Kevin Krieger, Weekender Correspondent

By the tail end of the late ’70s, real music lovers may have had enough of the snotty three-chord attitude of the punk movement. This reaction to the original punk backlash allowed artists like David Byrne’s Talking Heads to bring some overdue intelligence to the table. By joining up with Roxy Music alum and famed producer Brian Eno on “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today,” Byrne continues his pursuit of melodic intellectual rock, and somewhere along the way, he has created his strongest post-Heads release to date.

The last collaboration between these two respected musicians was 1981’s “My Life With The Bush Ghosts,” an ambient/electronica excursion that still stands as a classic. The pair has obviously matured since then, and the overall mood of “Everything That Happens” is very relaxed with a focus on the melody, similar to the offbeat work of XTC’s Andy Partridge. Throughout the CD’s 11 tracks, the duo concentrates on songs that Byrne describes as “electronic gospel.”

Fresh off of producing Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida,” Eno’s otherworldly stamp is all over the backing tracks of “Home,” the Peter Gabriel-like “I Feel My Stuff” and the percolating bass of “Wanted For Life.” The offbeat “My Big Nurse” brings out a comic country twang that would be unexpected from either artist if it weren’t for the experimental nature of many of their earlier projects.

The basic tracks on “Everything” were recorded at home by Byrne and e-mailed to Eno. After stripping down the rough demos, a host of musical friends stepped in to lend their talents to the songs, with the final product sounding cohesive and uplifting at the same time. Both artists can’t help but note the passage of time and trend since their moment in the spotlight, and the topic is addressed head-on in the tongue-in-cheek lyrics of “Strange Overtones,” the album’s beat-heavy first single: “This groove is out of fashion / These beats are twenty years old.”

A few tracks on “Everything That Happens” may fit into the mediocre category (“Poor Boy,” “Lighthouse”), but the songs certainly don’t end up in the junk bin. Even less-than-stellar Byrne/Eno compositions are still pretty good.