Pour la suite du World

Michael Brook: "J'aime bien travailler en cinéma, mais j'aime aussi ne pas le faire, parce que j'ai la chance de produire d'autres artistes, Jorane par exemple."

photo: Kevin Yatarola

Michael Brook transporte ses atmosphères teintées de musiques du monde sur la scène de La Tulipe. Invitation au voyage.

Avec son plus récent disque solo, le producteur, guitariste et compositeur Michael Brook s'est offert un album-souvenir dans lequel il salut discrètement quelques-uns des artistes dont il a croisé la route. On y trouve un zeste de Brian Eno (époque Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy), une référence à King Crimson (il faisait partie du groupe de tournée de David Sylvian et Robert Fripp, avec Trey Gunn et Pat Mastelotto) et la voix du regretté Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, que Peter Gabriel lui a demandé de produire pour son étiquette Real World. D'ailleurs, la pièce-titre pourrait fort bien être chantée par ce dernier.

Ça fait quand même une belle collection d'amis pour un p'tit gars de Toronto! "Je suis heureux de vous surprendre", réplique-t-il lorsque je le rejoins à Los Angeles, où il vit depuis qu'a décollé sa nouvelle carrière de compositeur de musique de film (An Inconvenient Truth [AIT] est le plus récent). "Je n'ai pas vraiment inscrit ces filiations consciemment, explique-t-il, mais ces différentes collaborations font maintenant partie de moi, de ce que je fais." On trouve aussi sur ce disque à la production très soignée un orchestre symphonique et un choeur enregistrés en Bulgarie; "Oui, je me suis payé la traite! C'est un projet qui a pris du temps, mais je suis heureux de l'avoir pris. C'était peut-être imprudent de mettre autant de temps et d'argent dans un projet, mais je me suis dit que je n'aurais peut-être pas si souvent l'occasion de faire vraiment le disque qui me tente."

Il n'est pas sûr, en effet, qu'il aura autant de latitude pour remplir les prochains contrats de musique de film que sa collaboration à AIT ne manquera pas de lui amener... "Je pense que personne ne s'imaginait que ce film aurait autant de succès! Mais pour la suite, on verra. J'aime bien travailler en cinéma, mais j'aime aussi ne pas le faire, parce que j'ai la chance de produire d'autres artistes, Jorane par exemple (ou The Pogues, Youssou N'Dour, Cheb Khaled..., la liste est longue). Et puis, quand tu te fatigues de ça, tu retournes au film, ou tu pars sur la route, comme je le fais maintenant!" Et la tournée d'une douzaine de villes qui l'emporte ces jours-ci depuis la Californie passe heureusement par Montréal.

Ce ne sera pas facile de reproduire en concert la qualité sonore de son dernier opus, Rock Paper Scissors... " En effet... et nous ne le ferons sans doute pas! Il faudrait 70 personnes, et on ne sera que trois. En fait, nous en ferons une interprétation, sans chercher à ce que ce soit identique. On fera aussi des pièces de mon album précédent, Cobalt Blue, et de AIT." Brook, qui sera à la guitare et aux électroniques, sera accompagné de la violoniste et chanteuse Lisa Germano (qui donne aussi la première partie) et par son épouse, Julie Rogers, une violoniste elle-même très en demande. À découvrir.

Réjean Beaucage

Le 31 janvier
À La Tulipe
Voir calendrier World/Reggae

À voir/écouter si vous aimez
Hector Zazou
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Brian Eno (ambient)

Peter Gabriel prend ses affaires en main

Le chanteur et musicien britannique Peter Gabriel vient d'annoncer qu'il lancera son prochain album en Amérique du Nord sans l'aide d'une compagnie de disque. Ce dernier est sans contrat de disque sur le continent nord-américain.

Selon le journal The Sunday Times, Gabriel, pionnier de la distribution de la musique numérique, a amassé 2 millions £ (environ 4,6 millions $US CAD) pour enregistrer et distribuer son prochain album studio, qui ne porte pas de titre pour l'instant, dans le cadre d'une entreprise commune avec la firme de capital-risque britannique Ingenious Media.

Gabriel devrait récolter le double des revenus qu'il aurait obtenu avec un contrat de disque conventionnel. Pour le reste du monde, Gabriel confiera la production de son CD à Warner Bros. Records.

Par ailleurs, l'artiste fera une apparition sur «Djin Djin», le prochain disque de la chanteuse bénoise Angelique Kidjo dont la sortie est attendue le 1er mai prochain via Razor & Tie et Starbucks Entertainment. Il chantera sur la pièce «Salala». Josh Groban, Alicia Keys, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone et Ziggy Marley ont également collaboré à cet album.

Marc Gadoury [AgenceNews]

Angelique Kidjo"Salala" : featuring Peter Gabriel

Kidjo Digs Deep With Groban, Keys, Santana

January 23, 2007, 11:05 AM ET/ Marc Pellegrino, N.Y.

With a little help from her friends, international music star and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Angelique Kidjo will return this spring with "Djin Djin," a return to her diverse cultural and musical roots.

Due May 1 via Razor & Tie and Starbucks Entertainment, the album finds Kidjo partnered with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Morrissey, T. Rex) as well as Josh Groban, Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and Ziggy Marley. "Djin Djin" will be sold in Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as traditional retailers.

Singing in her native languages as well as in English and French, Kidjo revisits the music of her native Benin, building the album's sound around the traditional rhythms of her country.

The set features such tracks as a cover of Sade's "Pearl" with Groban and Santana, "Salala" featuring Gabriel, "Sedjedo" with Marley and "Gimme Shelter" with Stone. Keys and Marsalis appear on the title cut.

In addition, Kidjo will join Groban as the opening act for his spring tour, which begins Feb. 17 in Verona, N.Y. and runs through April 7 in Las Vegas.

Click to learn more...
Here is the track list for "Djin Djin":

"Ae Ae"
"Djin Djin" featuring Alicia Keys and Branford Marsalis
"Gimme Shelter" featuring Joss Stone
"Salala" featuring Peter Gabriel
"Senamou" featuring Amadou and Mariam
"Pearls" featuring Josh Groban and Carlos Santana
"Sedjedo" featuring Ziggy Marley
"Papa"
"Arouna"
"Awan N'La"
"Emma"
"Mama Golo Papa"
"Lonlon (Ravel's Bolero)"

http://www.myspace.com/angeliquekidjo

Brands: Today's Gods?

Brands have become a part of our daily lives, whether on clothing, multimedia gadgets or accessories. Today, what you wear or possess indicates whether you are "in" or not. This
can lead to social exclusion and increased pressure to consume, especially for young people.

1. How do brands affect the way society functions?
   How do brands change our social interactions?
   
   
2. To what extent can consumption pressure be pushed back?
   Could school uniforms be a solution?
   
   
3. What are the roles and strategies of multinational companies in this context?

• David Bosshart, Director, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, Switzerland
• Peter B. Gabriel, Musician, Real World, United Kingdom
• Kathleen Ix, Student, International School of Geneva, Switzerland
• Reno Sami, Manager, School Uniform Project, Plusminus Basel, Switzerland
• Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, WPP, United Kingdom

Moderated by

• Bendicht Luginbühl, Journalist, Switzerland

Davos moment

Participants at the forum always talk about “Davos Moments” — those only-at-Davos experiences in which, for example, you find yourself washing your hands in the bathroom with former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres on one side and rock musician Peter Gabriel on the other...

Peter Gabriel Goes it online and alone

Peter Gabriel The pioneer of digital music is to fund his next record.Former founding Genesis member and multi-instrumentalist Peter Gabriel has announced that he will release his next album in the US without the aid of a record company.First reported in The Times newspaper yesterday (January 21), Gabriel, an early pioneer of digital music distribution, has raised £2 million towards recording and 'shipping' his next as-yet-untitled album in a venture with investment boutique Ingenious Media.

Gabriel is expected to earn double the money that he would get through a conventional record deal. Commercial director Duncan Reid of Ingenious explains the business savvy of the deal, saying, "If you're paying a small distribution fee and covering your own marketing costs, you enjoy the lion's share of the proceeds of the album. Gabriel is expected to outsource CD production for worldwide release through Warner Bros. Records. The new album deal covers the North America territory, where Gabriel is currently out of contract. Ingenious have previously scored chart entries with independently released albums by Mick Hucknall's Simply Red.

Second Life does Davos

SECOND LIFE,* Jan 19 (Reuters) - Reuters will conduct a series of interviews with artists, politicians and executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week, in front of a live Second Life audience.

Reuters Bureau Chief Adam Pasick will talk with guests including Linden Lab Chairman Mitch Kapor, author and entrepreneur John Battelle, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, and musician Peter Gabriel during the WEF, which takes place Jan. 24-28. They will have their own customized avatars and will take questions from residents.

* What is Second Life?

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 2,826,459 people from around the globe.

Gabriel deals a blow to the record business

Peter Gabriel, a pioneer of digital music, is taking another step towards weakening the role of the record industry by raising £2m towards the recording and distribution of his next album.

Gabriel, a founder member of Genesis, has formed a joint venture with Ingenious Media, the investment and corporate-finance boutique headed by Patrick McKenna. Ingenious is investing funds from two of the venture-capital trusts that it manages.

Duncan Reid, commercial director at Ingenious, said the arrangement could more than double the amount of money Gabriel makes from his next as-yet-untitled album. Now in his fifth decade in the music industry, Gabriel’s most recent record still sold more than 1m.

The deal covers North America, where Gabriel is currently out of contract, and where he toured with great success in 2003. The joint venture, called High Level Recordings, will outsource CD production, probably to Warner Bros.

Reid said: “If you’re paying a small distribution fee and covering your own marketing costs, you enjoy the lion’s share of the proceeds of the album.”

He added: “The world is changing. With digital distribution, the barriers to entry are far lower. But for the long term, there’s going to be a role for the majors [the record companies] in terms of rolling something out worldwide quickly.”

Ingenious has also worked closely with Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, another singer who has chosen to release albums without the backing of a record company.

Separately, the world’s independent record labels have come together to create a new licensing agency, called Merlin. This is intended to provide a single point of contact for YouTube, MySpace and the multitude of other websites that are expected to follow in their wake.

Internet users are already mixing copyright-protected songs into the content of numerous websites. The music industry is seeking ways to license and earn money from this usage, but the sheer number of independent labels poses a particular challenge.

Paul Durman/The Sunday Times/January 21,2007

WEF : PG Related Sessions

Related Session

Putting Art on Trial

Breaking the Apathy Barrier

How Can You Compete with Free? - Workshop

Can Artists Still Change the World?

Nightcap: Star Power and Social Change

Cultural Leaders Dinner

Democracy in the Information Age

Celebrity Inspired Action

Liens WEF

Bono au Forum Economique Mondial 2007 de Davos

Comme chaque année, le Forum économique mondial (WEF) de Davos rassemble, dans les Alpes suisses, les élites de la mondialisation. Au départ forum patronal pour trouver une réponse européenne aux défis de l'internationalisation des économies, il s'est progressivement élargi aux hommes politiques, aux économistes et même aux artistes pour devenir un club planétaire de décideurs.

Cette année Peter Gabriel sera de la partie en plus de Bono qui répondait déjà depuis quelques années au rendez-vous. On se souvient que l'année dernière il y avait annoncé les produits Red.

Cette année le WEF se tiendra du 24 au 28 janvier et le programme est placé sous le thème d'un agenda global qui se façonne sous l'effet de rapports de force changeants.

Les moments clefs seront retransmis en audio et en video sur le net à partir du 24 janvier.

» Site officiel du World Economic Forum.
» Lire l'article de l'Agence Télégraphique Suisse via Bluewin.ch.

WEF: Bono, Tony Blair et Peter Gabriel seront de la partie

Le Forum économique mondial (WEF) accueillera 2400 participants de 90 pays la semaine prochaine (24-28 janvier) à Davos, dans le canton suisse des Grisons placé sous haute sécurité. Parmi les 24 chefs d'État et de gouvernement attendus pour l'édition 2007 figurent le Premier ministre britannique Tony Blair et la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel. Les chanteurs Bono et Peter Gabriel seront aussi présents.

La liste des participants fait figure de «Who is who» de la politique, de l'économie et de la culture. À côté des chefs de gouvernements britannique et allemand, on pourra notamment y voir le président brésilien Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, son homologue sud-africain Thabo Mbeki et le Premier ministre ukrainien Viktor Ianoukovitch.

Les grandes entreprises de la planète seront aussi présentes en force: pas moins de 73 des 100 plus grandes sociétés seront représentées avec, à leurs côtés, quelque 800 chefs d'entreprise. Parmi les six co-présidents de l'édition 2007 se trouvent le patron de Coca-Cola (KO), Neville Isdell, celui de Google (GOOG), Eric Schmidt, et James Schiro, patron de Zurich Financial Services.

Au nombre des représentants des organisations internationales figurent Mohammed El-Baradei, directeur général de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA), le directeur de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) Pascal Lamy et le patron de la Banque mondiale Paul Wolfowitz.

Chez les ONG, Amnesty International sera représentée par sa secrétaire générale Irene Kahn et Greenpeace par son directeur exécutif Gerd Leipold. Les chanteurs pop Bono et Peter Gabriel y feront un détour, l'ancien champion du monde d'échecs Anatoli Karpov également.

Le programme de cette année est placé sous le thème d'un agenda global qui se façonne sous l'effet de rapports de force changeants. «Nous vivons dans un monde schizophrène», a observé Klaus Schwaab, le fondateur du WEF. «Le monde évolue de plus en plus vite, alors qu'il devient de plus en plus complexe et difficilement compréhensible.»

Le forum se veut un instrument de compréhension du monde et un outil pour élaborer un agenda global pour l'année à venir. Le programme de l'édition 2007 compte 223 séances, ateliers de travail, débats et autres manifestations.

Middle East big issue at World Forum

...The Forum will also address many of the same threats to global welfare from previous years, from climate change to terrorism and energy security to bird flu. Stars will be less conspicuous than in previous years. Bono is back, as is Peter Gabriel, but there will be no Angelina Jolie or Sharon Stone...

Climate change to dominate Davos meeting

The world's elite will hold discussions on climate change and the Middle East next week at their annual rendezvous in the chic Swiss ski resort of Davos, this time with few distractions from Hollywood stars...We do not need such (show business) invitations," said Klaus Schwab. "This year it happens to be just Bono and Peter Gabriel, and I think it's right."...

Tonight's Top Stop: Varttina

Finland may seem like a long way away from the mystical world of Middle-earth, the land created by J.R.R. Tolkien in "The Lord of the Rings," but the country's folk music apparently sounds just like the sort of jams Frodo and Co. would shake a hairy toe to — at least the way Varttina plays it.

The 23-year-old band, led by singers Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen and bouzouki player and saxophonist Janne Lappalainen, was pegged to contribute to the soundtrack to the stage version of "The Lord of the Rings," which debuted in Toronto last year and is slated for Broadway in 2007.

"A couple of producers from the show were looking for interesting sounds, and they were going through a big stack of world music records, and, just by chance, they came up with our 'Ilmatar' album, and they felt it would be ideal for the show," said Lappalainen by phone from Finland.

Varttina was composing music for "Rings" as it was recording its new CD, "Miero," the group's first for Peter Gabriel's Real World label, and Tolkien's world affected the sound of the nine-piece band.

"The original idea was to make a kind of darker, more sinister record than the records we had done," Lappalainen said. "We had done such happy, up-tempo music, and we wanted to do something different from that, mostly lyrically."

The band got its start and made its name by reviving Finnish folk songs, but over the past few years Varttina has moved away from traditional music. "Miero" features 13 original songs, and while the music is still built around luminous Finno-Urgic female singing traditions, Varttina's string instrument and accordion-based songs incorporate a wide range of influences, from jazz to rock to classical.

"The band has existed for such a long time that it needs to evolve, it needs to go forward,"Lappalainen said. "We need to keep creating new things, and it feels like a very natural thing to start composing original music for the band. It makes the music more personal when you're playing your own tunes rather than singing the traditional stuff."

Davos 2007 : Bono & Peter Gabriel

WEF 2007: le nouvel équilibre des pouvoirs au coeur des discussions

Le Forum économique mondial de Davos 2007 s'interroge sur le nouvel équilibre des forces dans le monde. L'affiche comporte de nombreuses personnalités politiques et économiques. Les stars du people manquent à l'appel comparé aux précédentes éditions.

Le WEF 2007 se déroulera dans la station grisonne du 24 au 28 janvier. Quelque 2400 participants sont annoncés, parmi lesquels 24 chefs d'Etat ou de gouvernement, 85 ministres et 800 patrons d'entreprises. Le WEF ne fait pas dans le "show business". "Le casting de cette édition est de haut niveau, malgré l'absence de stars", a déclaré le président et fondateur du WEF Klaus Schwab à Cologny (GE) en dévoilant le programme à la presse.

Après Sharon Stone, Angelina Jolie ou Brad Pitt en 2005 et 2006, la culture sera représentée par les chanteurs Bono et Peter Gabriel, l'écrivain brésilien Paulo Coelho ou le grand maître russe des échecs Anatoly Karpov...

Realworld at Celtic Connections

Wednesday 31st January 2007, 9.00pm

Peter Gabriel's eclectic record label, Real World, is delighted to present it's first Scottish showcase. This represents an exciting new direction for Celtic Connections, as the festival seeks to share common ground and forge fresh new links between the folk and world music scenes.

In this one-off event Real World brings uplifting voices, superlative musicianship, dub-heavy grooves and irresistible rhythms from West Africa to Central Asia, from London to Ohio - a truly global celebration, bursting with talent.

The legendary blues-and-beyond guitarist Skip McDonald, aka Little Axe, will be joined by the renowned rhythm section of Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc (Sugarhill Gang, Tackhead) with Bernard Fowler (Tackhead, Rolling Stones) on vocals. They will be joined by production maestro Adrian Sherwood, of On-U Sound Records, who as well as producing their current album, Stone Cold Ohio, will also perform his own live sound-system.

Other special guests include the latest incarnation of pioneering Asian fusioneers Joi and the young Mauritanian singer-songwriter Daby Touré who has been described as an African Cat Stevens or Nick Drake. Also flying in is the gorgeous, vibrant Sevara Nazarkhan - Uzbekistan's ravishing young star and winner of a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award.

We will not be forgetting the much loved, much missed Martyn Bennett and will be paying tribute to his special legacy to Scottish music.

Hassan Hakmoun : Stomping With Sintirs as a Route to Trance

Jack Vartoogian/FrontRow Photos

Hassan Hakmoun on the sintir, playing music with African and Sufi Muslim influences, on Saturday night at Symphony Space.

Stomping With Sintirs as a Route to Trance

In the highlight of the Hassan Hakmoun show at Symphony Space on Saturday night, the Moroccan-born Hakmoun brothers had a gnawa dance-off. AbderRahim Hakmoun, dressed in an orange tunic and a bejeweled, fezlike hat, spun its tassel like a helicopter propeller, smacking his bare feet on the stage in a complex pattern. Hassan Hakmoun, playing a sintir (a three-stringed, wood and camel-skin lute), matched his younger brother’s furious rhythm, whipping around his long, reddish dreadlocks.

“This is a traditional African foot stomp,” Hassan Hakmoun said, describing it as the root of American tap dance. As the duo got low to the ground and shook their hips and shoulders, their moves suggested a clear line to more modern styles, too, from stepping to krumping. The dance was mesmerizing, but it was also apparently painful.

“Next song,” Hassan Hakmoun said, “we’re going to wear shoes because living here in America for so long, we don’t have African feet anymore.” He laughed. “And medical care is too expensive.”

His music, gnawa trance, is hypnotic devotional music with African and Sufi Muslim influences. Brought to the region by West African slaves and traders, it’s heavily rhythmic, built around drums, qaraqebs (metal castanets), hand claps and the sintir, which is both thumped and strummed.

Gnawa is designed to bring listeners into a mystical, trancelike state; songs often start with a slow, mournful vocal and sintir introduction, then gradually speed up until they are frantically, heart-poundingly fast. In derdeba ceremonies, gnawa music and dancing are often used to drive out evil spirits (when someone is sick or troubled) or to honor beneficial spirits (when someone is exceptionally well).

Gnawa groups play at Marrakesh’s Jamaa el F’Na, a large square where tourists flock for photo-ops with snake charmers and surly monkeys. That’s where Hassan Hakmoun, the son of a Berber healer, started playing as a boy. Now he is a m’allem (a master musician or band leader) and a New Yorker, well known in the West for his work with Peter Gabriel, Kronos Quartet and Pharoah Sanders.

On Saturday, Mr. Hakmoun had the charisma of a rock star, theatrically thrusting around his sintir and singing huskily with an ecstatic expression. He sang call-and-response with his qaraqeb-shaking brother, who earned cheers for his acrobatic leaps during “Moussaoui.”

The set included traditional derdeba songs, with stunningly complicated polyrhythms by the percussionists Brahim Fribgane and Ron McBee.

While introducing “Challaban,” Mr. Hakmoun said: “This is a very, very spiritual and peaceful song. You have to follow the drums. You have to be the drums.” The crowd clapped along as instructed, but the results weren’t exactly rousing. Music this rapturous is better appreciated in a less formal setting, where people could try some (probably painfully awkward) trance-dancing and the band could feed off the energy. The show was simultaneously enthralling and academic.

Mr. Hakmoun ended it with “Maaboud Allah” and a sweaty dance of twirls and kicks. Then he dropped to his knees for a lengthy spotlight turn — like the Eddie Van Halen of the sintir.

Real World Night, Jan 31

from Sunday Herald (Scotland)

Celtic Selections

...Real World Night, Jan 31, Old Fruitmarket, 9pm The festival goes global in glittering style, as Peter Gabriel's label hosts a night of international sounds, with appearances by Skip "Little Axe" McDonald, dub guru Adrian Sherwood, Asian underground pioneers Joi, African singer-songwriter Daby Toure and Uzbekistani songstress Sevara Nazarkhan...

The man in charge

...Celtic Connections 2007 sees a substantial increase in artists from the contemporary Americana scene, including major figures such as Rosanne Cash, Bela Fleck, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Cowboy Junkies, plus a wealth of newer acts, many making their Scottish debut. Perhaps more controversial, though, is Shaw's decision to embrace world music under the festival's already capacious umbrella. Key highlights here include the Real World night, curated by Peter Gabriel's celebrated label and featuring artists from Africa, Uzbekistan and the Asian underground scene. Then there's the Burns Mela, an Asian-themed extravaganza in honour of the national bard, and Flutes Of The World, both of which feature the legendary North Indian flute virtuoso Hariprasad Chaurasia.

"I know some people might see this as stretching things too far," he says, "but I've always been a big advocate of the idea that Celtic music is world music, too, in the same way that Real World see no contradiction in signing Scottish artists like Martyn Bennett and the Afro Celts. Conversely, in the case of someone like Hariprasad Chaurasia, first and foremost he's just one of the most gifted, emotive and soulful flute players you'll ever hear, but he's also been a major influence on Irish and Breton players.

"And if we were having a heated cultural discussion about it, there's plenty of historical evidence that the Celts travelled as far as North Africa and even India, so you could point to a connection there. "There are also really fascinating similarities between aspects of African and Gaelic music, particularly in the rhythms and melodies of their work songs, and also in the language. In Mali, for instance, some of their tribal words for elemental things like moon', sun', river', land' and boat' are almost phonetically identical to Gaelic: nobody really knows why, but I like to think there's some ancient ancestral link involved."...

Joseph Arthur : Nuclear Daydream

After being in the music scene for a decade with the help of Peter Gabriel and his label, Real World Records, Joseph Arthur has produced a disc of complex pop. It's the first album on his own label [Lonely Astronaut Records]. Arthur plays most of the instruments, pressing his seal into his signature sound. Equal parts modern electronic and bare acoustic, Nuclear Daydream

spans the pop and folk genres.

Arthur fuses gritty, acoustic guitar with synth and looping techniques to create multilayered compositions. One mood drifts into another with a dark edge. His use of theremin in "Electrical Storm" brings a sense of magic and infinity to the fold. Beginning with soft guitar and vocals, the song subtly fleshes out into an otherworldly, existentialist lullaby. Standout track "You Are Free" exhibits how the exceptional can be found in simple things, where Arthur's basic harmonies and lyrics haunt your ears well after the song ends.

While he channels other artists like Beck [on "Too Much to Hide"], U2, and the rhythmic swagger of Blur's "Coffee and TV" [on "Enough to Get Away"], Arthur also offers an original voice. On Daydream Arthur opts for diversity in his songwriting formula. He's not afraid to explore finer, soft sounds as well as heavy, thick tones. He embraces his falsetto just as openly as his natural baritone, and he keeps the instrumentation to a minimum. He does not feel a need to overfill everything, adding just the right amount of harmonica accents and simple drumbeats. What stands out is Arthur's versatile songwriting ability that ranges from the effervescent, Christian rock of "Don't Tell Your Eyes" to co-dependent love ballad "Woman."

Come My Love, Listen To This...

Never mind that recent run-in with the vocoder on Love Cannot Bear. If you want to hear some real expression and soul coming from the direction of Robert’s vocal chords then cop your lugs around this one courtesy of Biff Uranus Blumfumgagne. Ah, Robert Fripp – the Benny Hill years. And of course it’s not Ernie wailing in the background but Peter Gabriel circa PG1 / 2 as far as I can tell. I asked the old goat about this one and the best I could get from him was “sounds like a man from Dorset reading words to a solemn song!” It’s a pity we hadn’t got our mits on this one last year as this would have been in my top ten records of 2006.

(merci à Alain11)

Le Spectrum de Montreal, une salle mythique

Le Spectrum souffle 25 chandelles cette année. Si la salle continue d'exister, comme le souhaite Spectra, il reste que l'esprit et la chaleur du 318, Sainte-Catherine, son bar et ses murs étoilés, ce lieu ni trop grand ni trop petit, pourront difficilement être reproduits ailleurs.

Au coeur des spectacles intérieurs du Festival international de jazz et des FrancoFolies de Montréal, la salle de 900 places, ou 1200 avec des spectateurs debout, a vécu toute l'évolution de la scène musicale contemporaine, du rock aux musiques du monde, en passant par le jazz, bien sûr, la chanson et de nombreux autres événements reliés à la musique et à l'humour.

Existant auparavant sous le nom Club Montréal, la salle avait accueilli au début des années 80 un quatuor de débutants répondant au nom de U2 Acquise par Spectra en 1982, la salle a connu des heures de gloire. Dès 1983, même s'il remplissait déjà des stades,The Police est allé y enregistrer pour la télévision.

Le grand Peter Gabriel a choisi le Spectrum dans les années 90 pour répéter son spectacle Secret World devant nul autre que le metteur en scène Robert Lepage...

McKennitt’s worldly tapestry

Imagine the music that might emanate from an Arabian harem tent. Seductive, silky and hypnotic. Now imagine that tent is somewhere in the north moors of Glasgow, Scotland. Now imagine Peter Gabriel is the DJ for this otherworldly affair. At this point, you’d have a pretty good taste of Loreena McKennitt’s beautiful new CD titled “An Ancient Muse.”

McKennitt is a champion for the world music set in the much the same way as Enigma or Enya, but what separates her from the pack is the unique instrumentation that’s employed on every track. There’s no synth patches or keyboard trickery with McKennitt’s music. Everything is played on an eclectic assembly of instruments that’s as diverse as the worlds they come from. Tabla, bouzouki, nyckelharpa, and hurdy gurdy all make appearances somewhere in the mix. Even if the names are unfamiliar, the soundscape is still thoroughly enjoyable.

The CD begins in the normal fashion for McKennitt, with a wordless voice that stretches out across the audio spectrum. Through the album’s centerpiece, “Beneath a Phrygian Sky,” the Canadian songstress delivers the swirling stories that sound as if they were thousands of years old. And they probably are.

Loreena McKennitt’s greatest achievement remains 1997’s hugely successful “Book of Secrets” with its inescapable “Mummer’s Dance,” and nothing here rises quite to that level. But “An Ancient Muse” takes a similar journey with the choral effects of “The English Lady and the Knight” and Celtic ballads like “Penelope’s Song.”

Listening to this CD is like circling the globe without leaving your front door. From the cultures of the Himalayas to the romantic mysticism of old England, there’s no new roads to be traveled for Loreena McKennitt on “An Ancient Muse.” But the world is a big place and there’s no shortage of influences for this unique talent. http://www.quinlanroad.com

Randy Crawford and Joe Sample interpretation of Peter Gabriel's "Lovetown"

Randy Crawford and Joe Sample Are Feeling Good About New CD

February Release on PRA Records Marks Reunion of Vocalist and Pianist More Than 30 Years After 'Street Life' CD Launched Worldwide 'Literally' with December NASA Mission

On Tuesday, February 20, 2007 PRA Records will release Feeling Good, a new album from Randy Crawford and Joe Sample. This Tommy LiPuma-produced CD marks a return collaboration between vocalist Crawford and pianist Sample who first worked together more than 30 years ago...

...The lasting mastery of Sample's piano playing skill is evident through each of the album's 13 songs. From their interpretation of Peter Gabriel's "Lovetown" to the Latin-flavored "Rio De Janeiro Blue," to a modernly funky but also softened reading of "See Line Woman," Sample's work on the keys surrounds, highlights, and compliments Crawford's voice exquisitely. Some of the other covers chosen for this album include a seductive take on Billie Holiday's "Tell Me More and More and Then Some," a breezy run through "Everybody's Talking," the tune made famous by Harry Nilsson and the film Midnight Cowboy, and a heartfelt version of "When I Need You," written by Albert Hammond and Carol Bayer Sager. A special sentimental choice is "Last Night at Danceland," a song written by Sample and originally recorded by Crawford in 1980...

Autographed Fairlight Goes For $100,000

CMI signed by 44 well-known artists raises money for WITNESS

We brought you news of the forthcoming auction in December and now we can tell you the vintage Fairlight CMI keyboard, signed by 44 artists, received a winning bid of $100,000 US at the WITNESS Focus For Change Benefit Dinner and Concert in New York City on December 11, 2006. Proceeds from the winning bid will be dedicated to WITNESS, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to empowering individuals to use video technology to expose human rights violations around the world.

The WITNESS Focus For Change Benefit Dinner and Concert was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and was co-hosted by WITNESS founder Peter Gabriel and actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The event featured performances by Paul Simon, Angelique Kidjo, and Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider of the B-52’s.

The Fairlight CMI Keyboard was autographed by 44 artists who brought the instrument to prominence in the 1980s, including David Bowie, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Steve Winwood, Mark Knopfler and Sir George Martin. The Fairlight CMI was the world’s first digital sampler and featured other radical advances for the time, including a light pen interface and menu-driven GUI. It was used in numerous hits from the 1980s, including “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, and “Rocket” by Herbie Hancock.

John Lancken, CEO of Fairlight had this to say, “The generosity of 44 Fairlight users to sign the CMI keyboard speaks to the importance of bringing human rights violations to the surface. It is an honor to have played an integral role in raising money for the WITNESS cause and Fairlight is proud that the CMI keyboard not only symbolizes a pivotal era in the history of rock and roll, but has now taken on an even greater significance.”

Gillian Caldwell, Director of WITNESS added, “As an organization focused on the use of technology to bring about worldwide change, WITNESS applauds the remarkable steps Fairlight has taken to support our cause through its own technological innovations. The impact of the Fairlight CMI on the music industry, and the recognition of that impact by the world’s most influential musicians, has translated into a major donation towards the fight to end human rights abuses.”

About WITNESS:
WITNESS www.witness.org uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations around the globe, WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video as a tool to shine a light on those most affected by human rights violations, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools of justice.

Since its founding in 1992, WITNESS has partnered with groups in more than 60 countries, bringing often unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the general public -- prompting grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change.

About Fairlight:
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia Fairlight designs and manufactures media creation tools including digital audio recording, editing and mixing systems for standard and high definition audio post, broadcast and music production applications.

More information:

• www.witness.org

• www.fairlightau.com

Graham Nash : Helpfully hoping still

Graham Nash is as passionate about political and social activism as he was when he met his musical soulmates, David Crosby and Stephen Stills, in 1968...

Graham Nash : "There are a lot of people doing good work - Peter Gabriel giving people cameras to document human rights abuses."

more here : [plus ici ] : http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,21015816-5006024,00.html

Sophe Lux Q&A

Lead singer/songwriter Gwynneth Haynes shares her answers to our questions.

January 5, 2007 - For all intents and purposes the moniker Sophe Lux is singer/songwriter Gwynneth Haynes sonic alter ego.

Porland based Haynes released the first Sophe Lux album, Plastic Apple, in 2002. Aiding her on the songs were Larry Crane, John Moen, and Mike Clarke.

By 2004, however, Haynes had joined forces with another crew of musicians and Sophe Lux became a bona fide band consisting of Erika Miller on bass, Kelly Goodwin on accordion and keyboards, Scott Appleman on drums, and Twayn Williams on guitars and lap steel.

This configuration recorded the second Sophe Lux album, Waking The Mystics, which will be released on February 27 2007 on Zarathustra Records.

We recently caught up with Haynes and dished out our (hopefully) insightful questions to her in an attempt to illicit equally insightful answers (needless to say, Haynes did not disappoint)...

...IGN Music: Do you perchance recall the first concert you ever went to?

Gwynneth Haynes: Joni Mitchell.

IGN Music: Keeping up the flashback angle, do you remember the first album you ever bought? If so, what format was it on (CD, vinyl, cassette or 8-track)?

Gwynneth Haynes: Peter Gabriel: The album with "No Self Control" on it.

IGN Music: What is your favorite album and why?

Gwynneth Haynes: The Dreaming by Kate Bush. Because it is creative genius in form. A revelation. A stunning creative opus.

IGN Music: Can you name a musician that you've always wanted to work with but haven't yet?

Gwynneth Haynes: Brian Eno. Because he is brilliant and one of my all time favorite musicians and one of my favorite producers.

Sophe Lux music on Myspace

WOMADelaide Brings The World To SA

The fifteenth WOMADelaide Festival brings exciting performers from all corners of the globe.

Beginning as a world music festival pioneered by Peter Gabriel, the World Of Music, Arts & Dance continued to find a following in South Australia's capital. In 2006 over 75,000 fans came together over the three days, almost half making the trip from interstate. Now Adelaide hosts the fifteenth staging of the holistic festival, which embraces the joyous sounds and sights of all cultures.

WOMADelaide 2007 will be held from March 9 to 11 at Adelaide's Botanic Park. They'll be running six stages for music and dance performances from global artists, as well as workshops from 35 groups from 20 countries. Also included are a KidsZone, arts and street theatre, international cuisine and educational stalls.

Performers include: Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle with the awe-inspiring Kronos Quartet, roots-reggae sensation Blue King Brown, Afrobeat progeny Femi Kuti and The Positive Force, New Caledonian kaneka percussionist Celenod, the cinematic French/Argentine sounds of The Gotan Project, Latin Grammy winner Lila Downs, innovative Celtic folkies Lunasa, mali's "Golden Voice of Africa" Salif Keita and so much more.

Happy new year from Box

Surprise !

2nd Annual Witness Gala & Dinner @ Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC (Peter Gabriel)

Nice family snapshot from Witness

Thanks Arlene for the links

Did T.C. Conroy count Gabriel among its customers?

December 29, 2006 -- I think I might be the only person in Manhat tan who doesn't have a therapist, or three. It's not that I don't have problems - but generally, they are nothing that can't be solved with a dirty martini or a frenetic '80s-inspired dance around my apartment. I belong to the Charlotte York School of Therapy - "My parents," she once said on an episode of "Sex and the City," "believed that all emotional issues could be worked out through a good game of tennis."

So when I got the opportunity to spend a few sessions with T.C. Conroy, a Hollywood life coach, I was skeptical, yet intrigued. With the New Year approaching, it seemed like a good time to get a handle on some of my issues. Namely, that I am a huge control freak who can't just calm down/relax/save money/get to the gym on a regular basis.

On what would she coach me? I wasn't really sure, but her title sounded agreeably sporty. I pictured us in a team huddle. She could shout instructions to me, and I'd head off down the field to accomplish my goals.

The difference between a therapist and a life coach is that the latter does not focus on the past and the roots of your emotions; instead, she or he focuses on the future. It's also not a replacement for therapy - some people have both a therapist and a life coach.

"Your coach is not your mom, significant other or best friend," explains Conroy's publicist, Thomas Onorato. "A life coach's only agenda is to support you by providing a caring ear, being your best cheerleader or giving you a good swift kick in the pants when you need it."

Fair enough. But before I had my first session with Conroy - who counts Guns N' Roses, Peter Gabriel ( NDR: attention ! voir le commentaire ci-dessous /caution! look at the comment below ) see theand the Rolling Stones among her clients - I wanted to get an idea of what I was getting myself into. I turned to Google. And as it turns out, T.C. is totally hot; rock-star chic with flat-ironed black hair and a ruby-studded platinum tooth. She is also the ex-wife of Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode...

By MACKENZIE DAWSON/ New York Post

Yungchen Lhamo biography and interview on World Music Central

Yungchen Lhamo was born near Lhasa, Tibet at a time when the isolated ‘forbidden kingdom’ was caught in the ravages of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Her once wealthy family was punished and forced to endure desperate poverty.

In 1989, she escaped from Tibet with a small group of friends to find refuge in India. Despite her perilous journey, she survived, encouraged by her profound determination to meet the Dalai Lama, considered to be the living Buddha. She made the pilgrimage to Dharamsala, the place of exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, where she succeeded in meeting him and receiving his blessing. It was then that she decided to communicate her ideal “to contribute actively to make things better” through her voice.

She emigrated to Australia in 1993, where she had to overcome several obstacles: being a woman, singing Tibetan spiritual songs a capella, not speaking English… But the public was amazed by the purity of her voice and by the power of her stage presence and in 1995 she received the Australian Record Industry Award (ARIA) for the best world music album with Tibetan Prayer. It was the beginning of international acclaim. In 1996, she released her first international album Tibet Tibet (Real World) and toured the world.

1997 was a breakthrough year for Yungchen Lhamo. Following the release Tibet Tibet, the singer traveled the world, garnering accolades for her spellbinding a cappella performances and raising awareness for the struggle of the Tibetan people living under an oppressive Chinese regime.

"I am determined to make a path as a solo performer," she says. "My childhood was one of such despair and poverty. Part of the Chinese rationale for the occupation of Tibet is that the Tibetan people are backward and inferior. By forging a path for Tibetan artists, I am showing what we really can do if we have freedom."

Yungchen Lhamo's stately appearance in Tibetan robes and mala prayer beads, her harrowing tale of childhood deprivation and flight to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's compound in Dharmsala, India, have made her a de facto ambassador of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism wherever she travels. But she is a woman and an artist, not just an emblem for a cause.

Yungchen's voice is very special. It is no wonder that a Lama named her "Goddess Of Song," which is the literal meaning of Yungchen Lhamo in the Tibetan language. In its long sustained notes, her voice evokes wind and mountain heights in its intricate melismas, the language of birds. Preternaturally expressive, her a cappella voice is stirring in full band context: richly complemented by guitars, violin, even the Finnish kantele, and subtle loops and electronics. The result is as utterly contemporary as the first modern Tibetan musical artist has every right to be.

"Traveling over the past years, I met so many musicians who wanted to work with me," Lhamo says. "I was reluctant at first, because I really love performing a cappella." But wary of her vocal gifts being sampled onto trance dance tracks, she decided to jump in, to explore, grow, and change. She met noted European producer Hector Zazou (Bjork, John Cale, Suzanne Vega, Huun-Huur-Tu) at Laurie Anderson's Meltdown Festival and was immediately interested. "He's a good man," Lhamo states, "and that makes a big difference to me." Encouraged by Real World founder Peter Gabriel, Lhamo set to work with Zazou at Real World studios in England.

"Singing a cappella is very difficult," Lhamo explains. "You feel totally responsible for everything the audience feels. Every sound is created by yourself." Recording with Zazou gave her the opportunity to focus her interpretive energy with other musicians. "It was very enjoyable," she says. "The years of singing a cappella have made me strong."

That strength is witnessed in Coming Home's songs, all written by Yungchen and based on Tibetan melodies, songs which share the trance qualities of Buddhist prayer and yet take off on graceful flights of their own. Each is steeped in metaphor, layered in spiritual, political, and familial symbols.

Heart and Dream are songs for Yungchen's son, who attends a Tibetan school in Dharmsala, separated from his traveling mother for much of the year. For Yungchen, who received very little secular education in Tibet, separation is a necessary sadness. "It's not just a school for Tibetan culture, it's a school for freedom of thought. In Tibet, children only learn about China. I myself never learned anything about the world from books, but I -have-been fortunate and have learned, from traveling, about countries I didn't even know were there."

Sky, a song Yungchen sings in English, addresses the faltering of confidence with the realization that all things are possible. The song grew from a teaching given to Yungchen Lhamo from the Lama Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche in New York. "When I was young I was sent to work very early, and had no opportunity to imagine what was possible in life. I was speaking to Lama Rinpoche about how daunting it was to be doing what I am doing coming from such a disadvantaged background. He told me that the Buddha Jetsun Drolma attained Enlightenment as a woman, so I shouldn't think that I lack the potential to accomplish anything. In Asian cultures, women still often have lower expectations than men."

Perhaps the most striking track on Coming Home is the aptly titled Defiance. Backed by a squall of distorted guitar and the gravelly overtone drone of Tuvan throat singing, Lhamo's voice poignantly enacts "the sound of my heart breaking but refusing to be broken." The song was written for a lifelong friend of Yungchen's who died not long after settling (for a time) in Sydney, Australia. Although her friend didn't die at the hands of the Chinese like so many Tibetans, it is easy to hear in Lhamo's spirit-wracking plaint the stirring reference to the cultural genocide in her homeland.

"It is a political song," she says. "Before the Chinese, Tibet had a social order that, while not perfect, was a society that cared for its own. The Chinese came and injected qualities into that order: forced labor, anti-spirituality, and the idea of cultural inferiority. The problem is beyond those who publicly resist and are tortured and killed. People's everyday lives are destroyed." The friend, whose picture she carries with her, was one of those lives.

And yet it's rare and remarkable for a Tibetan artist to convey such strident emotion over the crisis in her homeland. "It's not anger," she says, "but hurt. You can believe in non-violence but you can still be hurt. Many Tibetans are angrywe are hurt. We have seen our parents, our grandparents, tortured and killed. But we have a way of looking at the world where anger cannot be our motivation. The idea is not to act on that negative emotion, but to find another path."

One might find her faith's doctrines of non-attachment to the material world and devotion to the realm of the spirit incongruous in the life of a world-renowned vocalist. But according to Yungchen, "It actually makes it easier. There are basic understandings of life that come from the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism that make it easy to not get so distressed when things go wrong and not have an ego explosion when things go well."

While proud of her new record, she acknowledges that there will be voices who prefer the "purity" of her a cappella work. "You can't control how people will respond," she says, "so I can't worry about it. I don't live isolated. I'm part of the modern world, and that means growing, experimenting. I think people will want to hear what I can do.

"I feel very lucky to be able to do this, even though it makes for a very difficult lifestyle, always traveling but never reaching home. But I love singing with the motivation of inspiring people."

Lending her beautiful voice and expansive vision to the world, Yungchen Lhamo is fulfilling the destiny set before her. "In Buddhism, the ideal is to be of use, to actively contribute to things being better," she says. "It's very easy to sit isolated and talk about love and compassion, but to inject that into your work - that's spiritual practice."

Her status as an international star has been confirmed by performing twice at New York’s Carnegie Hall (alongside Michael Stipe, Sheryl Crow and Philip Glass) and at the Lilith Fair, also in the USA.

She is recognized not only for her singing talent but also for her fight for the Tibetan people living under Chinese repression and she was the first Tibetan woman to be named in Marie Claire’s ‘Women Who Changed Our World’ series. Yungchen Lhamo is without doubt the most well known Tibetan performing artist today.

Interview:
	Interview with Tibetan Singer Yungchen Lhamo "What was the first big lesson you learned about the music industry?" "The first big experience I had was in 1995, when I first signed with Peter Gabriel. This opened my eyes to the nature of the music industry..."

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Peter Gabriel at CBC news

We sit down in New York this week with the legendary singer/songwriter/technology buff Peter Gabriel to talk about Witness, the organization he founded in 1992. The group was the first effort to use an emerging technology - the videocamera - as a tool in the fight to expose human rights abuses. Since that time, Witness has worked with dozens of small, local groups around the world - in places like Burma, the Congo, and Mexico - training them and helping them edit their footage. The resulting films are put in front of the world's decision-makers, the UN, the U.S. congress and the newly formed International Criminal Court. And now Gabriel wants to expand the organization, again getting out in front of the newest technological innovation - uploading video on the internet. As an artist, Gabriel has always been a thinker and poet, and he explains how he came to be involved in human rights issues, and what difference a group like Witness can make.

Visit the Witness web site

Peter Gabriel est toujours plus qu'un ex Genesis

Pendant que ses anciens copains (à l'exclusion de Steve Hackett ) annoncent une reformation qui pue beaucoup le business, il regarde vers l'avenir comme toujours.

Même sur le front des nouvelles technologies : de sorte que, après avoir fondé en 1999 la plate-forme de distribution digitale Od2, qui finit aujourd'hui dans les mains de Nokia, il s'embarque dans une aventure analogue.

Toujours avec son associé Charles Grimsdale il lance un software, The Filter, destiné à faciliter aux consommateurs la recherche en Réseau de morceaux correspondants à leurs goûts et achetables sous forme de téléchargement.

tous les deux ont créé un fond financiers, Eden (le nom évoquera quelque chose au fan de Gabriel...), et ont confié la direction de l'entreprise à Blair Schoof, un vétéran de la musique digitale qui peut se prevaloir de son expérience auprés BMG, d'AOL et de MusicNet.


Le service, qui est déjà en phase de test expérimental, repose sur un software gratuit disponible sur le site de la societé, www.thefilter.com

Une fois déchargé, le plug-in ouvre une fenêtre dans la base de données digitale de référence (iTunes ou Windows Media) et demande à l'utilisateur de sélectionner dans sa librarie digitale la chanson appréciée ;

il crée automatiquement un playlist de morceaux analogues dans le style et dans l'ambiance , et avec un click, l'usager peut décider de l'acquérir sur iTunes ou sur un autre digitalstore.

la technologie (Exabre) a été développée par des techniciens qui travaillaient avec Od2 , le système conserve en mémoire les habitudes d'achat et les associations musicales dont les internautes ont fait usage pendant ces sept dernières années pour acheter de la musique dans les magasins qui utilisaient les services de la societé (Msn Microsoft, Tiscali, Mtv, Coca-Cola etc).

"La première vague de la révolution digitale a concerné la liberté de choix, la possibilité de rendre tout accessible à tous, partout et à n'importe quel moment" a expliqué Gabriel. "Je crois que la seconde vague concernera par contre, dans quelque mode que ce soit, la liberté du choix. Cela traitera le fait de pouvoir filtrer et de se focaliser, de sorte que cela puisse nous se procurer en majeure partie ce que vraiment nous voulons, ce qui nous excite, nous amuse et nous surprend".

Viktoria Tolstoy - 'Pictures Of Me'

...Tolstoy’s third album for the label features five originals written by her musical collaborators and eight songs from quality contemporary writers ranging from Paul Simon, Van Morrison and Peter Gabriel to Stevie Wonder, Prince and Seal...

...Tolstoy gets flirtatious on "Kiss That Frog" one of Peter Gabriel’s sexual metaphor songs in the mould of the better-known "Sledgehammer". For one of British rock’s premier intellectuals Gabriel is a dirty old bugger sometimes. I put it down to all that communal masturbation after lights out in the dorm at Charterhouse....

BBC Wiltshire - Interview with Peter Gabriel

Listen to our interview with the legendary singer-songwriter and ex-Genesis frontman who now lives in Wiltshire.

It was a rare honour recently when BBC Radio Wiltshire were granted an exclusive interview with the musical legend that is Peter Gabriel. The ex-Genesis frontman and highly successful solo artist - famous for songs such as 'Solsbury Hill' and 'Sledgehammer' - now lives in Box in Wiltshire where he also runs Real World studios. He founded the recording complex in the late-1980s in order to promote World music.

Womad : BBC Radio Wiltshire's Ashley Heath spoke to Peter and found out about his plans for the 2007 WOMAD festival now that the event is to be held in Wiltshire for the first time at Charlton Park near Malmesbury. He also spoke of his love for the county he has adopted as his home, as well as reflected on his lengthy musical career.

Genesis Reunion : Ashley also found out why he declined the offer to join his ex-band mates in the Genesis reunion tour due to take place next year.

Click below to listen to the 20min interview in streaming Real Audio.

Interview with Peter Gabriel >

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