Damn, I love this holiday CD. It’s my favorite because it swings so nicely. (Second favorite is The Christmas Album by Nat King Cole).
Only Live Performance of A Love Supreme
The sonic genius of John Coltrane (via openculture.com)
Great, dark, happy song
This song by Foster the People is so infectious.
Love the lyrics and the happy contrast to the dark theme in the arrangement.
Absolutely Essential Listening
In my humble opinion, A Love Supreme by John Coltrane is one of the most soul-stirring recordings ever made.
The haunting modality of the songs, the melodies, the unexpected moments that feel as much like sermon as song, all combine to create a masterpiece that is one part opus and another part offering to God by Coltrane.
It’s also essential listening for creatives.
Rumor has it that critically acclaimed indie pop artist Dan Wallace will be releasing Verbum Sap, his unreleased demo CD from early in his career. I’ve heard it and it’s fantastic.
Homemade Logo
We made this fun little video for PB&J a not-for-profit that I work with here in Jacksonville. Thanks to Ivan, Claire and Tiffany or the collaboration.
Now Hear This: Den of Maniacs by Dan Wallace
Just a quick mention: Den of Maniacs is out. Dan Wallace’s newest CD is filled with more great songs, interesting arrangements and tremendous performances including more guitar shredding than Dan has shown on previous releases.
Also of note for Dan Wallace fans is the new arrangement for his popular song, Fell. It’s one of the highlights of a CD with lots of really good moments.
This release is a bit more bold and experimental. But, anyone familiar with Dan’s music will be acquainted with the style and dynamics of the overall vibe of the disc. One particular mention goes to Morceau, a fun and oddly infectious song that reminds one of earlier pre-Pindrops days.
If you haven’t listened to any of Dan’s music yet, do so. He is one of the most innovative indie artists currently making music. His influences are vast and if you pay attention you can tease some of them out of the various songs.
Dan’s also an amazing guitar player. Look At Me, the discs first track, should demonstrate this quite clearly.
You can find this CD via Dan’s website.
Discover Kirtan
Among yoga people, Kirtan–which is a mantra or chant based call and response style of music–is immensely popular. And, if you’ve ever been to a yoga class, unless you were at one of those ultra-hip modern flavored yoga classes with reggae and finger food, you’ve probably heard Kirtan at some point.
There are some amazing artists (Jai Uttal, Krishna Das) in this genre. But of the major Kirtan performers, David Newman (aka Durga Das) is my favorite.
Newman’s most recent album is wonderfully accessible and beautifully recorded, the voices are incredible and the songs will having you singing them even off the mat.
Give this record a listen.
There is no poet in the world who is not a mystic. A poet is a mystic whether consciously or unconsciously, for no one can write poetry without inspiration, and when a poet touches the profound depths of the spirit, struck by some aspect of life, he brings forth a poem as a diver brings forth a pearl.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi Mystic and Musician.
From a chapter on the writings of Rumi in his book The Heart of Sufism.
From the Vault
I worked on this a few years ago with my friend Vic Donati. He was comissioned to create a gig poster for the Tapes N Tapes show and we were kicking around a couple of ideas.
At some point, we began reminiscing about vintage rock and a few of its more iconic elements.
One of the first things that came to mind was Eddie Van Halen’s classic red guitar. We both remarked how it looked like he had simply covered it with tape and more tape.