Music for your listening pleasure. When I’m feeling down, I like to listen to mellow and sad music. Picks me up. On this mix you can hear David Sylvian, Talk Talk, The Blue Nile, Scott Walker, Mark Hollis, Everywhen, Elbow, Ben Christophers, The Morning Benders, and Sun Kil Moon.

This is round two of using 8tracks – an online mix service. This time I’ve dipped back five years to see what I was listening to then. Here you get Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Paul Simon, Tool, Sonic Youth, Thom Yorke, Michael Brook, and Robert Fripp. Enjoy.

Here’s a few a of the songs I enjoyed during 2010. I hope you take some time to listen.

Saw this flyer on the light poll in an Ojai parking lot. Seemed pretty cool, especially with Char-Man – a legendary ghost from Ojai’s Creek Rd. The flyer is for the long awaited opening of the Ojai Skate Park.

Leaves, Waves, Stars
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Leaves, Waves, Stars.mp3 (2583 KB)

A lovely practice song from the International Plum Village Sangha.

We are all the leaves of one tree.
We are all the stars of one sky.
We are all the leaves of one tree.
The time has come for all to live as one.
We are all the leaves of one tree.

We are all the waves of one sea.
We are all the waves of one sea.
The time has come for all to live as one.
We are all the waves of one sea.

We are all the stars of one sky.
We are all the stars of one sky.
The time has come for all to live as one.
We are all the stars of one sky.

We are all the leaves of one tree.
We are all the waves of one sea.
The time has come for all to live as one.
We are all the stars of one sky.

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I was skeptical. Skeptical about the album, Scratch My Back, and skeptical about the May 7 concert at the Hollywood Bowl. A seasoned and talented musician releasing and touring a set of covers reinterpreted with orchestra is certainly different, but it’s still covers. Nonetheless, I bought the album and bought a ticket to the concert when they were released and I’ve not been disappointed. The tour was short, and only touched down in Montreal, New York and Los Angeles in North America. This was the last show of the tour. So, a treat.

For the record, I probably own every standard release by Peter Gabriel (including Ovo – which he performed two songs from this evening) and I’ve seen him once before in September 1993 at the Oakland Arena. A fan? Probably. 😉

Mr. Gabriel performed with the 54-piece New Blood Orchestra. No guitars. No drums. A portion of the orchestra was composed of musicians traveling on the tour and the remainder were picked up in the cities of performance. The orchestra was led by Ben Foster, a young and entertaining conductor who was periodically viewed from a fishbowl camera on the screens throughout the evening.

Our seats weren’t in the fancy boxes or down in front, but we were front and center in the “super seats” (aka, non-benches) with a great view of the entire stage and behind the mixer. The performance began at 8:00pm and ended at 10:45pm (with a 20-minute intermission). The first set was all the songs from Scratch My Back (in order) and the second set was old Peter Gabriel songs. (more…)