Tuesday 30 October 2007

Top 20 Facts About Sleep

I love sleep...

Top 20 Facts About Sleep

The science of sleep is a modern one - in fact most scientific information on sleep has been gained in the last 25 years. This is a list of 20 very interesting facts about sleep. Facts 1 - 10 1. The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during [...]

Sunday 28 October 2007

DM of the Rings

I found this pretty hilarious...

DM of the Rings

DM of the Rings (comic). The Lord of the Rings if it were a Dungeons and Dragons game.

Tabla Montreal: Shawn Mativetsky's blog

Fellow tabla crusader Shawn Mativetsky has just started a new blog, on his activities as a tabla player in Canada. It's entitled Tabla Montreal. I'm looking forward to keeping better track of what he's up to.

Thursday 25 October 2007

Book: Traveling Spirit Masters (Moroccan Gnawa)

New Book Talks About Moroccan Gnawa Trance and Music in the Global Market Place

Middletown (Connecticut), USA - In the new book Traveling Spirit Masters, Deborah Kapchan explores how a group of Moroccan ritual musicians from the sub-Saharan Africa diaspora have come to participate in the world music market. These musicians are known as the Gnawa, and their traditional belief is that they can heal those afflicted with possession and other ills. It is thought that the Gnawa placate offending spirits with music, incense, colors, and animal sacrifice.

The regular rhythms of the Gnawa's heavy metal castanets and the bass melodies provided by the hajhuj (a three-stringed instrument, which is also called sintir and guimbri) induce a...

Saturday 20 October 2007

Lucky Dube Shot Dead

Lucky Dube Shot Dead

Lucky Dube Shot Dead - Lucky Dube, the South African Reggae musician, has been shot dead by car hijackers in Johannesburg. In front of his son.
To say that Lucky Dube was an important artist is an understatment.

CD: Anoushka Shankar - Breathing Under Water

Breathing Sitar

Anoushka Shankar and Karsh Kale

Breathing Under Water (Mahattan Records/EMI, 2007)

The 25-year old Anoushka Shankar continues her explorations of Indian music and global sounds on Breathing Under Water, her latest album, recorded in a lively dialogue with global electronic wizard ...

Wednesday 17 October 2007

CD: Fate of the Lhapa (Tibetan vocal + cello)

Fate of the Lhapa Soundtrack Released on CD Baby

Fate of the Lhapa, the award winning soundtrack to the documentary feature of the same name was released on CD Baby. This film score features renown cellist Joan Jeanrenaud (Kronos Quartet Alumnus) and Tibetan Vocalist Tsering Wangmo. Fate of the Lhapa is the film score for the documentary feature of the same name about the last three Tibetan shamans living in a Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal. The score features performances by the renown cellist Joan Jeanrenaud (Kronos Quartet Alumnus) and Tibetan Vocalist Tsering Wangmo. Haunting and lyrical sounds of Asian and Western Music merge to set the tone for a spiritual and mystical journey about an ancient healing tradition in danger of extinction.Listen to samples at http://cdbaby.com/cd/williamsusman2.

Wednesday 10 October 2007

Neuroscience and Mysticism

Neuroscience and Mysticism

Searching for God in the Brain. "Researchers are unearthing the roots of religious feeling in the neural commotion that accompanies the spiritual epiphanies of nuns, Buddhists and other people of faith." [Via MindHacks, which points out a few niggling omissions in the article.]

Django

Django

The most creative jazz musician to originate anywhere outside the United States (Duke Ellington) is maybe the great guitarist Django Reinhardt. It is true that he gave birth to a style which is now played by many musicians. His achievements are outstanding, if we consider the events of his life. He still fascinates both the scholar (great links but in need of some work : see french wiki for more biographic details) among other things because of controversial details (his survival during WWII and the very origin of swing manouche (gypsy jazz)) and the aspiring guitarist (more) (essential resource). But it's maybe better just to listen - and watch - him play. Further watching : Nuages, an amateur documentary in 1 2 3 4 5 parts. Previously.

Tuesday 9 October 2007

40 Quotes of Oscar Wilde

40 Quotes of Oscar Wilde

There is no doubt that Oscar Wilde was one of the most witty men to come from the British Isles and probably the world. It is virtually impossible to find anything he wrote which did not show at least a glimmer of his genius. This is a selection of 40 of his greatest [...]

10 Great Unsolved Problems

including the Great Depression, origin of language, the Industrial Revolution, black holes and dreams...

10 Great Unsolved Problems

In various fields of human study there are problems that have never been solved. Some theories have been put forward, but not one fully satisfies the question. So put on your thinking cap and see if you can solve any of the ten unsolved problems listed here: 10. What caused the great depression?

Monday 8 October 2007

25 Bizarre Buildings

Some crackers here! :-)

25 Bizarre Buildings

25 Bizarre Buildings in photos:

Friday 5 October 2007

Bonobo handshake - bonobo researcher's blog

Stories about bonobo chimpanzees are really catching my eye lately, since Susan Savage-Rumbaugh 's TED Talks - Apes that write, start fires and play PacMan

Sex like a handshake

Sex like a handshake (even baby sex?) Titilation and humor from Vanessa Woods, researcher at the Lola Bonobo sanctuary. (Previously)

Tuesday 2 October 2007

CD: Ojos de Brujo - Bari (Flamenco Adrenaline Rush)

Flamenco Adrenaline Rush

Ojos de Brujo

Bari (World Village, 2002)

Hailing from Spain, Ojos de Brujo's Bari brings on an adrenaline rush. These young flamenco performers create music with fury and the angst of a disenfranchised teenager. When I slipped this disc into my stereo, the room soon filled with the staccato beats that you would expect from flamenco music. The hard rain was bouncing off the pavement keeping time with the polyphonic beats (including rap vocals...

CD: Funk 'n Gandhi

The Funky South Asian Sound

Funk 'n Gandhi

Funk 'n Gandhi (Radical House Records, 2005)

This CD has an intriguing colorful cover. It shows a character that looks like a pimp from the 1970s, together with a Hindu deity, in front of a punk Rolls Royce. As the title of the CD suggests, the concept is the fusion of American Funk with Indian music. And the results are terrific.

Funk 'n Gandhi uses real electric bass and drums, creating dynamic funk beats. The rhythm section joins electronic grooves, keyboards, electric piano, jazzy sax and DJ scratching combined with outstanding bansuri flute performed by Deepak Ram, Indian vocals, excerpts of spoken word, samples and trippy effects. Produced by the Warheads.

Buy it from http://thewarheads.com/funkngd.html.

Daniel Pinchbeck on 2012

Daniel Pinchbeck

vector: PostWarDreams