Hey Soul Mates,
thanks to everyone who sent along Birthday greetings via phone, postal service, e-cards and comments on MySpace. Your sentiments are warming to the heart. The past year was quite tremendous personally. I only hope that I'm able to entertain more of you in the coming 12 months.
My iPod turns a year-old today. Although it took about a month to figure it out and load it for bear. One cool feature of iTunes is that it features a play counter, so I can tell what I've been listening to and how many times. It's no surprise that Rush Hour Soul should be at the top. A rehearsal recording of Roosevelt's Revue had a whopping 67 spins. Two versions of A Talent For Loving combined for 50. They were trailed in the pop category by Raspberry Beret, Beat It and Crazy respectively. By virtue of their large catalogs on my iPod (called the Soul Source), Prince, The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Dylan have dozens of plays.
But the LP that got the most plays was a devotional record performed by one of the most popular Hindustani singers today: Sanjeev Abhyankar. I shit you not. Ganesh Mantra was given to me as a gift this time last year and it went straight onto the iPod. Given the fact that the CD is on heavy rotation around the house, it was definitely the most played album of the past year for me. Mr. Abhyankar is a classical musician from India and only recently was I able to put a name with the voice. He does things with his vocal performances that are mesmerising and other-worldly. Ganesh Mantra got me through a lot of challenging times and was a brilliant record for focusing and relaxing. It was what I listened to on the banks of the River Monnow in Wales. Sublime. Although, my Hindi is rusty, I can hum a few bars. Ha ha. This weekend I discovered his latest CD Yoga For The Soul (yes, cheezy title), which is a more song oriented album, nearly as inspiring. I haven't braved his albums of ragas yet, but I may. It's just cool that music like this is available on line. Sure won't find it in stores. If you see it at Best Buy, call me!
Here's where I'm confused. If the style of music, singing, the language used and the themes of the work have been around for millenia, why is it called "New Age?" Dumb moniker, but I guess it sells more records than "Old Age."
I started this morning with my ritual playing of the Beatles' Birthday. Then I pulled out an ancient cassette of A Hard Day's Night; the American version with George Martin's instrumentals included. I bought it 20 years ago today at the Record Bar, a long defunct record store at Regency Mall in Jacksonville. Some one had given me a gift certificate for a whole $10 and I blew it all on the Beatles. AHDN had been a favorite of mine to borrow from the Heights library as a tiny tot, so I was very excited to get it. And I still have the cassette and it plays well. I think I have the last car in California with a cassette deck, makes up for the lack of A/C. But acquiring AHDN kindled my Beatles obsession which has lasted to this day. And I'm sure that Martin's orchestrated Beatle tunes are the reason I love Fab Four muzak. I'm a fool for it.
Well, I still have a little Birthday time left, so I'm going to make some tea and chill out. Oh, you may have noticed the new bar at the top of the page. I installed that so you all can search my blogs for specific topics, names, etc. The joy of Google!
Love, Power, Peace
thanks to everyone who sent along Birthday greetings via phone, postal service, e-cards and comments on MySpace. Your sentiments are warming to the heart. The past year was quite tremendous personally. I only hope that I'm able to entertain more of you in the coming 12 months.
My iPod turns a year-old today. Although it took about a month to figure it out and load it for bear. One cool feature of iTunes is that it features a play counter, so I can tell what I've been listening to and how many times. It's no surprise that Rush Hour Soul should be at the top. A rehearsal recording of Roosevelt's Revue had a whopping 67 spins. Two versions of A Talent For Loving combined for 50. They were trailed in the pop category by Raspberry Beret, Beat It and Crazy respectively. By virtue of their large catalogs on my iPod (called the Soul Source), Prince, The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Dylan have dozens of plays.
But the LP that got the most plays was a devotional record performed by one of the most popular Hindustani singers today: Sanjeev Abhyankar. I shit you not. Ganesh Mantra was given to me as a gift this time last year and it went straight onto the iPod. Given the fact that the CD is on heavy rotation around the house, it was definitely the most played album of the past year for me. Mr. Abhyankar is a classical musician from India and only recently was I able to put a name with the voice. He does things with his vocal performances that are mesmerising and other-worldly. Ganesh Mantra got me through a lot of challenging times and was a brilliant record for focusing and relaxing. It was what I listened to on the banks of the River Monnow in Wales. Sublime. Although, my Hindi is rusty, I can hum a few bars. Ha ha. This weekend I discovered his latest CD Yoga For The Soul (yes, cheezy title), which is a more song oriented album, nearly as inspiring. I haven't braved his albums of ragas yet, but I may. It's just cool that music like this is available on line. Sure won't find it in stores. If you see it at Best Buy, call me!
Here's where I'm confused. If the style of music, singing, the language used and the themes of the work have been around for millenia, why is it called "New Age?" Dumb moniker, but I guess it sells more records than "Old Age."
I started this morning with my ritual playing of the Beatles' Birthday. Then I pulled out an ancient cassette of A Hard Day's Night; the American version with George Martin's instrumentals included. I bought it 20 years ago today at the Record Bar, a long defunct record store at Regency Mall in Jacksonville. Some one had given me a gift certificate for a whole $10 and I blew it all on the Beatles. AHDN had been a favorite of mine to borrow from the Heights library as a tiny tot, so I was very excited to get it. And I still have the cassette and it plays well. I think I have the last car in California with a cassette deck, makes up for the lack of A/C. But acquiring AHDN kindled my Beatles obsession which has lasted to this day. And I'm sure that Martin's orchestrated Beatle tunes are the reason I love Fab Four muzak. I'm a fool for it.
Well, I still have a little Birthday time left, so I'm going to make some tea and chill out. Oh, you may have noticed the new bar at the top of the page. I installed that so you all can search my blogs for specific topics, names, etc. The joy of Google!
Love, Power, Peace
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