Music on the mind, music on the body

There are times like this morning where, iPodless on the bus, listening to the foreigners chattering loudly, the texter in the seat opposite who has the button tones switched on loudly so every key reverberates around the bus, the skanger berating her fella over the phone and then ringing her ma to tell her what happened and then ringing him back and then... well, you get the idea ... that I really miss music.

I need it like a drug. To dissolve into, escape the world with and to switch the brain off with. The louder the better sometimes. The more noise it blocks out, the more focussed I can be on what I need to do.

These days I'm lucky enough to be going back to live music events more and more. There's something about that raw energy from committed musicians that brings the vitality of the melody alive, makes it that much more real. I've always, ironically, preferred live albums for that same reason.

If I could get music beamed directly into my brain, I would. I may not go as far as this video shows, but would relish the experience.



Earphones firmly in the ears today. Music is on loud.

The Governator is on Twitter!

It's Arnold Schwarzenegger in his role as Governor of California and he really seems to have gotten a handle on how this thing works...



Michele Neylon has made a very good point last night...

I really want this to be not photoshopped

A real notebook laptop - I know people who will love this

Bow if I could buy one piece of technology - something like the notebook that Dutch art student Evelien Lohbeck has created would be it. I absolutely love the simplicity of his site as well.

Wonder if it comes in a Moleskin version?

Found via the wonderful Very Short List.

That Samsung viral video - yes, it was not a mirror

just in case you were wondering about the trick posed in this...

The answer is here.

There you go now. I particularly loved the suggestion though that "The guy is a witch. Burn him!"

EDITED: due to the extremely clever offthemeatrack pointing out my error. Oops!

Tuesday Tune: Stand by me - the street musician version

It's a favourite song of mine but this version really got me today. It's a simple collaboration between street musicians all around the world performing the Ben E. King classic. What I love is how they all added their own little bits as the song travelled. Let it build. It's worth it.

This is taken from the playingforchange.com project, a multimedia movement created to

"... inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world."

This version started with the vocal and guitar talent of Roger Ridley, a street musician in Santa Monica, California. It then travelled to New Orleans to have vocals and harmonica added by one Grandpa Elliott as he listened to Ridley's base track on headphones.

From there it went through Africa, South America and Europe with more and more instruments and vocals resulting in the final version above. Rather inspiringly, it was all done with a simple laptop and some microphones.

You'll find much more details on the Playing for Change website. There's a CD you can buy, they have a YouTube channel and more. Really inspiring stuff.

Barack Obama's standup at the White House Correspondents Dinner last night

Funny guy. Loved the Dick Cheney reference.

Chat with John Spillane plus live performance at Tower Records

I've just published my Culch.ie interview with John Spillane in Tower Records this morning. It was a brilliant chat - over 20 minutes! Spoke about everything from Cork to accents to Óró se do bheatha abhaile to Senegal to RnaG to ballet to more!



He was in Dublin to promote his new album So Far So Good, Like - The best of. It's a fantastic Irish album - I hadn't really known much about his music before I bought it yesterday (HMV, €14.99) but the authentic sound from the songs and the lyrics is quite something.

Some of the videos I shot of his performances today are songs from the album:

The Dunnes Stores Girl:



Passage West:



The Dance of the Cherry Trees:



Johnny don't go to Ballincollig:



There was a Man:



Will we be brilliant or what?





John's album is available in all good record stores now. The track listing is as follows: 1. Passage West, 2. The Dance of the Cherry Trees, 3. Lovers Leap, 4. All the Ways you Wander, 5. Johnny don't go to Ballincollig, 6. Everything’s Turning to Gold Cathy, 7. Will We Be Brilliant or What?, 8. Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar, 9. Hey Dreamer, 10. The Dunnes Stores Girl, 11. Buile mo Chroí (Beat of my Heart), 12. The Wounded Hero (Iníon Deichtine), 13. There was a Man, 14. Rise up Lovely Molly, 15. Beidh Aonach Amárach 16. Óró Sé do Bheatha Abhaile

The full, unedited interview can be seen on Vimeo here.

A huge thank you to Paula from EMI Music and Lorcan, John's manager, for helping arrange the interview, to Tower Records for the space and of course to John himself for being so great to talk with and listen to.