Big Blue Ball
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDCD Release Date: 2008-06-24
Music Label: REAL WORLD
Soundtracks:
- Whole Thing (Original Mix) (feat. Francis Bebey, Alex Faku, Tim Finn, Peter Gabriel, Karl Walllinger, Andy White)
- Habibe (feat Natacha Atlas, Hossam Ramzy, Neil Sparkes)
- Shadow (feat. Juan Ca??izares, Papa Wemba)
- altus silva (feat. Joseph Arthur, Ronan Browne, Deep Forest, James McNally, Iarla ?" Lion??ird, Vernon Reid)
- Exit Through You (feat. Joseph Arthur, Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger)
- Everything Comes From You (feat. Richard Evans, Joji Hirota, Sevara Nazarkhan, Sinead O Connor, Guo Yue)
- Burn You Up, Burn You Down (feat. Billy Cobham, Peter Gabriel, The Holmes Brothers, Wendy Melvoin, Arona N diaye, Jah Wobble)
- Forest (feat. Levon Minassian, Arona N Diaye, Vernon Reid, Hukwe Zawose)
- Rivers (feat. Vernon Reid, Marta Sebestyen, Karl Wallinger)
- Jijy (feat. Arona N Diaye, Rossy, Jah Wobble)
- Big Blue Ball (feat. Peter Gabriel, Manu Katch??, Karl Wallinger)
Music reviews of Big Blue Ball
Music Review: An enjoyable "Real World Sampler" as good as Plus From Us
Rating: 4 Stars
First of all, the listener should know that Peter Gabriel's Big Blue Ball isn't the Next Peter Gabriel Album his fans have been waiting for. The album is the result of a series of annual musicians' festivals that Gabriel's Real World Studios threw in the early 1990s. During these "Recording Weeks" (as they were named), he and a whole bunch his talented friends got together at his studio to have fun, party, play music, and record whatever came out. The result of this was a musical motherlode that Gabriel spent over ten years editing and producing, a bit at a time, until finally the results see the light of day in "Big Blue Ball." Because of this, the album is more of a sampler of the different kinds of music produced at Real World Studios, rather than a carefully-planned concept album. In addition to a trio of his own pieces ("Whole Thing", "Burn You Up Burn You Down," "Exit Through You"), we get to hear the Real World musicians putting their own musical works together, with Gabriel's production providing the glue that binds them all together. And fortunately for us all, what could have been a mish-mash of musical mush becomes instead a sampler of the best moments from Real World Studios. If you're looking for the Next Peter Gabriel Album, you're likely to be disappointed. But if you've enjoyed the Real World compilation albums such as "Plus From Us" or the Real World Sampler promo CD released back in 1999, then "Big Blue Ball" is a delightful hodge-podge of ambient world music fusion.
When listening to music in a foreign language, I find the best way to enjoy it is to sit back and wait for a likeable beat...which is why I was hooked immediately on "Habibe," the second track; the traditional Middle Eastern instruments used here made me want to go and listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan again. On the other hand, there's "Forest," an ambient-techno track that would fit perfectly at home on any Afro Celt Sound System album (which I love, especially their first three discs), and in between are the Celt-influenced "altus silva" and "Everything Comes Through You." Something about Papa Wemba's vocals doesn't seem to appeal to me, and I tend to skip over "Shadow" and "Jijy" as a result; but your ear for music is probably different from mine, and you may disagree on this. That's your prerogative, and I'm pleased that there are many great moments on Big Blue Ball that I can listen to over and over.
Even though Gabriel's' "Us" was fresh and new when these "Recording Weeks" took place, his own trip of songs here sound closer to "Up" than "Us"; but there's a freshness to them that is very enjoyable, a feeling that was often buried in the over-production of several tracks on "Up." I'm immediately hooked on "Exit Through You," and his (slight) remix of "Burn You Up Burn You Down" is an improvement over the first version of the song that popped up around the time of "Up." Even though he took nearly fifteen years to finish editing and producing "Big Blue Ball," Gabriel makes the album worth the wait. It's a burst of energy from Gabriel and his friends that makes me hope - once again - that the Next Peter Gabriel Album appears soon, and that it recalls the emotional and mysterious musical soundscapes of Peter Gabriel in his prime.
Description of Big Blue Ball
Big Blue Ball is the long-awaited, much-anticipated collection of stand-out tracks culled from the all-star, pan-global collaborations that took place over three years of Peter Gabriel s legendary Recording Week gatherings at his state-of-the-art Real World Studios in the English countryside.Produced by Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger (of World Party, Waterboys) and Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, OMD), it s a nonstop stream of poignant, sterling performances by a truly stellar lineup of artists-- including Gabriel, Wallinger, Sinead O Connor, Natacha Atlas, Iarla O Lionaird and James McNally (both of Afro Celt Sound System), Papa Wemba, Joseph Arthur, Tanzania s late music legend Hukwe Zawose, Hungary s Marta Sebestyen, Tim Finn, Cameroonian starFrancis Bebey, Vernon Reid, Justin Adams, Jah Wobble, Billy Cobham, Rupert Hine, gospel group the Holmes Brothers, flamenco guitarist Juan Canizares, Japanese percussionist Joji Hirota, and many more...in all totaling 75 artists from over 20 countries.
It s like a wall of sound coming at you, listening to the planet from outer space, says Karl Wallinger of the final mix. It s a real world-view of music, a snapshot of the music-making continents at that time. It s a more apt time to release it now than ever before. I think it s actually gathered weight with time, because it s people from all over the world playing together, just getting on together. There s an iconic aspect about that which is probably more important now. Things have become more partisan. It s a timely reminder of how you can cooperate.
Big Blue Ball s songs were created and recorded between 1991 and 1995, but the album has been an active work-in-progress at Real World ever since, a labor of love with ace producer Stephen Hague working closely with Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger. Holding the disparate elements in place is the powerful backbone of big drum tracks underpinning many of the songs. Wallinger says, Everyone was in orbit around this groove, and there is a universal language of dance, of dance grooves. That groove is the one bit that s non-denominational on the album.
Says Peter Gabriel, It s a fine wine ready to be drunk. It was the most fun music making I ve ever had. I d love to do it again.
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