Real World

Record Store Day on April 17th will see two 7" singles from the 'Scratch My Back' project available in independent record stores.

Real World will release the Peter Gabriel 'Book Of Love' and Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Field's 'Not One Of Us' double a-side, whilst Jagjaguwar will release Peter's 'Flume' and Bon Iver's 'Come Talk To Me' double A-side.

Peter's epic take on Bon Iver's Flume is paired with the enigmatically monikered Wisconsin singer-songwriter's interpretation of Come Talk To Me from 1992's Us. They're both astonishing, the latter initially wearing the light shades of bluegrass and calypso before building into something akin to gospel as it supplies seven minutes of deep spirituality.

A late start for some this morning in Box as we enjoyed a late return from our sharbang ride to hear Portico Quartet headlining at The Barbican.

Time Out call them their "fave post-jazz band" and after a great performance last night, we'd only want to delete 'fast becoming' from their description of the band..."their accessible sax-led groove-based pieces - that reference modern jazz, Phillip Glass and cool drum 'n' bass - now possess a darker melancholic edge as heard on their excellent second album 'Isla' (Real World). Combined with a new grittier confidence PQ are fast becoming a serious prospect live and on record."

Ane Brun will be joining Peter and Melanie Gabriel on stage for the upcoming New Blood dates, kicking off with the warm-up show in Paris on March 20th.

Ane Brun is a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, born in Molde, Norway in 1976. Since 2003 she has recorded six albums, three of which are studio albums, a live dvd and a collection of duets. She has lived in Stockholm, Sweden since 2001, where she writes, records and runs her own label (Balloon Ranger Recordings) when not on tour.

As a precursor to the 'New Blood' dates in which Peter is bringing the live 'Scratch My Back' experience to select venues - Peter Gabriel, orchestra, no drums, no guitars - there will be a 'warm up' show with the Radio France Orchestra at Studio 104: Maison de Radio France on March 20th.

We're giving away hundreds of pairs of tickets, drawn at random from those who enter the competition.

"I see myself as a time traveller," Skip McDonald says. "I started out live and went into studio culture. I've gone all the way back and come full circle, though this time I've got the advantage of technology as well. Hey, I'm even doing covers of my own songs. It's all part of the same puzzle.

I understand the blues better now that I'm older," he continues. "But doing this album…" He flashes a grin. "This album has made me feel young again."

McDonald recorded the album live at Real World Studios. With of course the usual suspects Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc, Bernard Fowler and Adrian Sherwood, but also with the help of Saranella Ball, Kevin Gibbs, Alan Glenn, The Crispy Horns, Ken Booth and Cyril Atef

The long wait is over in the U.S.A today where 'Scratch My Back' is released today, so it should now be available pretty much everywhere.

Given Peter's comments, quoted in the New York Times yesterday, the later release in the U.S is in keeping with the albums ethos:

..."There's a Slow Food movement," he said in an interview during a New York City stopover. "I think I'm part of the Slow Music movement."...

..."I was trying to make a grown-up record," said Mr. Gabriel, 60. He was sipping tea and sampling a plate of berries in the lounge of the Mercer Hotel in SoHo. "This is treating people as if they can handle difficult music and words. Not that I've courted the lowest common denominator before, but there's a playfulness and childishness in some of my older work that isn't present on this record."

"It is daffodil time, so the robins all cry,

For the sun's a big daffodil up in the sky,

And when down the midnight the owl call "to-whoo"!

Why, then the round moon is a daffodil too;

Now sheer to the bough-tops the sap starts to climb,

So, merry my masters, it's daffodil time. "

Clinton Scollard 'Daffodil Time'

February's Full Moon sees the release of the second 'double A-side' - Digi 45 from the 'Scratch My Back' project on iTunes. Peter Gabriel's version of 'The Boy In The Bubble' and Paul Simon's reciprocal cover of 'Biko'

Peter, Paul Simon, Bob Ezrin and John Metcalfe talk about the two songs and the process of recording the two tracks in the video below.

"At first breath, Spiro sound like a folk band. But their relationship to traditional music is oblique. Vaughan Williams took old country melodies and reworked them into his classical palette. Spiro sound as if four of Steve Reich's "18 Musicians" had worked a similar transformation."

Sighs of relief as signs of spring emerge around the studio in Box