I recently came across the blog of a long time muse of mine, Labi Siffre. I was once in a second-hand shop in Manchester and the cover of his 1972 album, “Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying” called out to me to buy it…

I had never heard of him, and the record was a little scratched, but I took it home and haven’t stopped listening to it since. I even hooked up the record player to the computer so I could make mp3s. Some time later, I saw him perform a sublime set of music and poetry – on race, religion, politics and people.

When I came across his blog, Into The Light, I saw a stream of poetry… This one really caught my attention:

as 123 as ABC

“life has no meaning without God” say many
but life has no meaning
full stop. period.

life is the muse, the inspiration
equalled only by existence
and these wonders inspire us
FIRE us to meaning

to not realize that is
profoundly
odd

and the customary way
to flee
responsibility

On Saturday, 10th March, three Yogic monks from all around Europe, arrive in Manchester, UK to sing and play music. They are coming to raise money for underprivileged children and hopefully ‘raise the roof’ as well.

In support of the Student Action Manchester projects Chorlton Kids and The Ladybarn, the Ananda Marga Yoga and Meditation Centre in Chorlton, Manchester are staging a charity fund raising concert at Yoga Shala in Manchester city centre (map). Also featuring local artist, Kal, this event promises to be entertaining and inspirational.

All proceeds go to ‘Student Action Manchester’, who will channel the money directly to the children they support. This is possible because everyone involved, from the organisers to the artists, are freely volunteering their time and energy. All design, public relations and media work has been donated by Dharmasphere. Additionally, local food retailers Unicorn, Barbakan Deli, Chorlton Wholefoods and Forest Foods have all made generous donations of wholesome refreshments to be sold at the event.

The Chorlton Kids project helps children between 5-12 years old from a Manchester based one-parent safe-haven. These children are primarily supported to engage in arts & crafts activities and indoor games, and are also taken out on field trips. The Ladybarn project supports local learning-disabled children and young adults by facilitating arts and crafts pursuits as well as cooking and gardening activities.

This event is therefore a threefold opportunity: firstly, to enjoy a culturally rich evening of music in the heart of the city; secondly, to support a worthy cause; and thirdly, to share the spiritual inspiration of the performers!

Inner Song 7 @Yoga Shala, 1st Floor, 12 Newton Street, Manchester, Manchester M1 1AN (map). Tel: 0161 288 6918.

No fixed entrance fee – all donations appreciated :o)

Click the play button above to hear an interview with Dada Ravishekharananda & Dada Nabhaniilananda from Ananda Marga as well as Jess Etridge from Student Action Manchester at All FM radio.

Audio file downloads: 64kbps mp3 | hi-res mp3 | hi-res ogg

Enjoy!

Do you like Dharmasphere? Do you listen to music? Sure you do!

Roll up and join the Dharmasphere group on Last FM. We’ll get group radio once we have a few more members…

Last FM is a website that learns your musical tastes and plays you a radio stream of similar music – from highly commercial to highly independent artists. It has introduced me to some fantastic new bands.

If you’re interested to listen to my music, one of my albums is in there:
Ishta – Live in Manchester

07-07-2005. Manchester, UK.
It was the day of the recent London bombings and I was wandering a little aimlessly through the city centre, on my way to the recording studios. A strangely ethereal sound came wafting over the hustle and bustle of the square and I was drawn to come closer.

Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh from the Gambia was sat, busking with his kora. He’s currently living in Manchester, singing his songs and trying to earn some money. He said he wants to make a CD, but doesn’t know who can help him. So he decided to sit on the pavement of Piccadilly, waiting for someone to arrive.

It reminded me a little of the Buddha – sat determined under a tree, unwilling to move until he gained either enlightenment or death.

See the whole set of photos.

Multimedia Files
AUDIO: “A Song” (2 mins):
• MP3 Audio (media page)

VIDEO: “Jali & The Kora” (2 mins):
• QuickTime7 Movie (media page)
• Windows Media Video (media page)

<Wow> I’ve just discovered last.fm and audioscrobbler – two related websites that track what music you’re listening to and let others hear that music, through an internet radio broadcast.

Here is some music I’ve been listening to recently:

And related music:

Last.fm has generated this list of artists that I might like. Hmmm…

How to listen to this radio broadcast
You may need to register at www.last.fm to hear this radio broadcast. Registration takes seconds, costs nothing and you don’t need to enter your email address.

If all goes well, the music should just start playing through your preferred media player – e.g. Winamp, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, etc.

If your browser asks you whether to “open” or “save” the playlist file, then choose “open”. This file simply tells your media player what location to retrieve the broadcast from.

Let me know if you successfully listened to it.

You will only hear songs that they have available for streaming – so none of my most obscure world music tracks… Oh well.

I saw a documentary today about Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon album.

It brought back all the memories and feelings I had when I first discovered and immersed myself in that album.

In the documentary, Roger Waters was talking about the central themes that he and the band were grappling with at the time and how those themes were woven into the songs of the album…

• Whether humans are capable of fulfilling their true humanity.
• The fracture between “Us” and “Them” – Them being the ones who would, say, plant an immaculate and enticing lawn of grass and then ban Us from walking and playing on it.
• Whether Us is capable of reconciling and overcoming our differences with Them.
• The fact that time is here right now, life is here right now. There is nothing to wait for – it ‘s all happening right now.

Us & Them:

The album was released in 1973 and subsequently spent months and years in album charts around the world.

The pure creative explosion that is the Dark Side Of The Moon still resonates today. The subtle use of instruments and voice was so effective in communicating their thoughts, their emotions, their search.

I think I’ll have another listen right now…