Over 9 years at dawn, Cosmo Sheldrake carried recording gear, laptop, and sometimes a keybord into fields and woods to make music in collaboration endangered birds. The result is his new album Wake Up Calls; it is both charming and illuminating…
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Tiny Whale Videos Spark Dreamy Reverie
A therapist friend once described the idea of reverie as a tool for healing. That allowing oneself to fall into a state of dreamy meditation and daydreaming, free of anxious thinking, has a powerfully restful effect. That is the state I found myself in after I stumbled on this tiny video of a whale lazily…
Read MoreWe Celebrate Our National Voice (Patti Smith, U2)
Perhaps the most heartening victory of the fiercely contested national election is the record-breaking turnout of voters braving long waits and the coronavirus to exercise their VOICE. We can think of no better celebration than the anthem Patti Smith wrote in 1988…
Read MoreLet Rhythm Rewire Your Life (Tasha Blank)
Tasha Blank‘s video manifesto shook us loose from a stuckness we didn’t know we had, mired as we were in the mighty anxiety of the zeitgeist, a seeming life-threatening election, dire news, contentious opinions… The international DJ, dancer, coach, somatic practitioner and music producer has much to offer in the form of music, events, courses…
Read MoreA Young Poet’s Fierce Wisdom on Navigating Darkness
Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Emily Saliers put their finger on what makes poet/rapper Kae Tempest so unique: “…their willingness to love humanity through the darkness makes me hopeful”. That comes through powerfully in these two spoken word pieces and this short powerful interview. Words to live by.
Read MoreWild, Affirming Music from Wolves and Meredith Monk
This short video has no commentary…Just two wolves howling in response to howls from faraway. It seems like singing, music of strange beauty and harmony. Primal. Wild. We know of only one human who can sing like that…
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Joy Right Now Where You Don’t Expect It
Although we’re not religious, we’ve loved being able to wander into an empty church when we find one open, for a few minutes of quiet and the particular kind of stillness they hold. Recently missing that possibility, we’ve been discovering other ways to get the feeling of respite our random visits once provided.
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Simple Gifts (Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss) + Quarantine Bookshelf Exhibition
What marks the dark time of Coronavirus for me are the many instances of acute beauty that I am offered daily that have the effect of infusing moments with light. Like this sublime 2 minutes: a simple gift for right now.
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Radio Garden, Planting Seeds Around the World and in Hearts
When Radio Garden starts to load, the words “planting seeds” appears on the screen. Then a virtual globe appears around which you travel to tune into thousands of live radio stations around the world. It is magic.
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5 Hopeful Views that Counter Coronovirus Fear (Science and Art)
Over the past week, I’ve been collecting information and video that yield heartening-yet-realistic views of the frightening situation we are experiencing together, from wise-men scientists explaining the science, to singers joining together virtually to serenade the world.
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Quarantined, Italians are Singing out of their Windows + Mary Oliver
As grim notices come in announcing closings and suspensions due to the Coronavirus, we saw THIS video from Italy and had to smile, heartened…
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Sonny Rollins on Losing Yourself In the Divine and His Sabbatical Playing on the Williamsburg Bridg
This sublime short film is about “saxophone colossus” Sonny Rollins’ two-year musical sabbatical playing on New York’s Williamsburg Bridge and what he found there.
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Gordon Hempton: Silence is the Presence of Everything
This lovely immersive video follows acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton to one of the quietest places on earth. It draws our awareness to just what it is we’re hearing, or not, and the unique, extraordinarily complex sounds of silence.
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Refreshing Antidotes to the Heat Wave
All over town we’re seeing signs of people felled by the stunning heat wave, sleeping on benches under shady trees, lounging lethargically on the grass in parks. We’ve compiled some unexpectedly refreshing ways to cope…
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Listen to the Magic of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah Being Hummed Around the World
Among the many joys we experienced at the extraordinary Leonard Cohen exhibition at The Jewish Museum, is a room resonating with the sound of hundreds of people around the world humming Cohen’s anthem, Hallelujah. You can experience it online as well.
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Watch Bob Dylan Write “If You See Her, Say Hello”, as You Listen
With the release of Vol. 14 of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg series, Columbia Records released a video of the first take Dylan recorded of his song “If You See Her, Say Hello” with a unique twist, for unexpected intimacy and insight.
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This Serene Water Opera Echoes Music Made by Whales
The serene made-underwater music in Breathe, an experimental “water opera”, echoes ancient songs made by whales.
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Because Something is Invisible Doesn’t Make It Any Less Fun
We got a big smile on our face when we saw this surprising, very magical little video. It is charming, and, as Swissmiss put it so perfectly: HAPPINESS.
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A Wounded Cello’s Lesson in Navigating Change in Things We Love
When a virtuoso cellist found his rare, beloved cello changed after massive repairs, he had to find new ways to elicit its unique sound — a lesson in navigating change in things we love.
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Over our Transom: Lynzy Lab’s Brilliant ‘A Scary Time’ Video
With only a ukelele, a cell phone camera and a Twitter feed, Lynzy Lab made a smart, insightful pitch-perfect video that went viral.
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