Tired and need a break from all the holiday action? This lovely song by Sunnymoon appeared out of nowhere on Spotify while we were working. And is, curiously, just the thing.
Read MoreAbdullah Ibrahim: How Improvisation Saves My Life
In this lovely animated film, legendary composer Abdullah Ibrahim tells how improvising guided him during dangerous run-ins with white police, an active practice throughout his life and music.
Read MoreSage Advice from Moondog
Listening to Spotify while I was working, suddenly…Moondog came on, singing Do Your Thing, a sublimely 70′ song, curiously packed with wisdom. He was an original, who lived his advice
Read MoreWeekend Playlist: All of Leonard Cohen’s Music in Chronological Order
If there ever was a writer whose songs spoke gently to the hidden dark and broken parts of ourselves, it is Leonard Cohen. Spend the weekend streaming his music/poetry via a complete chronological playlist.
Read MoreCyrille Aimee Building a Song in Bed Will Make You Dance
Cyrille Aimee building every element of a song, from percussion to backup singers, from bed is a perfect, and amazingly synchronous, way to start the day.
Read MoreWeekend Playlist: 4 Decades of Bob Dylan (and What Was Happening in the World)
Our favorite thing to do is work on projects while listening to music. We plan to do a lot of it this long Columbus day weekend accompanied by a chronological playlist with four decades of Bob Dylan’s music (along with a timeline of what was going on in the world).
Read MoreEssential: The Art Filled View from Cassini (You Really Need This)
I was pretty oblivious to the absolute marvel of Cassini until I saw this curiously moving video. Its story and the astonishing images and data it recorded will splash your day full of wonder
Read MoreLet Miss Eaves, Walt Whitman and the Venus of Willendorf Help Liberate Your Summer Bod
Who doesn’t find a part of their self-image or their mindset locked in a prison of some sort? Let Brooklyn Rapper Miss Eaves, Walt Whitman and the Venus of Willendorf break you out in time for summer.
Read MoreMorning Poem, Meditation, Mantra: Jamila Woods’ ‘Holy’
We find Jamila Woods Holy a lovely day to orient the day: meditation, mantra, big expression of joy and selfhood.
Read MoreThe Typewriter Orchestra’s Drum Circle
The Typewriter Orchestra makes music on vintage desktop and portable machines. And suddenly we see typewriters as percussion instrument, in addition to unique tool for tapping the poetic subconscious…
Read MoreJust don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do (Ella Fitzgerald)
No one could have imagined that Ella Fitzgerald’s dark early life would have led to winning Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and the launch of her singing career. She was a master of wildly improvised scat singing that echoed a wildly improvised life.
Read MoreVoyage of Discovery: Murukami’s 3300-Song Playlist
We were thrilled to find a free, streamable Spotify playlist with over 3,300 songs from novelist Haruki Murakami’s legendary record collection. Its range is vast, from rare jazz recordings to a huge riff of Bach and Elvis: discoveries that fuel our own creative endeavors.
Read MoreHow to Rid Your Mind of Thoughts of Death and Doom
The great Joseph Mitchell reminded us that “thoughts of death and doom” are part of the human condition, and of ways to rid our mind of them.
Read MorePauline Oliveros: Deep Listening is My Life Practice
“Deep listening” was sonic pioneer Pauline Oliveros’ life practice. Here is her simple instruction for doing it yourself (with music).
Read MoreAwaken the ‘Skylike Nature of the Mind’ (Parking Lot Tree)
We recently read: The purpose of meditation is to awaken in us the skylike nature of the mind…Beautiful. We can think of no better inspiration for that idea than these images, poem, music…
Read MoreSound Bath: Short-Cut for Meditation-Like Effects
We were thrilled to learn of an alternative to sitting meditation that doesn’t require that you actually DO the impossible-for-many-people practice of following your breath. It’s totally pleasurable, has many of the effects of meditation, and you can do it at home.
Read More‘Soy Yo’: A Joyous Anthem of Personal Liberation
Soy Yo is an astonishing visual anthem about a young girl’s small powerful acts of personal expression and liberation. As she encounters a morning’s worth of possible “girl prisons” —humiliations and messages of ‘less than’ —, she navigates her way through them with aplomb. She is our new role model, and the music our wakeup call.
Read MoreEureka Moment While Vacuuming, Rooted in the Blues
Inspired Eureka moment in the realm of the everyday, yielding a celestial chord that could have come from a mighty church organ. Joy!
Read MoreHerbie Hancock: Miles Davis’ Essential Lesson on Mistakes
(Video link here.) One short minute of perfection: Herbie Hancock recounts the BIG life lesson he got by example from Miles Davis, when Hancock played what he thought was a seriously WRONG note during a gorgeous riff.
Read MoreLumineer’s Cleopatra: Ode to Ordinary Life
(Video link here.) The Lumineers’ short, moving video Cleopatra tells many stories as a woman-of-a-certain ages wends through her day:
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