Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Peter Gabriel deconstructs music, reconstructs world
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Asia Pacific
World
Peter Gabriel deconstructs music, reconstructs world
AFP - Sunday, February 28
Send
IM Story
Print
British musician and former Genesis rocker Peter Gabriel (L) poses for pictures with U2 guitarist The Edge (R) after being awarded Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award 2008 in London. Gabriel's new album revisits -- in a somewhat dark mood -- a dozen songs by Radiohead to Talking Heads to David Bowie, with guitar and drums replaced by a symphony orchestra.
PARIS (AFP) - – Peter Gabriel strips songs to their bare essentials in his latest album, the first in eight years, but he is as passionate about new technologies and saving the world as he is about music.
Looking forward to a concert tour to promote "Scratch My Back", the former Genesis frontman sits shoeless -- "I like big boots but always take them off" -- in a Paris hotel room, chatting about human rights and the music industry.
"The industry," Gabriel, 60, told AFP, "is a corpse but there's lots of interesting things crawling out of it.
"In some ways it reminds me of the early 60s because there wasn't a lot of business then the way we know it, so people could write or rewrite the rules," he said.
"The digital world I think is the same now," he added. "Artists can be in 10 or 12 different bands, release a piece that's three days long or three seconds, and have different audiences for different projects.
Gabriel's new album revisits -- in a somewhat dark mood -- a dozen songs by Radiohead to Talking Heads to David Bowie, with guitar and drums replaced by a symphony orchestra to enable Gabriel to focus on the lyrics.
"I love songwriters, and what pisses me off with reality talent shows is they're all about performance and not about what I love -- the writing," he explained.
"I think these songs are great songs," he added. "I wanted to transcript them back and some of the things I felt comfortable singing ended up more melancholic."
As befits its title, "Scratch My Back" is the first chapter in a two-part backscratching exchange where the artists whose songs he records, return the favour by each recording a song of his.
"Here there's dialogue, there's more connection, you do my songs, I do yours," he said.
Gabriel tunes to be rendered by the likes of veterans Randy Newman or Paul Simon as well as newer names Regina Spektor or Bon Iver, will be released at each new moon on iTunes.
Why the new moon? "It's great advertising," Gabriel said. "People look out at the full moon and think, 'Oh! There's gonna be something new on the website'."
Gabriel said his next album would contain original songs -- but with only three albums over two decades to his name, he declined to set a date for its finalisation.
"I need to make more time available," said the blue-eyed Englishman with the white goatee. "Before my life was about 90 percent music and 10 percent other, now it's a third music, a third technology and a third benefit projects.
Away from music, Gabriel is excited by the use of new technologies for humanitarian causes.
"It's a passion for me," he said. "We're beginning to see the formation of a world-changing engine built around the technology of the mobile and the Internet."
After launching Witness, which supplied cameras to activists to document human rights abuses, Gabriel set up The Hub (www.hub.witness.org) "which is like YouTube but very small and focused on human rights".
It enables people armed with camera phones to tell stories first-hand in their own voices, relaying information via mapping sites such as Ushahidi.
"Like Google Earth, you take an issue and zoom down into a house and hear the person speak in their own voice of their own experience. Then you have a group like Avaaz who do online petitioning and who got 1.5 million signatures in 10 days on Tibet."
"In a Twitter world that could be 150 million," he said. "Then you've got the numbers the politicians would listen to."
Part of the scheme involves The Elders, a project he launched with Virgin founder Richard Branson to set up a group of older reputable figures headed by Nelson Mandela with top worldwide connections.
"The dream would be that you connect people power to a group of elders," he said. Does it work? "The individual units are working. Now we're trying ways of putting it together like a little eco-system."
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Bollywood legend wins best actor but boycotts awards AFP - 1 hour 2 minutes ago
Peter Gabriel deconstructs music, reconstructs world AFP - Sunday, February 28
"A Prophet" triumphs at French film awards Reuters - Sunday, February 28
'A Prophet' sweeps Cesar French film awards AFP - Sunday, February 28
Marie Osmond son kills self in jump from building Reuters - Sunday, February 28
News Search
Top Stories
British banking faces major makeover
Vast iceberg could disrupt ocean currents, weather
Bigger Afghan operation yet to come: US
Hedge funds pile up bearish bets on euro: report
US economy surged 5.9 percent in fourth quarter
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Vast iceberg could disrupt ocean currents, weather
'Zombies' have free speech rights too, US court rules
Bigger Afghan operation yet to come: US
Hedge funds pile up bearish bets on euro: report
Florida killer whale to stay in park after deadly attack
More Most Viewed »
Third-hand smoke also bad for you: study
DNA reveals some mystery on King Tut, raises questions
Pitt, Jolie sue British paper over split claims
Sugary soft drinks linked to pancreatic cancer: study
Scientists recreate Big Bang heat of 4 tln degrees C
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Sunday, 28 February 2010 Iran's Mousavi warns over system's legitimacy waning
US winds down Afghan assault but bigger one on way
Tsunami waves hit French Polynesia after Chile quake
|
Britain to investigate passport ordeal in Israel
|
Renewed tension looms in Turkey after military arrests
|
Pakistan suicide attack kills 4, wounds dozens
China says US diplomat to visit for talks on ties
Tsunami hits Chile as Pacific rim braces for impact
Troops clear last pockets of resistance in Marjah
Small blast shatters doors at bank in Bangkok
Tonga moves 50,000 off coast in advance of tsunami
SeaWorld set for 1st show after trainer's death
Iris scans may prevent mistaken release of inmates
Indian PM in Saudi Arabia for talks
Islam seeks a perch in Tajikistan's political life
Abu Sayyaf militants kill 11 in south Philippines
Four killed in Pakistan suicide bombing
Thaksin supporters denounce Thai court verdict
Toyota president to visit China over recall row: report
Woody Harrelson is a changed man after Oscar role
|
Iraq Kurds again likely to be kingmakers post-poll
British banking faces major makeover
Wary Chileans sleep outside; quake affects millions
|
Palm comeback falling short
Security tightened in Bangkok after bank blasts
|
Depressed Blair 'wanted to quit after Iraq war': report
Berlusconi corruption trial adjourned for a month
Iraq Kurds again likely to be kingmakers post-poll
|
Vast iceberg could disrupt ocean currents, weather
US-TECH Summary
Cuba says dead hunger striker was common criminal
|
How to decline Facebook friends without offense
Israel confronts protesters near Jerusalem mosque
|
US group launches text message aid drive for Chile quake
Google launches 'person finder' for Chile quake victims
Tiny tsunami hits small Japan island: report
|
Poll shows Australian government losing lead
|
Online gaming sweeps China
Visitor center opens at NY's African Burial Ground
Thousands still lack power after Northeast storm
Taiwan's Ma apologises over poll setback
Clinton faces Latin America test on Iran
Chile quake looms over Clinton Latin America tour
Souped-up Olympian Wang shakes up track
70,000 evacuated as tsunami reaches Japan
Security tightened in Bangkok after bank blasts
N.Korea may return to talks in March or April
Global minimum and maximum temperatures
Grenade attacks damage Thai banks
Australian swimmers ignore tsunami warnings
How to decline Facebook friends without offense
|
Japan warns of tsunami up to 10 feet along coast
Toyota's president to visit China on Monday
S.Korea BOK report: dlr status may fade over time
Toyota president to brief media in China
China top holder in US debt, after all
Marie Osmond's son kills self in jump from building
|
A Prophet triumphs at French film awards
|
Warm winters distress reindeer herders
Peter Gabriel deconstructs music, reconstructs world
Pakistani woman races from rags to riches
S.Africa's small towns hunt for beds for World Cup fans
"A Prophet" triumphs at French film awards
'A Prophet' sweeps Cesar French film awards
In Milan, Armani, Bottega Veneta reaffirm Italian style
Marie Osmond son kills self in jump from building
Bollywood legend wins best actor but boycotts awards
Woody Harrelson is a changed man after Oscar role
Violence flares at Jerusalem holy site
ETA's military chief arrested in France: Spain
Blast kills 11 civilians in southern Afghanistan
|
Death toll mounts as storms lash Europe
Hamas leader drugged, suffocated: Dubai police
Death toll from storms lashing Europe rises to nine
Tsunami waves hit Pacific regions after Chile quake
|
Clashes erupt at Al-Aqsa mosque after stone attack
Italian held by Qaeda makes plea to Berlusconi: SITE
New U.N. watchdog head faces rising tension with Iran
Storm moves into France leaving three dead
New U.N. watchdog head faces rising tension with Iran
|
Yemen arrests 21 in south
|
Storms kill 15 in France, three in Spain
|
Arms and energy on agenda for Medvedev in Paris
|
Violence flares at Jerusalem holy site
|
Turkish PM holds talks with armed forces head: report
|
Emotional orca show marks 1st since trainer killed
Thai PM orders more security after bank blasts
Voting is brisk as Tajikistan picks new parliament
Video of Taliban commander leaves fate unclear
Afghanistan protects newly rediscovered rare bird
Poll setback tests Taiwan's China-friendly leader
Voting brisk as Tajikistan picks new parliament
Thai king leaves hospital for 4 hours
Sectarian clashes kill 7 in NW Pakistan: officials
Japan evacuates 320,000 on tsunami alert
Australian foreign minister to visit India
Despite protectionism, ASEAN eyes single market
PM expects Indian economy to grow 7% in 2010
China walks policy tight-rope ahead of congress
Korea Gas signs major deal in Canada: report
Statue head of King Tut's grandfather found in Luxor
India rail cracks down on rooftop train travellers
New museum takes shape at heart of Nazi terror
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights