Today's DailyOM Offerings...
January 7, 2010
3
Nouvelle Vague
2009
It might seem like a precocious one-hit wonder idea: Take big, New Wave MTV and punk hits of the 1980s and record them with a French yeh-yeh 1967 bossa nova (Brazilian "New Wave") vibe, but here it is album number 3 and the formula is still going strong. Nouvelle Vague consists of ringmasters Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, who restructure classic 1980s songs for "a revolving roster of French chanteuses," featuring Melanie Pain, Sophie Delia, and Nadeah Miranda. With its cosmopolitan air and penchant for emotional sleeve-tugging (while staying jet-set cool), 3 would be a must for the inner world traveler everywhere, but this time the songs even come enhanced with guest vocals from the original singers, including Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, Terry Hall of the Specials, Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen, and British rocker Barry Adamson.
Earlier Nouvelle Vague releases focused on Brazilian and ’66 acoustic, Parisian pop flavors, but 3 resolutely strolls where it will, adding rock piano, clap-along rhythms, and a horn section to the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun." The Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" meanwhile is slowed down to a bluesy honky-tonk, slow-foot shuffle. Terry Hall originally cowrote "Our Lips Are Sealed" with Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin (and recorded it himself with Fun Boy Three). For this version he contributes beautiful low-key harmonies with Marina Celeste over gently flowing guitars and organ.
If there's a single flaw with the album, it's the relative lack of credit for the talented female singers, whom we want to know more about (so we can hunt down their import solo albums). This inequality works, however, in adding layers of tension to Depeche Mode lyrics like, "You top dog and me underneath / Forget all about equality / Let's play master and servant." With Pain's elegant vocals forming a perfect fit with Gore's low, menacing backup, the song becomes, like the rest of 3, dangerously sultry and cooingly cool with enough male-and-female tension to keep things riveting, but not enough to cause serious concern. Whoever's at the microphone, be prepared to do some serious melting when Nouvelle Vague crashes your storm-hardened shores with its oodles of Parisian l'amour. Gentle as it may be, 3 has the power of a tsunami.
January 7, 2010
Competing Against Yourself
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
A strong need to be the best may come over you today as you work alongside your colleagues and socialize with loved ones. You may feel competitive and eager to demonstrate how your intelligence and skills compare to that of the people around you. In a group setting, you will likely feel compelled to outshine your friends, family, and coworkers, whether you are playing sports or participating in a business meeting. But in doing so you may be ignoring your own personal progress. You can make the most of your competitive feelings by redirecting them and using your energy to work at evolving as an individual, within the context of your own needs and desires. You can be successful today without having to worry about how others are progressing.
When you eschew competition in your personal and professional lives, you can dedicate all of your mental energy to self-improvement and making your life as enriching as possible. Outshining others results in momentary satisfaction that melts away as soon as your feat has been eclipsed. Striving to outdo your own past achievements and accomplish your own goals help you focus on the task at hand and your performance. You won’t be concerned with what your colleagues or friends are doing. You’ll be able to devote your attention to growing as an individual as you endeavor each day to become a better person than you were the day before. In redirecting your competitive impulses today, you’ll have energy to devote to being your best.
January 7, 2010
Understanding Oneness
Level of Consciousness
Sometimes we look at the actions of others and find it difficult to understand what motivates them. But we are all doing the best we can with the information we currently have. We have all been taught how to see the world from the examples of those around us and by our experiences. Keeping this in mind, we can accept the choices made by others while seeking ways to increase the world’s level of consciousness as a whole.
Our different levels of consciousness are like the developmental stages of children, whose understanding varies according to their age and experience. For example, the behavior of a two-year-old who doesn’t want to share can be understood as a phase of his social education, whereas a 16-year-old who behaves in the same manner would be thought to be acting childish. It is important to remember that we are each on our own unique path. We may have chosen certain lessons or made an agreement to play certain roles in the unfolding of the world’s understanding before we incarnated in this lifetime. So our job is not to judge others but to shift the balance of understanding in the world by increasing our own.
Every thought we have and action we take becomes part of the collective energy of the planet. When we use our energy to bring light into the world, it combines with the light brought by others to dispel the darkness. Though we live in a world of duality, which helps us to experience the material plane, we don’t need to experience extremes to understand them. We can share our experiences and understanding with others not from a place of condescension but of connection. When the entire family of humanity understands that each of our thoughts, choices, and actions affect us all, we will share an incredible level of consciousness-one that puts our oneness above all else and helps us evolve into higher expressions of our spiritual selves. Remember the next time you witness an action of another that they are of the same earth as you but simply on a different conscious level at this point in their life. Find compassion, bless them, and move along your day in grace.
3
Nouvelle Vague
2009
It might seem like a precocious one-hit wonder idea: Take big, New Wave MTV and punk hits of the 1980s and record them with a French yeh-yeh 1967 bossa nova (Brazilian "New Wave") vibe, but here it is album number 3 and the formula is still going strong. Nouvelle Vague consists of ringmasters Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, who restructure classic 1980s songs for "a revolving roster of French chanteuses," featuring Melanie Pain, Sophie Delia, and Nadeah Miranda. With its cosmopolitan air and penchant for emotional sleeve-tugging (while staying jet-set cool), 3 would be a must for the inner world traveler everywhere, but this time the songs even come enhanced with guest vocals from the original singers, including Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, Terry Hall of the Specials, Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen, and British rocker Barry Adamson.
Earlier Nouvelle Vague releases focused on Brazilian and ’66 acoustic, Parisian pop flavors, but 3 resolutely strolls where it will, adding rock piano, clap-along rhythms, and a horn section to the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun." The Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" meanwhile is slowed down to a bluesy honky-tonk, slow-foot shuffle. Terry Hall originally cowrote "Our Lips Are Sealed" with Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin (and recorded it himself with Fun Boy Three). For this version he contributes beautiful low-key harmonies with Marina Celeste over gently flowing guitars and organ.
If there's a single flaw with the album, it's the relative lack of credit for the talented female singers, whom we want to know more about (so we can hunt down their import solo albums). This inequality works, however, in adding layers of tension to Depeche Mode lyrics like, "You top dog and me underneath / Forget all about equality / Let's play master and servant." With Pain's elegant vocals forming a perfect fit with Gore's low, menacing backup, the song becomes, like the rest of 3, dangerously sultry and cooingly cool with enough male-and-female tension to keep things riveting, but not enough to cause serious concern. Whoever's at the microphone, be prepared to do some serious melting when Nouvelle Vague crashes your storm-hardened shores with its oodles of Parisian l'amour. Gentle as it may be, 3 has the power of a tsunami.
January 7, 2010
Competing Against Yourself
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
A strong need to be the best may come over you today as you work alongside your colleagues and socialize with loved ones. You may feel competitive and eager to demonstrate how your intelligence and skills compare to that of the people around you. In a group setting, you will likely feel compelled to outshine your friends, family, and coworkers, whether you are playing sports or participating in a business meeting. But in doing so you may be ignoring your own personal progress. You can make the most of your competitive feelings by redirecting them and using your energy to work at evolving as an individual, within the context of your own needs and desires. You can be successful today without having to worry about how others are progressing.
When you eschew competition in your personal and professional lives, you can dedicate all of your mental energy to self-improvement and making your life as enriching as possible. Outshining others results in momentary satisfaction that melts away as soon as your feat has been eclipsed. Striving to outdo your own past achievements and accomplish your own goals help you focus on the task at hand and your performance. You won’t be concerned with what your colleagues or friends are doing. You’ll be able to devote your attention to growing as an individual as you endeavor each day to become a better person than you were the day before. In redirecting your competitive impulses today, you’ll have energy to devote to being your best.
January 7, 2010
Understanding Oneness
Level of Consciousness
Sometimes we look at the actions of others and find it difficult to understand what motivates them. But we are all doing the best we can with the information we currently have. We have all been taught how to see the world from the examples of those around us and by our experiences. Keeping this in mind, we can accept the choices made by others while seeking ways to increase the world’s level of consciousness as a whole.
Our different levels of consciousness are like the developmental stages of children, whose understanding varies according to their age and experience. For example, the behavior of a two-year-old who doesn’t want to share can be understood as a phase of his social education, whereas a 16-year-old who behaves in the same manner would be thought to be acting childish. It is important to remember that we are each on our own unique path. We may have chosen certain lessons or made an agreement to play certain roles in the unfolding of the world’s understanding before we incarnated in this lifetime. So our job is not to judge others but to shift the balance of understanding in the world by increasing our own.
Every thought we have and action we take becomes part of the collective energy of the planet. When we use our energy to bring light into the world, it combines with the light brought by others to dispel the darkness. Though we live in a world of duality, which helps us to experience the material plane, we don’t need to experience extremes to understand them. We can share our experiences and understanding with others not from a place of condescension but of connection. When the entire family of humanity understands that each of our thoughts, choices, and actions affect us all, we will share an incredible level of consciousness-one that puts our oneness above all else and helps us evolve into higher expressions of our spiritual selves. Remember the next time you witness an action of another that they are of the same earth as you but simply on a different conscious level at this point in their life. Find compassion, bless them, and move along your day in grace.