Monday, after some training at work, I picked up a copy of Collective Soul’s new DVD Home. A while ago I bought CD version, and I was floored by that. This, however, is an even more exciting experience. The one time I was lucky enough to see the band live was a wonderful experience and this recording is about as close to that as I’ll get without being in the crowd before them. The orchestal accompaniment to their music is exquisite and the band is at its best. The extra footage gave some nice shots of Atlanta and a awesome bonus song, “Georgia Girl”.

I started Living Yoga a couple months ago and slowly worked my way though it as I dove through other books. I think it’s an excellent starting point for exploring yoga. Not only does it introduce some practical concepts and techniques, but also includes a wonderfully intertwined story of the author’s own experiences as they relate to the yogic path. I appreciated how she was able to integrate the disciplines of various traditions into her Christian faith. The photos and illustrations throughout are beautiful and bring the book’s grace into focus. Having finished it, I feel more committed to developing my own practice; if I’ve gained nothing else, the book has been a blessing in that way.

I’ve had a 1GB T30 for over a month now and I’ve been very happy with it. It has all the features I look for and is easy to navigate. It also looks quite nice, I think. It’s definitely a great mid-range player.

Jale was a short-lived local band that I’d never listened much to, but I’ve taken a liking to Dream Cake after coming across it at the library recently.

Sunday night I saw Feist in concert here, at the end of her touring for Let It Die and before returning to the studio. Below is a mini-review of the show, which included a lot of the songs from this album.

Leslie Feist and her band weren’t long in taking the stage. She blew us all away with ease. I was so impressed with every element of her show, from the stunning a cappella performance that had her voice looping from bits recorded on the stage to the flawless performances of such dear songs as “Mushaboom,” “When I Was A Young Girl,” (a highlight of the night for me!) “Gatekeeper,” “Secret Heart” and “Let It Die.” She has such an incredible voice, and her band was very impressive in its own right. It was her stage presence that galvanized the crowd, however; she was as luminous as her voice, and the energy that fed the crowd was palpable. It was one of the most thrilling performances I’ve ever been present for.

I read Channel Zero yesterday and had my esteem for Mr. Wood solidified. It’s a sharp, political and very well told story that focuses on media censorship and the power of errant government controlled by special interest groups. Written in 1997, this work is even more important for post-911 America as media narrowness, government corruption and the influence of fundamentalism mirrors the disturbing events of this book in nature, if not scope. I especially enjoyed the attention to the difficultly involved in judging revolutionary heroes, who risk becoming part of the very problems they oppose and being overshadowed and obscured by the mythologies that rise around them.

I’m about to tell you about the most unusual album to have ever fallen into my music collection. Please don’t get the wrong idea about me, but it’s She Had A Taste For Music, an anthology of Italian erotic film soundtracks. It’s filled with ecclectic tracks that range from the sincerely romantic to experimental world, bouncy jazz and funk to the downright strange. But it’s actually oddly enjoyable. I want to throw a party and have this in the background.

During my high school days I discovered Siouxsie and the Banshees as a side-effect of my goth period (I kept the black, the finer aspects of the music and a healthy appreciation for all those dark and gloomy things.) I had Once Upon A Time and the “Dear Prudance” single on vinyl, so when I discovered a remastered album containing a lot of those tracks and some remixes, I pounced upon it. The song all sound so much better this time around, and I barely miss the pop and hiss of a record. Siouxsie Sioux has one of the most recognizable voices out there, and sounds stellar in this rejuvenated package.

For months I anticipated Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Mirrormask for months now. I’ve been a big fan of both men’s individual and collaborative work for years, and when I learned they’d created a film together, along with the Jim Henson Company, I was thrilled. I was very disappointed when it didn’t receive a wide release and never played in a Halifax theatre. It comes out on DVD on Feb. 14, but I was lucky enough to watch an advance this week. It’s absolutely everything I had hoped for. It’s one of the finest films I’ve ever seen visually and the story is definitely Gaiman at his finest. It’s been compared to a darker telling of Alice in Wonderland, and I think that’s fitting, but it has a depth and appeal uniquely its own. Definitely a neglected gem, this will be a must-have in a month’s time.

This was the second album I bought myself and my introduction to Matthew Sweet, an artist I’ve followed and enjoyed ever since. It was certainly a landmark in the development of my musical taste. To this day this album is one of my favourites. “Smog Moon” is simply brilliant.