Well sort of...


As reported on this very blog, some months ago, PETER "Chick~Banger~Sledge~Hammer" GABRIEL has recorded a song for the new PIXAR flick, WALL•E. It's called Down To Earth and, annoyingly, is only available on the US iTunes Store at the moment. Gah! Without wanting to seem annoyed, how come he's done that? Damn you DISNEY! Spent a day trying to track the tune down online with no joy. So if there's anyone out there with a US iTunes account and is feeling generous... [ETA] Best not try this due to all the issues with 'DRM'. Gah!


He's also got round to releasing BIG BLUE BALL which is a project he has collaborated on with a number of different artists. Again North America gets it before the UK! Thankfully, the internet was slightly kinder to me and I was able to track it down. There's only a couple of pure Petey G tracks on there, but don't get too excited as both have been made available previously. There's a re~recording of Burn You Up, Burn You Down that is better than the original on HIT but it's still not much of a song. Also included is Whole Thing which, oddly, was released on the soundtrack to LONG WAY ROUND.


As an album (as opposed to a tree?), BIG BLUE BALL is interesting but when you consider they started it back in 1991 you would have thought one of the guys and gals involved could have come up with a decent melody in there. Worth a listen but not essential. And definitely not essential Gabriel. Being a fan of his is not easy. I got into him back in 1986 and since then he has given us only two proper albums. There's also been: two soundtracks - The Last Temptation Of Christ (which was called 'Passion') and Rabbit~Proof Fence (called 'Long Walk Home'), both of which are truly excellent; two greatest hits packages (the mind boggles at that alone); one live album; and, what fans call, one 'other project' - the fantastic OVO. A soundtrack of sorts to a show that took place in the ill~fated MILLENIUM DOME.


During this time, he's also written a plethora of tunes for films and 'other projects' which have been much better than the stuff he brings out on his solo albums such as: the immensely melodic When You're Falling which he did with AFRO CELT SOUND SYSTEM (though he didn't write that one); Book Of Love from SHALL WE DANCE is Gabriel at his ballady best (though he didn't write that one either); there's also TERRY WOGAN'S favourite That'll Do from BABE: PIG IN THE CITY (hold on, he didn't even write that one). I've lost where I was going with this, oh well. Eff knows when he'll actually treat his fans to a 'proper' new album.


He's also been in the news recently launching his music/technical/internet project THE FILTER and revealing that he may cover Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa by VAMPIRE WEEKEND. Go HERE for the 411 on that bizarre tale. The chorus of the song references Petey G explicitly and not, in my opinion, a flattering light. Maybe I got it wrong. Is he being ironic? Do we know anymore? Oh yeah, I remembered my point from the previous paragraph. It's all very well jerking off great songs onto other releases (so much so that you release a double album's worth of brilliant material - if you're fan of course) but why take so long on your solo stuff? The last album, UP, was a clunker and it wasn't exactly new either as it also featured previously released tracks. Gah! Get a move on grandad!


'Til the next time,
C.