Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Peter Gabriel: Passion - Music for the Last Temptation of Christ (1989)

Untitled
Only one word can describe this record (two records, really), and that word is beautiful. Well, I suppose we could add haunting, mysterious, moving, evocative, poignant, moody, and dramatic. As the subtitle suggests, the music is from the score to Scorsese's Passion, a movie I have never seen.
 
Allmusic makes the following statement:

"..inspired by field recordings collected in areas as diverse as Turkey, Senegal, and Egypt, Passion achieves a cumulative effect clearly Middle Eastern in origin, yet its brilliant fusion of ancient and modern musics ultimately transcends both geography and time."

Some people will read this as cultural appropriation. Gabriel has always been a huge supporter of world music, so I will have to disagree. He founded WOMAD. His label has released lots of world music (just browse the artists section at his record label). He also released a companion CD to this called Passion - Sources. Any charge of cultural appropriation is simply nonsense. If anything, Gabriel brought a wider audience to world music and he hired musicians from other parts of the world. But, I eat ethnic food and have done some yoga, so maybe I am simply an appropriator.

I think you would have to pay $30 to $40 for an original copy of this record.

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