Real World

Lots of people were busy with their cameras at this years event:

A new documentary entitled 'The Real World of Peter Gabriel' directed by Georg Maas and Dieter Zeppenfeld will be broadcast simultaneously in Germany and in France on Arte TV next Thursday, 6th of August at 11.20pm. The documentary will also be broadcast on Sunday 9th of August at 12.55pm.

The film was inspired by the 20th Anniversary of Real World Records and the release of last years long gestating collaborative album 'Big Blue Ball'. This record was a result of some of the legendary 'Real World Recording Weeks' which took place in the 1990's, where musicians from all over the world would get together and make music. The film gives an insight on the extraordinary atmosphere in which these sessions were held and also on the philosophy of Real World on the process of recording with producers and artists that come from different cultural backgrounds.

Peter Gabriel himself got personal insights on the social and political conditions and problems in many countries by working with musicians from all around the world. In consequence he initiated political initiatives for Human Rights, like 'Witness' and 'The Elders'

The filmmakers spent time at Real World going through the archives, filming interviews with key staff, including Peter Gabriel himself and also watching a recording session as it took place - 'Syriana' - a forthcoming project on Real World Records.

Follow the links below to the Big Blue Ball artist page and to Arte TV.

If you are in Europe on Thursday or Sunday make sure you tune in to this fabulous documentary!

As a Summer Holiday Special Treat...

WOMAD Presents at the Tower Festival is offering 2 tickets for the price of 1

...And Kids (aged 13 and under) go free!*

From The Imagined Village to Nathan Flutebox Lee to The Bays and The Heritage Orchestra, these artists will bring you jaw dropping talent, stunning originality, dramatic diversity, lots of dancing and a very memorable weekend.

The 19th and 20th September 2009 promises to be one great musical experience.

(*Offer starts as of the 4th August. Children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult)

WOMAD 2009 was a resounding success and featured several appearances by Real World Records artists. From the grasslands of China to the nightclubs of Ethiopia there was a fantastic variety of musical styles on display.

Friday 24th July saw a mesmerising afternoon set in the Big Red Tent by Dub Colossus who brought their inimitable mix of dub and Azmari singing to the masses. This was followed later in the evening in the Siam Tent by a focused set by Portico Quartet, whose new album 'Isla' will be released by Real World Records on October 19th. Their dark and atmospheric mix of hang drum, saxophone, double bass and drums had the crowd transfixed.

Saturday 25th July saw Mamer play the first of two sets of the weekend in the Siam tent at 2pm. At 3pm Spiro played to a packed Big Red Tent where the whole audience was rapt as they played songs from their recent release 'Lightbox'. At 5pm, The Black Swan Effect rocked the Big Red Tent with their fresh guitar driven indie-rock, Peter Gabriel was spotted enjoying the band.

9.30 on the Main Stage and headliner Peter Gabriel came on as the ominous tones of 'Zaar' from 'Passion' (the first record to be released on Real World Records incidentally) drifted across the crowd. This was followed by a great set-list which mixed new covers (Paul Simon's 'The Boy in the Bubble') with hits ('Steam' and 'Solsbury Hill') and a rare performance during the encore of 'Biko'.

Sunday 26th July and Mamer played a fabulous set on the Radio 3 stage in the early afternoon which saw half of the crowd rush into the nearby Songlines tent to buy copies of his recent release 'Eagle' and get their copies signed by Mamer himself!

Our last Real World Artist to play was rising star Charlie Winston who played a wonderful set in the Big Red Tent which saw the crowd singing along to his instantly catchy songs. Surely his huge success in France is to be repeated on these shores?

Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara's recent release, Tell No Lies, has taken the top spot in August's edition of The World Music Charts Europe.

The album has been in the top 4 since entering the charts in June 09.

Congratulations to Justin and Juldeh from all at Real World Records!

Speed Caravan were in The Big Room at Real World Studios back in April. You can get a first taste of their work at The B&W Society of Sound where their album is this months download. Look out for their forthcoming release on Real World Records.

Keen eyes and ears may have noticed that Charlie Winston has been somewhat in the public eye of late in the UK. He appeared on GMTV last Thursday with a star-making performance of forthcoming single 'In Your Hands' as well as a recent storming gig at WOMAD on the Sunday.

If you follow the link below you can see that Charlie has been featured in an article on the BBC website entitled '10 famous Britons you've probably never heard of ', no doubt this will be changing in the coming months!

Mr Winston has also been in articles in The Sun, Daily Mail, Hello Magazine, The Independent, The London Standard, The Telegraph and The Times. Click the links below for a selection:

Follow these pages for more Charlie Winston news!

NAMM, the trade association of the international music products industry, announced that it will be hosting the winner of a recent Peter Gabriel remix competition at its Wanna Play? Interactive Music Pavilion located inside X Games 15 at the Home Depot Center starting today.

NAMM's guest of honor is Mike Gorman of Morgan City, La., who won for his "LizardMix" of "Games Without Frontiers," featuring lyrical complements by Lord Jamar of the hip-hop group Brand Nubian. Gorman's remix will be the theme song for this summer's X Games.

NAMM sponsored the competition with ESPN and Peter Gabriel's RealWorldRemixed.com as part of its public awareness campaign called Wanna Play?, which encourages people to experience the proven benefits of making music. More than 240 contestants produced and submitted their unique remix of the Peter Gabriel song Online, providing them with a hands-on experience with this style of music making.

"Remixing is an art form that can be a fun and creative way for people to express themselves musically," said Jeff Livingston, of NAMM's market development department. "That's really what this effort is all about for NAMM -- to get people excited about expressing their musical side."

"The art of remixing is important to me as I believe it brings an artist's work to audiences who may have never heard of or even considered listening to a song in its original form until someone mixes it up with new ethnic or contemporary styling," said Gorman. "The music, in part or in whole, gets to live on in new creative processes for different generations and cultures to enjoy. There are so many musical compositions just waiting to be retooled with new ideas and shared with others of varied musical backgrounds and tastes. Perhaps in some cases, these remixes can help deliver a message that needs to be told again."

If you had any doubt which band could end up being the most fun at WOMAD this weekend check out this extraordinary footage from the French festival Les Vieilles Charoux as superstar Charlie Winston entertains 55,000 fans. Catch him in on the Big Red Tent at 15.00 on Sunday before he reaches stratospheric stadium levels!

We've just launched or Charlton Park iPhone application - it's free and it will be one of the services that can take advantage of the site-wide Wi-Fi.

If you would rather not be without the internet for a whole weekend then fear not as WOMAD Charlton Park has it's own WiFi network. Access to some pages, such as pages this website and the iPhone application will be free. Charges apply for wider access. Lets get Twittering.

1 day: £5.00

All weekend 23rd - 26th July: £10.00