Avicii: True Stories Directed by Levan Tsikurishvili Obscurity, success, fame, burn out, suicide. I’m not talking about the fictional A Star is Born but about Avicii: True Stories, one smart, slightly obscure documentary. You may know Avicii as a mega famous DJ. You may know he died too soon at the age of 28 in [...]
Joss Jaffe & Music on Dub Mantra Remix Dub Mantra Sangha Remix is a follow-up album created by California-based musician, producer, and intercultural collaborator Joss Jaffe. His latest collection features nine reimagined tracks from his critically acclaimed release Dub Mantra Sangha. Community of Musicians In keeping with sangha, which means community, Joss has assembled a medley of [...]
Multi-instrumentalist and Indian Classical maestro Dan Blanchard has created the most unique musical mashup I can ever recall experiencing: An Indian Classical Christmas Album! If you’re curious as you read this description, this album is most absolutely for you. The Spirit of Christmas: A Love Letter to the Holiday Spirit Dan Blanchard's album The Spirit [...]
Science Fair is a joyous affair. This film (directed by the award-winners Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster) showcases an international competition where it truly appears to be an honor just to be nominated. “If you’re there to just win the prize, you’re missing the point of Science Fair,” says Robbie, one of the enthusiastic and [...]
Illustration by Dani Katz Digesting Big Ideas in Small Bites with The Gene Keys As a wide-eyed, frothy-faced Gene Keys devotee for almost a decade, you’d think a simple question like: What are the Gene Keys? wouldn’t stymie me as much as it does. You’d think. Inhale…exhale…repeat. Here goes… For starters, it’s a [...]
Some voices ring true with passion, others with the certainty of truth. White Sun is blessed to have both in singer and principal songwriter Gurujas Khalsa. Her angelic voice cascades through softness, devotion, and joy as she serenades us through 23 Kundalini mantras on White Sun III. These mantras resonate over the musical accompaniment of [...]
What it takes to Hang out a Shaman's Shingle We live in a time of boutique shamans and shamans-for-hire, New York fashionistas using crystal combs to calm their hair, and luxury hotel spas featuring sweats and soul cleansings. Therefore it is refreshing to find a book (Shamanism in the New Millennium) presenting a powerfully modern [...]
DEVA DEVA arrives in a full-circle moment of glory 20 years after Deva Premal’s emergence on the music scene with the widely-played and shared “Gayatri Mantra” track off her 1998 debut release, The Essence. Her new album, DEVA, is perfect for yoga, meditation, and any time you need a respite from life’s hectic pace. The [...]
Free Solo: Gripping Rocks & Gripping to Watch Rock climbing has significant history in California, specifically in the Yosemite Valley. Not surprisingly, one of our own has taken the sport to new heights. Alex Honnold free solo climbed the prestigious 3,200-foot wall face of the El Capitan mountain in Yosemite in 2017, as documented in [...]
Trevor Hall photographed by Emory Hall In The Fruitful Darkness, Trevor Hall has created something extraordinarily rare these days: a concept LP. When listening to this album, other classics of the concept art form and lineage come to mind, such as U2’s The Joshua Tree, The Police’s Synchronicity and even Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Trevor shares with profoundly authentic vulnerability at a new level [...]