The first album by singer/songwriter Kimberly Haynes is a richly produced, genre-crossing collection of uplifting poetry put to song. I was pleasantly surprised to find she avoids the cliché of syrupy sweet “life-is-but-a-dream” lyrics I too often find in New Thought music. Her offerings reveal an authentic wisdom and depth earned from the highs and [...]
Gurujas from White Sun photographed by Julia Yang IG: @julia_photographs Mantra Music Wins a Grammy Music so powerful that it wins a Grammy and the attention of UCLA researchers doesn’t just happen by chance. This is music created with intention and purpose. Yoga supergroup White Sun's second album broke through the Grammy mantra [...]
Russell Simmons at Tantris. Photographed by Jeff Skeirik/Rawtographer A Studio as a Home for Devotion Russell Simmons is a visionary on the move. Co-founder of Def Jam Records, early promoter and pioneer in the hip hop movement, famous philanthropist, prolific author, television and film producer, and entrepreneur with multiple businesses, Russell is also [...]
Counter-cultural icon, Daniel Pinchbeck, known for his controversial views on the shamanic and medicinal use of psychedelics, brings us what appears to be a personal messianic manifesto, his new book How Soon is Now. With a preface by living musical and philanthropic legend, Sting, and an introduction by actor and Transcendental Meditation poster boy, Russell Brand, [...]
Photo of Ebony Williams by Nikita Alba . Beyonce has, purely and simply, changed the entire game. From what it means to be a performer, an artist, a woman, a voice of and for our generation, this woman has written history with her lyricism, and watching Beyonce in motion is bearing witness to [...]
Photo of Jai Uttal by Jeffrey Newberry Always leading with musical majesty and soul-stirring passionate vocal delivery, Jai Uttal returns with Roots, Rock, Rama! proving once again that he has the ability to go where no one else in the genre can, radically furthering the experience of kirtan in the modern era. Jai Uttal’a new double album puts the ecstatic [...]
Buddhist Economics author Clair Brown Let’s face it. Most of us are still reeling from the 2016 election. Dazed and confused, we are floundering about posting furiously on our social feeds about all the craziness that is happening around us. Desperately hoping this is all just a bad dream we will soon wake [...]
J Brave is most widely known as one of the vocalists from the conscious hip hop band Luminaries; Amethyst is his first solo project. Amethyst is a sincere expression of J Brave’s mission to spread messages of peace, love, and unity through the vehicle of hip hop music. The album’s name is inspired by the [...]
Grammy Winning White Sun II Album Release Party. Photo by Santosh Khalsa Powerful music is timeless: it envelops us, welcomes us into its essence, and stays with us long past the last song on the album. The mantra music created by yoga supergroup White Sun is good music that uses mantra to nourish [...]
The VDL Research House photographed by Lyudmila Zotova from 111 Places in Los Angeles That You Must Not Miss I admit it: I love living in LA. As a native New Englander, I’m a bit shocked to hear myself say those words aloud, but it’s true. I didn’t move to the city knowing [...]