Lady to Grace

By a10 on April 19, 2010 in music

As time goes on and mainstream radio creeps in there’s a population that’ll always stay in tune to, what I’ve heard Amy Winehouse refer to as, “what the kids are playing“. Over the past few years it seems like the kids, the airwaves, the corporate sponsors, the record label titans are blasting out Lady Gaga. For those of us raised on Grace Jones, Madonna, Miss Lady Kier along with techno/house sensibilities Lady Gaga makes me smile. A few weeks back I brought myself up to speed on all the videos via Youtube and remarked she’s a lot of fun. She even earned the right to don my headphone halo, make the head bob and there was the side of me that wanted to take part in the delicious simplicity of money, music, and some kinkiness. It’s easy good stuff and have fun with it. It’s refreshing to see a strong individual pushing the convential boundaries of art.

At the same time another woman has come into my life. One that’s not going to be pushed by any titans, nor have videos, or deal with content with the simple goal of selling records. She’s Snatam Kaur and I discovered her via last.fm. This track called Ong Namo kept coming up in my playlist. You see….. money, music, movies, the bombardment, thrown in with kinkiness internally and externally manufactured, can make a mess out of a person. One turns to yoga, prayer and the spiritual arts and can be blessed with having things come across one’s computer screen. Such is Snatam Kaur. You can read up on her on the website or Wikipedia but I offer her up as a suggestion and a observation. For decades we’ve lived in a world where graceful and righteous women like Snatam Kaur were pushed off to the fringes left to folk festivals and obscurity. And to some extent she still may be in these worlds but technology gives her a chance to disseminate her prayers of music globally and I sense there’s people listening. Her voice is that of an angel and it cleanses. Take a deep breath and come off the crack we’re constantly hit with.