10 Years of Big Blue Ball: the sound of the world playing together
On its 10th anniversary, we look back on the global music collaboration project which came from 18 y...
Fri, 27 July 18
Big Blue Ball
Various Artists
Released 26 July 2008
- Whole Thing (Original Mix)
- Habibe
- Shadow
- Altus Silva
- Exit Through You
- Everything Comes From You
- Burn You Up, Burn You Down
- Forest
- Rivers
- Jijy
- Big Blue Ball
Various Artists
Liner notes
Almost eighteen years in the making, Big Blue Ball grew from three extraordinary Recording Weeks at Real World Studios in the summers of 1991, 1992 and 1995. The project’s originators and curators were Real World founder Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger of World Party and The Waterboys.
A huge number of artists came to the village of Box in Wiltshire to take part in these Recording Weeks, and contributed to writing the songs, making the music, and being part of that powerful sense of community that made the Recording Weeks so creative and so fruitful. The focus was as much on writing together as playing together, and the final tracks stand as an extraordinary testament to the common elements that bind so many different forms of music and music making together. Though not everyone who was there is present on the finished album, each artist’s input was invaluable to the spirit of the enterprise.
“One week in the middle of summer this craziness exploded in our Real World Studios. We had this week of invited guests, people from all around the world, fed by music and a 24 hour café. It was a giant playpen, a bring your own studio party. There’d be a studio set up on the lawn, in the garage, in someone’s bedroom as well as the seven rooms we had available. We were curators of sorts of all this living mass. We had poets and songwriters there, people would come in and scribble things down, they’d hook up in the café. It was like a dating agency, then they’d disappear into the darkness and make noises – and we’d be there to record it.”
Peter Gabriel, producer and performer
Further Listening
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A Week In The Real World – Part 1
Various Artists
Released 05 June 1992
In August 1991 Real World Studios opened its doors to over 75 artists from 20 countries for a unique recording project. This album is the first of two volumes containing fascinating musical encounters between established and lesser-known artists from across the world at Real World Recording Week. -
A Week Or Two In The Real World
Various Artists
Released 03 July 1994
This album is the second of two volumes of music culled from the legendary Real World Recording Weeks of 1991 and 1992. It features fascinating musical encounters between established and lesser-known artists from across the world.
Further Reading
The Real World Recording Week
Music journalist Johnny Black chronicles the famous Real World Recording Week 1991.
Mon, 02 July 18
Big Blue Ball: Track by Track
Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger, and engineer Richard Chappell talk us through the songs.
Fri, 01 August 08
Stephen Hague on bringing Big Blue Ball to the finishing line
The New Order producer faced the mammoth task of sifting through years of recording sessions.
Thu, 02 August 18