Jam Nation: Way Down Below Buffalo Hell

Various Artists

Released 11 September 1993

  1. First Time
  2. Sleeping
  3. Awakening
  4. Sunstroke
  5. She Moved Through The Fair
  6. Meekong
  7. Meeting Of The People
  8. Harmonix
  9. 454
  10. Prehistoric Pubescent Grand Prix
  11. La Visite Est Terminée
  12. Prehistoric (Bone Us)

Various Artists

Liner notes

Jam Nation is the product of one of the legendary Real World Recording Weeks of the 1990s. The Recording Week events were spontaneous gatherings of some of the world’s finest musicians, living and working together for one week each summer at Peter Gabriel’s state-of-the-art Real World Studios in England’s verdant countryside.

The Jam Nation project was the brainchild of Peter Gabriel, who gave mix masters John Gosling (alias Sugar J) and Mark Rutherford just seven days to pull the whole thing together during Recording Week in the summer of 1992. The resulting 1993 album, Way Down Below Buffalo Hell reflects the highly eclectic variety of influences of those involved, with a mix of roots, pop and ambient trance-dance tracks.

Jam Nation includes contributions from numerous artists, including Ayub Ogada, Alex Gifford, Justin Adams, Jocelyn Pook, Daniel Lanois, Billy Cobham, Karl Wallinger and the late Lucky Dube among many others.

In August 1992, the production and remix team of Mark Rutherford and John Gosling were asked by Peter Gabriel to create an album in seven days with a diverse array of international musicians, producers, and engineers who had gathered together at Real World for Recording Week.

For Jam Nation, the team had zero rehearsal time. They arrived with only a handful of work-in-progress rhythm tracks and song structures. While they steered each piece of music toward a coherent form, the unique input of the musicians gives a fresh spirit to every track.

A startingly good eclectic dance album. The Wire (UK)

Listen

Further Listening

  • Big Blue Ball

    Various Artists

    Released 26 July 2008

    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. With Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger at the helm, the album features a huge cast of performers with a global reach.
  • Plus from US

    Various Artists

    Released 16 May 1993

    Compiled by Peter Gabriel, this is a collection of tracks featuring the work of musicians who played on his 1992 album, US, including William Orbit, Tony Levin, Alex Gifford, David Rhodes, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

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