http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.17605284&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rssMore a collective of musicians than a typical band, Big Blue Ball dates back to the mid-1990s, when Peter Gabriel orchestrated week-long invitational sessions at his Real World Studios that brought in players from around the world. Given Gabriel's late-career interest in global music, the guests included heavy hitters of world music alongside those of western pop -- everyone from Natacha Atlas, Papa Wemba to Sinead O'Connor and Vernon Reid -- but Gabriel's closest ally was Welsh musician Karl Wallinger. Some years after the majority of the sessions were recorded, Gabriel called on Stephen Hague to sort out the pile of tape and iron out a collaborative LP to be released under the Big Blue Ball moniker. Since most of the sessions were taken from the mid and late '90s, the project has the optimistic sheen of the synthesized world pop fusions of that era, led by a group of fiery vocalists that includes Gabriel himself. - Nate CavalieriWorld Popen720Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:38:58 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.17605284&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss More a collective of musicians than a typical band, Big Blue Ball dates back to the mid-1990s, when Peter Gabriel orchestrated week-long invitational sessions at his Real World Studios that brought in players from around the world. Given Gabriel's late-career interest in global music, the guests included heavy hitters of world music alongside those of western pop -- everyone from Natacha Atlas, Papa Wemba to Sinead O'Connor and Vernon Reid -- but Gabriel's closest ally was Welsh musician Karl Wallinger. Some years after the majority of the sessions were recorded, Gabriel called on Stephen Hague to sort out the pile of tape and iron out a collaborative LP to be released under the Big Blue Ball moniker. Since most of the sessions were taken from the mid and late '90s, the project has the optimistic sheen of the synthesized world pop fusions of that era, led by a group of fiery vocalists that includes Gabriel himself. - Nate Cavalieri http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.17606641&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 17606641 tra.17606641 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Whole Thing [Original Mix] alb.17605723 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/5/8/5/7/1247585_170x170.jpg 2008-01-01 00:00:00.0 2008-01-01 00:00:00.0 true Whole Thing [Original Mix] tra.17606641 327000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.17606641&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.17606641&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344773&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:50:13 -0700 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344773 tra.21344773 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Whole Thing [Original Mix] tra.21344773 327000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344773&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344773&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344774&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:41:45 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344774 tra.21344774 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Habibe tra.21344774 434000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344774&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344774&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344770&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:41:45 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344770 tra.21344770 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Rivers tra.21344770 346000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344770&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344770&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344768&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:50:13 -0700 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344768 tra.21344768 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.0 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Burn You Up, Burn You Down tra.21344768 272000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344768&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344768&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344776&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Thu, 9 Apr 2009 16:47:08 -0700 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344776 tra.21344776 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Altus Silva tra.21344776 369000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344776&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344776&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344778&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sat, 7 Mar 2009 12:25:17 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344778 tra.21344778 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.0 Burn You Up, Burn You Down alb.21341930 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/4/6/2/5/1275264_170x170.jpg 2008-06-17 00:00:00.0 null true Burn You Up, Burn You Down tra.21344778 272000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344778&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344778&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344777&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:41:45 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344777 tra.21344777 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Exit Through You tra.21344777 354000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344777&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344777&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344771&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:41:45 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344771 tra.21344771 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Jijy tra.21344771 241000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344771&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344771&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344772&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Wed, 9 Sep 2009 10:17:47 -0700 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344772 tra.21344772 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Big Blue Ball tra.21344772 292000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344772&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344772&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344767&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:41:45 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344767 tra.21344767 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Everything Comes From You tra.21344767 284000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344767&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344767&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344769&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Thu, 9 Apr 2009 16:47:08 -0700 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344769 tra.21344769 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Forest tra.21344769 378000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344769&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344769&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344775&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss World Pop Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:41:45 -0800 Top Tracks by Big Blue Ball on Rhapsody Online 21344775 tra.21344775 Big Blue Ball art.17605284 0.99 Big Blue Ball alb.21341929 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/3/6/2/5/1275263_170x170.jpg 2008-06-24 00:00:00.0 null true Shadow tra.21344775 269000 http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344775&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=tra.21344775&variant=data&rws=%2Fbig-blue-ball%2Ftop-tracks.rss