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Scratch My Back

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel's 'Scratch My Back' is out now. The album is the first part of a series of song exchanges in which Peter and other leading artists reinterpret each others songs.

To help craft his recording of the album's eclectic array of cult favourites and classic tracks, Peter enlisted former Durutti Column member John Metcalfe composer, arranger and the expertise of producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd's 'The Wall', Lou Reed's 'Berlin'), and engineer, mixer and producer Tchad Blake (Suzanne Vega, Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits).

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Peter describes this as a very personal record with twelve songs performed only with orchestral instruments and voice. He made the choice not to include guitar or drums. The album's richly diverse sounds include the sparse romance of Lou Reed's 'The Power of the Heart', the powerful musical journey of Elbow's 'Mirrorball' and an epic arrangement of Arcade Fire's 'My Body Is A Cage.'

Peter and his collaborators recorded the album at George Martin's Air Lyndhurst Studios and the Real World Temple with further editing and mixing at his Real World Studio in Wiltshire. The first public hearing of the album came when Peter opened his set at last summer's WOMAD festival with a performance of Paul Simon's 'The Boy In The Bubble.'

  • imageAdd To Basketmore info£9.70Scratch My Back - CD

    Buy the CD and get the 320 Kbps MP3 version to download now.

    playHeroesPeter Gabriel4m 10s
    playThe Boy In The Bubble Peter Gabriel4m 28s
    playMirrorballPeter Gabriel4m 48s
    playFlumePeter Gabriel3m 1s
    playListening Wind Peter Gabriel4m 23s
    playThe Power Of The Heart Peter Gabriel5m 52s
    playMy Body Is A Cage Peter Gabriel6m 13s
    playThe Book of Love Peter Gabriel3m 53s
    playI Think It's Going To Rain Today Peter Gabriel2m 34s
    playApres Moi Peter Gabriel5m 13s
    playPhiladelphia Peter Gabriel3m 46s
    playStreet Spirit (Fade Out)Peter Gabriel5m 6s
  • image
    Out Of Stock
    more info£12.00Scratch My Back - Special Edition - CD

    Buy the CD and get the 320 Kbps MP3 version to download now.

    Same package as the standard CD, but with the inclusion of a second disc of four tracks. The extra tracks come on a second disc because there was a desire to preserve the integrity of the album. A lot of work went into the running order and the finer detail such as the gaps between tracks on 'Scratch My Back', so it was decided to keep the extra material as a separate experience.

    1. "The Book of Love" (Remix)

    This is the original recording of 'The Book of Love" remixed with a different vocal treatment from Peter plus a fuller, bigger bass and with Melanie's backing vocal louder than the original album mix.

    2. 'My Body is a Cage" (Oxford London Temple Version)

    This is a version of the song created before the full live orchestral recording took place at Air Studios, so these strings here are samples and created with layered overdubs.

    This includes the shorter version piano ending which was created before the choir and string ending was written .

    It was recorded in London and Oxford .

    3. "Waterloo Sunset" (Oxford London Temple Version)

    This is a special bonus song which we decided not to include on the final album.

    It was recorded in London and Oxford .

    4. "Heroes" (Wildebeest Mix)

    This was the first approach to mixing Heroes , it's bigger and less contained. In the end we went for the neater version on the album .

    It's name arrived as we were mixing it right after the recording session, it felt wild to us.

    playHeroesPeter Gabriel4m 10s
    playThe Boy In The Bubble Peter Gabriel4m 28s
    playMirrorballPeter Gabriel4m 48s
    playFlumePeter Gabriel3m 1s
    playListening Wind Peter Gabriel4m 23s
    playThe Power Of The Heart Peter Gabriel5m 52s
    playMy Body Is A Cage Peter Gabriel6m 13s
    playThe Book of Love Peter Gabriel3m 53s
    playI Think It's Going To Rain Today Peter Gabriel2m 34s
    playApres Moi Peter Gabriel5m 13s
    playPhiladelphia Peter Gabriel3m 46s
    playStreet Spirit (Fade Out)Peter Gabriel5m 6s
    playThe Book of Love (Remixed)Peter Gabriel3m 40s
    playMy Body Is A Cage (Oxford London Temple Version)Peter Gabriel6m 4s
    playWaterloo Sunset (Oxford London Temple Version)Peter Gabriel3m 50s
    playHeroes (Wildebeest Mix)Peter Gabriel4m 9s
  • imagePre-Ordermore info£17.61Scratch My Back - Vinyl - vinyl

    Buy the CD and get the 320 Kbps MP3 Special Edition version to download now.

    Single 12-inch black vinyl LP - 140 grams with gatefold sleeve.

    Please note, the vinyl will ship around mid-March.

    playHeroesPeter Gabriel4m 10s
    playThe Boy In The Bubble Peter Gabriel4m 28s
    playMirrorballPeter Gabriel4m 48s
    playFlumePeter Gabriel3m 1s
    playListening Wind Peter Gabriel4m 23s
    playThe Power Of The Heart Peter Gabriel5m 52s
    playMy Body Is A Cage Peter Gabriel6m 13s
    playThe Book of Love Peter Gabriel3m 53s
    playI Think It's Going To Rain Today Peter Gabriel2m 34s
    playApres Moi Peter Gabriel5m 13s
    playPhiladelphia Peter Gabriel3m 46s
    playStreet Spirit (Fade Out)Peter Gabriel5m 6s