9 February 2001

On 6 February 2001, Nigel Parry's debut CD, THIS SIDE OF PARADISE - THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY: BOOTLEG TRACKS FROM THE COFFEE BARS OF ST. PAUL, MN, 1999, was released on MP3.com.

Parry lived in the Palestinian West Bank town of Ramallah from 1994-1998, while working at the leading Palestinian university, Birzeit, where he developed the university's website.

This Side Of Paradise contains four songs Parry wrote about his experiences in the Palestinian West Bank -- Forget, Elapse, Land Of The Shadow, and This Side Of Paradise.

"No singer-songwriters have really touched the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," commented Parry, "mostly out of fear of stirring up a political hornet's nest. If you care about people, the reaction you get for standing with them shouldn't matter, and the Palestinians are the longest-suffering and longest-remaining example of human disrespect for human rights."

Parry's well-known photodiary, "A Personal Diary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" -- found at http://nigelparry.com/diary/ has been reviewed by several international newspapers and magazines, including Le Monde (France), the Independent (UK), Stern (Germany), and Ha'aretz (Israel). The diary is a record of the post-Oslo period which gave birth to the songs on This Side Of Paradise.

The CD's title track, This Side Of Paradise, was No. 19 on MP3.com's 'Triple A' format (Adult Album Alternative) chart on 8 February 2001. MP3.com's charts are compiled from online plays of songs, downloads of songs, and by CD sales.

The song, commented Parry, who is currently living in St. Paul, Minnesota, "is a series of snapshots of things that I saw or experienced on my first visits to Palestine. They sum up a lot of the sadness of the country, the pervasiveness of the military occupation, and the difficulties faced by Palestinians in their daily lives. Over there, all people experience things that only a few of us in the West even have to think about."

This Side Of Paradise has been sent to the main 'Triple A' format college stations in Michigan, one region of the United States with a high proportion of Palestinians and other Arabs. Michigan college stations with copies of the CD include WDBM/WLFT, WCBN, WUMD, and WDET.

The CD is priced at $9.99 plus shipping.

Learn more about the multimedia features of the album, cover art, and read the album credits here.

For more information, including an interview with Nigel Parry about the album, visit: http://www.thissideofparadise.org

Editor's Note: The album was formally available via MP3.com who went out of business. Today, you can download the entire album for free on this website.

To join Nigel Parry's music news list, send a blank e-mail to nigelparry-music-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or go here.

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