SUMMER SNOWFLAKES: variations on a theme. Intended to be released at the first snow fall, but it never came... So I kept recording.

INSTRUMENTS used: Electric Guitar, two steel 6-stringed guitars, 12s guitar, classical guitar, two hardware keyboards (rendering the pianos, organs, bass guitar, chimes, bells, flutes, strings), pedal effects.

The music grew like a fractal in all directions and became quite vast in scope: should I have split it into shorter tracks? Many would say yes, but I didn't fancy that and instead went for the ”LP option"; an instrumental, meditative journey, inspired by the genre invented by Mike Oldfield in the 70s.

When I first heard his work, many years ago, I didn't first get it, but I was intrigued. "What is the purpose?" was my early reaction. But I couldn't shake it off and became hooked to the complexity of his instrumental music, and how it seemed to constantly mutate into new sections. I kept listening, and gradually discovered the many hidden secrets. And it led me to become very interested in classical music.

SUMMER SNOWFLAKES is made in this tradition. Not explicitly trying to mimic Mr. Oldfield, but admittedly clearly influenced by his method. And why not? Was it wrong that Brahms wrote symphonies just because Beethoven already had done nine legendary ones? Would the world have been a better place if Shostakovich had stayed away from writing Preludes and Fugues for the piano? Should no pop songs have been allowed after Beatles? I say, let us be shamelessly inspired by the gigants and make some efforts to create something! Throw an egg if you must, but I think any sincere attempt to compose is welcome.

When I decided to go for a full length track, my vision was (somewhat childishly) the thought of the younger myself; the days when I was a die-hard Oldfield fan and had stumbled upon a new release: always a rare event, an instant buy, running home, headphones on, expectations high, launching it: the first sacred discoveries ... My track may not live up to this, but is a tribute to those days and that feel.

The recording was quite an undertaking and I didn't want to let myself down. I worked on it since December 2018, and was occasionally quite frustrated about it. I avoided midi, and tried to hand-play it all (for the fun of it) - often leaving me in big trouble. I admit there are some sun spots due to this, but I consider them as my finger prints and evidence that a human did this, not a machine. .

Art cover: by DS 2021, reflecting the heavy reliance and overlaying of pianos and organs, and the combinational nature of the music.

Special Thanks to Mark Hermse, Mike Hilton and Wojciech Langner for support and inspiring discussions!

SUMMER SNOWFLAKES

A bit of a journey this one.
 I hope anybody listening stays for the whole ride...I've made this track using many of the sounds found on the other tracks as a way of providing a exit to the album as a whole..The Album "The Majesty of You" has taken over a year to complete..even though a few tracks still need some tinkering...I'm quite happy with it.

The track was recorded over a 4 month period..In fact the abstract intro was done with a few months break so you may notice a slight change in my writing style and indeed mood from say the 5 min mark onwards..

A big thanks to everyone who listens...

Now I'm off to start Album Three...I'm thinking Aedificium in space...



Falling Mantra

Welcome to the planet TABOOOO.

MUSIC WRITTEN AND RECORDED BY DS 2022-2024.

TRIBUTE to the unforgettable Mike Oldfield and the instrumental genre he invented; vaguely based on the concept of a never heard album, possibly Tubular Bells 4.

INSTRUMENTS: PRS & Schecter electric guitars; Takamine acoustic guitar; various VST synths (e.g., Zebra2, AAS) played via a Yamaha physical keyboard; drum loops, various pedal effects by BOSS and ZOOM.

The roots and origin of the new music is my deep respect for Oldfield, a fantastic instrumentalist and composer. During the recordings, I often tried to imagine what a “forgotten” full-length instrumental from his mid-career would sound like. In particular I had in mind live concerts from the early 80s; a rarity played, a track that Mr. Oldfield somehow decided to never release for mysterious reasons. Call me naive, laugh if you must but this was my line of thoughts while working on this music.



Special Thanks to Mike H, Mark H and Theuns K for feedback on early drafts.

TABOOOO

"Before The Battle" is a superb Prog Metal Rocking piece of music Stefan posted a few months ago on his cloud. It was very much one of those pieces that instantly appealed to me to do something with. Now this week at last I have finally been able to get around to working on it and this is the end result, to which I am well pleased with.

For best results I suggest you play LOUD and follow the lyrics as the chorus sections do contain me speaking in a dark evil voice which may be hard to catch all the lyrics without reading them as you go along. 

I would like to thank my good friend Stefan for giving me the opportunity to work on his truly Fantastic music, and this one purely ROCKS and I hope you enjoy....

The song as been made available as a free digital download @ Bandcamp and can be had from the link here: https://leelucas.bandcamp.com/track/before-the-battle

You can find more of Stefan's great music here on his cloud: https://soundcloud.com/rock-flexible

Before The Battle (Music by S. Kruger/Words by L.C. Lucas)

Lee Lucas - Vocals - Artwork
Rock Flexible - Guitars - Bass - Drum Programming.

The lyrics are as follows:

The hours upon us
we must prepare for the battle ahead
they'll know were coming 
so best make hast and be prepared
with Faith among us
we must be strong and stand up tall
show no fear for the enemy 
take courage and we'll win the war

With our life's in our hands
we will make a stand
and fight to the death
and shed blood and fear across their land

Before the battle
we must be prepared for war
Before the battle
we must sharpen all our swords
Before the battle
Before the Battle 

In the battle we will show our rage
let them feel the wrath of our swords
we must not be afraid
not when it comes to war

Don't ask for mercy none will be give
fight for your life it's yours to live
have the courage and the might
to take yourself
through this fight
and you will win my friend...

We must make a stand
with our life's in our hands
we must be prepared
for the battle ahead
we must stand up tall
and take them all
fight to the death
and shed blood and fear across their land
their land

Please find time to leave comments to which are always very well appreciated and many thanks for listening.

Free Download

Lee Lucas & Rock Flexible - Before The Battle

https://soundcloud.com/mskingjazzsinger
Haven't worked my friend in awhile and found this on her page so give it a go for couple hours now just playing it...I'm ok with this take!!! :D Straight through!!! Thanks Lorraine!!! xoxo This was fun!!! :D 

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Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. We are all made up of the same stuff that made the stars, we are all stardust... We are the universe.

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Progressive Ambient Rock artist.
All tracks Written, Performed and Produced by Aedificium.

Thanks for listening.