On 11 December 2021, we released our previous album with an intended style of mostly film score music "Croisière du monde", exclusively and freely available (as has been our purpose and habit) here on SoundCloud. We, then, agreed on a break, to recharge and generate new musical ideas. This break did not last more than two weeks, because on Christmas Day precisely, 25 December 2021, Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) sent to me his initial version of what became our 1st track ("Daydream Fire") in the new album of early 2022 we are now releasing, "Let There Be Peace!". We hope you'll enjoy this album as much as our earlier collaborative albums.

As we entered into the new 2022, we felt some optimism, as the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have become more and more limited - especially in Europe. But then, on 24 February 2022, our world changed ominously: Ukraine was attacked by Russian troops... This turn of events seems to have been reflected partly (without or with intention) in our emotions and choice of music and titles for our collaborations after this date. Most of our compositions completed before this date have correspondingly ambient / electronic / synthpop / dance flavour, and have titles and artwork covers that differ (Roberto B insisted that we this time do not stick to a single artwork cover for all tracks in the album, but have a different one for each, and I agreed). The eponymous last track, "Let There Be Peace!", came out spontaneously, and out of the initially intended frame, so it was an exception from the original idea for the album, but in effect became symbolic and constitutes our prayer for the world! What is also unique to this album is that, thanks to Roberto B, we dared to produce our first ever two songs, based on amazing vocalists he discovered in the MAGIX vocal samples and integrated into our music: "Never Let Me Go" (track 5) and "Fierce and Proud" (track 9).

The album contains 11 tracks, ordered in a chronological sequence - with one exception: the last track was, in fact, No. 9 chronologically, but we decided to keep it for the special role of closing the album. The duration of the album is 1 hour and 16 minutes. It was composed, recorded and mixed over three months, essentially, with track 10 (the last chronologically) coming after some pause, in MAGIX (by Roberto B) and GarageBand iOS and Logic Pro X (by Alex M): namely, between 25 December 2021 (the 1st-ordered track) and 4 May 2022 (the last-but-one ordered, 10th track). It was released on SoundCloud on 5 May 2022 (together with track 10).

The artwork cover for the album (and its closing eponymous track) is based on a photo taken by Alex M on 28 August 2021 and cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 9 March 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you so much, Roberto - for our continuous, now two-year old, collaboration in search for the beauty of music!

Let There Be Peace! - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I commence 2022 with plans for new collaborative compositions, which will be appearing here on SoundCloud initially as separate individual tracks but will finally be collected into an SC album, now launched and in progress. We hope that you'll enjoy the (chronologically) 1st composition , "Daydream Fire", as track 1 in this new collaborative album of ours.  It includes vocal samples from MAGIX selected and mixed by Roberto B in MAGIX.

The track was created in collaboration on 25 December 2021 (initial mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), 26 December 2021 (subsequent additions, mix and recording in GarageBand iOS and Logic Pro X by Alex M, in fact using an earlier unreleased composition of 15, 16 and 24 December 2021) and 26 December 2021 (further arrangements and recording, with final mix, in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 7 January 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track zooms into one part/section of an oil painting by Roberto B of 4 January 2022, and was cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 5 January 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you for our collaborative music, once again, Roberto!

Duration: 6:13 minutes

Daydream Fire - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "Angel in the Dark", as track 2 in our new collaborative album of 2022.

The track was created in collaboration on 8 January 2022 (initial mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 11 January 2022 (subsequent additions, and final mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 11 January 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track uses an oil painting by Roberto B, and was cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 11 January 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you for our collaborative music, once again, Roberto!

Duration: 5:59 minutes

Angel in the Dark - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "I Can Breathe Again", as track 3 in our new collaborative album of 2022.

The track was created in collaboration on 22 January 2022 (initial mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 23 January 2022 (subsequent additions and final mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 23 January 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track uses an oil painting by Roberto B of 21 January 2022, and was cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 23 January 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you for our collaborative music, once again, Roberto!

Duration: 9:35 minutes

I Can Breathe Again - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "Space Dust, as track 4 in our new collaborative album of 2022. It includes vocal samples selected from free Internet sources and mixed by Roberto B in MAGIX.

The track was created in collaboration on 30 December 2021 and 4 January 2022 (initial and subsequent mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro X by Alex M), 5 January and 23 January 2022 (further additions, arrangement, mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and 29 January 2022 (final additions, arrangement, mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro X by Alex M), and posted here on SoundCloud on 30 January 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track zooms into one part/section of an oil painting by Roberto B of 4 January 2022, and was cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 5 January 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you for our collaborative music, once again, Roberto!

Duration: 6:27 minutes

Space Dust - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "Never Let Me Go", as track 5 in our new collaborative album of 2022. This is, in fact, our first song (after many joint instrumental compositions), acknowledging gratefully the use of a beautiful voice from the MAGIX vocal samples, selected and integrated by Roberto B.

The track was created in collaboration on 3 February 2022 (initial mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 4 and 5 February 2022 (subsequent additions and final mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 5 February 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track uses an abstract image created by Alex M on 29 June 2021 (in Tayasui Sketch in Mac OS), then cropped (in Mac OS Preview), on 30 June 2021, and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 5 February 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you, and our anonymous MAGIX vocalist, for our 1st - inspired and spontaneous - collaborative song, Roberto!

Duration: 7:01 minutes

Never Let Me Go - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "Far Away", as track 6 in our collaborative album in progress since the start of 2022. We hope you'll enjoy it, as much as the preceding tracks from this album we already posted here. 

The track was created in collaboration on 9 February 2022 (initial mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 10 February 2022 (subsequent additions, mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B; followed by further additions, arrangements and final mix by Alex M in Logic Pro), and posted here on SoundCloud on 10 February 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track was created by Alex M on 10 February 2022 (in Tayasui Sketch in Mac OS), then cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) the same evening - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you so much, Roberto, for this inspired and spontaneous dreamy - and symbolic! - collaboration of ours!

Duration: 6:04 minutes

Far Away - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "20 Days", as track 7 in our collaborative album in progress since the start of 2022. We hope you'll enjoy it, as much as the preceding tracks from this album we already posted here.

The track was created in collaboration on 14, 19 and 20 February 2022 (initial and subsequent mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 21 February 2022 (further and final additions, arrangements, mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 22 February 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track was created by Alex M on 22 February 2022 (in Tayasui Sketch in Mac OS), then cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) the same evening - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you so much, Roberto, for this dreamy and jazzy ambient collaboration of ours!

Duration: 7:24 minutes

20 Days - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "Egeia (Oriental Mix)", as track 8 in our collaborative album in progress since the start of 2022. It was Roberto who recently proposed a new and different version and mix for our composition "Egeia", https://soundcloud.com/alexander-mihailov-96713983/egeia-roberto-b-alex-m, which we had posted here on SoundCloud on 3 September 2021 as track 12 in an earlier album, "Midnight Coffee" (2021), https://soundcloud.com/alexander-mihailov-96713983/sets/midnight-coffee.

The track was created in collaboration on 29, 30 and 31 August 2021 (initial recording, arrangements and mix in GarageBand and Logic Pro X by Alex M) and 23, 24, 25 and 27 February 2022 (subsequent additions, arrangements, recording and final mix in MAGIX by Roberto B) and posted here on SoundCloud on 27 February 2022 (by Alex M). We have used sound effects from Alex M's own sample of field recordings, namely, Gentle Early Morning Sea Waves (recorded on 26 August 2021, on the beach in the village of Kariani, Aegean Sea coast, north Greece).

The artwork cover is based on a photo taken by Alex M (on 25 August 2021 on the beach in the village of Kariani, Aegean Sea coast, north Greece), cropped and annotated on 27 February 2022 in Preview (Mac OS) by Alex M.

Thank you so much, Roberto - for the beautiful musical ideas in this 2nd version and mix of our inspired "Egeia"!

Duration: 6:43 minutes

Egeia (Oriental Mix) - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000 and I are glad to present "Let There Be Peace!", as track 9 in our collaborative album in progress since the start of 2022. We hope you'll enjoy it.

The track was created in collaboration on 14, 19, 21 February and 9 March 2022 (initial and subsequent mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 8, 9 and 10 March 2022 (further additions, arrangements, and final mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 10 March 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track is based on a photo taken by Alex M on 28 August 2021 and cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 9 March 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you so much, Roberto, for this inspired collaboration of ours: we are praying for peace!

Duration: 5:54 minutes

Roberto B (https://soundcloud.com/mgxloop and https://soundcloud.com/volt5000) and I are glad to present “Fierce and Proud", as track 9 in our new collaborative album of 2022 under the title 'Let There Be Peace!". This is, in fact, our second song (after “Never Let Me Go” and many joint instrumental compositions), acknowledging gratefully the use of vocal samples from MAGIX, selected and integrated by Roberto B.

The track was created in collaboration on 9 and 10 March 2022 (initial mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B) and 19 March 2022 (subsequent additions and final mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro X by Alex M, in effect, extending and arranging a draft of 2 February 2022), and posted here on SoundCloud on 20 March 2022 (by Alex M).

The artwork cover for the track uses a photo taken (on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near Aveiro, north Portugal) by Alex M on 21 February 2020, cropped and annotated with text by Alex M (in Mac OS Preview) on 20 March 2022 - in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you, Roberto, and our anonymous MAGIX vocalists, for our 2nd - inspired and spontaneous - collaborative song!

Duration: 9:10 minutes

Fierce and Proud - Roberto B & Alex M

Roberto B (@mgxloop and @volt5000) and I are glad to present "Ephémérie 5 (Extended Collaborative Version)", as track 10 (last-but-one) in our collaborative album "Let There Be Peace!", which we started in early January 2022 and which we (just decided to) complete today - and I'll post it (exclusively and freely) here on SC as a whole album in minutes. We hope you'll enjoy this extended collaborative version of an earlier track of mine, "Ephémérie 5 (Acoustic Guitar)" (https://soundcloud.com/alexander-mihailov-96713983/ephemerie-5-acoustic-guitar), as well as the album in its entirety.

The track was created in collaboration on 28, 29 and 30 March 2021 (1st part, acoustic guitar: initial mix and recording in GarageBand and Logic Pro by Alex M) and 2, 3 and 4 May 2022 (2nd part, electro house: extension with further additions, arrangements, and final mix and recording in MAGIX by Roberto B), and posted here on SoundCloud on 5 May 2022 (by Alex M), together with the whole "Let There Be Peace!" collaborative album of ours.

The artwork cover for the track is based on a photo taken on 28 June 2018 (by Alex M, in Golfo di Orosei, Sardegna), then resized and saved in JPG format in MacOS Preview (by Alex M) on 26 January 2019, and finally annotated on 4 May 2022 in MacOS Preview (by Alex M) - and in coordination and agreement with Roberto B.

Thank you so much, Roberto, for the inspired collaboration on our new album, just out here on SC (exclusively and freely) today: we are praying for peace!

Duration: 5:18 minutes

Ephémérie 5 (Extended Collaborative Version)- Roberto B & Alex M

I have always admired music, of diverse styles. Like most of us, I have tried learning to play a few instruments at a basic level in my teenage. But it is only now, in the 21st century, that modern software allows anyone to fool around being the composer, the designer of a whole composition, simpler or more complex, organising together the parts of the various instruments - and to hear the results of this experimentation or inspiration instantly! That is how I have recently begun enjoying the distraction of attempts at composing during my leisure, discovering an amazing dimension of life, and art, perhaps the most intangible, heightening and hypnotising one, and the closest to the soul... (21 August 2017) ... Forgot to mention: music is for sharing - that's why we are all here! (4 September 2017)