See youtube clip :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd55hsc6ltc

Passacaglia - Handel / Halvorsen (2023 Remix by Classical Electro)

The time we are given in this life is the crosswalk of our crossing. This song is part of the Mediterrâneo sequence.

PASSADEIRA

Parei o carro, que a passadeira é para parar.
Principalmente quando é um velhinho a atravessar.
Tremem-lhe as pernas, na tentativa de acelerar o passo minúsculo.
E eu até duvido que ele vá chegar ao outro lado,
a qualquer rua, a qualquer lugar.
Falta-lhe o tempo num mundo feito para circular.
E ele sacode o corpo, na tentativa de me acenar,
a agradecer-me a paciência do meu esperar.
E fez-se tarde, e eu vou ter mesmo que acelerar nesta viagem,
rumo a um futuro crepuscular,
que cruza a estrada de um deus que espera sem me apitar,
porque a minha vida vida é a passadeira do meu passar.

E fez-se tarde no meu passar.
Tremem as pernas no meu passar.
Tropeça o passo no meu passar.
E Deus à espera... 
É a passadeira do meu passar.

CROSSWALK
I stopped the car, the crosswalk is there for me to stop.
Especially when it's a frail old man crossing.
His legs tremble, in an attempt to accelerate the tiny steps.
And I even doubt he'll make it to the other side,
to any street, to anywhere.
He's short of time in a world made to circulate.
And he shakes his body, trying to wave at me,
to thank me for the patience of my waiting.
And it's getting late, and I'm really going to have to speed up on this trip,
towards a twilight future,
that crosses the road of a god who waits without horning at me,
because my life is the crosswalk of my crossing.

And I'm getting late in my crossing,
my legs trembling as I cross,
my steps stumbling as I cross.
And God just waiting for me,
because it's the crosswalk of my crossing.

Passadeira

Raro

"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing"
- Archilochus. See also  e.g. Ronald M. Dworkin, Justice for Hedgehogs (2011)


A song to the one and only who knows it. 

This is an improvised song I played and recorded the other day (my apologies for the mistakes). It is not much but I just had to play it. I am not in the advertising business and I have to mention as a private person for non-commercial purposes that this song is also a mellow celebration of the Rhodes Electric Piano which is one of the most beautiful instruments I have ever encountered in my life (after my U1 upright piano..). I first heard Rhodes electric piano when I was a little child, and for many years I wondered "What is that?". Now after all these years I got enough resources to get the official Rhodes V8 Pro virtual electric piano.

In a larger context this song is also - despite the fact that it's played in the minor key - a mellow celebration of life. It is to celebrate this particular day and everything this day brings with it.

This song was inspired especially by a particular performance of an old song loosely translated from Finnish to English as "The Vagabond's Night Star" (composed by Mr. Toivo Kärki and arranged by one of the greatest jazz pianists in this country, Mr. Olli Ahvenlahti); it was the song where I for the first time heard the amazing sound of an electric piano many years ago. This song was also inspired by the song "Eternal Child" composed by the late great musician and composer Mr. Chick Corea, and also especially by the memorable music of The Alan Parsons Project.

The song was played by me with my Korg SGProX digital stage piano, using Yamaha Montage 8 synthesizer as an audio interface and using e.g. the following instruments: 
- Rhodes V8 Pro electric piano (Mk8);
- UVI T20 Electric 2 Chorus (cf. MKS-20);
- Arturia V Collection / 1982 Acoustic Grand;
- Arturia Mellotron V (guitar, strings);
- UVI Kroma (brass);
- UVI PX Memories (brass, pad; cf. Memorymoog, LAMM);
- UVI Ultramini and Arturia Mini V (bass) and
- UVI Soul Drums. 

Once again I use this opportunity to present a wish: Please let us have the strength to take decent care of each other and ourselves and let us always try to treat each other with due concern and respect.

The Mellow One and Only

A real pleasure to present to you perhaps the strangest song I have ever collaborated on. Gary simply sent me a line of prose to be used as an acrostic, where each word is the beginning of a line of lyrics. Nothing else. Blank canvas. The original words are "Show Those Ones You Love That They Are Adored Fully, Encompassed Within My Daily Thoughts Are Peaceful Intentions Towards Them All"

He asked me to make up some lyrics and a melody, any key, then to sing the tune to a click track and he would do the rest. To top it off the title of the song is acronymous - ACRONYM standing for the full title, which is "A collaborative record of nostalgia, yearning (&) memories"

Acronym

Show that I love you and hold all
Those memories close to my heart..those
Ones that we all made together. 
You mean all the world what we call
Love has been from the start..the thing
That will unite us forever. 
They make us gold
Are all we know
Adored until we're old
Fully complete

Encompassed by magic and fire
Within our safe house, desire, yeah 
My future is with you together 
Daily my prayer to our Maker, our
Thoughts mingle sweetly forever 
Are only of one and the other
Peaceful night
Intentions right
Toward the light, hold
Them tight
All complete

I did my usual trick of slapping something down, nipping to Bruges to check that the Trappist Monks were still making beer to my rigorous personal standards and leaving all the heavy lifting to him. Through an elaborate ritual of digital ceremonial magic, electronic alchemy, Job-like patience and wiffle dust he has produced this. Fascinating how he uses tonal and atonal harmony to create tension, power and release, matching it so well to the emotion of the words.

The lyrics are a paean to family and friends, his, mine, yours, ours.
If you've not experienced Gary and Jamie's work, please check them out
https://soundcloud.com/one-other where he has also uploaded this collaboration
https://soundcloud.com/one-other/acronym

As Thom, https://soundcloud.com/esyrup agrees, time is our only enemy. :)

Initial words, music, arrangement and production: Gary
Additional lyrics and Vocals: Nick

Be good, you little rascals

Nick

Pic: Nick (Barry Beach South Wales)

Acronym - ThePhaige and Nicholas Ridiculous

A little Les Paul guitar and Precision bass.
Photo base for artwork by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

The Groove Is All

Ymblis [part 2]

Hourglass

Take_a_Ride

old friend

A chapter inspired by the retro-futurist synth soundtracks of the 80s and modern darkwave textures. A cinematic night drive through neon-lit streets 

Arcade Paradise - Skip Skip

French music producer
See my music with video here :
https://www.youtube.com/@classicalelectro