Vol. 9

My favourite tunes to unwind to after a long day.  Thank you to the artists and writers who provide such wonderful melodies and soundscapes. 

All the best,
Max

Chill Music

shut out the moonman soundtrack

Rivers

From the Mountain Top Ep by Echo Messenger

Help! I'm on fire

With reverence to @Burn-it-Smith for a strong dose of inspiration. The Barrelhouse Bard from Brighton is SoundCloud's leading purveyor of upright wit and wisdom. Check him out.

You’re so beautiful when you are drunk
Your left eye goes lazy and you act like a punk
You laugh as you trip on the heels of your pumps
You’re so beautiful when you are drunk

I get lost in your glassy eyed stare
You’re the center of attention but you don’t even care
I mumble, “I love you,” like it’s some kind of prayer
You just give me your glassy eyed stare

We stumble through the streets and I fall down at your feet
It’s the same old thing we did last week
Another beer cave for us to spelunk 
Just another drink with just another drunk

You have grace, glamour, and style
As you fumble with the phone that you can’t even dial
We sleep in the taxi that only takes us a mile
So much for grace glamour and style

I love the smell of merlot on your breath
As you yell at the door as if it were deaf
On the couch like a corpse the only thing that is left
Is the smell of merlot on your breath

Pink elephants on parade, will we ever have it made?
The money’s always gone before I get paid
And all I can think of after all I have thunk
Is you’re so beautiful when you are drunk
You’re so beautiful when you are drunk

You're So Beautiful When You Are Drunk

Soul Elixir

A collaboration between Casino Moon and Italian singer-songwriter Erica Mou.

Out of the Rain (feat. Erica Mou)

JUST BECAUSE...

Accordion and Vocals - Susanne Kozo
Guitar and Vocals-        Terry Brooks

Accordion.... 1960's Weltmeister

Mamas Got A Squeeze Box (cover by The Who)

Please feel free to check out my lyric video of “Alone” on my YouTube channel.   

Lyric Video:  https://youtu.be/Bj63weum9js

Peace and love,
Max



Lyrics

I heard the words you sang to me
Sadly so serene
The melody hangs over me
Sacred and obscene
With wounds never meant to heal
Open and laid bare
And words I don't wanna hear
Hanging in the air

And I don't...want to say
I couldn't find a way
To make you want to stay
And now...I have to go
Go on alone

Love it can burn into the soul
And fade with the wind
The words left unspoken now
Will linger in the end
Your love's like a reverie
Of a long forgotten road
Broken down and weathered
Nowhere left to go

And I don't...want to say
I couldn't find a way
To make you want to stay
And now...I dont want to go
Go on alone

Alone

dark folk / lo-fi / gauzy 
James Bracken cut his teeth as a sideman lending his soulful vibrato and rhythm playing to Ian Hilmer’s Stagefright, an alternative string band from southern MN. The band performed extensively regionally, steadily gaining grassroots momentum circulating live bootlegs but never releasing an album, which ultimately ended the band and each of the members went on to front their own project.  

Several hundred bar gigs later a fortuitous connection with Rochester producer Fires of Denmark led to a productive series of recording sessions documenting Bracken’s expansive catalog and tracking a brand new batch of songs set to be released as Echo Messenger.

From the Mountaintop (acoustic)

Here's a live video the song, introduced by Christian. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJkdo0Pcmlw




I was 16 when I arrived in Liverpool, in 1955
I knew no one, thought no one knew me
Till I heard someone call out my name


At the port I was ordered to sign papers
but I could not read or write
Ashamed and weighed down
It said with me all through my life

Leaving Ireland, is my way back to you
I will return very soon
Over the sea that separates you and me

Part of a three track EP, Where lines meet, featuring Dónal Lunny 
Mastered by Ivan O'Shea live sound engineer for Danú. 
Bouzouki, guitar, bass and drum programming Dónal Lunny
All vocals, acoustic, ukulele Suzanne Ledwith
Music, lyrics and photograph by Suzanne Ledwith
Vocals, guitar and ukulele recorded by Suzanne Ledwith
All songs copywritten.

Leaving Ireland

Leaving Ireland feat: Dónal Lunny

Music Video - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8kjYKRi1YI

From A Time

Photograph: https://www.yankodesign.com/category/architecture/


Feeling all this anger, feeling all this anger
Taking out on you.  I'm taking it out on me
Starts off as a hive on my skin
Turns into a hill, in my brain
I take a look through my ear
It's turned into a 

Live Studio recording, engineered by Darren Flynn.
Drums Steve O'Keeffe
Bass guitar Bernard Byrne
Lead vocals, BV and rhythm guitar Suzanne Ledwith

Change of Address

Mountain

say a prayer for me
i got my finger on the trigger and it's ready to squeeze
say a prayer for me
i got involved with someone who feels no empathy
say a prayer for me
i'm sick of letting God down habitually
say a prayer for me
i don't want to spend more time in purgatory
cuz when you're on my mind you make me wanna die (x4)
say a prayer for me
my fingers tremble while holding my rosary beads
say a prayer for me
mortal sins are the only gifts you've given to me
say a prayer for me
i know the only thing you love is your twitter feed
say a prayer for me
i'll never fit into your communist fantasy

Say A Prayer For Me

Just a beginning of a song I'm working on. I hope you like it.

Brutal Death Metal (No Title)

im back
(new mix)
old mix is on spotify still

Bird on the window pane

You are listening to an original song by Emily Kate Boyd. The lyrics were directly inspired by a conversation between Krista Tippett and John O'Donohue.  

"O Sweet River"
by Emily Kate Boyd

O Sweet River,
Carry the memory of her pain
To the wind-tormented sands
Of the sea

These days so restless,
Rich and unsatisfied,
Like the sorrow of a king
Ruled by his endless, lonely nights

When every idea comes to mind
On the back porch seems to die,
O Sweet River, stay alive
Stay alive

O Sweet River,
Will you remind me of the night,
I was humbled and took the shape
Of the mist, the well, the lake?

When my tears fell upon her face,
I was humble
Formless
In her grace

Teach me to trust this and keep faith
As I surrender to this place
Dissolve the hard and entangled shape
Of my fear

I’ll be grateful, I’ll be kind
And I’ll keep good love on my mind
I’ll be grateful
Kind

All my love, all my friends
All I need in good hands

All my love, all my friends
All I need in good hands

In the Woods

O Sweet River

Just Wanna Be Me (with Paul Weller)

konabros.band-find me a river

Tomorrow is a Trap

White Wolf

Hi folk!
What better opportunity to write songs when you're indoors to escape the Corona virus.
Greetings from Italy!
I am still alive!
(headphones recommended)
Italian lyric below

Nessuno sa 
quando tutto finirà
Intanto c’è chi fugge
In preda al panico
Uscire è un delitto
Non è più un diritto
Se resti a casa 
forse si risolverà

Nelle corsie la polmonite decima 
coloro che la guerra un giorno risparmiò
Non basta la tempra
Ci vuole fortuna
e speri che oggi ci sia un letto anche per te

Le crisi sai son’opportunità
E rallentare al corpo certo gioverà
Stai un po' con le mani in mano
Il ritmo circadiano
E resta accanto a chi vuoi bene per un po’

Io intanto passo il tempo a scrivere
canzoni che qualcuno forse ascolterà
ma ho voglia di uscire
di stendermi al sole
così l’apocalisse 
vivo mi troverà.

Virus

not a single day

i must have been so caught up in nothing
i've seen the way ideas die
and things that come so easily to others
are harder to achieve or even try

and everything is fine

i'm more ordinary than i realized
a disappointment to my vainglory
my grandiosity is in decline
i would like to be forgotten

all i'll be is a wrench in the machine

grandiosity (demo)

Siena

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded and mixed using Logic. Mastered in Soundcloud
Guitars played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning 
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
LYRICS: 
Some would say I’ve got no sense of direction
Some would say I’ve got no sense at all
Some would say I’m going round in circles
Like a clock ticking on the the wall

Maybe I do 
Maybe I don’t
Maybe I will 
Maybe I won’t

Some people say I move too fast
Some people say I move too slow
Some people say there’s no need to move at all
If you don’t know where to go

Maybe I do 
Maybe I don’t
Maybe I will 
Maybe I won’t

I might go looking for the sun in the morning
Or maybe in the afternoon
Sit back with a cold beer in the evening
And just look up at the moon 

Some would say head for the highlands 
Some say the lowlands are for me 
Some would say just follow your heart
Wherever that may be

Maybe I do 
Maybe I don’t
Maybe I will 
Maybe I won’t

I might go looking for the sun in the morning
Or maybe in the afternoon
Sit back with a cold beer in the evening
And just look up at the moon 

Maybe I do 
Maybe I don’t
Maybe I will 
Maybe I won’t

Maybe I Do

dark-folk/gauzy/lo-fi/singer-songwriter

James Bracken found a fortuitous connection that led to a productive series of recording sessions documenting Bracken’s expansive catalog and tracking a brand new batch of songs released as Echo Messenger.    

Instagram 
https://www.instagram.com/echo.messenger


Local rag...
https://www.postbulletin.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/tuesday-tracklist-echo-messenger?fbclid=IwAR3oL-B7JWfeihD-ANDbGLom56QGouNqRRPEsU6e_YRWnXsvasrWEwVqYps

Live performance...
https://youtu.be/NuHSe3DGuYA?si=w7JLTgwH2OJXT_wk

Self produced album...
https://youtu.be/MpFcmCt57q4?si=JJhdjLRHkgVzn66E

From the Mountaintop (acoustic)

EchoMessenger