Imagine you're stuck with your blues buddies in a Texan desert with nothing but empty cans of oil, a guitar and a blues harp. While the sun is slowly melting your brain, you jam polyrhythm on trash cans and end up with instrumental blues rock. Something you'd never do when you're of sound mind. Are you ready for the Western showdown?

This song is part of the album "Quarterlife Blues" that can be downloaded on Bandcamp. 
https://nadinedemacedo.bandcamp.com/album/quarterlife-blues

Nadine de Macedo: composition, arrangement, programming, production
Mark Koschwitz: harmonica, solo

Where to find us:
https://soundcloud.com/nadinedemacedo
https://soundcloud.com/mark-p-koschwitz

Quarterlife Blues

High Noon

INNOVATIVE AND CREATIVE 
Vocals and Verses: IPG1 
https://soundcloud.com/ipg1/innovative-and-creative-vocal-96-bpm
Paploviante: 
E Bass, Music, Mix and Production

Innovative And Creative - IPG1 and Paploviante

Greetings and good afternoon to my SC friends. This is the 10th and final song intended for my upcoming album ‘What Color Is Your Paradox’. It is also my 7th mind-blowing collaboration with our dear friend Carlos Vivanco (https://soundcloud.com/carlosvivanco-1, https://carlosvivanco1.bandcamp.com). 

This piece was highly entertaining and challenging to work on. We started with clearly defined regions (mine being the more techno sounding stuff… Carlos building the traditional instrument sections). I then mangled the whole thing, and tried to blur the lines more as the song progresses, until both worlds felt fully merged by the end. At least, that was the goal. I’ll let you decide if the structure succeeds in that regard. :)

The title is also quite significant to me at this point in my life; based on the idea of ‘masking’, and our growing inability to do so. 

If you aren’t familiar with the term ‘masking’, one Mental Health Care website I found defines it this way: “Masking often involves suppressing or hiding true emotions, which can lead to a buildup of unresolved feelings and contribute to increased stress, anxiety, and emotional turmoil in the long-term. In the context of mental health and neurodivergence, masking refers to the actions or coping strategies that individuals use to conceal their genuine thoughts, emotions, or challenges.”

It didn’t really occur to me at first that I was masking when I was younger. I guess that idea doesn’t resonate when you’re deeply lost in the illusion; at least, until something makes it obvious. But in hindsight, I’ve worn many masks over the course of my life (Art Director, Technician, Pre-Press Specialist and Graphic Artist would be some of my professional masks. And I would even go so far as to include Husband, Father and Son, since I was on auto-pilot during the earliest stages of those as well). 

As my life progressed, I felt more and more insincere in those roles. I felt something was wrong. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Then COVID (something that actually required us to wear real masks. What irony!) came along, and miraculously changed that for all of us. We gained the necessary space we needed, to finally see the illusion more clearly. Now, that illusion grows more fragile and transparent by the day. So while I’m still in the early stages of trying to figure out the new paradigm… I suspect the really critical takeaway at this point is just recognizing when we’re being our genuine selves, and when we’re lost in a role; especially if that role is debilitating to our personal growth and well being.

Another thing I’m thinking a lot on these days…. Society is dependent on me playing those roles. And society doesn’t really care whether I’m happy or not (as long as I keep paying my bills, and buying their products, and believing their lies). So maybe, just maybe, society doesn’t have my best interests at heart (as I had originally hoped). Maybe… just maybe… we’re going to need to redefine who we are personally, as we stop playing along with this globally unconscious and ultimately destructive agenda.

Thick and chunky topic, I know. But that’s the way the world feels to me these days… like we needed a brisk slap across the face to wake us all up. COVID was that slap (and probably just the first of many still to come). It’s time to prioritize our own self interests; because if we don’t, they certainly won’t. So rip off those masks, and let your freak flag fly. It’s our life, and we’ll be the ones sitting on our deathbed, asking ourselves if we lived life true to ourselves…. or if we just fulfilled the role demanded by this illusion.

We hope you enjoy “Cracks In The Surface”; and it inspires you to think about what aspects of your reality are cracking. Keep in mind… if you still have a pulse, there is always time to change things up. :)

Paradox?

Cracks In The Surface | Carlos Vivanco & GrevusAnjl

Flaying Angels Alive

I quickly improvised this today after realising that the Northern Lights we have been seeing are an Omen. They tell us that the dark demonic forces may succeed temporarily on Earth, but they will always be defeated in the realms of the Spirit. 
This is why the improvisation ends on an optimistic note.

Bill Boethius: electro-acoustic guitar

Composed, performed & produced by Bill Boethius

The Omen of the Lights

Steel Drum and Shakuhachi flute.
Photography from catsfromspace.

Ce Qui S'en Va.

Original soundtrack for the short film 'Earl Grey Blues'.

It's Not My House

||SELEÇÃO|| Brazilian Funk Type Beat

AT LAST

Cosmic Trap

Shiny silver, eyes of steel,nothing inside ‘cept the 
rush you feel,
And your the cold wind from the unshut door
Your what’s missing from the kitchen draw
We all think we’re different, but your not the same
No magic water, gonna shift this stain 

And no ones listening and no one cares

Do you remember, the middle of that day
You lost your shadow,when the sky went grey
But silver still shone, bright in your hand
As you took the short cut,to the house of the damned
And that moments gone now, long disappeared 
Along with your shadow, even though the sky has cleared 

And no ones listening and no one cares 

Down by the river, the lights are on
You hear the sirens, sing out their song
What price forgiveness, can it be bought 
When your really sorry, that you got caught 
And they found you guilty, as you were charged 
But shiny silver is still at large

And no ones listening and no one cares 

Or so it seems

Heavy like a gold bar
They told me that I’d go far
Heavy like a gold bar

The Unshut Door( Acoustic)

(Jan 9th, 2025) Just a quick message to let you know I'm not going to be active here for a while. If you need to reach me, you can always message me at GrevusAnjl@mac.com. 
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Welcome to my sonic playground. I don't consider myself a skilled musician. I just sculpt sounds to quiet my mind... often with surprising and humorous results. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit. :)