Music: Jan Schonander
Crows from Pixabay
Image generated with OpenAI with a prompt

The anticipation - the standoff - the requiem 

A favorite movie of mine from my younger days is "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" famously ending in a Mexican Standoff between Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef. Directed by Sergio Leone with music by Ennio Morricone I recommend this spaghetti western to anybody who hasn't seen it.  On a whim I thought I would perform a musical reenactment, although in my version there are no survivors.

The experimental part of this has to do with the reverb on the drums in the "shootout" to simulate gunshots.

A Mexican standoff is a confrontation where no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Any party initiating aggression might trigger everyone's demise. At the same time, the parties are unable to extract themselves from the situation without suffering a loss. [Wikipedia]

Mexican Standoff

Cast of characters:
Surfers Like Us– @user-411502040 –Artur–composition and foundational rhythm guitar
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–guitar solos choruses, mix, and production
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell –electric piano, synth, and intro composition
K2 and the Three [and the Four]-- @k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez–Guitar solo in the verses
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –four string fretless bass guitar
 
This song began with Artur composing the entire skeleton, and recording it against a mechanical beat. He presented it to me, and I immediately shared it with The Eclectic Collective. Ken first replaced the metronomic beat with a real, rocking drum sound. I promptly added my four string fretless bass to it, to complete the rhythm section. Soon after, JJ added his electric piano magic, including a short solo, to the stew. Once the rhythmic framework was laid down, Stephen got to work on the choruses, coming up with solid, melodic lines for them. Then, it was Tez's turn to light up the verses with his monster guitar. When we had it mostly completed, Artur asked JJ if he'd do an intro to it. JJ came up with the whole psychedelic intro in response. 
  When it was finished, we asked Stephen if he would mix it for us, which he did with his typical mastery and attention to detail. We all really enjoy making music with Artur, and have been fans of and collaborators with him for almost a year now. If you like the sound of this song, you would do well to go check out his page, too, as he has a bunch of gems on there. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Tell Me the Truth (Eclectic Collective with Surfers Like Us)

Tablettenfresse

From the Album: "Arrhythmia & Blues" 2024

Lyrics:
Do you need some more cash?
A big old stack
Right there in your pants
Look at you, getting more than the next guy
A bigger slice of the pie
Do you like it like that?
Need more cash?
Look at your bad self out on that dance floor
Gucci sunglasses
A Louis Vuitton money belt
Fill your life with beautiful things
It gives you everything you need
But still you say:

I need something more
(Happiness is where you are)
I have nothing left
(Let the sunshine in your heart)
I feel emptiness
(Feel the magic of the earth)
What more can I get?
(Do you fill up with things where you hurt?)
Let me rhapsodize
I am happy with my slice
5% of paradise

You're getting a bigger bite at the apple
MMMM, it's coming soon
All these things, that gives you more
Va-va-voom
(Va-va-voom!)
Costco size it!
You've got more possessions
Then a Pharaoh
In an Egyptian tomb

But still you say:
I need something more
(Happiness is where you are)
I have nothing left
(Let the sunshine in your heart)
I feel emptiness
(Feel the magic of the earth)
What more can I get?
(Do you fill up with things where you hurt?)
Let me rhapsodize
I am happy with my slice
5% of paradise

Need some more cash?
A big stack in your pants?

5% Of Paradise

This song completes the release of the album Urbanicity. Thank you for listening.
Composition and Sampling collage by Synline.
Artwork By Toshiharu Watanabe

Get It Started

bullshit live phone recording. also, probably not right, but whatever. 
original: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BdpOa6GcRtI&pp=ygUhcm9sbGluZyBzdG9uZXMgc2hlIHNtaWxlZCBzd2VldGx5

she smiled sweetly (rolling stones cover)

Saxophone improvisations from 1987's Resonance.
www.jh0st.com/resonance

"And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet"

- TS Eliot, The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Resonance

05/05/1987

Talking Of Michelangelo (Resonance 1987)

Father Richard "Dick" O'***** was an inner city street priest who distributed customized "feel good" elixirs before he was defrocked and eventually incarcerated.   He used to hang out with his followers on the corner of Pico and Washington and do free-form rap, loosely incorporating biblical themes.

Father Dick's Premium Cure-All

CAST OF CHARACTERS:
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- electric piano, synth, seed idea
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –  vocals, lyrics, mix, and production
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – guitar
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–banjo, guitar, sitar, and final mastering
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums, seed idea
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – four-string fretless bass

Composition – The Eclectic Collective
This song started in probably the most effective way our group writes them. Ken had a spectacular drum beat that was unused in a previous project, so JJ composed and recorded  a chord arrangement with his magical keys. Once we had a beat and a chord structure, Josh came along and added his foundational bass. 
     Now that the rhythm section was complete and the chord structure was in place, Stephen added his unique melody line that you hear at the beginning and every other verse on his magic banjo. He also plays all the initial guitar until around 1:40, where Tez takes over. Stephen also added some really trippy sitar in the vocal section. Then it was time for Tez to add some spice to the mix with his fiery guitar solos from about 1:40 on, eventually building up to a crescendo towards the end. 
     Once we had all the music down, we realized that we had a big gap in the bridge without much going on in it. So, Mark came through with an old poem he had written on his fridge with word magnets for his daughter more than a decade ago, and expanded on it for this song. (the poem is loosely based on the idea that our dreams exist in a digital environment/universe) The young girl's voice you hear echoing Mark's filtered voice is his daughter, in her first appearance with the EC. 
     The song was now finished, except for Mark using his production skills to trim and move a few things, then mix it. While we usually defer to Tez or Stephen for the mix, Mark did such a great job, we decided to keep his mix. Stephen did, however master and EQ it to make it a finished product. 
     This song was truly put together as a whole band effort, showcasing what the Eclectic Collective can do. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.  

Original lyrics by Mistermark:  

The moon flickers on
and rises and dances
across a celestial stage
as dreamers paint the pixels of their mind 
like an infinite canvas 

Sleep away tiny egg
and leave a delicate thread 
of memory behind 
but never log out 
you are in the elaborate web
always

-------------------------------------------
here's a photo of the original fridge magnet poem from years ago:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/2257994722/in/album-1495769/

and here's some collections of photos I took over the years:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_boucher/albums/

Dancing Moon (The Eclectic Collective)

Greek Flora

Miss U ft. MISSA

Check out my Album: "All This Useless Beauty". Americana songs reflecting on bad times and good. Thanks for listening!

I try to write with rich lyrical details and self-deprecating humor about the human condition. Plus, that unique Shade Structure sound!  It sounds best with headphones. Thanks for any comments, reposts or likes.

Discography: Available under Album tag on my Soundcloud main page. Free Downloads/ Always Free
* The Curse Of A Good Looking Ghost (2024)
* Low Profile (2024)
* Smilers (EP 2023)
•Short Songs For Tall Minds"  (2022)
•Friends, They're Gonna Get Your Story Wrong (2021)
•A Suburban Dadaist With Some Store Bought Beats (2021)
•All Feel and No Technique (2020)
•This Is How I Spend My Nights (2019)
•California Songs (2018-2019)
All sounds contained within are home-made/DIY recordings. Most songs are short stories, as I am influenced by Musicians & Writers like Raymond Carver, Warren Zevon, Mountain Goats, Tom Waits, Mark Eitzel,  Randy Newman, Destroyer, Steely Dan, Captain Beefheart, Loudon Wainwright III, Leonard Cohen & The National. Most songs have the lyrics on the song page. Thank you for listening!