There’s a calm yet profound feeling in this track: the music seems to invite slowing down, returning to the essentials.
The sonic weave is elegant: you sense care in the transitions, and a balance between rhythm and space that allows breathing.
A perfect moment for introspection, for posing silent questions and treating listening as a form of care.

just love your guitars...awesome playing and sound

I almost missed this, I must have been lost in another dimension a month ago! This is all fantastic and it is love at first listen! Brilliant work Jonathan

Yes, old school, boy meets girl, faces various challenges and will do anything to win over the lady. Why do I feel this might be a failing dream? In the background, guitars rumble and wail and maintain a steady machine-like beat. The voice is of course in good condition. Whatever the singer's personal fate, the mix is good, very good.

@low-mein-75111854: high praise. if it is that, it sure is by accident. thatks for stopping by!

Excellent, hooky song, Jonathan. And... I did have fun. : ) Thank you.

Jonathon Beckenstein Selection

A quirky little number!  This is the first initial trial instrumental mix for our new song Mirrors.  There's a way to go yet but we're working on it... :)

Mirrors

Moon dogs, also known as paraselenae, are bright spots on either side of the moon, symbolizing for some, spiritual growth, enhanced intuition, and self-reflection. The phenomenon is a reminder to embrace change and personal transformation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
once i was older
than i am today
I am floating     (outward bound)
half away                  


you want some answers
so do i
as we amble   (down this road) 
mystified

it’s just a moondog in the sky

time is a circle
each life a dream
let’s walk barefoot  (while we can)    
in the stream

on top of all the passion we bring
tomorrow doesn’t mean a thing

it’s just a twinkle in your eye

we’ll ride together
push it all the way
write the story   (write it down)  
burn the page

can’t protect now
going down

can’t deflect now
but don’t slow down

can’t take it with you
so just let go

kick it goodbye

--------------------------------------------------------------------

image by Sebastian Saarloos  via  space.com

Thanks to Janine Levinson, Cheesemont Paisely-Paisely, David Weiss and Wheelright and Wodwo for early listening and encouragement.

The Last Moondog

rotten weather   rollin’ in

we’ll go walkin’ anyway

‘gainst the wind


get your go-bag ready
load the car up


did you hear it?  distant roar

keep your ear down to the ground

check the score


get your hard hat ready
fill those bottles up


i can’t remember
were you there?
your fingers running
through my hair


let them come now  let them try

beating down the beautiful

of our tribe


purple mountains raging
blackened skies 
constitution’s aging
battle cry 

high angels  hiding

my country  dying

(not too late)   (late)

let’s listen  let’s breathe 

(not too late)   (late)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to Janine Levinson, Cheesemont Paisely-Paisely, and Wheelwright for early listening and feedback.

Rotten Weather

We're back.

Janine: voices, vocal melody and harmony, lyrics https://soundcloud.com/janinelevinson
Jonathan: initial music, instruments, mix
David Levinson: image

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nature has conspired to bring a basketful of obstacles 
Pesky interfering things, not the things she ought to bring 
They pile up in my way like spiky beaver dams 
They just accumulate like unbrushed tresses,

Well surprise surprise, they can be wonderful

An infantry of shoulds and bags of promises 
Have all transmogrified and curl like willow branches 
That crown around my head and vine around my feet 
And where the fire burned, they slurp the ashes

But surprise surprise, they're kinda beautiful
 it’s all so beautiful


Surprise surprise, it’s pretty beautiful
Nature is a wild thing with no philosophy 
And where the atoms turn is helter skelter 
So on the sides of trees forever lichen grows 
And mossy destiny is in their shelter

Surprise surprise, it’s all so beautiful


Surprise Surprise (with Janine Levinson)

on your mark

get ready to

cannonball

into the blue



after swimming

sparkle all around you

catch the sound

breakers breaking



stop the boat

get ready to

pick a spot

to slip into



after swimming

as the sunlight bakes you

summer sips

on a sand dune



after swimming

after swimming

come swimming

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

image by Leandro Crespi via Unsplash

After Swimming

Syd Barrett : Paroles et musique
Marc M : Voix, guitares et programmation

Baby lemonade (Syd Barrett cover)

Some thoughts that have been percolating in my mind lately (cover photo:  photo of my halloween skeleton edited with a not to scale termite and silver spoon: adobe stock images)

***
Copyright 2025
Vocals , Chords and Lyrics by Joe Stroffolino
Organ (playing my midi keyboard with sound from Logic Pro BeBop Organ)
Single Strum track  (playing my Taylor 114ce)
Second fast strumming track: PG music real track
Bass: PG Music real track
Piano:  EZ Keys2 (with sound from Native instruments Piano uno)
Drums: EZ Drummer 3
***
They say that life is a test but not everyone’s dealt the same hand
Some are born into privilege, while others struggle through quicksand
We play the cards we’re dealt as we try to find our way,
Doing our best to keep our heads above water as we go about each day.
People born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they’re rich and the die is cast
Other’s get a wooden spoon, which the termites eat, and it’s struggle not to finish last
They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it’s hard to put a smile on your face
When the game is rigged and you can’t even get to first base.
How many billions do you have to accumulate before you’re just running up the score
At what point do you decide that you don’t need anymore
Telling rags-to-riches stories, so the common man believes it’s true,
“Keep those taxes off the billionaires cause someday that might be you.”
 People born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they’re rich and the die is cast
Other’s get a wooden spoon, which the termites eat, and it’s struggle not to finish last
They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it’s hard to put a smile on your face
When the game is rigged and you can’t even get to first base.
 Politicians smiling and acting like they share your blues,
But they’d collapse in a minute trying to walk a mile in your shoes.
Lottery tickets selling hope, though the odds are that you’ll never win
You’ve got a better chance of being struck by lightning than ever cashing in.
You’ll be paying off those loans for the rest of your life from that useless college degree
As the corporations implement AI trying their best to replace you and me
 The universe is billions of years old; we come and go in a flash.
We spend our short lives obsessing over cash.
 People born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they’re rich and the die is cast
Other’s get a wooden spoon, which the termites eat, and it’s struggle not to finish last
They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it’s hard to put a smile on your face
When the game is rigged and you can’t even get to first base.

Life Is a Test

Flash ( Original ) Glenny G.  Just having some fun with the rickenbacker bass and a bit of high energy /  new wave experiment

Flash ( Original )

suddenly

Just for fun.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i’m comin’ around
i won’t back down
got a posy
i’m after you

i’m bringin’ a ring
forget everything
that i told you 
i am ready

god dammit if i have to
climb a mountain
i’ll man it with abandon
racing for you

you’re shootin’ me down
way down to the ground
still i saw you 
Seraphina

god dammit it if i have to
down a dragon
i’ll plan it for your pleasure
send it to me

has anybody
seen my baby
engine’s runnin’
get in

i’m down on my knees
cohabitees
for the weekend
will have to do

god dammit do you have to
always play me
god dammit do you have to
stove me in
god dammit it if i have to
slay a dragon

damn Phina

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to Jacques Dicroce, Janine Levinson, Cheesemont Paisely-Paisely, Wheelwright and David Weiss for early listening, critique and encouragement.

Image from Daniel Radford via Unsplash

Seraphina

Taylor 114 CE (Strumming my guitar)
Logic Pro BeBop Organ (Playing my MIDI keyboard)
Logic Pro Classic Electric Piano (Playing my MIDI Keyboard)
Drums (EZ Drummer 3)
Bass (PG Music Real Track)
Vocals and Back up Vocals (me singing).
Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino
***
Cover art:  photo of Halloween skeleton edited with Adobe stock images.
***
Won’t You Please Just Go
Verse 1
It used to be that right and wrong were clear cut, black and white
And people had the courage still to stand and fight the good fight
It used to be that folks could bridge across the partisan divide
Do the right thing and set their differences aside
Now the tech bros want to colonize Mars, and create a brand-new utopia
And if you’re skeptical of their vision, you’re just a luddite with myopia
They’re dreaming of a world of like minds, a place with no dissent
But too much group think has a way of becoming malevolent

Chorus
Won’t you go, won’t you go, won’t you please just go
Get on that rocket ship and fly to Mars (good riddance)
You say you’ll build a better society on the fourth rock from the sun
But there’s lots of work on Earth that still needs to be done.

Verse 2
Columbus sailed west and began a bold new age of exploration
But life on a barren rock seems like a recipe for frustration
It’s easy to be seduced by all that science fiction snake oil
but once you get to Mars, it’ll be nothing but drudgery and endless toil

Bridge
Seems like there are better ways for billionaires to spend their cash
Than living in a tin can on Mars like high-tech trailer trash.
They say the higher you fly, the harder you can fall;
Why trade a living planet for a dusty red ball?

Verse 3
Things can get kind of messy down here on good old planet Earth
You can turn tail and and try to escape this place of humanities birth
You can wipe the slate clean but there’s something in our DNA
You can make people march in lockstep but eventually there will be hell to pay.


Chorus
Won’t you go, won’t you go, won’t you please just go
Get on that rocket ship and fly to Mars (good riddance)
You say you’ll build a better society on the fourth rock from the sun
But there’s lots of work on Earth that still needs to be done

Won't You Please Just Go (to Mars)

Remixes 2025

In Their Dreams (Remix 2025)

A little reminder that summer isn't quite over yet - "Here shall he see no enemy, but winter and rough weather"

"Under the greenwood tree" is the second song in Roger Quilter's cycle of Shakespeare songs. It appears in "As You Like It", Act II, Scene 5.

Piano accompaniment as always by the wonderful Helen Roberts.

We hope you'll enjoy it, as well as the very last days of summer :).

Lyrics:

Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And tune his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.

Who doth ambition shun,
And loves to live i' the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas'd with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.

Under the Greenwood Tree (Roger Quilter - with Helen Roberts)

Broke my rot.... Decided to write one about the heart and it stuck. Had a good few days of everything I tried sounding the same and needed that reset ❤️‍🔥 Thanks Heart 🫡

If we are lucky enough to grow old it will beat around three billion times and pump 159 million litres of blood through itself and around our body. What a beast 🫀
I'm trying to make sense or pay homage to the filterer it is for morals. In conjunction with a well wired head it's the feelings in our chest that work with the brain it seems to deliver our morals and absorb and deliver that well felt empathy we share. I guess it's our experience of pain and pleasure that we know and the love we have for eachother which allows that empathy flourish solidifying our shared morals. Or we let apathy mute it. Either way its the shared experience that delivers them to us and the natural knock on effect of us knowing we don't like pain and knowing others don't either... so ego aside... Morals should be the easy bit haha!
What happened.... 😆



Heart

Heart
Beat
Heart
Beat

Huge human heart
Filterer of feelings
Fear sent below
Love flow to cranium ceilings
Three billion beats
Spark to grim reaper
One million barrels as blood pump speaker

Heart
Beat
Heart
Beat

Humans of heart
Beings of brave
Lumens like lark
Virtuous made
Body seer of moral
The feeler of feel
Fuelled well being of wise
Good stealer of steel

Heart
Beat
Heart
Beat

Governor of grief
Body seer of empathy
Good decider of right
If mind tend peremptory
Four chambers chime
Tuned to physical realm
Feeder of conscious through feelings to helm

Heart
Beat
Heart
Beat
Heart
Beat
Heart
Beat

Heartbeat
Beat deceit
Heartbeat
Be that empathy
Heartbeat
Beat deceit
Heartbeat
Be that empathy

Heart

WELL I’M TALKING TO MYSELF AND TELLING MYSELF TO KEEP COOL
YES I’M TALKING TO MYSELF YOU STOP ACTING LIKE A FOOL                          
I’M A ROCKER I’M A ROLLER SOMEWHERE OUT THERE MY HEART IS LOCKED IN A LOCKER 
I NEED A SHELTER I NEED A SISTER BUT ALL I HAVE IS NO ONE AS A FLOATER

SO I’M I’M TALKING TO MYSELF AND TELLING MYSELF TO KEEP COOL YEAH
YES I’M TALKING TO MYSELF SITTING NEXT TO SITTING BULL
COS AND I’M A LOVER NOT A FIGHTER TO ME THIS WORLD IS MUCH TOO MUCH A ROLLER COASTER
I NEED NO BOTHER I NEED A BROTHER
OR ANYONE TO LEND A HAND IT DOESN’T MATTER

TALKING TO MYSELF

AND I’M A CHOOSER NOT A BEGGAR THIN ICE BROKEN GLASS I’M A DANCER
AND I’M A LOSER NOT A WINNER LOOKING UP HIGH FROM DOWN IN THE GUTTER

SO I’M I’M TALKING TO MYSELF AND TELLING ME JOHNNY BE GOOD
YES I AM TALKING TO MYSELF JUST LIKE YOU KNOW YOUR MOTHER SHOULD
BUT I’M A JOKER I’M A SUCKER I AM MY OWN SELF-MADE TROUBLE MAKER
I GO MEANDER UNDER THE WEATHER LOOKING FOR ONE SWEET SMOOTH OPERATOR 

SO I’M I’M TALKING TO MYSELF TELLING MYSELF TO LET GO
LET GO!



TALKING TO MYSELF (Lyrics)

wait by the window
pray through the sight

for a dollar
in my pocket
for my country
who’d have thought?

don’t stand by the window
outmanned and alone

after drinking
(check my cheekpiece)
i can hit it
(pull the bolt back)
without thinking
(keep my hands loose)
what i’ve done

i’m waiting now by the window
i don’t know how to get home

for a dollar
in my pocket
for my country
wrong or right

after drinking
(check my cheekpiece)
i can hit it
(pull the bolt back)
without thinking
(keep my hands loose)
what i’ve done
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to Janine Levinson and Cheesemont Paisely-Paisely for early listening and encouragement.

Special thanks to Wheelwright for sage editorial advice.

Image by Chandler Cruttenden via Unsplash



Window

A laboratory with an open bar and floating altar. Come on in! 

Here are various solo and collaborative projects - songs, soundscapes, live looped solo guitar improvisations. 

This project used to be called "imaginary friends", but it became too real for that name, as did many of you.

I hope you enjoy something you find here. Do feel free to be in touch, you never know what might happen.  

I also invite you to attend @hypnopompetus, a duo project with the illustrious Cheesemont Paisley-Paisley https://soundcloud.com/sel-sync, and Fictive Sisters, a transatlantic band with  the incomparable Wheelwright https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com/album/immaculate-distraction.

Howdy,

Welcome to TBD.

Wow. What a place we have here. Yes we've been invaded by shitty AI music & tools which I am strongly against the use of at all until it's regulated and labelled properly but that said... SoundCloud is still Aaaaaamazing. We can weed out the messers and with a small web of genuine artists it is incredibly inspiring. Don't lose faith in your art because of the influx of fake, we need artists to shine through and continue saving and evolving artistic work and freedom. Just keep shining your real music. I have seen NOTHING yet that challenges a real artists creativity from AI or it's prompters. If anything it just confirms the path I took was worth it and is the only way to the full therapeutical effect music and writing can deliver your being!

You just need to PRACTICE a lot!

All these creations are made by hard work and years upon years upon years of practice and trying to explain this world and the human condition to myself in the process through poems & songs.

Thanks for all of your wonderful support.

Peace and Love to Everyone,

🫛



What playing music does to your brain🔽

https://youtu.be/R0JKCYZ8hng?si=KJt33NWjUo63ieAm



A nice David Bowie Interview🔽

https://youtu.be/JRtZc_Nmo5w?si=1g1Wag87NdEumAc4


Seraphina

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