BEING A COLLECTIVE BEYOND LANDS AND LAKES

[UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Tradacoustic series no. 394

Music, mostly recent, a few days old, a few weeks.

created: 2025/06/13

hk_tradacoustic_394

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious).

Joe Stroffolino - Joe on the Edge

Jonn Hart & LoveRance VS Still Fresh (Dramantic Remix)

Copyright 2024 Joe Stroffolino

Lots of people moving to the state of AZ
The desert seems like a nice a nice place to be
The only problem is there’s not enough H20
One day you’ll turn the tap and it’s not gonna flow
The climate keeps getting drier every single year
I guess we’ll have to take fewer showers and drink more beer

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you.
The sun up in the sky is 93 million miles away
But it feels a lot closer on a hot Arizona day

There’s not enough snowpack on the mountains up high
They say the Colorado river’s running dry
They’re ripping up lawns, replacing them with rocks
Instead of going barefoot, you walk around in crocs
The polar glaciers are melting in to the sea
I wish that they could scoop up an iceberg and drop it down on me

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you

Most of the rain falls in the summer
Monsoon season can be a real bummer
You get a big dust storm, they call it a haboob
You can watch scary videos on You Tube
You’ll be driving and suddenly you can’t see
You gotta make sure you don’t crash into a cactus or a tree

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you

A long time a ago, it must have been tough without air conditioning
People just had to sit around all day moaning and bitching 
Now the biggest thing we complain about is our high electric bill
As we lie on the couch watching Netflix enjoying the comfortable chill

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you
The sun up in the sky is 93 million miles away
But it feels a lot closer on a hot Arizona day

Can't Stand the Heat

mind-gore (original)

Cast of Characters:
Joe Stroffolino-- @joseph-stroffolino -- Taylor 114ce acoustic guitar, main vocals, harmony vocals, lyrics, composition
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender HSS Telecaster electric guitar
TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen– Tom Anderson Custom T electric guitar, mix, mastering, and production
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –- four string Fender Precision Bass with a plectrum

This song began as one of Joe's catchy, lyrically centered songs, which he wrote on his acoustic guitar, and filled in with VST instruments. He came up with the lyrics by sharing ideas with fellow SoundCloud musician Michele Ansani, who began the thought process of a song about becoming a musician.
Knowing that Josh is a fan of his work, Joe offered this song to him in hopes that he'd share it with the rest of the band. Of course, Josh jumped at the opportunity to work on his song, and immediately shared it with the rest of the group.
Ken went to work first, adding his driving, excting drums. Josh was having a hard time coming up with a good bass line for it, until Ken suggested that he use the power of the 1/8 note to propel it. Tez was up next with his clever fills you hear throughout the first half of the song. Stephen came along right after and matched Tez's energy for the guitar fills in the second half of the song.
It was still missing a solo in the designated spot, though, so Mark stepped up with his innovative piano solo you hear in the middle. If it sounds a little mechanical, that's because he's using an arpeggiator to achieve the effect. We thought it sounded good in a song about AI, though.
Once all the parts were dialed in, and Joe had gotten all his vocals tuned up, we asked one of our resident pros, Stephen, to mix it for us. He did that and mastered it, too, expertly, as always.
This is the first song we've ever done with Joe, and don't expect it to be the last. We all really enjoyed putting together, in no small part because Joe is such a competent, receptive, and gracious collaborator. We all hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Lyrics by Michele Ansani and Joe Stroffolino
Music by Joe Stroffolino (@joseph-stroffolino)

When I was thirteen I picked up my first guitar
it was my mother's, it only had one nylon string
I tried to play it like a rock star
I learned to play the Coca-Cola jingle
So I could teach the world to sing
When I was fourteen, I put on six new strings
I learned to play Beatles, I learned a Bob Dylan song
I sounded out of tune but I tried to carry on
At fifteen I wrote my first original tune
So bad it sounded like it might have been written by a baboon
When I was sixteen, I got a new guitar for my birthday
The metal strings sawed through my fingers
But I continued to play
And the calluses formed and every day I learned a brand new chord
I was obsessed with that guitar and I never grew bored.
I wrote songs every day and most of them were a mess
But I believed that through hard work, I could achieve success
Malcom Gladwell wrote a book that said it takes ten thousand hours
To become and expert at your craft
But now all it takes is two commands and an enter
And in two minutes you have ten versions of the same damn new song,
You just have to choose the type
folk, rock, rap, pop, metal, jazz, trap or blues.
You don't even need to write the lyrics,
your push a few buttons let the AI choose.

And people will think your songs are great even though you didn’t write or play a single note.
When I was 20, I did my first concert, it was time
it occurred in a village square
there were four cats all friends of mine
I was still using the plectrum and sometimes I got the chords wrong
at thirty I finally wrote what I thought was a decent song
It had a very well thought out structure

AI Sucks - Eclectic Collective

Music and Lyrics Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino
Vocals Joe Stroffolino
Guitar's: Fender Squire picking track  and Taylor 114ce strumming track Joe Stroffolino
Violin and Bass PG Music real tracks
Drums EZ drummer 3
Piano Logic Pro Session Player track 

All these people who claim they were abducted by alien UFO’s
They say they took them up onto the spaceship and examined them from head to toe.
Most people think those stories are made up, but what if they’re actually true
It kind of makes you wonder what motivates those aliens to do the things they do
If I ever get abducted by aliens from outer space, I think I might ask if I could hitch a ride off this crazy place. 
People who believe we couldn’t have built the pyramids without alien assistance
There’s days when I can’t find my car keys without lots of searching and persistence. 
Maybe we’re just 2 legged creatures and the earth’s an exotic alien zoo. 
And they come here on safari to see what we’re up to
If I ever get abducted by aliens from outer space, I think I might ask if I could hitch a ride off this crazy place. 
Even if they don’t consider me to be much better than a trained monkey
I could play my guitar to cheer them up whenever they feel grumpy.
They say the speed of light is as fast as you can possibly go
Maybe those aliens have access to information we don’t know
Maybe they just look at us in the same way scientists study bugs
They read the work of our most brilliant minds and they just shrug
Maybe someday if we start World War three, they’ll stop the missiles from firing
Or maybe they’ll just let us blow ourselves up because they find our behavior so tiring
Maybe someday if they think we’re ready, they’ll land a spaceship in times square
And although they’re usually naked, they’ll put on some underwear
If I ever get abducted by aliens from outer space, I think I might ask if I could hitch a ride off this crazy place. 
Even if they don’t consider me to be much better than a trained monkey
I could play my guitar to cheer them up whenever they feel grumpy.
There's days on earth when it feels like it might be kind of nice to get away
And getting abducted by aliens just might be okay.

If I Ever Get Abducted

Link to video where I tell the story behind the song : https://youtu.be/cilXaNM0IoI?si=IbBwc2wlxYTwoADH 


In Catholic school, whenever I misbehaved, the nuns used to pull my hair.
If I could go back in time and do it all again, I’d gab some clippers and shave my head bare.
I did eight years of hard time in Catholic school
I was never the kid who was considered cool
Eight straight years of Catholic School and somehow, I survived
Eight straight years of Catholic School.  Thank God I’m still alive  
My first-grade teacher was a nun, who if you’re penmanship was sloppy
She’d make you take all your books and stand there holding them in the back of the room.
She was like a witch except instead of a pointy hat she wore a habit
She carried a crucifix instead of broom.
I did eight years of hard time in Catholic School
I was never the kid who was considered cool
The cafeteria food tasted horrible, but I had to eat it
I had to wash it down with milk that was warm and sour
I’d try to fold my plate in half and throw it away, but the nuns would catch me and make me eat it
It’s like they had this secret food wasting detection superpower
Every year your birthday, it was customary for the kids in the recess yard,
To grab you and kick you and punch you for every year of your age.
I still have flashbacks of a girl with pointy hard black shoes kicking me really hard in my rib cage.
My fifth-grade teacher Sister Margaret she’d been teaching for way too long
It was time for her to retire but they let her teach another year and that was wrong
She had long grey whiskers growing out of her chin
She’d sit at her desk and trim them with of scissors and you sure as hell better not grin
She’d tell cautionary tales about innocent kids who got into cars strangers
She seemed to enjoy describing all the bloody graphic details of the danger.
I did eight years of hard time in Catholic school
I was never the kid who was considered cool
Eight straight years of Catholic School and somehow, I survived
Eight straight years of Catholic School.  Thank God I’m still alive

Catholic School

Don't miss the MUSIC VIDEO: https://youtu.be/n_LKJ_0l83Q
with live footage of a Para Lia gig - and follow our Youtube channel! 
Thank you for your support!

Songwriting und Lyrics by René Methner / Recorded by Para Lia / Mix und Master by Lakesidestudio, Berlin

Para Lia:
René Methner - Gitarre, Vocal, Synth
Cindy Methner - Vocal
Michael Schlottke - Bass
Emanuel Mukow - Drums
Remo Ender - Gitarre
Dennis Grund - Mellotroneffekt-Gitarre

Cover art: RM, Foto by Heiko Portale

PSYCHALOVIC SONIC SONGS FOR LOVERS AND SURVIVORS

Follow Para Lia:
► Facebook: www.facebook.com/paraliamusic
► Instagram: www.instagram.com/paralia.music
► Tik Tok: www.tiktok.com/@paralia00
► YT-Kanal: www.youtube.com/c/paralia
► Website: para-lia.de/de/

with the cream of the jest
at the wheel we are blessed

with shrill and loud disputes
straight ahead the downwards route

in neverland

infantile speech for the dumb
for all the sheeps

we are underestimated rats
gold-givers for spoiled cats

in neverland

s.o.s. we lose contact with the cell
in the end we lose contact with ourselves
in neverland

Para Lia - Neverland

We flush our toilets and it flows into the sea
We go down to the beach and we swim happily
We take our trash and we toss it in a can 
The garbage truck takes it away and where it goes – no one gives a damn
Every day we throw more trash into the pile
Disposable packaging never goes out of style
Every day we exist, we generate more junk
We buy stuff we don’t need, and it ends up the dump
They say one person’s trash is another person’s treasure
But I don’t think used plastic straws are going to give anybody pleasure
They say the average Tom Dick or Harry and even if you’re a girl named Jane
You’re probably walking around with a teaspoon of microplastic in your brain
I separate my paper and plastic into separate bins 
But sometimes I wonder if I’m accomplishing anything
Thousands of years from now, if humans have gone extinct
And aliens dig up our trash, I wonder what they’ll think
Our art and music will be gone but our trash will linger on
The stuff we threw away will be all that’s left of humanity
There’s so much trash in the world today
You’d think by now we’d have found a better way
Civilizations rise and civilizations fall 
And the trash be leave behind will be a gift to future generations from us all
Every year we kick the can farther down the road
Causing more damage to this planet that we’ ve been bestowed
Some people  will tell you don’t worry everything is fine
We’ ve gotta cut the regulations so we can help the bottom line
When you share a bed with a partner they say it’s best to hold in your gas
But when it comes to our stinking trash, we give ourselves a pass

Trash

This is a track from my album TALES OF A NOMAD, a collection of impressions from decades of living a nomadic life for professional reasons.

'78, The Woods, And The Lake

Cast of Characters:
Cgmaness – open.spotify.com/album/42qOeOxPcclsxwxlPynFfL – Chris – Gretch bass, Guild Pelora electric guitar, SoundStone on a Harley Benton electric guitar, vocals, composition, mix, and production
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – organ
Llanpsych–@llanpsych –Tez– Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Roland Phantom synth
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– Gibson Les Paul custom electric guitar

This song began as a mostly fully fleshed out idea from Chris. He presented it to the rest of Eclectic Collective as a bass line with a rhythm guitar chugging the goove. Awesomely powerful groove, but pretty stripped down compared with the final version.

We did this in an odd order this time, for no particular reason. Probably because Chris' bass groove was so strong, Mark was able to first add his ripping organ throughout, inspired by Deep Purple. Tez, again surprisingly, was able to add the fiery solos at the end and the intro, even before the drums were up. Although, we didn't have to wait long for that, because Ken filled them in perfectly, as he always does. Once the structure and rhythm section was complete, Josh decided to add the synth solo in the middle, at the crescendo, which he really enjoyed doing. Stephen came last to the party, but replaced Chris' rudimentary rhythm guitar with a fierocious, but more riff oriented, and less chordy line throughout.

Once it was in the bag, Chris was the natural choice to mix it, since his productions are always top quality, and it was his song to begin with. During the production, he also decided to add the guitar, including the an e-bow like device called a SandStone that sounds a bit like a synth, and vocal tones to the middle and end. He also added the vocalizations you hear in those parts, as well.

This is an example of an Eclecitic Collective song started by Chris, whose music we adore and with whom are always excited to work. His music is all amazing; check out his page if you haven't already. He is also on Spotify, which is where you'll find his new album, which is amazing! We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed creating it.

The Collective - (Eclectic Collective) song by CGManess

Freddy Lindien

the stratagem in daylight

Hey everyone!
This track, Asteroids (The Original Was Better), started when I heard Beating Edge’s chiptune tune RND and got inspired to write some lyrics about the classic arcade game Asteroids. I added my acoustic guitar and vocals on top and sent it over to the band.
They liked it so much they decided to jump in and make a second part with a more rock vibe using the same musical base. We put both parts together into one track, starting with a fun spoken intro, a little vocal line to bridge the two sections, and finishing off with a hilarious outro.
It was a really cool collab and I’m stoked for you all to hear it!

Music by: Beating Edge
Lyrics by: Tom (Beating Edge) and Joe Stroffolino
Performed by: Beating Edge and Joe Stroffolino
Acoustic guitar (Taylor 114ce) by: Joe Stroffolino
Vocals performed by: Joe Stroffolino and Tom (Beating Edge)
At the moment, this track is exclusively available on SoundCloud.
Released on June 6, 2025.
©2025 Beating Edge and Joe Stroffolino

Lyrics:

[Spoken Intro]
Joe: Wow! This is a really cool Arcade!
Tom: Yeah!
Joe: Hey, check it out! Is that an Asteroids game over there?
Tom: Oh, wow!
Joe: I haven't seen that in like that forever!
Tom: That's definitely Asteroids! Let's play a game!
Mary (with a sore throat 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣): Oh yeah! Let's play Asteroids!

-->Joe

I used to play asteroids in the 1980’s
I liked to blow up rocks in outer space
The flying saucers would attack me
At an ever-increasing pace

I stumbled across an old vintage arcade the other day
I hadn’t played Asteroids in a long time
I popped a quarter into that old machine
And I watched my score start to climb

I watched my score start to climb
I watched my score start to climb
I watched my score start to climb

Time goes by so quickly
and playing that game really took me back
To those days when my future was unwritten
And I hadn’t gone so far down my current track

Pushing those buttons so fast and furiously
Standing in front of that arcade machine
Blowing up all those asteroids
On that black and white video screen

Blowing up all those asteroids
On that video screen
Blowing up all those asteroids
On that video screen

For a couple of minutes, I forgot about the present
I was back floating in outer space
Breaking big rocks into small rocks
I had a a big smile on my face

And then it was time for me to go
Cause I had errands that I needed to run
But that old video game
I sure had a lot of fun

It's not over yet

-->Tom

Just a single screen, all black and white
The whole room's dark except the TV's light
Rotate and thrust, it wasn't much
No one had seen a thing like this before

Now there's a 3D holographic thing
That no one plays, 'cause nobody can afford
With a visor on, your body's gone
It's kinda fun, but the original was better

We used to play all day, late at night
For the high score, it was do or die
No one knew what a quarter was worth
No one knew what the future had in store

Now there's a 3D holographic thing
That no one plays, 'cause nobody can afford
With a visor on, your body's gone
It's kinda fun, but the original was better

The original was better
The original was better
The original was better
The original was better

Now there's a 3D holographic thing
That no one plays, 'cause nobody can afford
With a visor on, your body's gone
It's kinda fun, but the original was better

[Spoken Outro]
Someone who wants to stay anonymous 😂: That was a lot of fun!

Asteroids (The Original Was Better) - Beating Edge & Joe Stroffolino

ارتش سری

Herzklopfen

Five steps (each one with two parts) progressing along 3 minutes thru different styles: rock, psycho, pop, hard..., and finally back to the psychopoppy ones.

Letra / Lyrics:

No siempre he estado aquí (soy imperfecto) / I have not always been here (I am imperfect)

Cuando tengo frío, o tengo calor, / When I feel cold, or I feel hot,
cuando tropiezo, me quemo, o siento dolor… / when I stumble, I burn myself, or feel pain …

y  empiezo a pensar que no siempre he estado aquí, / and I start to think that I have not always been here,
y que todo en este mundo es ajeno a mí. / and that everything in this world is alien to me.

Pienso que este cuerpo / I think that this body
que me sirve para moverme / I use to move myself
no es todo lo perfecto que debiera. / is not as perfect as it had to.

Me siento extraño / I feel strange
donde tendría que estar a gusto, / where I should to be comfortable,
y me reconforto / and I feel better
cuando me relaciono bien con el mundo. / when I relate well to the world.

Empiezo a pensar en el tránsito; / I start to think about the passage;
que no siempre he estado ni estaré aquí; / that I have not always been nor will be here;
que mi vida es un entretenimiento / about my life being an entertainment
en el viaje a otro sitio. / along the trip to another place.

Y descubro lo profundo / And I discover the deepness
entre tanta superficialidad, / among so much superficialness,
si la meta de todo lo que hago / if the goal of everything I do
es comer y respirar, / is to eat and breathe,
¿qué clase de razón tengo en la cabeza? / what kind of reason do I have in my head?
¿qué soy yo dentro de este juego? / what am I within this game?

 descubro lo profundo / And I discover the deepness
entre tanta superficialidad, / among so much superficialness,
y me pongo a pensar, / and I start thinking,
y empiezo a pensar… / and I start to think …

y  empiezo a pensar que no siempre he estado aquí, / and I start to think that I have not always been here,
y que todo en este mundo es ajeno a mí. / and that everything in this world is alien to me.

Pienso que este cuerpo / I think that this body
que me sirve para moverme / I use to move myself
no es todo lo perfecto que debiera. / is not as perfect as it had to.

©1995 E-RUIZZO – ®2013 FRANCÉS RECORDS ;)

Image: "Rocky sprout", photo by Ruizzoidman

No siempre he estado aquí (Soy imperfecto)

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious).  
I do not use AI to create my songs. 
https://linktr.ee/joe.stroffolino
Recently I have had the urge to pick up my guitars (Taylor 114ce and Fender Squire) and I have been trying to use more guitar in my songs.  
My go to .vst plug ins are  EZkeys 2, EZ Bass and  EZ drummer 3) and my DAW is Logic Pro 11. 
I welcome your comments and enjoy listening to all the great music on SoundCloud. 
All songs are originals and copyrighted.