Fantastic track, and collab. Great production!!!

very great team work! So many ideas in it

love seeing new collaborations come together like this! what an interesting source text for this song too.  Appreciate learning about the talents of folks outside my circle too. Always a pleasure to hear you on other instruments than bass too Josh - your multi-instrumentalist skills are impressive!!

I love the bass line of this song...amazing technique! I was so excited listening to it! Cool collaboration!

PS Perkins: Guitars, bass, lyre, vocals
Ron Thomas: Autoharps, Drums

Production notes:
---------------------------------------------
Very early on we wanted to use autoharps on this song to create a sort of swirling backdrop, reminiscent of the harps in Indian/Bollywood soundtrack songs of the seventies.

Right away there were challenges because the song is in B flat and is not wholly diatonic to begin with, utilizing a chord built on the augmented lydian scale in the choruses. So rather than transpose the song to a more amenable key (since the chromatic bits weren't going to work no matter what key we used) we instead re-tuned the autoharp. Moving through the strings one by one we tuned them either up or down a half step where applicable to bring them into key. Where the augmented chord hit in the choruses, we excluded those notes so that the autoharp was filling the diatonic parts of the chords and omitting the accidentals. It took us several tries to get it right. In the end we arrived at a chord progression that could be strummed on the autoharp and the modified chords could be played with existing dampers.

We also tuned the lyre so that the top half of the strings included the chromatic augmented notes while the lower register of the lyre was tuned using the diatonic, so the lyre could play the melody all the way through both parts of the song.

The inspiration for this song was essentially fourfold:
--------------------------------------------------------
First, H.P. Lovecraft's terrifying necromancer Joseph Curwen (from "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") who masked his true identity in order to thwart suspicion from his fellow townsfolk. He has many secrets lurking in his underground catacombs where he performs acts of necromancy most foul, extracting the "salts" of the dead in order to raise them at will and learn the secrets of ancient eldritch deities.

Second, a poem by Rudyard Kipling titled "En-Dor" which was a warning against the rise of spiritualism and the cost of communion with the dead in the early 20th century.

Third, the biblical Saul who traveled in disguise to visit a witch at the city of Endor in order to summon Samuel from the dead and garner advice on defeating the Philistines, but who only prophesies doom for Saul. Saul dies later the next day in the battle of Gilboa.

Lastly, the story of Odysseus communing with the underworld where he enlists the help of Tiresias to have a chat with the dead and secure for himself a safe journey home.

They all seek communion with the dead for one purpose: to gain knowledge which only those who have crossed over between realms might possess. 

Lyrics:
-------------------------------------
A mask may reveal what it’s meant to conceal
From those who are standing beside us
Armor of pride, so we learn to abide
By the monsters which hide deep inside us
The monsters which lurk deep inside us
Oh, how they scratch and they bite us
The monsters which lurk deep inside us

Only to know what the professor knows

Eating black bread, wearing clothes of the dead
The soil soaked in honey around us
For fear if we failed, leave the ogre unveiled
And it’s back in the grave where they found us
Back in the grave where they found us
Freed from the ties which had bound us
Back in the grave where they found us

Only to know what the professor knows

In the catacomb vaults, we extracted the salts
From cadavers to lengthen our youth
Chanting the names at the edge of the flames
And a mirror to show us the truth
A mirror which speaks only truth
See how it seeks not to soothe
A mirror which speaks only truth

Only to know what the professor knows

In the underworld maze, in the night of no days
Concocting the plan we’re devising
Much to endure on the road to En-Dor
And to snatch from Elohim arising
To snatch from Elohim arising
Snatch from Elohim arising
Snatch from Elohim arising
Snatch from Elohim arising
Snatch from Elohim arising

BARDS: Of the Shimmering Seraphs

The Professor

I'm sorry y'all--this is another downer of a song with preachy lyrics but it's an idea that came up and demanded to be completed. 

The only side I take is the human one, but I couldn't have more contempt for the ostensible leaders of both Gaza and Israel who seek their own interests at the cost of so much suffering among innocents. Nothing good comes out of "Let's go kill some people."



You Let This Happen

have you understood that this is the final warning call
abandon hope all those that linger here

you lived the diamond life and could not lend your ears
and now the sand is wet with blood beyond our wildest fears 
how could you let this happen here

we plant the seeds of death beside the seeds of life 
so they can pay the price and have the will to fight

the bloodied face that no one could identify
now here's the news that was a mother's precious baby
how could you let this happen here

so how do you think this story ends
when it begins with the death of innocents
another thousand years of war is in the cards
another generation with daggers in their hearts

and you let it happen

You Let This Happen

Roar (or Get Up On Your Hind Legs)

In the quaint suburban, preciously one square mile neighborhood of Willowbrook, a peculiar phenomenon unfolds beneath the facade of everyday life. Here, amidst the picket fences and neatly trimmed lawns, lies a secret known only to its inhabitants: the ability to walk through walls. It's a gift that defies logic, a quirk of reality that shapes the lives of those who call Willowbrook home.

Willowbrook

Original composition, electric guitars and bass by Neno J.

Beware of distortion! Listen loud!

Turbulent Times

An Unfilled Void

雲は流れる

Alien Insects In My Garden

Cast of Characters:
xian3-- @xian3 – vocals, lyrics, and beat programming
Holger Engel—bass
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- guitar, mix, and production
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)-- @josh-clary-1 – lead guitar, organ, and synth
 
This song started when Xian and Holger came up with the rhythm section. Xian reached out to me about adding some guitar and keys. I happily accepted and added some electric guitar, organ, and synth. Once I was done, I sent it back to Xian, who added his excellent vocals. Tez also added some subtle, yet thrilling psychedelic guitar to it, too, before producing and mixing it for us. 
  During a little odyssey Xian recently undertook, he came across this snippet of text, from which the lyrics were drawn, in the Museum of Literature in Dublin. It's from "Ulysses" (1923) by James Joyce (1882-1941) and he liked it immediately. The passage can be found in the episode "Cyclops", in which the novel's hero, Bloom, opposes division and prejudice.
  This is the first time Xian has collaborated with Tez and me, but we hope it won't be the last. Xian is everything we could ask for in a collaborator. He presented me with a really solid, but very open song, let me do my thing, and added more greatness to finish it off. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it.
Lyrics to Alf And Bloom:

(But it’s no use) …

(- What? says Alf) …     

But it’s no use says he
Force, hatred, history
All that
That’s not life 
For men and women,

(- What? says Alf) …

Insult and hatred
And everybody knows that
It’s the very opposite of that
That is really life.

- What? says Alf
- Love, says Bloom

(- What? says Alf)
(- Love, says Bloom)

(- Love)

Alf and Bloom (with Xian3, Llanpsych, and Holger Engel)

I Need love

His eyes crossed my eyes
Like a laser ray
I've been projected somewhere
Else than on the Earth
Help
I need love
Help
I need love
 
With him I feel like dancing
Barefoot in the light
I feel like walking on the sea
Planing in the air
Help
I need love
Help
I need love
 
Like the Earth needs the Sun
(I need love)
 
Like the stars need the stars
(I need love)
Like the sky needs the sea
(I need love)
Like the summer needs the winter
(I need love)
I need love (x7)
 
As i need music
As I need light
As i need water
As i need air
Just a little love
I need love
Just a little love
I need love
Like the bird needs wings to fly
(I need love)
Like the moon needs the night to shine
(I need love)
I need love

Besoin d’amour - France Gall cover

"They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us."

Acoustic steel string, for two main guitars, with occasional single note line decoration from a third. (All parts played on my Maton M225.)

Songbird Boo

I'm a lifelong, multi-instrumentalist musician who records prolifically and joyfully. You'll hear me play guitar, bass (regular four string, and four and five string fretless), mandolin, banjo, keys (piano, organ, synth), lap slide, sitar and sing on my recordings here. I've been in a few dozen bands in my life, playing everything from bluegrass, jazz, rock, jam band, reggae, funk, afrobeat, Middle Eastern, traditional Irish, singer/songwriter, pop/covers, to experimental/avant garde. 
  Since I found SoundCloud a couple years ago, I've found many talented, creative people with whom to create music. However, last summer ('23) I formed a band called The Eclectic Collective with some of my favorite musicians I've met through here. It started as a loose collective of musicians and coalesced into a core group of musicians who find other musicians with whom we'd like to make music, then run their songs through our process, and in effect add a full band. That core of The Eclectic Collective includes Tez (Llanpsych), J.J. Terrel, Ken (K2 and the Three), and Stephen (Texmex Shaman), although we have also added Mark (mistermark) and The Mysterious Decibel to the mix this fall. A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. The magic of music is amplified exponentially by each person adding to it. So, we really try to add our sorcery all kinds of music from all kinds of artists. Sometimes, we keep it within the group, but a lot of what we do is collaboration with other artists. In fact, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other amazing artists like Chris Maness (@cgmaness).
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song and you really want to add bigger instrumentation or a band and good production to it. 
  A small sampling of the artists whom I consider primary influences, and whom you will hear coming through my fingers include Phish, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, The Grateful Dead, The Meditations, Michigan and Smiley, Lee Perry, Dillinger, Django Reinhardt, Impossible Recording Machine, The Allman Bros Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Bela Fleck, Les Claypool, Sam Bush, David Grissman, John Prine, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, MMW, Moe., Morphine, Ween, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Victor Wooten,  Cannonball Adderly, Thelonious Monk, Flea, Parliament Funkadelic,  Frank Zappa, Prince Paul, Pete Rock, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Carol Kaye, Tame Impala, Mumford and Sons, Japanese Breakfast, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, and Sean Lennon, but of course there are many more. I also really like and am influenced by traditional Iranian, Palestinian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Mauritian, Somalian, Egyptian, West African, and Syrian music.
 I'm overjoyed to have found my community on SoundCloud. This is a truly unique forum where everyone is sincerely trying to build each other up. The profoundly supportive and positive SoundCloud community has really opened up an exciting new world of collaboration for me. That is the main reason I'm in the Cloud, actually, to connect with other musicians and make music that I enjoy listening to, and hopefully some others do, as well. I am ALWAYS looking to collaborate with interesting musicians, mostly though BandLab, which is where I record almost exclusively. It's a solid, free digital audio workstation hub where you can share recordings, even if it's not where you make your recordings.
  Everything I do is live instrumental, not programmed, and using no computer beyond my phone. That's not to say that I would be opposed to using that kind of tool, I just don't have access to it. If you like my music, please share it. If you want to collaborate, my BandLab handle is @bingo_pajama. Feel free to contact me at cornbreadband@hotmail.com, as well, even if you aren't on BandLab.
  Recently, over the summer of '23, I formed a collective of my fellow SoundCloud musicians into a loose band called the Eclectic Collective. We have core members, but the lineup changes weekly. I basically found my favorite musicians on here, and asked them if they wanted to collaborate. It keeps growing strong. If you have some music that you think a band could bring to life, please hit me up and we'll see if we can add you, too. 
Here's a link to music I've recorded with a group of musicians here in Pittsburgh called The Northumberland Street Ramblers.
Check out The Northumberland Street Ramblers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/fU4Me

Alf and Bloom (with Xian3, Llanpsych, and Holger Engel)

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)

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