The Eclectic Collective

JJ Calls (Connect with the EC Crew here)

SUMMER CALLS FROM SUCH PEOPLE

Giving And Taking IPG1 and Paploviante....New Tracks and others

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, in the summer of '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.

Entheogenic Psyconaut (Josh Clary) - The Eclectic Collective Collection

Shock the Algorithm

Related tracks: I Keep Protecting my Soul

Cast of Characters:
~Mark F-- @mark_fosella -- bass guitar, composition

Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – guitar

cgmaness-- @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – guitar

TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen–  production, and mix

J.J. Terrell–@j-j-terrell –electric piano, organ, and synth

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –-electric madolin

This song originated with Mark creating a bass line to a metronome, and sharing it with Ken. Ken immediately added his driving drums, and invited the rest of the EC to join in. JJ was first up, laying in his foundational organ, and e. piano magic in the first half, and the cosmic synth melody in the second part. Batting second was Josh, who established the melody in the first half with his electric mandolin, and mirrors the melody in the second half with the same. Next came Tez, who laid in the funky guitar right after the first break, all the way to the end. Batting clean up was Chris, who laid in the psych guitar in the first section, as well as the high guitar part in the second movement. Of course, we needed an expert producer to mix this for us, so we turned to Stephen, who always gets it exactly to everyone's specifications. That in and of itself is quite a skill, and I don't know how he does it, but everyone is always satisfied with his work.
  This is the second song we've done with Mark, who is a tremendously talented bass player, and delightfully creative songwriter. If you aren't familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and hop on over to his page for some delicious bass music. We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed making it.

The Adventures of Stefan Ortèz (The Eclectic Collective with Mark F)

Cast of Characters:
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick four string fretless bass, Sigma acoustic guitar, PRS SE semi hollow body guitar, composition
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums and percussion
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – VST horns - trumpet, bone, & sax, latin drum ensemble, and editing production
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– Production, mix, and mastering

This song began in the dead of winter on a cold night with Josh sitting in his studio with his acoustic guitar playing along to a looper beat. He loves Bossa Nova music and wanted to write a song in that style. Of course, he wrote it with the Eclectic Collective in mind.
Josh also came up with the bass line to the looper, but changed it once Ken weighed in with his perfectly suited drum kit. Ken also added the solid percussion keeping things tight. Then JJ got involved and laid down that wonderfully melodic organ part you hear in there. Josh, having not laid down a lead guitar part yet, used JJ melodic idea for the first verse, too, because it's so strong. Mark was last to the table, bringing several really stunning parts that added a lot of depth to the whole thing. He's responsible for the horn arrangements that joins in from JJ's organ around the middle, those funky percussion flourishes and fills, and then creating that percussion breakdown near the end, playing everything you hear in that break. 
This is an example of Josh exploring a less typical type of music, and it being picked up on and carried through expertly as a group unit. We all love bringing in different influences in the EC, and this fit the bill. We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed creating it.

And here’s a short excerpt of the the rhythm section with all the percussion action more isolated:

https://on.soundcloud.com/z7WcB9VvfZWHgAUu8

Meet The New Bossa (The Eclectic Collective)

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

  
This song began when Joe, feeling a bit nostalgic, wrote the lyrics and composed it on his acoustic guitar. He recorded it and sang it with expert harmonies, then decided to share it with Eclectic Collective. We were all very excited to get work on our second song with Joe, as we all admire his songwriting.
  First up was Tez this time, oddly enough. He was able to identify all the fill spots and light up the solo without the rest of us even adding anything yet. Next came Ken, who usually goes first, adding his steady grooving drums and tasty percussion. Once the drums were down, Josh completed the rhythm section by adding his fretted bass. He also worked out an organ part to give the whole sound a bit of thickness. Also adding some thickness and texture, Stephen added a clean electric rhythm part, as well. 
  Once we had it in can we asked Stephen to mix and produce it for us, which he did in his always expert fashion. 
  This, as mentioned, is Eclectic Collective's second song with Joe, and we all enjoyed bringing it to life with him. He's a wonderful collaborator and an all around good dude. Do yourself a favor and go check out his page, which is rich in great songs. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it.

Original lyrics by Joe Stroffolino:

If you find yourself in trouble and you think you've lost your way. 
Here's hoping that you find a path to a better day.
I sure hope that you're happy.  I'm wishing you the best.
I hope you find what you're looking for as you continue on your quest.
I hope you find all the answers to all those questions vexing you.
I hope you can find a way not to bite off more than you can chew.
I sure hope that you're happy.  I'm wishing you the best.
I hope you find what you're looking for as you continue on your quest.
You spread your wings and you flew so far away from me.
I hope that you're enjoying your new reality
All those places that you said that you wanted to see.
I hope they're as good as you expected them to be.
I want you to know that you hold a special place in my heart.
I think about you often even though we are apart.
They say that when you love somebody sometimes you gotta be willing to let them go.
You gotta let them spread their wings and fly wherever the wind decides to blow. 
I sure hope that you're happy.  I'm wishing you the best.
I hope you find what you're looking for as you continue on your quest.
I hope that you're happy. I hope that you're doing well.  I sure hope that you're doing swell.You spread your wings and you flew so far away from me.
I hope that you're enjoying your new reality



I Hope That You're Happy - The Eclectic Collective with Joe Stroffolino

Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — VST orchestration, vocals, lyrics, and compostion
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums, percussion
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, Fender Precion four-string fretted bass, and Roland Phantom synthesizer
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– Tom Anderson Custom T model electric guitar
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – VST string arrangement
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender Stratocaster electric guitrar, mix, and production

 This song began as a musical letter written, composed, and sung by Carl to Eclectic Collective. Carl and Josh had been sniffing around each other's pages, admiring each other's work and collaborators. So Carl reached out with this friendly, uplifting song, as a gift to the band. 
  Ken was first in line, adding his awesome, driving drums to give us a heartbeat to build upon. Josh came along next and completed the rhythm section with his trusty four-string fretless bass. Stephen was next up to bat, adding his dynamic raspy guitar, which almost sounds like an electrified fiddle. Next up, Mark followed with his trippy synth and powerful strings to add to Carl's original composition. 
  We had it pretty much done sounding, but wanted to spice it up a bit, so we came up with the idea for a coda. Josh added his bass and synth for it, and Tez came up with the thrilling guitar part of it, as well. Tez also added the thrilling guitar intro, too. 
  Once it was in the can, we asked Tez to mix and produce it for us, which he did in his always expert fashion.
  This is the first song EC has done with Carl, but we know it won't be the last. We all admire him for his creativity, proficiency, and prolificacy. His page is worth a stroll, too, as it contains a lot of gems.
  We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark: 

Hey Collective Seeds,

Let's work things out across that water
There's a cable under sea,
We can send all sorts of...
Music/Words/Sounds - It's insane!
Look Lads,
That's life in the fastlane!

So it's ones and zeros
Mine and yours and theres
We are all heroes...

Watching the fire,
From a distance we're warm
But not from their mire,
From this musical charm.
It's a bonfire,
An inferno.
Earth got plenty to turn off...

So we can sing to love
And we can play for more dove.
Let's combine our powers. Collective!
A Paddy/Yankee toasted sandwich

Tex festival streak
Psyched for more free
K2 to peak
Mistermark chimes ' found life fought
Give, You Entheogenic Psychonaught
Collective lands
Psyched for more free

Dear Collective - The Eclectic Collective with The Beautiful Dark

Cast of Characters:
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – Sigma acoustic guitar, Collings mandolin, Roland piano, vocals, vocal harmonies, and arrangement
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– Gibson Earle Scruggs banjo, arrangement, production, mix, and mastering        
This song is a Phish song written by Trey, Page, Fishman, and Tom Marshall, who wrote the lyrics. Originally, on their album Hoist, it's just Trey playing and acoustic guitar and singing. Stephen and I wanted to give it our own flavor though. After I asked him to play banjo on it and produce it for me, we started spitballing ideas about how we could add something more to it. Originally, we both played every instrument, guitar, banjo, mandolin, and piano, through the whole thing, except the first and last verses. Then we decided to trickle the instruments in for maximum effect. I also sang the harmonies throughout. Finally, Stephen came up with the idea to wrap the last verse in a mono effect, giving it a detached feel. He mixed it brilliantly, too.
  This song has always had a special place deep in my heart. Sometimes you hear a song and recognize such truth in it, it feels like it was written about you. This is such a song for me. Plus, it was written by my favorite band, Phish, so it has even more meaning for me. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.

Dog Faced Boy by Phish (with Texmex Shaman)

Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — acoustic guitar, vocals, lyrics, and compostion
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– Tom Anderson custom T electric guitar, production, mix, and mastering
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, and Roland organ
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender Stratocaster electric guitrar, mix, and production
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – triangle, and ancillary vocals

This song began when Carl, who is always making connections on the Cloud, was inspired to write a song about our bandmate, Mark. As you can tell from his lyrics, Carl shares our appreciation and respect for our resident Canadian singer and multi instrumentalist. So, when he had the chords worked out on his acoustic guitar, and a great vocal track, he recorded them and started a project, to which the rest of Eclectic Collective were invited.
  First up to bat was Ken, laying in his always clever, essential beat for the rest of us to work with. Stephen was the next person to lay down a track, which was his essential, but subtle electric rhythm track. Later, after it was almost done, he also added a fiery solo in the firt part of the ending section. Josh came along right after Stephen, laying down his signature fretless bass. He also added the organ shortly after, as well. Tez entered the fray next, adding the lightning, Gilmore-esque final solo in the end section. 
  We considered what to do with this song for a minute, too. The thought was whether to present it to Mark as a gift, or to include him in the mix. We decided to go with the latter, and he added the awesome vocalizations towards the end, as well as some cool triangle.
  Once we had it in the bag, we turned it over to Stephen for the production, mix, and mastering, which he always does in a very pro manner.
  This is our second of hopefully many songs with Carl. If you have good music on your page, there's a good chance that he'll hit you up to collaborate. Like the moon, he's everywhere, and he's a damn fine collaborator, too. We hope you enjoy hearing this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Carl also wanted to share this message about Mark, as well.
  "This song is written for our Canadian friend Mark. Mark is a pivotal member of the Eclectic Collective who as a band and equally Mark as an individual I'm discovering are phenomenal to work with. I was particularly struck how multiple generations of Mark's family enjoy music and creating together. Thanks for your music man. You really do show a unique approach and I look forward to making more really enjoyable songs like this one with you buddy. In my head lyrically Mark is whoever you focus the love on. Rock and Real!" ----TBD

Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:
You are the Mark
Mister Lark
Pedigree Bark
Stunning musical stark
Meet Mistermark

From Wondr to Bossa
All from I' Spy
Projecting your best
Proud human melody cry

May 2019
Maybe some fear became esteem
Soft bands in garage channel a way
Internal dreams in sound found light this day

So Dad was a seed
Kudos big man
You do good breed
In music we learn with proper concern
I think now you found Josh the EC

So onto Collective
You expand their perspective
With you and your music
Now Earth gets more fuses
Because of your music
It's a better blue ball
I know I certainly love hearing Marks call

We pressed the remote
We having those jams
Let's get it on and get more brain tan
We singing to clan
Wham bam thank you man

Miss No Mark (Eclectic Collective with The Beautiful Dark)

Cast of characters:
Tea R. Sea @tea_are_sea -- Terry – Synthesizers, Ibanez electric guitar, beats, composition, mix, and production
TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen– Fender Acoustasonic acoustic guitar and e-bow
K2 and the Three [and the Four] -- @k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1– Custom five-string fretless bass
Llanpsych–@llanpsych –Tez– Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
electric wah guitar
Cgmaness – @hiddenhands-760647700 – Chris – vocals, vocal harmonies, and lyrics
This song began its life as a skeleton of beats and synth created by Terry, who also added some crunchy electric guitar hits to it, too. Terry is a very skilled electronic music producer, and frequent collaborator with Stephen for a project they call Texas Tea. It's worth going to check out their other collabs, as well as Terry's solo projects on his and Stephen's page. 
  Even though Terry and Stephen work together frequently, Terry approached Josh with a couple of ideas, and Josh picked this one, so Terry started the project and invited the rest of the band to join in.
 Stephen was the lead off hitter for this one, though, adding his magical and heavily processed acoustic guitar to the bridge in the middle, as well as textural guitar in the entire first half. He also added a couple of cool lines with his e-bow, which he used on his guitar. Ken was next up to bat, adding his always thrilling drums to compliment Terry's beats. Josh went to work next, now that he had a solid beat to work with, added his low-frequency five string fretless bass to it. Tez batted clean up, adding his thrillling Gilmore-esque guitar solo to the end of it. 
  Then, once the music was all finished, we turned it over to Chris so he could add his amazing, psychedelic vocals delivering his original lyrics throughout.
  Once we had everything recorded, we turned it over to Terry to mix, as it was his song to begin with. Terry is an excellent producer with a great ear. Stephen, who is our trained mixer gave him some key advice along the way, too, though.
  This is Eclectic Collective's third song with Terry, and we're always thrilled when he has something to offer us. He's a wonderful collaborator with tons of great songs on his page, that are all worth checking out. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
  Oh, and it's worth mentioning that three of us on this have birthdays this week, too. Chris' was first, on Wednesday, Terry's was Thursday, and Josh's is Friday (today). So, this is an extra special celebratory song for all three of us. We're all so very grateful for our SoundCloud community, friends, and musical family. We appreciate all of you!
Original lyrics by Cgmaness:

Lost in inner space,
questions interlace,
often they're erased.
amnesia's saving grace.
...
Many rising up,
What do you think it means?
Anything at all?
Anything?
....................
Wonder if you feel,
any of this truth?
Root systems occur,
we are one from birth.
we are one.
....
Slow to realize,
something is in the skies.
I cannot be wise.
We are lied to.
Realize, it's all a ruse.
but, we ripple on.
we ripple on.
we are one.
...
And that's when we fell back into,
a very familiar feel.
but I know.
Just pinholes,
just pinholes. 
....
Many rising up,
what do you think it means?
....
Sometimes we have to let go!

Koala Tea (Eclectic Collective with Tea R. Sea)

Cast of characters:
Jack Karasek — beats and seed idea
K2 and the Three [and the Four] -- @k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–beats
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1– Roland Phantom workstation
Llanpsych–@llanpsych –Tez– electric guitar
Tea R. Sea @tea_are_sea -- Terry – Synthesizer
TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen– mix, master, and production
This song began with Ken's oldest son, Jack, who laid down the basic rhythmic beat. Ken took over after that with the rest of the beats, though. Jack just graduated high school last week, and he's into hip hop and trap music, so he wanted to share some of it with his musician father, who is very proud of him.
  Tez was first up on this one, which surprised me when I went back and checked the workflow. He added the perfectly placed guitar hits throughout. Josh was next up, using his synth to add the falling bass line. Last, but not least, Terry came aboard, adding the moody, melodic, high register synth.
  When it was all finished, we asked out resident pro mixer, Stephen, to mix it for us. 
  This song was in its current form for about the past eight months. It was originally part of a series of vehicles Eclectic Collective composed for The Mysterious Decibel. He got caught up in life, though, and had to abandon the project. So, we sat on it, asking all the rappers we know if they'd be interested in having a go with it, but no one bit. So, with Jack's recent graduation, Ken revived it as a celebratory song for his son. It could still use some vocals, too, so think of this as an open invitation to anyone who want to do the honors. 
  We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. 
  Oh, and just a side note for all of our friends who follow along with us, we won't be releasing a song this coming Friday, the 4th, but will have  new one for you, the following Friday, the 11th. Thank you for keeping up with us!

Throwing Rocks (Eclectic Collective)

Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation acoustic guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and compostion
Scratch Kelly -- @scratchkelly — Sarah —  vocals
one man verity show – @one-man-verity-show – Scotty – Epiphone Casino melodic  electric guitar and vocals
Joe Stroffolino-- @joseph-stroffolino --  vocals
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – triangle and vocals
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Tom Anderson Custom T electric guitrar, mix, and production
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, production, mix, and mastering
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass

I just want to say I'm beyond honored to be the subject of such adoration from my musical family here. Carl really knows how to make a brother feel special, and he did it for me this time, with the help of some of our EC extended family. Here's Carl's write up. 
"Mr Bringer-er Together-er is Josh. You may also know him as artist Entheogenic Psychnought, or the spine of Eclectic Collective. We all came across Josh in our own lucky ways, but he really sets a high bar for spreading constructive musical love and encouragement on SoundCloud. This song started out as a comment. I (Carl/TBD) went to call Josh Mr Bringer-er Together-er and my phone auto corrected it. the next morning K2 swooped in and said what I wanted so I used that as a trigger for the song.
So, I had a rough arrangement. We then invited a few artists, except Josh, to paint it for him. Scratch Kelly, aka Sarah, beamed through some amazing vocals. Not long behind Joe Stroffolino painted in some brilliant backing vox. Then Scotty (One Man Verity Show) chimed in with some amazing guitar, trippy backing vocals, and the super artwork you get to enjoy. Mark brushed in a triangle and some vox, and then Ken added those trusty drums. Tez then strutted in and added some super lead guitar, and not far behind him was Stephen with some epic rhythm guitar that showed the way for the song from that point of view showing a much better space to all the other instruments than the original demo guitar. That was a lovely lesson on less is more...

The song was now ready to give to the main man for him to paint, and he chose his trusty bass to put some strawberries on his own musical cake.

I now stared at 37 tracks and went... Hmmm Stephen, Help! Stephen mixed and mastered it to its crisp current form, and it was a very difficult mix. He basically had to merge 3 projects to one and really aced the challenging mix and master like the true shaman he is. We hope you enjoy the song that brought us together again. May it give us more togetherness like Josh so wonderfully demonstrates everyday

You da brother man Josh 🤘🏽"

Lyrics

Magnet of human
Moulded by melody mind
Just jester Josh delivers this kind
Collective of creed worth all our belief
Friendship
Togetherness through skill and relief

Sharing, Caring
Composer of purr
Human vibrations of the highest occur
Let's celebrate this human some more
It's Mr Bringer-er together-er

Mr Bringer-er together-er
Mr Bringer-er together-er

Loving, Not shoving
Honing, Not moaning
Positive to give
In music he live
Loving his kids
Like he loves us
The luckiest kids who take this EC bus
Josh is the driver
Mr Music Jeez
More Mr Bringer-ers together-ers please

Mr Bringer-er together-er
Mr Bringer-er together-er

The Joshua Tree collecting collective
Physical dreams
Metaphysical pleasures
Skills. New.
Unconditional prime time
The only thing we tow is how we making new time line

Mr Bringer-er together-er

You are the rod
You cast your spinners
You reel us back in from lake bitter winter
It's Spring all the time in your World and Page
Our Mr Bringer-er together-er sage

We all love ya mate

Mr Bringer-er together-er
Mr Bringer-er together-er Oh oo
Mr Bringer-er together-er
Mr Bringer-er together-er Oh oo

Mr Bringerer Togetherer (Eclectic Collective with TBD, Scratch Kelly, Joe Stroffolino, and One MVS

Original music by neno J.
This composition was created 25 years ago and now I have finally decided to rearrange and record it. Classical guitars (Hohner guitar) and piano played by me, July 2025.

Vortex

People disapprove. 1369 ( 1993 ) Margareta Theorin ( Margareta )

Mahan Mahan is responible for the orchestration and mix(coverart)
TexMex Shaman on electric guitar and Mastering(coverart)
the poem and voice by stonerjazz(coverart)
 
the nature of their being by jeff gardiner 

 ponder and ponder if you wanna
speculations bout meanings and measures and structure
of time and the present
and yet it remains completely unknown
made no dent in the fabric
of monstrous illusion
collusion of unseen forces
nibbling away with whispers
while meekly we, perish, never knowing
what we're feeding
believers believing bleeding rivers of remorse
and of course, the horses don;t ponder for a moment
the nature of their being--

The Nature of their Being-with TexMex Shaman and Mahan💀Mahan

I have been hearing so much AI music lately on SoundCloud and these  thoughts have been percolating with me for a while and finally they coalesced into a song. (created without the use of AI).
***
Vocals & Back Up Vocals: Joe Stroffolino
Guitar Strumming Track:  Joe Stroffolino Taylor 114CE
Drums: EZ Drummer 3
Bass: PG Music Real track
Piano:  EZ Keys2 
Synth Bass: Logic Pro 
***
You got tired of struggling so hard to write a great original song
And then this amazing newfangled technology came along
Now you’re using AI to create music, and it’s a much easier process
And you’re convinced you found the ticket to achieving great success.
You tell yourself you’re a great artist because prompting takes a lot of skill
But deep down you know the AI did most of the work and you swallow the bitter pill
People complement you on your guitar playing and they tell you your voice sounds great
It makes you feel so good but you don’t ever set them straight
Those classic rockers used to write 10 or 12 good songs every couple of years
Now you’re posting two or three songs a day and hoping for a bunch of cheers
You’re rolling the musical dice, hoping you’ll come up with a catchy viral hit 
But there’s so much music flooding the internet that no one gives a shit
You tell yourself you’re a great artist because prompting takes a lot of skill
But deep down you know the AI did most of the work and you swallow the bitter pill
People complement you on your guitar playing and they tell you your voice sounds great, it makes you feel so good but you don’t ever set them straight
Some people believe we’re living in simulation and none of this is real
We’re just digital creations in a computer with the ability to feel
But even if that’s not the case, we’re quickly, heading to a place where no one’s going to be able to tell the difference.
You used strum your guitar, trying to capture lightning in a bottle and the songs that emerged came from you.
And now the songs you write with AI, what they’re saying, you don’t have a clue.
Music used to feel therapeutic, it was a window on your soul that you could share.
But now something feels missing because your songs no longer lay your heart bare.

Prompting Takes A Lot Of Skill

Cast of characters:
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, composition
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – organ and synth
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken — drums and percussion
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- clavinet, VST saxophone solo, VST horns, effects, production editing
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — Tom Anderson Custom T electric guitar, production, mix, and mastering
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender Telecaster HHS electric guitrar
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — vocals and lyrics

This song began back at the beginning of the summer, when Josh was messing around on his electric piano and found a structure to which to add his bass. As soon as he opened the project to the rest of Eclectic Collective, JJ jumped right in, adding his thrilling organ and ethereal background synth. Thus, Josh dropped his original e. piano part in favor of JJ's new parts. Ken was next up, adding the drums in reverse order from how he and Josh usually do it. Ken is very skilled at being able to add drums to a pre-existing bass line, which he displays in here. He also added the clever auxilary percussion you hear throughout. Mark was next to the trough, adding his funky clavinet, as well as his sax solo you hear lighting it up in there. He also added some well composed horns toward the end, not to be confused with JJ's synth. 
  Then it was time for the guitarists to do their thing. Stephen added the strong, melodic solos in the first two breaks with his guitar and wah pedal. After Tez added his thrilling solos at the end, Stephen went back in and added the funky rhythm guitar part. Tez also added the funky guitar riffs throughout the verses.
  All that was left was to get Carl in on the action, as he is the newest core member of Eclectic Collective. He wrote a poem and sung it in his signature, wild style for us.
  This is Eclectic Collective at its almost full strength, pulling six musicians from two different continents and four different countries together to create a song. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.
   On a side note, this will be Eclectic Collective's last song for two weeks. As most of you know, we release a song every Thursday at midnight. Due to vacation and travel at the end of summer, we'll be skipping  next Friday, the 15th, but should be returning the following Friday, the 22nd. We may also put something out this coming Tuesday, the 12th, so please stay tuned. Can't thank enough those of you who tune in regularly and support us every week. 
Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:



The Get Down - The Eclectic Collective

Way overdue for something new but I've been living in exile without the usual, albeit modest, setup I'm used to. So this might be pretty rough. And it's full of the usual horror at political realities and way full of schmaltzy velveeta. 

Guitarist note:  I don't have amps at present and was struggling to find a decent direct sound. There is a *free* VST plugin by Neural Amp DSP and online libraries of tone prints, also free, that came to the rescue. Highly recommended.

it's alright for you as long as it's alright
you don't mind what they do in the broad daylight

it never could be you

but you don't see the way you're blinded
they'll never drag you down to the places meant for those

do you feel the color of your soul
when you live with love suspended hiding in a hole
the moment is yours but you don't believe 
you won't believe what lies there ripening 
growing in your mind without you knowing

now it could be you

and as you feel the weight of the binding
you know they're dragging you down to the places meant for those

to liberate the light of every heart and mind
you can say it never paying any price

there's a little part of everyone that knows 
we're only playing separate lives 
till true faith arrives

if there's every gonna be a change 
let it start right here

you know it could be you

It Could Be You

No one knows what they’re doing
Don’t believe everything you think
Some things aren’t worth pursuing
Don’t believe everything you think
Feelings aren’t facts
They’re weapons of mass distraction
Holding on won’t change the past
You can win the game by not playing
Complaining won’t change the past
You can win the game by not playing
Don’t believe everything you think
No one knows what they’re doing
Don’t believe everything you think
Some things aren’t worth pursuing
Don’t believe everything you think
If everything around you is darkness, you may be the light
If everything around you is darkness, you may be the light
If everything around you is darkness, you may be the light

Don't Believe Everything You Think

NEW COLLABORATION with https://soundcloud.com/billy-korg
Lyrics:-
It's time to face the lies we're told
Indoctrination's got a hold

Down the rabbit hole
Down
Down 
Down

When you look up and see the sky
All of those trails 
You should ask why
When you look up and see the sky

Are they spraying us for fun
Or blocking out the sun
'Cause I'm not the only one
Who's looking up and seeing that

Change this 
Change this
We've got to change this

When you look up and see the sky
All of those trails
You should ask why

Down the rabbit hole
Down
Down
Down

When you look up and see the sky
All of those trails
You should ask why

Are they spraying us for fun
Or blocking out the sun
'Cause I'm not the only one
Who's looking up and seeing that

Billy Korg / winkanwoo 2025

Down The Rabbit Hole

Down The Rabbit Hole - Billy Korg & winkandwoo

Brand New track on the Rocks! Summer 2025 and let it roll with my brand new track called "I Keep Protecting my Soul".

Purchase it digitally via #bandcamp: https://shockthealgorithm.bandcamp.com/track/i-keep-protecting-my-soul

(p) & (c) 2025, STA.

lyrics:
I keep protecting my soul
There's nothing more sacred than my soul
I keep protecting my soul
The body dies, it's eternal the soul

Clear is conscience, i am free i am alive
Sleeping in peace not with fear with opened one eye
I never harmed anyone, don't owe a dime
i am keep paving with gold this road so up high.

I Keep Protecting my Soul

SUCH IS LIFE
Written, Performed & Produced
by Andrew Borderick Copyright 2025 AB Music

V1
IT'S ANOTHER ECLIPSE OF THE CITY
SOUNDS LIKE YOU'VE BEEN AWAY
S S SAILING AWAY
WHEN I FLOTE INTO YOUR EYE'S
LOOK'S LIKE YOUR FAR AWAY
THERE TO STAY
(CHORUS)
IT'S ALRIGHT, YOU'LL BE FINE
GET OFF THE GROUND, TO TAKE MY HAND
AND FALL AGAIN, TO FALL AGAIN
WE CAN HIDE AND TRY TO DEFINE
SUCH IS LIFE
V2
WE ALL LIVE IN THE CRIME OF THE FUTURE
FEELS LIKE THE END OF TIME
REALING AWAY
NOW YOU'VE SLID INTO THIS STYLE
IT'S NOT THAT YOU HAD TO STAY
I'M HERE TO SAY
(CHORUS)
IT'S ALRIGHT, YOU'LL BE FINE
GET OFF THE GROUND, TO TAKE MY HAND
AND FALL AGAIN, TO FALL AGAIN
WE CAN HIDE AND TRY TO DEFINE
SUCH IS LIFE
(BREAK)
(CHORUS)
END

SUCH IS LIFE

Tes sourires sont un feu d'artifice  By Zitou Itou et Albert Paule

(Intro)
Gotta cut it up, gotta cut it up—-yeah!
Just because, just because
Gotta cut it up, gotta cut it up—-yeah!
Just because, just because

(Chorus)
Play my beats loud, rock and move the crowd 
Just because, just because
make it real, keep it real, underground feel
Just because, just because


Just because, just because

Just because, just because

(Verse1)
Sometimes, cold as ice, twice is nice
Gotta cut it up, added some flavor to the slice—
Honed and crafted, chop and dice
Fire and heat,— free—-, no price
Gotta cut it up, added flavor to the slice
Price been paid, rampage and raid
Just because, just because
Since back in the day, yo I got it made
flat tops and fades
Now I’m rockin braids,
Basement, rooftop, outdoors more
Just because, just because

(Verse2)
So here I am again, memory
Like finding a long lost friend
A focused pattern, that never seems to really end
That loops and repeats, 
Over and over again
Over and over again,

Time passes, old and new trends,
It’s simply not an option, so how can I pretend?
Just enough rope, to run to the end
Before the same Pattern, pulls me back again
before the same pattern, pulls me back again
pulls me back again

(Chorus)

(Verse3)
If the world feels heavy, let the music lift, 
To ease every burden, let the rhythms shift
party through the night, no worries relief
hip-hop strength, brings a melody of peace

Just Because

Photo from left to right: JJ, Josh, and Ken
Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and compostion
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- VST Chinese gong and VST cello
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – light VST Latin percussion, synth, and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, chant vocals at the end 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — ebow, production, mix, and mastering

 This song is the fourth Carl has written and composed with a member of Eclectic Collective in mind. This time JJ is being honored, and we all agree that he deserves it, too. Carl is a wonderful singer, songwriter, composer, and musician, and we're all grateful that he's joined our collective. 
  Here's what Carl had to say about it. "The music for this was a personal song written to myself which I never really released as I was trying to say goodbye to my own ego in the song. From that point of view I have always seen the piece as a great bit of personal therapy for me. None of the original lyrics survived and JJ gets painted by the new words .. But I thought it would be nice to reuse the composition for this. There was no big reason for it only when I decided to start a 60bpm song for JJ on piano .. I started playing Goodbye Ego and the rest is history..."
  We tackled this song like we would any other, though. Mark was first up on this, adding his VST magic in the form of a Chinese gong, as well as the cello you hear throughout. The subject of our adulation came next, with JJ adding not only his hot, yet minimal Latin percussion and essential piano, but moody synth, as well. Ken added his spicy drums after that, and once they were down, Josh jumped in with his four string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Josh also added the vocal chant at the end.
  All that was left was for Stephen to mix it all down for us, which he did in his always pro manner. But before he did, he also added some subtle, yet stirring ebow on his guitar. 
  As stated above, this is a continuation of our songs about us. Hope no one thinks it's arrogant. When Carl presents us with these little treasures, it's hard not to run with them, though. Always a ton of fun to make music together. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:

Praying hands
Whatever cause
Once our greater good not lost
Bored children create their fun
We shelve French horn for this fine one
"Nice one lads" We read it all!
Vacation taken
To JJ calls
Neighbour to good Mickey Moore
Find Michigan piano pure

JJ calls
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us

Down the road city of cars
To Howell front deck
Dad and Guitars
We jam that love then tell the world
Love and service human highway knurled
Good bi-product of happiness sought
With Croatian fun to cloud we court

Terrell Terminator in Jungle
Predator for good
Keys like Mr Bungle
Faith in more like we could
He Thanks you
It's lifestyle
Built from a porch
Good collective friend
Keep lighting that torch

Some moments sealed, marked and moulded
Pure intention
Dark blindfolded
Howl from human to Howell good soul
Keyed keystone as collective role

JJ calls
Darkness falls
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
JJ calls

JJ calls
Just for us

JJ Calls (Eclectic Collective)

Cast of characters:

The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and compostion

Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- VST Chinese gong and VST cello

J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – light VST Latin percussion, synth, and piano

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, chant vocals at the end 

TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — production, mix, and mastering

 This song is the fourth Carl has written and composed with a member of Eclectic Collective in mind. This time JJ is being honored, and we all agree that he deserves it, too. Carl is a wonderful singer, songwriter, composer, and musician, and we're all grateful that he's joined our collective. 

  Here's what Carl had to say about it. "The music for this was a personal song written to myself which I never really released as I was trying to say goodbye to my own ego in the song. From that point of view I have always seen the piece as a great bit of personal therapy for me. None of the original lyrics survived and JJ gets painted by the new words .. But I thought it would be nice to reuse the composition for this. There was no big reason for it only when I decided to start a 60bpm song for JJ on piano .. I started playing Goodbye Ego and the rest is history..."

  We tackled this song like we would any other, though. Mark was first up on this, adding his VST magic in the form of a Chinese gong, as well as the cello you hear throughout. The subject of our adulation came next, with JJ adding not only his hot, yet minimal Latin percussion and essential piano, but moody synth, as well. Ken added his spicy drums after that, and once they were down, Josh jumped in with his four string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Josh also added the vocal chant at the end.

  All that was left was for Stephen to mix it all down for us, which he did in his always pro manner. 

  As stated above, this is a continuation of our songs about us. Hope no one thinks it's arrogant. When Carl presents us with these little treasures, it's hard not to run with them, though. Always a ton of fun to make music together. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.


Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:

Praying hands
Whatever cause
Once our greater good not lost
Bored children create their fun
We shelve French horn for this fine one
"Nice one lads" We read it all!
Vacation taken
To JJ calls
Neighbour to good Mickey Moore
Find Michigan piano pure

JJ calls
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us

Down the road city of cars
To Howell front deck
Dad and Guitars
We jam that love then tell the world
Love and service human highway knurled
Good bi-product of happiness sought
With Croatian fun to cloud we court

Terrell Terminator in Jungle
Predator for good
Keys like Mr Bungle
Faith in more like we could
He Thanks you
It's lifestyle
Built from a porch
Good collective friend
Keep lighting that torch

Some moments sealed, marked and moulded
Pure intention
Dark blindfolded
Howl from human to Howell good soul
Keyed keystone as collective role

JJ calls
Darkness falls
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
JJ calls

JJ calls
Just for us

JJ Calls - Eclectic Collective

(Music: Hans-Michael Albers, Lyrics: Terry Reeves)
Terry Reeves:  Vocals
Hans-Michael Albers: All instruments, Arrangement & Production

Today, 22nd. August 2025, marks 13 years since our dear brother Bri succumbed to the deadly combination of leukaemia and Guillain-Barré syndrome.  Watching him through 2012, unable to do anything for himself and increasingly confined to a hospital bed is something none who loved him will ever forget.  
He has never been (and never will be) forgotten, not only for the music he created but for the force of nature he most certainly was.  In 1964, our Mum & Dad bought him an entry level acoustic guitar as a Christmas present and his progress on the instrument was something to behold.  By the time he was 18, he’d bought himself a Gibson Les Paul on HP (24 payments of five pounds and thirteen shillings per month) from Selmers in Charing Cross Road, London.  He joined a band, somehow co-opting me in as lead singer at the tender age of 15 (still a schoolboy, no less) and over the ensuing ten years, formed bands of whose line-up I was always a part, graduating from singing to percussion and eventually drums.
There being guitars laying around the family home, Tel took to playing and encouraged by Bri, never stopped.  Fast forward another five years and he too started writing songs so that by ’82, the 3 of us decided to form a band (Root Division) to play them.  It’s a truly special thing to be in the same band as your brothers and recording those songs became something Tel and me still remember with an abiding nostalgia.  No wonder we still talk about those days…
This song started life as an instrumental, written by Hans and of course, it’s brilliant as is but Tel liked it so much, he asked if he could write some lyrics and a vocal melody.  Being a generous fellow, our dear friend from Hamburg said he’d love to hear what Tel had in mind.
His basic idea was to incorporate as many references as he could to Cripple Club tracks, in celebration of the firm friendship we have formed in together recording what amounts to over 50 songs.  There may be a few of you who can spot one or two…
So this is for you, Bri.  We love and miss you, sweet brother.
(Gary Reeves)

Last Summer day reasons
Hamburg always shines
Shadows of Superheroes
Another surprise will come in time
Click toward a pension
From birth but never knew
Surprised to find a blackbird
In the flames as the music grew

Touch wood for satisfaction
CC music every day
Root of strong existence 
Step off the world to feed the phrase
Another Titan message
Titanic stories past
Image of a fraying edge
Never thought hang of time would last

It’s the time, it’s the place
It’s the only performance I can show my face

Last chance for singing
Avoid resistant tide
Pleasing distant garage
Remember 4 to 3 to 5
Stars in space that linger
Soaking up the blue
Palette of sunshine yellow
Mix to green for go - but for who?

T,G & H, Two and you!

LAST SUMMER'S DAY BLUES - CRIPPLE CLUB

The song "Round and Round" is a one day production from Scratch to Master - please enjoy

Round and Round

Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and compostion
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- VST Chinese gong and VST cello
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – light VST Latin percussion, synth, and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, chant vocals at the end 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — ebow, production, mix, and mastering

 This song is the fourth Carl has written and composed with a member of Eclectic Collective in mind. This time JJ is being honored, and we all agree that he deserves it, too. Carl is a wonderful singer, songwriter, composer, and musician, and we're all grateful that he's joined our collective. 
  Here's what Carl had to say about it. "The music for this was a personal song written to myself which I never really released as I was trying to say goodbye to my own ego in the song. From that point of view I have always seen the piece as a great bit of personal therapy for me. None of the original lyrics survived and JJ gets painted by the new words .. But I thought it would be nice to reuse the composition for this. There was no big reason for it only when I decided to start a 60bpm song for JJ on piano .. I started playing Goodbye Ego and the rest is history..."
  We tackled this song like we would any other, though. Mark was first up on this, adding his VST magic in the form of a Chinese gong, as well as the cello you hear throughout. The subject of our adulation came next, with JJ adding not only his hot, yet minimal Latin percussion and essential piano, but moody synth, as well. Ken added his spicy drums after that, and once they were down, Josh jumped in with his four string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Josh also added the vocal chant at the end.
  All that was left was for Stephen to mix it all down for us, which he did in his always pro manner. But before he did, he also added some subtle, yet stirring ebow on his guitar. 
  As stated above, this is a continuation of our songs about us. Hope no one thinks it's arrogant. When Carl presents us with these little treasures, it's hard not to run with them, though. Always a ton of fun to make music together. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:

Praying hands
Whatever cause
Once our greater good not lost
Bored children create their fun
We shelve French horn for this fine one
"Nice one lads" We read it all!
Vacation taken
To JJ calls
Neighbour to good Mickey Moore
Find Michigan piano pure

JJ calls
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us

Down the road city of cars
To Howell front deck
Dad and Guitars
We jam that love then tell the world
Love and service human highway knurled
Good bi-product of happiness sought
With Croatian fun to cloud we court

Terrell Terminator in Jungle
Predator for good
Keys like Mr Bungle
Faith in more like we could
He Thanks you
It's lifestyle
Built from a porch
Good collective friend
Keep lighting that torch

Some moments sealed, marked and moulded
Pure intention
Dark blindfolded
Howl from human to Howell good soul
Keyed keystone as collective role

JJ calls
Darkness falls
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
JJ calls

JJ calls
Just for us

JJ Calls-Eclectic Collective

Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and compostion
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- VST Chinese gong and VST cello
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – light VST Latin percussion, synth, and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, chant vocals at the end 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — ebow, production, mix, and mastering
This song is the fourth Carl has written and composed with a member of Eclectic Collective in mind. This time JJ is being honored, and we all agree that he deserves it, too. Carl is a wonderful singer, songwriter, composer, and musician, and we're all grateful that he's joined our collective. 
  Here's what Carl had to say about it. "The music for this was a personal song written to myself which I never really released as I was trying to say goodbye to my own ego in the song. From that point of view I have always seen the piece as a great bit of personal therapy for me. None of the original lyrics survived and JJ gets painted by the new words .. But I thought it would be nice to reuse the composition for this. There was no big reason for it only when I decided to start a 60bpm song for JJ on piano .. I started playing Goodbye Ego and the rest is history..."
  We tackled this song like we would any other, though. Mark was first up on this, adding his VST magic in the form of a Chinese gong, as well as the cello you hear throughout. The subject of our adulation came next, with JJ adding not only his hot, yet minimal Latin percussion and essential piano, but moody synth, as well. Ken added his spicy drums after that, and once they were down, Josh jumped in with his four string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Josh also added the vocal chant at the end.
  All that was left was for Stephen to mix it all down for us, which he did in his always pro manner. But before he did, he also added some subtle, yet stirring ebow on his guitar. 
  As stated above, this is a continuation of our songs about us. Hope no one thinks it's arrogant. When Carl presents us with these little treasures, it's hard not to run with them, though. Always a ton of fun to make music together. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:
Praying hands
Whatever cause
Once our greater good not lost
Bored children create their fun
We shelve French horn for this fine one
"Nice one lads" We read it all!
Vacation taken
To JJ calls
Neighbour to good Mickey Moore
Find Michigan piano pure
JJ calls
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Down the road city of cars
To Howell front deck
Dad and Guitars
We jam that love then tell the world
Love and service human highway knurled
Good bi-product of happiness sought
With Croatian fun to cloud we court
Terrell Terminator in Jungle
Predator for good
Keys like Mr Bungle
Faith in more like we could
He Thanks you
It's lifestyle
Built from a porch
Good collective friend
Keep lighting that torch
Some moments sealed, marked and moulded
Pure intention
Dark blindfolded
Howl from human to Howell good soul
Keyed keystone as collective role
JJ calls
Darkness falls
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
JJ calls
JJ calls
Just for us





Cast of Characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and composition
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- VST Chinese cymbals and VST cello
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – light VST Latin percussion, synth, and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums, Chinese percussion 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, chant vocals at the end 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — ebow, production, mix, and mastering

This song is the fourth Carl has written and composed with a member of Eclectic Collective in mind. This time JJ is being honoured, and we all agree that he deserves it, too. Carl is a wonderful singer, songwriter, composer, and musician, and we're all grateful that he's joined our collective. 
  Here's what Carl had to say about it. "The music for this was a personal song written to myself which I never really released as I was trying to say goodbye to my own ego in the song. From that point of view I have always seen the piece as a great bit of personal therapy for me. None of the original lyrics survived and JJ gets painted by the new words. But I thought it would be nice to reuse the composition for this. There was no big reason for it only when I decided to start a 60bpm song for JJ on piano .. I started playing Goodbye Ego and the rest is history..."
  We tackled this song like we would any other, though. Mark was first up on this, adding his VST magic in the form of a Chinese gong, as well as the cello you hear in the first verse. The subject of our adulation came next, with JJ adding not only his subtle but effective Latin percussion and beautiful piano, but moody synth, as well. Ken added his majestic Chinese flavoured drums after that, and once they were down, Josh jumped in with his four string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Josh also added the vocal chant at the end.
  All that was left was for Stephen to mix it all down for us, which he did in his always pro manner. But before he did, he also added some subtle, yet stirring ebow on his guitar. 
  As stated above, this is a continuation of our songs about us. Hope no one thinks it's arrogant. When Carl presents us with these little treasures, it's hard not to run with them, though. Always a ton of fun to make music together. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:

Praying hands
Whatever cause
Once our greater good not lost
Bored children create their fun
We shelve French horn for this fine one
"Nice one lads" We read it all!
Vacation taken
To JJ calls
Neighbour to good Mickey Moore
Find Michigan piano pure

JJ calls
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us

Down the road city of cars
To Howell front deck
Dad and Guitars
We jam that love then tell the world
Love and service human highway knurled
Good bi-product of happiness sought
With Croatian fun to cloud we court

Terrell Terminator in Jungle
Predator for good
Keys like Mr Bungle
Faith in more like we could
He Thanks you
It's lifestyle
Built from a porch
Good collective friend
Keep lighting that torch

Some moments sealed, marked and moulded
Pure intention
Dark blindfolded
Howl from human to Howell good soul
Keyed keystone as collective role

JJ calls
Darkness falls
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
JJ calls

JJ calls
Just for us

JJ Calls (The Eclectic Collective)

J’AI RÊVÉ DE VOUS
VOUS M’AVEZ RÊVÉE
ET PUIS ON S’EST RÉVEILLÉS

WAS I IN YOUR DREAMS LAST NIGHT
YOU WERE IN MINE SO I FIGURED I MIGHT
COS WE ALL DREAM OF EACH OTHER
YES WE ALL DREAM OF ONE ANOTHER
ALL WILL BE FINE LAST NIGHT YOU WERE MINE

I’LL BE IN YOUR DREAMS TONIGHT
YES I’LL BE AROUND SOMEWHERE AFTER MIDNIGHT
COS WE ALL DREAM OF EACH OTHER
YES WE ALL DREAM OF ONE ANOTHER
AND OUT OF SIGHT AT NIGHT WE REUNITE

WE ALL DREAM OF EACH OTHER
YES WE ALL DREAM OF ONE ANOTHER
AND BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON SHINING BRIGHT
TONIGHT YOU WILL BE MINE

WE WERE FRIENDS WE WERE FRIENDS

DREAMS (Lyrics) + Barbara Browning vocals

Giving and Taking (open invitation for a collaboration from IPG1) 
https://soundcloud.com/ipg1/giving-and-taking-vox-90-bpm
Paploviante: E-Bass, Music, Composing, Arrangement, Mix and Mastering
Lyrics IPG1:
Cloud Stepping (Chorus) Life is relative, 
to the one that’s living it Inside outlook, 
to giving and taking it 
Experience god’s works, all senses 
We were given just a little bit 
We couldn’t handle it all  the few we have 
can nearly fit the few 
we have can nearly fit
(Verse1) 
If we knew it all, and all, and all 
Then nothing would matter It’s all a puzzle to be solved 
We have always been the answer 
The plan of god without reward 
Evolves in different ways 
We are all awake in different dreams 
To let the devil play
(Verse2)
 Who amongst us hear the screams 
Of millions of lives lost,  and don’t look on it as savagery
 And wonder what’s the cost 
What’s the worth, and what’s the cost 
Are we listening or not 
Are we listening or not
(Chorus)
 Life is relative, to the one that’s living it Inside outlook, to giving and taking it Experience god’s works, all senses 
We were given just a little bit 
We couldn’t handle it all  the few we have 
can nearly fit the few we have can nearly fit

Giving And Taking IPG1 and Paploviante

A 2004 emotional moment through piano I share here as I feel close to you in this platform. Not capturing time but musically expressed.
Hope you enjoy,
love
Rina

Live Reflexion#036

Songster version was a little ‘copla’ about not being able to be with, nor without, a loved person.  As usual, I’ve ‘upgraded’ it, process from which you only get the final result, normally. 

But, following lyrics’ contradictions, I not only serve parts with different levels of (dis)order in heavy rock - flamenco sauce, but raw vs very cooked parts as well, starting with the improvised phone recording of the very first idea I had to develop the song, so please excuse my failures and noises.

Letra  /  Translated lyrics:

Te veo venir (No te vuelvas a ir)  /  I know where you're coming from (Don’t you leave again)

Te veo venir,                                                 /  I know where you're coming from,
cuando vienes con esa carita de pena,        /  when you come with that sweet sad face,
te veo venir,                                                  /  I know where you're coming from,
cuando vienes llorando sin que te duela,     /  when you come crying without any pain,

te veo venir (x3)                                            /  I know where you're coming from, (x3)

Te veo venir,                                                 /  I know where you're coming from,
cuando dices que quieres hablar conmigo,  /  when you say that you want to talk to me,
te veo venir,                                                  /  I know where you're coming from,
cuando quieres estar al lado mío,                /  when you want to be by my side,

te veo venir (x3)                                           /  I know where you're coming from, (x3)

Te veo venir,                                                 /  I know where you're coming from,
cuando vienes con esa carita de pilla,          /  when you come with that sweet sly face,
te veo venir,                                                  /  I know where you're coming from,
cuando vienes con esa sonrisa, chiquilla,    /  when you come with that smile, little girl,

te veo venir (x3)                                            /  I know where you're coming from, (x3)

ER33FI03 RUIZZO©1996 – FRANCÉS RECORDS®2016


Factor Integrante

Te veo venir (No te vuelvas a ir)

"Magic is what we do. Music is how we do it." -- Jerry Garcia

Welcome to my page, my peers, associates, friends, and musical family. 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, in the summer of '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), Stephen (Texmex Shaman), Chris (cgmaness), and Mark (mistermark). A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. More recently, we've been joined by Carl of The Beautiful Dark fame. 
  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. Therefore these days, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other artists on the side.
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song or lyrics 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, The Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, 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, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, 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, Sean Lennon, and Billy Strings, 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 welcome anyone who plays non-western music to contact me for a collaboration, too.
 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 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 recording projects, 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, it's just not my preferred medium with which to paint. 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.
  If your music is primarily AI, please don't come around my page, as I'm not at all interested in complimenting a machine.
  Here's a link to music I've recorded live 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

JJ Calls (Eclectic Collective)

Entheogenic Psychonaut (Josh Clary)