3-Hour SG Lewis set live from the Do LaB Stage 2022

https://soundcloud.com/sglewis

SG Lewis at the Do LaB Stage Weekend One 2022

In this new and challenging direction, 'Human Machine Amazing!' is Sylektis' second single from Collection 2, featuring drummer extraordinaire Osman Konuray. The process began with a rhythmic exploration of 18, split into 6+6+6 or 7+7+4.  Osman was presented with (in retrospect) an unnecessarily complicated mathematical musical puzzle, that he not only graciously solved, but also  took to another level by adding mind-bending layers of complexity and poly-rhythms in the cymbal and snare parts, creating the single tour-de-force drum performance you can hear on this track. That's right, this is one performance, not recorded in overdubs!

To contrast this marvel of human musicianship, it became clear that all the melodic aspects of the track had to contrast the live drums.. hence everything else was composed of synthesizers and worked around the drum performance. Frederic Dumesle once again lends his expert analog synth skills to the synth bass, while Basil created the higher synth lines and computer vox parts. The poly-rhythmic coming together and separating of live drums and synths is a wry nod to the synergy and dissonance of humans and technology.. hence the title.  

The vocoder computerised voices singing 'Amazing! Isn't it so... Amazing! Wasn't that so.. Amazing! Aren't you just so.." were already in the track. However by some bizarre twist of fate on the day the track was mixed, Basil heard the lines 'I just wanted to tell you, I think you're amazing. I think you're amazing too! you're so amazing!' while viewing the film Baghead (2008)*.  Naturally, this serendipity could not be ignored. 

www.sylektis.space

*Drums performed and recorded by Osman Konuray in Barcelona. Synth Bass parts by Frederic Dumesle recorded in Brussels. Additional synths and mix by Basil Hogios in Prague. 
*Sample credit: from the film Baghead (2008), written and directed by the Duplass Brothers, staring Greta Gerwig and Steve Zissis.  All attempts made to get copyright clearance for the sample.

Human Machine Amazing! (feat. Osman Konuray)

Inspired by on-line dating stories and the unsettling feelings that come with it, this piano and voice ballad explores our increasingly lonely online existence in many aspects of life, and how we yearn for real human contact.

Sylektis teamed up once again with incredible vocalist Sonia Konstantinidou to bring the character to life.

Lyrics:

I am frozen in the glow
Timelines and memories
Tracing where I have been
Hearing sounds of human life
Outside my window
And no living soul to be seen

And there's no one here to witness
If I stay or if I leave
Got nowhere to go to
Nowhere to be

Why does everybody tell me
'Take a walk in the sun'
Hashtag no filter
Pretend that it's fun

Are you the right one to love?
I'm sure, I think, I know, I am enough
I wasted another day, I can't look away

So many  so-called  friends
A screenful of faces
It somehow just don't feel right
Now the days are getting colder
Someone come over
Drink wine and talk all night

I'm here,
Right here

Are you the right one to love?
I'm sure, I think,  I know, I've had enough
I wasted another day, I can't look away

And its wrong, so wrong
Swipe right, I'm gone

Music and Lyrics, Arranged, produced and mixed by Basil Hogios.

The Right One To Love (feat. Sonia Konstantinidou)

from Sylektis 'Collection 2'. Alternative version of 'Safe House' from 'Collection 1'. 
Remix by Basil Hogios and Michael Theiler
Text read by Gérald Lambert (Arker)

Words (French. English Translation below)

Je ne pense pas beaucoup à mon enfance.
Quand je le fais, je ne me souviens pas de grand-chose.
Tout cela me semble si lointain, si mort.
Je me dis que c'était mon enfance, et non pas que c'est mon enfance.
Ce n'est pas vivant en moi.
Je n'ai pas vraiment de maison en France.
Vous le saviez, n'est-ce pas ?

_ _ _ _ _ 

I don't think much about my childhood.
When I do it, I don't remember much.
It all seems so distant, so dead.
I tell myself that it was my childhood, and not that it is my childhood.
It's not alive in me.
I don't really have a house in France.
You knew that, didn't you?

Safe House (Alternate Version)

from Sylektis 'Collection 2'
Music and Lyrics, Vocals, Guitar - Vangelis Loulis
Additional Arrangement, production and mix - Basil Hogios

Lyrics:

I rode with Fate, she took me there
Through narrow roads, she came to light
While the super-highway made her a lie

I rode with fate, she took me there to the square

The jackals and crows in the city hall
Are Doing their dance, making her crawl
Electric clouds roll in the night
Slowly, Painfully

I rode with Fate, she was always there at the square
It's where her spirit lives
And she knows

Crisis forgives.

I Rode With Fate (feat. Vangelis Loulis)

from Sylektis 'Collection 2'. 
Instrumental version of Szyski, Revisited from 'Collection 1'

Szyski, Revisited (Instrumental Mix)

from Sylektis 'Collection 2'
Music and lyrics by Basil Hogios
Vocals by Syauqi Destanika
Arranged, produced and mixed by Basil Hogios.

Lyrics:

Another picture
Blood and dust and rubble
It's just unthinkable

A clinging lifeless hand
A father holds her
The same age as my daughter

Who did this to you

I had a good friend
Who texted me to pieces
How could you be so heartless
And ignore my pain

Her reason twisted
Punctuation vicious
I posted the wrong victims
So we can never be friends again

Have we lost our minds
Will it burn our souls
Can we feel no more

Who did this to you

Elegy (feat. Syauqi Destanika) [Album Version]

from Sylektis 'Collection 2'
Text written by Maia Horniak
Read by Alexandra Heley
Music by Frederic Dumesle

Lyrics:

Today is a very special day
I can hardly keep my heart from bursting
This is where I belong
The people here are all kind
They seem to know me, but they never look me in the eye
I offer myself completely.

I lie on the ground
My breath is warm
I close my eyes
I'm not scared
I know I'm doing the right thing
This is not a game.

Fly, Bird

MIT Freshman (Pre-Orientation) Arts Program 2012  perform:
Carly Rae Jepson - Call Me Maybe
Postal Service - Such Great Heights
Eric Clapton - Layla

FAP Music 2012 Final Performance

Luke Plummer 1

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