Another Manky song with lyrics by Laurence, this one is about the emotion of writing to his birth mother. As well as singing Laurence plays lead guitar on this and came up with a beautiful guitar melody for it. 

Dear Patricia

She Loves You

this is my flat where the video was shot. all these people came and cleaned it and someone knicked my sword was tidy for a day

Atom Of Love

Is Makathran Raiel

04-04-2023-Know-What-I-Mean-Oasis-Cover

Whos Pig Is This

Blissful Regression

Destroy and Rebuild (Sonic Fuzz MIX)

Headliners

Whatever

This is one of the earliest electronic tracks i wrote and was inspired by by Erik Satie's Gymnopedies.  I loved the dreamy feel and simplicity of these piano pieces.  Erik Satie was a maverick, his music was widely criticised and scorned by criticsat the time, with some even daring to suggest he could not compose.  Yet to me and indeed many others over the 150 odd years since there is a graceful beauty and simplicity in his Gymnopedies. He can arguably be called the father of Minimalism as one can see a direct link between his compositions and the work of 20th century minimalist composers such as Terry Riley and Phillip Glass and the amibient works of Brien Eno and Aphex Twin.

Lullaby For Erik

This tune started life as an attempt to create an Ibiza style rave rune which was going to have a Spanish Guitar melody courtesy of my old friend Jonathan.  However, life got in the way of this, though it may still happen someday.

I started working on it again the day after my birthday.  I was travelling back from London on the train after little sleep, having gone to see Fat White Family play with another friend, Harry, the night before.  It was while doing this that the “The clock is ticking” lyric popped into my head as it fit with part of the melody.  This gave me an idea of a theme.

The next thing that happened was the UK General Election, the result of which was not anywhere near what I wanted.  I am a committed Europhile and have a left of centre political and economic viewpoint.  I’ve yet to find any argument from an economic perspective that Brexit is a good idea which has stood up to critical analysis. I understand that critical analysis is not the approach that many people on either side of the Brexit divide used to make their decision.  

I do not believe the new Government will deliver the changes that so many Brexit voters want to see because the cause of their concerns (overstretched NHS, overstretched social care, lack of affordable housing, lack of employment opportunities that pay at least a living wage and addressing the funding shortfall in education, especially for those with additional needs to name a few) are not the fault of the European Union or EU internal migration.  

I anticipate another 5 years of worsening levels of poverty and an increasing divide between the wealthier elements of society and the poorer and between the young and the old.  Worst of all I foresee an emboldening of the racist minority that seek to capitalise on people’s dissatisfaction and their desire to return to the “good old days”, whenever they think they were.  

It is at times like these you need to critically assess why you believe what you do to see if those beliefs stand-up to scrutiny and can be demonstrated, in the Socratic sense, to be based on sound arguments.

As you can guess, I had enough of a subject to write about, hence the darker mood of the music and the lyrics. The lyrics just lent themselves to a spoken word delivery. I shy away from the word rap as I am not a rapper, that said I did try to aim somewhere between the Beastie Boys and Eminem at first, but ended up nearer Des Lynam (A BBC Sports TV presenter from years gone by who once did a rap for charity).  So, I just used my normal voice and some slight distortion / reverb.

As with many of my tunes this was composed entirely on Nano Studio 1 on an old Ipad Mini 1. The Lyrics are below. 

You wanna take things back
To the old school days
When your shit was better
Than today

You’ve dropped your shoulders
Your pace it’s slowing
Your looking backwards
Not where you’re going

Life wasn’t great then
Nostalgia’s illusion
A trick of the mind
A state of confusion

We shape the future
By our decisions
But fear of change
Is clouding your vision

All that’s born 
Is destined to die
The question to answer’s
How’d you spend your time

Like King Canute
Before the tide
If you don’t engage
You’ll be swept aside

Accept these truths
Life moves pretty fast
The only constant is change
Nothing ever lasts

Open your eyes
Time to decide
Evolution has one rule
Adapt or die

The clock is ticking
The clock is ticking
The clock is ticking
Counting down for you

The clock is ticking
The clock is ticking
The clock is ticking
It’s time to choose

It’s time to choose (x8)

The Clock Is Ticking (V4)

I love all kinds of music and compose and play as often as I can, which is not as much as I'd like.  If you like what I do, or you think I'll like what you do let me know.

The Clock Is Ticking (V4)

Marc Anthony Cattini