Well, I had to check out the name "Aldebaran" to make sense of the lyrics, and I see it's a star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus, so I understand the "Follower" sense of it all now. I would not say it was one of the better songs I have heard you do, particularly with Dick, whose work can be quite exemplary at times. Here, I think the production is lacking a bit, and the song needed something a bit more for my personal taste. That's not to say I felt it was bad by any means, but it could have been done better. For example, I don't think the intro marries up properly, and it could have done with perhaps other instrumentation to take it somewhere else. However, I like the new band and I am sure better things will come from it in the future, and fair play to you all.

Text, music and vocals as bright as their red star! Absolutely magnificent! Well done to you all!

Such a beautiful song, gorgeous elements and changes and voice is just perfect! Well done to all involved!!

Those chords on guiatr and piano are super catchy!  Fine work on the vocals Mark, and the rhythm section carries the tune perfectly!  Great work all three of you, this is excellent!

Such an uplifting song... such a great musical synthesis.

Wonderfully original and pensive arrangement, the three of you gelling into a truly brilliant ensemble.  I was going to say 'stellar' ensemble but as that is such a blindingly obvious term for this, perhaps I should keep that one to myself.  Or should I?  Better to say bravo to one and all!

I think you'd find this in the Cosmic Easy Listening bin? It feels like something Neil Young & Joni Mitchell might have come up with, but it's some of my SC favorites. I love that this has a slow fade -- it's perfect for the dreamy mood. You make some great choices of collab partners Mark!!

A satrical look at starving artists (Note: I'm married to one).  Influenced by the songs of Mose Alison and Terry Allen. The cover art is AI with the prompt "bad art in a museum." Maybe AI has a sense of humor?

Lyrics:
Tiki torches up on the wall
A Polynesian restaurant
At the end of the hall
Upstairs
They set up a gallery wall
Welcome to the cut-throat world of low-budget art

She's been dreaming of
A grant from the Walmart Foundation for the Arts
For her electrified
Polka dotted
Mannequin parts

He's been spreading genius around
All the other artists they just sit and scowl
But you can't buy his work at Sotherby's
Look for him in the parking lot of KFC

I am surrounded by
Amateur David Hockneys
I'm in cubist hell
Welcome to the cut-throat world of low-budget art

The 'MacArthur Genius Award'
They don't want to call me back
No one is to blame
Someone bought my work
But they don't want the painting
They just want the frame

Organic vegetables in a stall
At a Farmer's Market
At the mall
 I have my table set up
With my hot  🔥  avant-garde
Don't you know that I'm the vanguard?

I've got my genius on display
I've got my beret
Because I'm a genius
Let's keep that between us
The cut-throat world of low-budget art
The cut-throat world of
Low budget art

The Cut-Throat World Of Low Budget Art

It's a pleasure to see the sun again ! In this track I used classical guitar, electric piano & guitar, piano, percussions, drums & bass. Thank you for passing by and listening !
Composition: Julien Apelian
Recording studio: Audio Colors
May, 17th, 2025

Here comes the sun again

In another time another place
We measure our progress through our disgrace
And danced in the halls knew who we were
Escaped the race and gave it away

Now we are set and running late
Hard to believe we lived so free
Bent in the way -the branch swings
Caught in the grace of the Byzantines

Mosaic of color helps escape
The beauty of art starts taking shape
Inspiring those from under its wing
this modern world is fleeting 
remembering days of creating
Byzantine dreams run through my head
Sometimes  I live there instead
 Beautiful locks of abstract gold
Perfect icons and frescos 

Living off the dreams of the Byzantines

Dreams of the Byzantines

Prospect Conspiracy [demo]

Port Charm

Cover art: Publicity photo of American television host, Chuck Barris promoting the June 14, 1976 premiere of the NBC reality talent show The Gong Show.

The world can be an unpredictable dog eat dog kind of place full of all sorts of all sorts of people who can get under your skin
Sometimes you just have to smile and nod and keep your feelings to yourself and try your best just to just to take it on the chin
And there’s people who seem friendly, but they’ve got a knife in their hand behind their back
And they’re waiting for the right moment to attack
There used to be a TV show, where you could dance or sing a song
and if the judges didn’t like your performance, they would strike a gong
It sure would be nice if you could walk around with a mallet in your hand every day
And you had access to a gong you that you could strike and make annoying people go away
It sure would be nice to have that kind of power
Amateur performers of dubious talent, trying to win a small prize
Five hundred sixteen dollars and 32 cents, You could see the hunger in their eyes
Chuck Barris hosting on that Burbank stage, he knew the people competing were toast
But he smiled and tried to encourage them and be a good friendly host
The dinosaurs ruled the earth for millions of years until the asteroid struck
it was like a giant cosmic gong
Mammals arose from the rubble and now humans rule the earth, but we haven’t been around for nearly so long
We’re all just making it up as we go along hoping somebody doesn’t strike that gong
It sure would be nice if real life was more like that old Gong Show
And you could get a large gong attach it to wheels and take it wherever you go
You could follow in the footsteps of Chuck Barris and be your own gong show emcee
And whenever people start to annoy you -you could strike that gong and make them flee
He wrote a book called Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Chuck Barris was one of a kind.

The Gong Show

Remixes 2025

Dancing with Sheep (Remix)

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBr8TqD-5JM

Garden of Transformation (Remix)

Garden of Transformation (Remix) & Video Link

Somewhere

Three Owls are
 Régulo Tortolero: Drums, Bass, Cuatro Venezolano and lyrics 
 Oorlab https://soundcloud.com/oorlab : Lead Vocals and Backing Vocals, Piano, Strings and lyrics
Mark Bennett: Lead and Backing Vocals and lyrics

Recorded at NoHum Studio, El Limón - Venezuela and Oorlab Studio, Amersfoort - Netherlands and Edinburgh, UK 2025. Mixed by: R.T. ©® NoHum Records 2025  All Rights Reserved

Recorded and Produced by Three Owls 
 Art Cover: Mark J Bennett

Régulo (AKA @kings-of-manguareo) in Venezuela started this project a year ago with a piece called ‘Al Paso C’.
After several evolutions involving Dick (Oorlab) and myself, then the new title was suggested by Régulo and we ventured into space, with a ‘Musical Consequences’ scenario. I started off the lyrics, then Régulo added some lines and finally Dick completed them. Soundcloud is a great place for experimentation. Many thanks to my collaborators and also to you for taking part by listening, Mark

Am I the follower?
 Pleiades am I bound? 
Pleiades I am bound,
 I am the follower.

Aldebaran, Aldebaran, Aldebaran, Aldebaran… 
Never going, never going… coming back!

The fiery eye of Taurus,
 Trains its gaze upon, 
Orion’s shiny belt 
And it's perfect triad
 Over all of us
 For all eternity…

As long as the sun will shine
 And the magnetic field  
Stays well aligned 
The World will keep itself  
On course.

The long night will turn around
 Winter solstice is here 
Aldebaran will rise
 The ice will disappear

Aldebaran by Three Owls

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 (with Texmex Shaman)

Dear listener, Feel free to leave comments and I'll try to reply.

I've been making music for around 16 years now but because of the wonderfully generous community that is SC, I have learned so much in a short time. I look forward to learning even more by collaborating. 
I suppose my strengths are in lyric-writing and singing. I feel fortunate to have been able to work with some stunning compositions by some very talented SCers.

My very best to you, Mark

Some links to recent Continental Collision streaming sites, etc are available below:

Aldebaran by Three Owls

markjbennett

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