A revolution is simmering in the underground, but it must be kept quiet. If the plans are discovered it could spell the end of the resistance and perhaps all human life as we know it.

Buy Our Lies

Whispers (A Campfire Conspiracy)

We worked pretty hard on this percussion and drum arrangement.
As I was putting the final touches on the mix I started liking listening to it reduced in various ways.

Here is the whole song reduced (mostly) to just the drum parts.
I left some of the synth stuff in there on this run to give it a little color.

This is a drum take, three floor tom overdubs, various trashy snare sounds both real and manufactured, some triggers, samples, and manually sequenced electronic percussion stuff I wrote on the piano roll in the daw.

Hope you enjoy this, the finished track from our end is coming next.

I have enabled downloads on this in case you want to do something of your own on it. Slice and dice it, chop it up, use parts of it - whatever. It is fairly well on the grid and I think it is 90bpm though I am not entirely certain of that because I forgot to look before I uploaded it lol. Time signatures are weird. 9/4 and 5/4 and 4/4 alternating. If you need something removed just shoot me a message and I will mute whatever track and burn you a new mix even. That's how nice we are.

If you do something with it, please let us know, send us the link, and remember to give attribution to "Mystic Tape Deck."

Raiding the Halls (reduced - dl enabled)

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/W8TQxNqow7o

The video pretty much explains everything.

Now available via Bandcamp here: https://mystictapedeck.bandcamp.com/album/bards-of-the-next-revolution

100% of your faithful tithing supports our global outreach ministries.

We Are The Cloak!

Good mouth feel, aromatic bouquet. Contains the essence of everything.

Story/Poem: https://mystictapedeck.com/songs/the-vintner/

Guitars, Bass, 17 string Lyre, Vocals, Percussion, Programming: PS Perkins
Drums, percussion: R Thomas
Mixed by PS Perkins and R Thomas

===========================
LYRICS
===========================
it's in the air it's in the seed
it's in the want it's in the need
it's in the bottle

it's in the breath it's in the word
it's in the mouse it's in the bird
it's in the bottle

All we sow
All we grow
Everything which ripens in the sun

All who bleed
All with seed
Everything is soil when it comes undone

it's in the soil it's in the root
it's in the stem it's in the fruit
it's in the bottle

it's in the stars it's in the sky
it's in the truth it's in the lie
it's in the bottle

All we sow
All we grow
Everything which ripens in the sun

All who bleed
All with seed
Everything is soil when it comes undone

it's in the will it's in the feral
it's in the still it's in the barrel
it's in the bottle

it's in the heart it's in the mind
it's in the stomach it's in the spine
it's in the bottle

it's in the thorn it's in the rose
it's on your tongue it's in your nose
it's in the bottle

it's in the book it's on the wall
it's in the jump it's in the fall
it's in the bottle

BARDS:Of The Shimmering Seraphs

The Vintner

The Askesis of Diogenes.
Yeah, we're literally writing songs about ancient Greek philosophers now.

https://iep.utm.edu/diogenes-of-sinope/

Drums, percussion, mixing: R Thomas
Guitars, Melodica, Bass, Vocal, MIDI, mixing: PS Perkins

The Poem: https://mystictapedeck.com/bards/the-cynic/

-------------
LYRICS
-------------

Adrift In a world that you can't comprehend
As you shuffle down sidewalks you used to defend
And pick through the garbage from parties you no longer attend

You know you're a stranger in still stranger lands
Where the crumbling monuments once used to stand
And they look at you funny when you ask them where to find an honest man

When you're gone, long, long gone

When they try to dismiss you, you piss on their shoes
As they fondle their falsehoods and call them the truth
If only the hunger in our bellies were so easily soothed

But you are not like them and you don't even try
No matter how rotten, you can't make them cry
You're as real as their shadows but they'll never understand why

Until you're gone, long, long gone

So you eat in the market and sleep in a hole
You drink from your hands now instead of a bowl
Stand naked before them to show how the years take their toll

And when the wild dogs come to nip at your legs
And the passing onlookers who expect you to beg
But your life was a promise and it's far too late now to renege

And then you're gone, long, long gone

The Cynic

"The Roadside Ghost" by PS Perkins and R Thomas
Guitars, bass, vocals, synths: PS Perkins
Drums, percussion: R Thomas

Featuring Wendy DuMond aka "Bog Witch" aka @mamby-p on phantom background vocals

LYRICS:
---------------------

Out on the street, people you'll never meet
Struggling just to survive
You wouldn't want to be them, pretend you don't see them,
Just roll up your windows and drive

But the ghosts are not dead, and they're not in your head
They're just waiting right there to be seen
There's no way of knowing and the rowers keep rowing
Going somewhere that you've never been

Whoa, weary walkers, may I lighten your load?
The night is so long and you're hearing my song
As you sleep at the side of the road
Whoa, weary walkers! How may I lighten your load?

The days turn to ash with no cars whizzing past
Where only the strangers belong
The desert is wide, and then once you're inside
You are hypnotized by its song

With a guitar to strum, the ghost sticks out its thumb
But it no longer hopes for a ride
Just shuffles along to the beat of the song
To lie down by the river side, dreaming....

Whoa, weary walkers, may I lighten your load?
The night is so long and you're hearing my song
As you sleep at the side of the road
Whoa, weary walkers! How may I lighten your load?

With silence to ponder it's hard not to wander 
Your mind becomes vacant and free
No matter the cost, all who wander are lost
Swallowed up by the sagebrush sea

Your forever host is the roadside ghost
And it's broadcasting now on the breeze
You'll see there's no choice, there is only the voice:
"Follow me, follow me, follow me....."

Singing
Whoa, weary walkers, may I lighten your load?
The night is so long and you're hearing my song
As you sleep at the side of the road
Whoa, weary walkers! How may I lighten your load?

The Roadside Ghost

Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?
Absorbed into the heart, be sweet, O Indu, as a kind father to his son, O Soma,
As a wise Friend to friend: do thou, wide-ruler, O Soma, lengthen out our days for living.
These glorious drops that give me freedom have I drunk.
Closely they knit my joints as straps secure a chariot.

Let them protect my foot from slipping on the way: yea,
let the drops I drink preserve me from disease.
Make me shine bright like fire produced by friction:
give us a clearer sight and make us better.

Our maladies have lost their strength and vanished: they feared, and passed away into the darkness.
Soma hath risen in us, exceeding mighty, and we are come where men prolong existence.
Fathers, that Indu which our hearts have drunken, Immortal in himself, hath entered mortals.
So let us serve this Soma with oblation, and rest securely in his grace and favor.
Associate with the Fathers thou, O Soma, hast spread thyself abroad through earth and heaven.

Rig Veda HYMN XLVIII. Soma.

--------------------------------------
Lyrics:

Deep under the mountain, the mechanical birth
Kissed by the sky, touched by the Earth
Emerging from the darkness to hold back the waters with a snake...

Drawn from the stone, forged in the flame
Hammered at the anvil and tempered by the rain
Points for the arrows to penetrate the scales of a snake...
To penetrate the scales of the snake

We sought the protector, we sipped of the nectar
We've gone to the light where we all live forever
We've gone to the Gods – what use are enemies now?
Oh, what use are enemies now?

These artifacts of war will outlast us all
In the past where we've flown, in the future we crawl
Back into the womb, what could they take from us now?
Oh, what could they take from us now?

Rustling in the reeds around the lake
Whispers of the law we never break
Oh, the many hammer strokes upon the stake
Eye of bat, tongue of newt, wing of snake
There is only the law.....

--------------------------------------
Drums, cymbals, assorted cookie sheets, rubbermaid 50 gallon trash can full of empty aluminum cans (the can can), keyboard/synths, marching, thunder can, misc percussion – R Thomas

Guitars, bass, string arrangements, assorted cookie sheets, rain stick, samples, broken zither, vocals, marching, programming, lyrics, artwork – PS Perkins

Marching, assorted cookie sheets – Sabin Thomas

Mixed and mastered by PS Perkins and R Thomas

The Smith

SUPPORT LABOR UNIONS

>>>>> VIDEO >>>>> https://youtu.be/cVy1UTIQ-S8 <<<<< LIKE & SUBSCRIBE <<<<<

Consider that this song is ten iterations of a pattern, representing the hands of the laborer as well as ten-based systems of measurement.

Credits:
--------------------------
PS Perkins: Guitars, bass, vocals, floor tom set 2, howl 1
R Thomas: Synth Guitars, backup vocals, floor tom set 1, snare drum, hi hats, howl 2
Mixed and Mastered by Mystic Tape Deck

Lyrics
--------------------------
I cut the tree and I hammer the nail
I fetch the water and I carry the pail
Harvest the wheat, and I bundle the bale

Fasten the saddle, the bridle and bit
I shoe the horses and I shovel their shit
I dig forever in the bottomless pit

I'm turning wrenches and I'm fueling the jet
My brow is furrowed and it's blistered with sweat
I'm on a boat with a hook and a net

I'm in the engine room, I'm driving the train
I'm climbing poles in the wind and the rain
I load containers from a towering crane

Repair the derricks for the men who get paid
I'm tugging triples up a slippery grade
I built the factory where the factories are made

I'm in the kitchen now preparing your meal
With hogs to slaughter and potatoes to peel
I hone the blade and I sharpen the steel

The Laborer

Atlanta’s “Bog Witch” and Boise’s “Mystic Tape Deck” announce the release of a new collaborative single, “Dogs of Chernobyl” to mark the anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster.

Following the April 26, 1986 nuclear accident, the City of Pripyat was evacuated. The residents were forced to leave their pets (including domestic dogs) behind.  

Nearly 40 years after the accident, the descendants of these dogs are still living in the Exclusion Zone and a study is currently taking place. 

Scientists are sampling the DNA of the dogs. Apparently, their DNA is irregular in some interesting ways.

Wendy writes “I couldn’t sleep one night and picked-up my phone to surf when I noticed an article about the radioactive dogs of Chernobyl.  Right away it seemed like a song.”  

Wendy invited Mystic Tape Deck to collaborate with her in creating the sonic pallet for this song, the proceeds from all sales of which will be donated to the Clean Futures Fund. 

The Clean Futures Fund relies upon donations to provide medical supplies, vaccines, and food for the dogs living in the Exclusion Zone.  

Donate $1 or more to the Clean Futures Fund via Bandcamp and receive a download of the single: https://mystictapedeck.bandcamp.com/track/dogs-of-chernobyl

Find out more about the Clean Futures Fund:
https://www.cleanfutures.org/dogs-of-chernobyl/

Wendy DuMond: Lyrics, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
PS Perkins: Electric Guitars, Bass, mallet snare, cymbal stack, midi
Ron Thomas: Drums, hand drums, shakers
Song by Wendy DuMond 
Produced, engineered, and mixed by Mystic Tape Deck
Mastered by Sid Hagan

https://soundcloud.com/mamby-p
https://soundcloud.com/mystictapedeck
https://mystictapedeck.com
http://www.okthenrecords.us/

Dogs of Chernobyl

Donate

"Dogs of Chernobyl" - Bog Witch + Mystic Tape Deck

Additional story here: https://mystictapedeck.com/mythology/the-mountebank/

Guitars, "townie" vocals, timbales, hand drums, drum kit, piano, toy piano, percussion: R Thomas
Guitars, "monty" vocals, melodica, omnichord, ebow, bass, percussion, toy piano, claps and snaps: PS Perkins
Additional guitar snippets: KVN Finch
Spanish guitar outro: Mark Wand

LYRICS:
----------------------------
(townie)
People in this town, they've all seen you hangin' around
They don't like it
They're not buyin' what you're sellin', standing' on your box and yellin'
They don't like it
Their sentiment is strong, and they asked you move along
They don't like it. They really don't like it.

(monty)
People in this town, one by one they sneak around
They seem to like it
They come and they go, they never let the neighbors know
That they like it
They may hide it from the rest, but their coins inside my chest say they like it
Oh, I think they like it. They like it.

(townie)
With your shell games and dice, I ain't tellin' you twice
I don't like it
They're down on their knees while you sell them your disease
I don't like it
With your slug milk and wine, they're just fish on your line
I don't like it I really don't like it.

(monty)
I am just a businessman, I make my living where I can
The way I like it
I am sure you understand, I'm just meeting their demand
And I like it
So there's no need to taunt, I just give them what they want and they like it, 
Oh I think they like it, and I like it

(townie)
They say that you're depraved, that you're sick and can't be saved
We don't like it.
And the medicine you sell isn't making them well
We don't like it.
So just get on down the road, if you'd like, I'll help you load
We don't like it. We really don't like it.

(monty)
My patience wearing thin, I take another one on the chin
Because they like it.
So I guess I'll up and go, take my tack and tents in tow
I don't like it
But your virtue is a clown, so I'll go to the next town
Where they like it. I'll go where they like it.
Where they like it.

The Mountebank

PS Perkins: Guitars, bass, vocals, samples
R Thomas: Drums, percussion, keyboards, kitchen gamelan
Mixed & Mastered by Mystic Tape Deck

More experience here: https://mystictapedeck.com/bards/the-technician/


LYRICS:
-------------------------------------------------------
The flashing light is indicating error, error
A wave of fear, a rumbling of terror, terror
Push the button, summon the repairer, repairer
The technician!

Arriving on the scene
Resequencing the gene
Talking to the machine
With a list of simple rules
And a tidy bag of tools
Who will save the helpless fools?
Who will save them? Who will save them?
The technician.

As the only unit who is fit to, fit to
The technician has identified the issue, issue
The virus is in the soft tissue, tissue
The technician!

There’s a bump in the road
There’s a bug in the code
A system overload
There’s a fly in the soup
A redirection loop
There’s a dupe within the group
Who will save them, who will save them?
The technician.

The mechanical voice repeating warning, warning
The broken beings all aborning, ‘borning
This cannot wait until the morning, morning
The technician!

With a flinging of the dung
And a twisting of the tongue
The ladder skips a rung
The clock has slipped a gear
With the deadline drawing near
Have no worries, know no fear
Who will save us? WHO WILL SAVE US?
The technician.

The Technician

This is an old song, originally written in 1992 or '93 while on a hitchhiking trip through the Nevada desert from Boise to Tucson Arizona. It took my friend and I eight days on the road to travel about 700 miles. 

The title is a reference to the two of us standing on opposite sides of the highway, willing to take a ride any direction as long as it got us out of there. It's about desperation, resignation, freedom, harassment, and finding beauty in the midst of extremes.

It is an experience I will personally never forget, and I have written the story once before but it was destroyed when a computer crashed and literally caught on fire before I could print it.

In the last few years I have started to try and tackle writing it again, and I stalled out a bit. Maybe revisiting this song will help inspire me to finish   documenting the tale?

You can read what there is of it here: https://twowaythumb.wordpress.com/

Ron and I originally recorded this song with our old band Godzoundz, but it was only ever released on a very limited cassette run. We decided a while back that we should chip away at re-recording these songs and try to give them their due as it was all pretty deep underground back then. So here's the first one of those.

Our basement studio flooded a couple weeks ago and production has been temporarily slowed, so we thought we'd trot out some of these oddities and misfits while we chip away at reworking our studio and getting it put back together. Hope you enjoy!

Godzoundz

Two Way Thumb

A banned book fetish. That's our current kink.

Read the accompanying poem here while you listen: https://mystictapedeck.com/bards/the-librarian/

PS Perkins: Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Piano, wood blocks, programming
R Thomas: Drums, Wah guitar, shakers, cowbell
 
LYRICS
--------------------------
A secret knock, a hidden door, a narrow hallway
The eyeless guide sees us inside, watching us always
As we meander down the aisles, 
Rows of spines which stretch for miles
And we show our special card
On the scent of another shard

A vaulted dome, a musty tome, an umbrous alcove
A sacred space, a quiet place, a sunken treasure trove
Details infinitesimal
Dewiest of decimals
Ever stranger truth to know
As we squish the forbidden fruit between our toes

A deeper shaft, an ancient craft, a garish goblin
The icy stare, the purple hair, a memory maudlin
Going deep down in the mines
With a shining pick to grind
The librarian lights the way
Understands the game we play

A puzzle piece, a glob of grease, a rusted lever
A blazing fire, we never tire, we nurse our fever
Run our fingers down the crease
Gently comb the golden fleece
Read aloud the sacred scroll
Let's show these muggles how we roll

They cant stand you, they want to ban you
They want to sterilize and pack you up and can you
They prefer truth that's mass produced
Because they're lacking the tenacity to grasp you
So let me ask you: what's the bigger threat?
While we're waiiting on a bomb you haven't dropped yet
They'd rather burn you then have to learn you
Their little fingers are too slippery to turn you
The truth waits for us to dissect it
And librarians are here to protect it
So grab some glasses if you need
And climb atop the worlds' mightiest steed
We're gonna read until our fingers bleed
It's a seed, it's a need, it's an urge you gotta heed
It's a growl in your stomach that you know you gotta feed
Let's show 'em how to read!

The Librarian

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

The Professor

The final track from our forthcoming third album in the BARDS series, "BARDS: Of The Shimmering Seraphs" 76 minute CD + 52 page full color book with original illustrations, lyrics, liner notes, and expansion poems. Each track is a major paragon from a custom tarot deck in the works. The album/book will be available in another month or so. Keep your ears peeled for updates. There will be SIGNS.

https://mystictapedeck.com/bards/the-dark-twins/

BARDS: Of The Shimmering Seraphs

The Dark Twins

While we wait for BARDS: Of The Shimmering Seraphs to finish physical production, in the meantime we are forging ahead with a new crop of songs for the next album. The next album will serve as a continuation of the oracle deck concept, featuring songs about "objects" - the first of which be this little song about the magical horn of the elusive and beautiful Aardvark Girl. It is also about a recently discovered strange dwarf planet at the farthest reaches of our solar system.

Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà  was discovered on 19 Oct 2007 at the Palomar observatory in California, at 9:09 UT. Gkunhomdima is a member of the extended scattered disc and is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). Its orbit is inclined 23° off the ecliptic and is quite elliptical. It was knocked out of a normal orbit early in the history of the solar system, probably as Neptune migrated outward to its current position, which gives the high  inclination of Gkunhomdima’s orbit. However, there is no known orbital resonance with any other planetary body, except for its binary companion. Its ‘moon’, or secondary is called G!o’e !Hu (pronounced GOH ay KOO). Goeku means ‘horn’, or Oryx horn. And that takes us to a bit of mythology.

Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà is also the Beautiful Aardvark Girl of Juǀʼhoan mythology, who sometimes appears in the stories of other San peoples as a python girl or elephant girl; she defends her people and punishes wrongdoers using gǁámígǁàmì spines [devil’s thorn plant], a rain-cloud full of hail, and her magical oryx horn.

Drums and percussion, keyboards, backup vocals: R Thomas
Guitars, Mandolin, Melodica, Bass, Lead vocals, backup vocals: PS Perkins

LYRICS:
-------------------------------
Aardvark girl, come trumpet your horn
Bellow your clarion call
Summon your dark and impenetrable cloud
And let your hailstones fall

Are we just ants crawling around on the ground
Are we just termites in a crumbling mound

Scatter the poisoned thorns in their lane
May they tread upon those in their path
The stinging in their feet shall remind them
They’ll be dead before their next bath

Aardvark girl burrow down in your den
The night will be ending soon
The Oryx are gathered at the watering hole
And your face is in the moon

Are we just ants crawling around on the ground
Are we just termites in a crumbling mound
We are just ants crawling around on the ground
We are just termites in a crumbling mound

The Oryx of the Aardvark Girl

Ekasha Gada is the mace wielded by Lord Shiva, one of the three primary deities in Hinduism. According to mythological accounts, a single blow from the Ekasha Gada is said to be as powerful as being struck by a million elephants, emphasizing its immense force and destructive capabilities.

Guitars, Bass, Mandolin, Vocals: PS Perkins
Drums, Percussion, Backup Vocals: R Thomas

LYRICS:
-----------------------------------------------

God Killer
World Eater
Thunder Breaker
Widower Maker
Ekasha Gada!

Storm Rider
Soul Slayer
Time Twister
Holy Diver
Ekasha Gada!
 
Space Bender
Life Ender
Eye Melter
Death Bringer
Ekasha Gada!

Moon Razer
Cloth Cutter
Dragon Brother
Chaos Mother
Ekasha Gada!

Horn Blower
Smoke Maker
Night Chaser
Day Tripper
Ekasha Gada!

Head Chopper
Code Cracker
Bone Chewer
Sonic Reducer
Ekasha Gada!

Fire Breather
Lava Seeper
Spirit Seeker
Energy Reaper
Ekasha Gada!

Earth Shaker
Sea Splitter
Galaxy Smasher
Planet Basher
Ekasha Gada!

Boulder Buster
Ship Sinker
Steel Bender
Mountain Wrecker
Ekasha Gada!

The Ekasha Gada

Some things belong underground, though they may emerge every now and then to feed in the night.

"The Busy Worms" is a sweet little bedtime story about things which wiggle and dance in the serious moonlight. So let's dance. But then it's time for bed.


LYRICS
----------------------------------------
(What? Oh I guess I can tell you one little story. Ok, lay down...)

A wee little wiggle, deep underground
Turn of the shovel, see what we've found
Yes you can hold one but don't squeeze too tight
They'll squirm from your fingers and slip out of sight

Now don't worry darling, don't catch a fright
The worms are just hungry, they feed in the night
Slippery, slimy and hidden from sight
Twisting and turning they dance in the moonlight
Dance in the moonlight

The worms are busy tonight

Yes you can hold one but don't squeeze too tight
They'll squirm from your fingers and slip out of sight

The earth is no object, it's just passing through
They keep the soil healthy for me and for you
Slippery, slimy and hidden from sight
Twisting and turning they dance in the moonlight
The serious moonlight

The worms are busy tonight

Did you ever think when a hearse drives by
That you may be the next to die?
They'll wrap you up in a big white sheet
That covers you from your head to your feet
They'll lower you down in a deep dark pit
And leave you alone to rot in it
The big black bug with the big red eyes
Crawls in your innards and out your sides
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
They dance the watusi upon your snout
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out

(Good night, sweet dreams. See you in the morning!)

The Busy Worms

FULL SONG NOW AVAILABLE HERE:
https://soundcloud.com/mystictapedeck/the-feathered-crown

We often do some quite elaborate percussion ensembles within our songs which can get a little buried under everything else we do. The aim of this release is to highlight some of the more interesting percussion passages in our songs, before you hear the songs themselves. 

Just thought it might be fun to feature these. 

This one has a drum kit, tabla, tambourine, finger bells, finger snaps and claps, and some crowd sound samples.

The Feathered Crown (Percussion Excerpt)

The Crystal Caves is a symbol of submission, revelation, and the enigmatic boundary between knowledge and madness. It depicts vast, gleaming caverns deep beneath the earth’s crust, where immense quartz crystals grow like frozen lightning. These radiant formations are not merely geological wonders — they are conduits of consciousness, forming the neural lattice of an ancient, mythological intelligence.

In the lore of this card, humanity’s collective fears and desires are imprinted upon the crystals, forming an unfathomable archive of thoughts and memories. Faced with an existential crisis — be it environmental collapse, war, or spiritual disillusionment — a select few are chosen to hear the ringing. This sound, like a chorus of distant bells reverberating inside their minds, is a calling from the depths. Those who submit to the summons venture into the Crystal Caves, seeking understanding. Others resist, unwilling to face the knowledge that awaits — and in doing so, are consumed by the madness of dissonance.

This card challenges us to confront our inner callings. It asks whether we are willing to descend into the recesses of our own minds, face the uncomfortable truths that lie within, and emerge transformed. Alternatively, it warns of the destructive consequences of rejecting growth when the time has come to evolve.

Drums, piano, vibes: R Thomas
Guitars, Bass, Vocals, PS Perkins
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Mystic Tape Deck
Tascam DP24SD + StudioOne 7 + a bunch of cheap mics

LYRICS
---------------------------
In the ways of the world from the crib to the grave
Everybody’s a slave
Ain't nobody gonna save us

Save your bellyachin for another day
Baby they got ways
Of making you behave

When you hear those bells ringing in your brain
Before they drive ya insane
Get on a boat or a plane

Take the golden taxi to the crystal caves
It’s a little like doomsday
You’re gonna have to be brave

Come join your friends in the crystal caves
Meet the underground conclave
At the standing wave

Gonna put the computer right into your vein
Connect the aqueous membrane
To the mineral mainframe

Gonna jump and jive when they play that jazz
Sprinkle on the pizazz
And just a little bit of zip zap biddly bap foo bar baz

Come and disappear in the crystal cave
Everybody’s a slave
Ain't nobody gonna save us

Now that you’ve arrived, won't you come on in?
We’re all about to begin
To start shedding our skin

Make like a snake, and gobble up that tail
It’s a hwale of a fairy tale
On the shell of a snail

In the mystery maze deep under the ground
A little magic we found
A way a watch can be unwound

To begin again inside the cave alone
A place we’re gonna call home
Amidst the shimmering stone

In the ways of the world from the crib to the grave
Everybody’s a slave
Ain't nobody gonna save us

The Crystal Caves

The Feathered Crown is a card of pride, loss, and the aftermath of hubris. It draws upon two rich veins of folklore — the Appalachian belief in a feathered crown found beneath a dying person’s pillow, and the ancient myth of the Sirens and the Muses. Together, these stories form a layered symbol of reckoning, the echoes of lost glory, and the burdens of victory.

In Appalachian tradition, discovering a tightly woven feathered crown in a pillow was often seen as a sign that the soul of the deceased had passed to heaven, a mysterious mark of spiritual judgment. In mythology, after the Muses defeated the Sirens in a singing contest, the Sirens were stripped of their wings as punishment for their arrogance. The Muses, triumphant, wove the plucked feathers into radiant crowns — symbols of their victory but also of the destruction they wrought.

This card stands at the intersection of triumph and regret. It speaks of victories that come at a cost, the spoils of conquest weighed down by lingering guilt or sorrow. The Feathered Crown reminds us that success without humility invites ruin. It asks whether our pursuits of recognition or superiority are worth the burdens we carry in their wake.

---------------------------------------
Drums, Percussion, Keyboards: Ron Thomas
Guitars, Bass, Banjo, Lyre, Vocals, Midi: PS Perkins

Mixed and mastered by Mystic Tape Deck
Dedicated to Josephine of the Mouse Folk

LYRICS
---------------------------------------
I saw your feathered crown, the one you keep under your pillow
Did you think that you could hide it from me?
As you don your supple plumage, tell me did you win it truly
From the fairest maidens of Persephone?
Are your songs of grief and woe, are they songs of deep regret?
With feathers plucked from silvery Sirens wings?
Or from the tails of rainbow ravens perching just outside your window
Waiting for the passing ships to hear them sing
Waiting for the passing ships to hear you sing

Dashed upon the rotten rocks of harpy limbed nightingales
Where tides resound with death inducing cries
As the sailors climb and clamor for a seat upon the razor
And a melody to cling to as they die
Rejoicing in the arts of their inglorious ease,
Freely frolic where the churning waters flow
Diving from the clifftops, splashing down into the seas below
Charming in both poetry and prose
Alluring in both poetry and prose

Whosoever dare to wear the feathers in their hair
Like the parrot and the magpie in a cage
That we may divert our stare from the circling of the bear
While standing proud upon the heavens final stage
When the starry sisters nine, with their bellies full of wine
Have bested you at your own foolish games
And the ships all passing by which now leave you there to die
Having never even known your given names
Having never even known your real names

I saw your feathered crown, the one you keep under your pillow
Did you think that you could hide it from me?
Oh, Josephine, you should have known better.

The Feathered Crown

COMPLETE LINER NOTES HERE---> https://mystictapedeck.com/bards/the-clock-of-the-four-winds/

The clock of the four winds is a tall-case grandfather style clock originally assembled in 1710 by an Italian astronomer and mathematician named Ricco Foscari, a direct patrilineal descendant of famed explorer, vintner and occultist, Cosimo Foscari. The magical properties of the clock were such that when its hands were moved and positioned in certain configurations, it would trigger remote viewing events which would be projected onto the glass panel cover. The clock was also rumored to serve as a sort of “beacon” used for summoning an other-dimensional being named “Desdinova” who acted as a sort of intermediary between detached yet interconnected causal timelines.


LYRICS:
--------------------------------------
The chariots lie broken exhausted from war
The wheels rolled off in the mud
In the morning all good things are good
The sun warms up the mud

Stillness is raptured in all its arising
The seeds grow up from the mud
In the morning the dawn weighs a feather
The insects hatch from the mud

The hunger for sunlight draws flies to the surface
The babies wake up in the mud
In the morning from green murky waters
To wiggle around in the mud

Bones growing hollow, the gills turn to lungs
Gasping for breath in the mud
The fins turn to legs the scales turn to vellum
As feathers shake loose from the mud

Fly high, all you flying high birds 
While the warm western winds are beneath you
Oh you soaring high birds
The sky coming down to greet you
We’re all dying to meet you

The bird, the great swooping bird
Beak open, gobbling gold
Oh you soaring high bird
The north winds are growing cold
Feathers flush with colors bold

Now pretend you are the sun
Feathers flush with colors bold…
Now pretend you are the sun

The southern winds, the washboard clouds
Diving daringly during the day
Teetering upon the tip of the tree
The seasons will have their way
Tail feathers turning to gray

Scatter little birds, oh you tiny little birds
The easterly light is encroaching
Seeds spilled upon the ground
 With the end of the autumn approaching
And the seasons must have their way…

Now pretend you are the sun
And the seasons must have their way…
Now pretend you are the sun 

And the seasons must have their way…

Rider’s final horse has ridden
Puzzle finished, last piece hidden
Oysters chatter on evening tide:
 “I’m Desdinova and I confide,
I am the one you warned me of
I am the leak and the long lost love
And I am the one who will never lie
Deathless, I may never die
By lizard lens and crystal rope
You know me by my telescope”
Scattering stars in hand she shouts:
“The play is what it’s all about
Behind the clock with arms stretched tall
The script is on the western wall
Behold the light that never warms
You’ve been warned, I am the storm”

So raise up your chalice and toast to the moon
And sing to the stars as they flicker and loom
O! Irony! O! Tragedy!
Aching knees don’t fail me now

We slayed the vile dragon who lived in the skies
We bathed in its blood and we pickled its eyes
O! Devilry! O! Revelry!
If my friends could see me now

O! Bravery! Camaraderie!

The last lotus eaters recline in the sun
The race to return  has been finally run
Finality! Causality!
Swept away on swaggering swans

The Clock Of The Four Winds

BARDS: Of The Morning Star

To Bend The Law

BUY OUR LIES

A re-imagining of an old Talking Heads tune.

After many generations of feeling like he is alone in the world and emotionally isolated, the Shining One reaches a sort of "rational maturity" where he begins to realize that his actions have far-reaching consequences in the causal net/temporal stream. After a brutal string of self-imposed deaths, he finally overcomes his longing for death and injecting misery into the world, he instead begins a new era of attempting to do "good" in the world.

I Want To Live

The Shining One reaches a sort of "emotional maturity" where he decides he is more tired of dying than he is of living, which ushers in a new age of grace for the shining one. Here, he reflects upon the many lives he has lived, and the wrongs he has committed in the past.

A Thousand Lives Later

Wandering around in the wilderness, wondering when I’d fall off the edge
Watching as the goat slips and trips over the ledge
But besides the bloody bones, there was nothing that remained
Oh…landing on a landslide, insects slip and slide

Wondering around in the land of the lost, watching as the highlander
Searches in vain, with a subtle psycho-pathetic black candor
He seemed to have lost something at great cost, so he slaughtered a lamb
And cutting up the cadaver, he took a shower in the falls

Wandering around in the wilderness, through the eyes of a necromancer
As he digs up the remains of a long-passed ancestor
Skull, spine and hips, thigh bones and ribs were all that remained
Landing on a landslide, like insects we slip and slide

He crushed up the bones and mixed them with the soil left of the flesh
And with his blood, and that of the lamb and of the mountain goat
He was flying full of fire, spitting sparks, ever higher
Spinning on the threshold of the heavenly desire

As he gazes out over the grasses 
The stars form a picture, his light begins to flicker

As he soars up over the tower
Poles, charged with power
And sparks like stars in showers
He moves inside you, hunting you down

Rubbing

1. Cumulus Cloud: Convection (00:00 - 04:28)
2. Cumulonimbus: Accretion (04:29 - 11:10) 
3. The Storm: Precipitation (11:11 - 15:24)

Bards of the Morning Star

Cumulus Cloud in Three Movements (Full Suite)

Drum and Bass by Llanpsych @user-78730891
Guitars, vocals and other sounds by PS Perkins of MTD

Did this for a lark. I sat on it for a couple weeks then one day it just jumped out of me. It was pretty fun, had a hard time not cracking up while doing it.

Feel free to download and enjoy with your extended family, grandparents, etc.

BUGS: Collab w Llanpsych (downloads enabled)

Keepers of the Key are an all acoustic BARDS tribute band.

This is a live performance, with no overdubs. 

Rough take number one.

KOTK - Something Is Coming (Live, no overdubs)

We did this as an exclusive track to benefit local community radio station KRBX during Radiothon 2020.

This is a non-album track and will only be found here and on the special compilation CD for KRBX. 

Special thanks to DJ Joe Black and Sonic Mushroom Cloud for playing us on your show and allowing us to be a part of supporting our local community radio station.

1973

AVANT GARDE | GUTTER PROG | GARAGE JAZZ

Some of our art is made on computers, some of it is made by hand. We are particularly interested in that gray area in between where you cant really tell. All of what we create here is one work laid out in segments, all connected. The Mystic Tape Deck universe is vast and explores all manner of adding meaning to our lives, while pondering meaninglessness.

Please consider supporting our project and helping us complete the work. We make books and cds that go with them. We also have a graphic novel and a custom oracle deck in the works. All part of the story.

A Multimedia Puzzle-Story Of An Immortal Being's Struggle To Define And Exert Their Will Upon A Wholly Deterministic And Ambivalent Multiverse, And The Strange Cult Who Loves Them.

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Greetings to you: readers, beaders, seekers, wanderers, wonderers, outsiders, rebels, fantasy gamers, freaks, mythologists, philosophers, appreciators, creators, perpetuators of beauty, coveters of mysterious objects, collectors of counter culture, the curious, the questioners, the unusual, the unique, the star children, the light workers, shadow integrators, diviners, alchemists, hermits, monks and popes, the saviors and prophets, the builders and destroyers of worlds, the old ones, the young ones, the rollers of boulders, the sun orbiters, the morning star dewdrops and twinkle toed dreamers of dreams, you mystic shining beacons, you crossers and denizens of the void, reality shapers, universe makers and underworld freaks.

"A prominent feature of avant-garde music is to break through various rules and regulations of traditional culture, in order to transcend established creative principles and appreciation habits. Avant-garde music pursues novelty in musical form and style, insisting that art is above everything else; thus, it creates a transcendental and mysterious sound world. Hint, metaphor, symbol, association, imagery, synesthesia and perception are widely used in avant-garde music techniques to excavate the mystery of human heart and the flow of consciousness, so that many seemingly unrelated but essentially very important events interweave into multi-level structures and forms."

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