Was an exercise in vocal variation. So 'da da dada' became delirious. Part 2 of the 'love' series where I fall in love with someone. Next up is the enjoyable sex section.

Mercutio Scorpio

It was originally exactly 3:00 long in homage to the film. Upon listening to it after Fabris showed it to him. 

The next Denzel: Hehe. Faggot.

It's cool. Don't say it again.

Play In The Shade

Album art by 武明中. Asked for permission. Most Pink Floyd sounding track. Thought Noodle did well on the guitar there. Written in 2016 and mixed in 2017. Mixed by Warren Riker.

Blue

Worked on cutting the vocal rhythm for the chorus and dragging. Bit like fighting against the tide but it worked

Of the Sun

Groove was stolen from the song 'Fire' by the king of Wakanda. References 雨滴 on classical guitar and V for Vendetta lyrically

Cassius

Fire & Ice

Ethereal Sunrise

Sonically: Some of my triphop faves like Tricky
Lyrically: Freestylin. "There's a great big fat picture of New York!"
Dedicated to Nick Name who takes the bloody time in the world to check up on me now and then

You & I

Rare instance of me using mostly high register and keeping things really simple.

I Will Be Free

It Follows the Rain

Sacred Song

At a Loss for Words

Had a lot of fun doing the harmonies/guitar fills for this

Carry That Weight

Will be the first of many to experiment with slightly advanced songwriting theory. Hope you enjoy

Leaf Laden Hill

Second folk song uploaded. Hope you will enjoy

Darkened Days

First time trying something in Dorian. Also first time releasing something that is a social commentary

What Good Is Freedom

First time trying something with a bit of Lydian

Fall Birds

First time trying something in Mixolydian

Between Heaven & Hell

This is dedicated to Abi. Abi is a young Mexican man who turned 18 on May 5th. He is a good friend/listener of mine.He'll be entering university in under a month. He's won numerous awards/placements in film/entrepreneurial competitions. A smart/kind/interesting young man with a bright future ahead of him if he continues to work hard and learn new things. He will most likely be a loyal/good boyfriend/husband aswell. I hope that he can listen to this song and instill a bit of confidence. "I'll be rolling on fumes of confidence still." One of your best friends is yourself and it really is better to have words of self empowerment from your most important ally. Abi will do above average in life and he has a bright future ahead of him. I hope that we can maybe work on a film together in the future where I can provide the score. When in self doubt, I hope he can return to my words here and remind himself that he is very much valued. Here's to Abi.

The Rain Will Come

Decided to just take a break and rely on feel for a song.

Drum editing/fills/Instrumental Mix: Blaz from @a7-recording-studio

Swept By All These Things

Tried some new things like a circle of 5ths progression with spread triads. Then a bridge in 7/4 and using pitch axis theory but with modes instead of common notes as the emphasis.

Drum editing/fills/Instrumental Mix: Blaz from @a7-recording-studio

We'll Go Down

I used polyrhythm with strings in triple meter and drums in simple meter for the verses. Just like that song  in 1975. More creative uses of this to follow. Also used a quartile chord found in ‘So What’. There’s a walking bass line and it is also the first to feature piano voicings that make for easier bass lines. 

Co production (cool sound effect in intro),drum editing, drum fills and instrumental mix from Blaz @a7-recording-studio

Lyrically, it is stream of consciousness with a few lines edited to rhyme. It was supposed to be about finding inner peace but I only ended up with one line about that. I am not tortured but someone else might be. Hope is a good thing. Not based on the novel with the same name as I have never read it.



I would like to thank my family (especially my parents and sister), Jinn (weren’t for her listening to the songs not sure I would have returned after a 1 year hiatus), my friends, the parents and students that I have taught (“I have been touched by your kids. And I'm pretty sure that I've touched them”), all of my teachers and the teachers for that compliment at Hulu (it’s an honor), and my listeners.

2 Quotes.
Past year has been busy with no days off. I’ve started jogging for 30 minutes and last year I finished Macroeconomics on Khan’s Academy. This year I’m onto Unit 8 of his Finance & Capital Course. I’ve gone on 2 week long business trips to Thailand and Malaysia. Since I am in this field I decided to see if I could pick up my mental maths. 

It reminds me of a quote that an Indian boy replied when asked, “what are your weaknesses?” at a job interview.

He replied, “I don’t have any weaknesses. My greatest asset is turning my weaknesses into my strengths.” 

For the longest time I thought it was a good reply but didn’t think it was possible. 
So I did some research online and all of the quant traders were using either rankyourbrain or zetamac. 
2 minute long sessions. Since rankyourbrain shut down I will only list my scores for zetamac. I began around the 40’s which was actually a ‘decent’ score by international standards.  I’d memorize the ones that I took a bit longer on and go over them daily.Then after about 20 minutes each day on both websites (2 sets of default zetamac questions) I started seeing improvement after 3 weeks. And now, I have a high score of 79 which puts me 12 points off from a rubiks cube whiz who posted his score on Youtube. If you had told me that I would be only 12 points off at the start I would have called it a miracle. Going from below average at something to above average. But, ‘miracles’ do happen like those Mexican teachers who rescue a whole class of failing students. And, there are guys who started off scoring 20’s on zetamac going on to score 90’s. And, a woman who is now a quant trader who bought elementary math books to work on. 

2 schools of thought.
“Take it easy man.”
“Sometimes the hardest thing to do and the right thing to do are often the same thing.” - Alfred

I think people don’t really pick one and live by it and its more of a mixture. So, I would encourage you to find something you think you’re bad at and work on it.
I know.
“Numbers isn’t my thing.”
I used to feel the same way. In the beginning you’ll experience frustration and disappointment. But confidence isn’t the lack of those thoughts but having those thoughts and still working through it. Keep at it and you will experience this feeling of joy that is usually not associated with maths. For only 4 mins a day. Free. A chance to see what your mind has tricked you into thinking you suck at. 

And when you do improve just remember that it is only mental maths, a very small portion of what maths actually is.



The other quote I really liked was:
“ I don't even care if they respect me. I know who I am. I've got enough respect for myself.”

An early Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all!

The Crazed

Vocal Engineer: Sam
Mixed and mastered by B Steele. 
Lighter: Psychedelic Revolution
Mouth Trumpet: Psychedelic Revolution
 

There’s some polyrhythm with the lighter in triple meter and the rest in simple meter. Then polyrhythm again at the bridge with the bongos paired with a Latin bass line. There’s a backdoor cadence for the verses and a Picardi cadence at the end. Lead playing has a whole tone scale and diminished scale in there. I also superimposed the organ to play F pretty much the whole way through. For key changes, I used the subdom and then dom of the following key instead of my more abrupt ‘common chords or ‘Dom of following key’ approach. Initially, the first phrase of the chorus was just ‘Holding on’ but I came up with the 4 lines she sings at the very end. ‘Blip piano’ effect functions as the sound of keys, phone calls, and ICU at the end. Piano voicing, now cover both vocal melody and easy bass lines so I ended up singing a 7#9 chord if I combined the notes which was cool.  The debut of my mouth trumpet at 3:00. I have also switched to neck pick ups for the rhythm guitar to give it a more Fendery and warmer tone.



Lyrically, I once asked a teacher in high school about ‘Another Brick in the Wall.’ “How do you feel about being a teacher and hearing that song?” He replied, “Well, its’ actually about teachers who abuse their power.”
So this isn’t an anti drug song but an anti drug abuse song.   I think a lot of teachers would say their personal lives are not exactly smooth sailing.  It  is similar to the film Half Nelson except that the drug of choice is weed. Teachers are able to deliver good classes while having a drug habit.  “黄猫、黑猫，只要捉住老鼠就是好猫.”  I was hanging out with the ‘bad kids’ from WAB a few years back for a smoke break and one of them said, “B is such a dumbass. He posted pics of weed on his WeChat.”
Song is based on my fictional character roommate. The junkie joke is that he once was at a McDonald’s and asked, “Do you have some coke?…to drink” in seriousness. I love McDonalds! “They got that burger I like. Starts with a Q” 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAtvxFFsoeg

Then, oxycodone became popular in the States in 2011-12.  He did say, “I want to Turkish slap and then river dance on her corpse.” Unfortunately, the professor he was talking about overheard. It would be amusing if people danced to this song. In the end, I think he never graduated but that is OK because he is high up there and is now working in finance. I was talking to an old friend about another guy who did nothing all day and he said, “Hey, if it was me in his shoes, I’d do a lot worse.” So, that’s my view. He was into ‘Red Baron’ by Billy Cobham, the Stones, ‘Hard Times’ by Ray Charles,’Sitting…’ by Otis Redding, ‘Can’t Be Touched’ by Roy Jones Jr (cos’ he was a talented/hard working boxer when he was younger) and ‘What a Waster’ by The Libertines. I think with a royal weight on your shoulder that can be tough as there are no lands left to conquer for him. But, if I can name 3 people with bigger shoes to fill off the top of my head than the kids at int’l schools shouldn’t worry. 

Oh your dad’s a king? See: Alexander (The Macedonian one)
Oh your dad’s an actor? See RDJ.
Oh your dad’s a  footballer? See Frank Lampard.

Angels Fall

Vocal Sampling: Psychedelic Revolution
Batgrowl: Psychedelic Revolution
Instrumental Mix: B Steele

Added some world vocal samples in the intro. I think it’s in Gaelic. Was inspired by Deshi Basara by Hans Zimmer but I wanted to give the chanting a melody. Piano progression was something I played for years and finally developed. Had no idea I had a bit of Dorian thrown in the arpeggios. There’s also some slap bass for the chorus. The strings incorporate the vocal melody and there’s also a dorian #4 in the verses. 

Lyrically, I took lines from The Dark Knight Rises. It’s basically another song of mine about self empowerment. 

Batman: “What does it mean?”
Old Wise Guy: “Fuck if I know. I just downloaded the vocal sample from online.”

Rise (Demo)

Vocal Engineer: Sam
Mouth Trumpet: Psychedelic Revolution
Recorder: Psychedelic Revolution
Printer and Chair Sampling: Psychedelic Revolution


A standard 1-6-2-5 progression found often in R&B except I did a tritone substitution at the end for some progressions. Also did some half step distancing for the diminished chords sometimes. There is a gospel guitar rhythm for the hook. For lead, there is my new favorite scale the Hindu scale, Dorian b2, as well as Lydian #2. Also superimposed the organ for the first 2 chords of the hook. There is also a printer and chair sound being sampled. 

Here are the lyrics with a few annotations: Basically about a disgruntled office worker. 

Verse 1:
It’s the boat that rocks you slowly and the bills that drive you crazy and the all too many sleepless nights 
I roll over and kiss my wife and then I fix the eggs, maybe I’m dead inside
It’s the hope that kills you slowly it’s the will that drives you holy and when its all over, I pray that I’ll be alright
I pray that it’ll all end, paycheck comes often, cos’ only then do I feel alive 


Chorus:
Hallelujah
He loves his children       (Radiohead reference)
Rain down
On a dark night

Do ya see I that bleed when I hand in that report that’s due for six months and I might turn violent, if I don’t get my way 
Do ya see that I can’t just quit cos’ of my kids, and the presents that I need to give at Christmas
And you earn more than me don’t cha 
Wish that I could
Work
Harder
Run
Faster
And arrive
A little earlier 
Work
Harder
Run
Faster
And arrive
A little earlier 

Verse 2:

Don’t know if it’s just me or the neon lights but my varicose veins are starting to look pretty heavy
I check up on my doctor and he says you’ll be fine kid, take a couple of pills, drink a couple of beers and then you’ll be steady
In confines, collars that choke us, slowly losing focus, as the time runs out
It’s the hope that kills you slowly it’s the will that drives you holy and when its a’ll over, I pray that I’ll be alright
I pray that it’ll all end, my paycheck comes often, only then do I feel alive

Harder, Faster, Earlier (Demo)

Song uses harmonic major, major, and minor in the verses. Chord progression is a Motown C maj7-Ab(b5)/C-D diminished/C-Fm/C at the start. For the bridge it is Fm9-Bb7/11-Cmaj7-Cmaj7 which is another Motown progression. Lead guitar does some superimposition and plays a major scale a half step up for some outside playing. Bells play harmonic major, lydian (tho I may have deleted that, and the Gmaj7 arpeggio.Strings should have more legato for Motown but I found pizzicato really helped with the groove.  Basically, I was going for a Motown and Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack vibe.

Lyrics are …”turn the lights off. This ones for the ladies in the house.”
Some world class cheese that I improvised.


I see your front
On the backseat door
And I want you coming’ back for more
When I pull and push when I pull and push you up
Forget about the rest and
Actually, Factually, (Kanye West ’Spaceship reference) I’m looking forward to the summer rain
I can touch 
What my eyes can see
And you can still believe

Chorus
I said I’d be there for you
Until the end of time
Though our gravity pushes and pulls (gravity doesn’t push and pull. Electromagnetic forces do but it’s hard to sing electromagnetic forces)
I’d hold you until you were mine
I hear walls of silence
I hear what you do
You can stand right by me and I would stand
Right by you   (Ben E King reference)
Under under under your spell (reference to the Drive soundtrack)
You played the part in the role so well
Now you’re here I can finally breathe
And be the man I’m supposed to be

Verse 2
I see your eyes, locked onto mine
In the place of a stare
When I pull and push when I pull and push you up
Forget about the rest and
Actually, Factually, I’m looking forward to the summer rain
I can touch 
What my eyes can see
And you can still believe

Bridge
You make me, forget about the words I wanna say
You make me forget about the words I wanna say
Let’s go (Shania Twain reference)

Photo courtesy of Jamakassi.

Under Your Spell (demo)

Happy belated 19th to Abi.
Known Abi for a 2 years now and he will tell you he’s like a grumpy old man. He reminds me of Otto from Life of Otto in his younger days. A good man who’s recently won an award for being the best leader and the smartest in his university. Abi is modest and he’ll say, “I sound like I’m bragging.” Well, he just stated the fact that he did win. He’s also a loner who doesn’t smoke and drink which makes it near impossible to make friends in his Mexican university. Admirable really. I was nothing like that.He also wrote a letter to his school complaining about how the professors were too lax. It kinda worked. I do hope he’ll make a few friends and also it would be awesome to work with him on a score in the future.

Song goes:
E9 then triplet scratch then E13 followed by a chromatic run. Verse is E mixolydian. Bit of pushing for the rhythm during prechorus. Simple chorus. Bridge is 9/4 then 7/4 twice so adds up to 32 bars. 4/4 bongos going on gives it polyrhythm. Also a chromatic mediant progression going from Em to G#. Lead  guitar plays hindu scale in the second prechorus and Dorian in the bridge. 

Lyrics: Basically it’s an anti worship song against all forms of worship including pagan worship. Here are the lyrics with annotations

State your name Gloria. State your claim your fame     (Gloria might have been there cos’ the vocal run in ‘Rooster’ by AiC is gorgeous)
when my time is up. Cos' it's never enough, maybe you've failed to fill my cup
Prophets standing on the street. Butchers with all their meat. Can you put my mind at ease
I got more where this comes from. I'm just waiting for my last breath

Prechorus
It's not worth it so we're running on down the hill (we’re gonna take it alright)
Wanna see that your fake smile can be real (set it alight)

Chorus

Silence said the angel to the night
Bow down said the demon to his right. (It sounded badass)
I believe in darkness
I believe in magic
I believe what's tragic
Will save me from harm

Verse 2

You've got the nerve to ask. That woman her age
don't you think before you speak. If you wanna leave here in one piece
Got no time. For time. Got no watch on my grind (I really don’t wear a watch. A smartphone will tell you the time)
So I speak my mind. And I don't speak for all humankind

Pre Chorus 2
It's not pagan when it's part of your core beliefs (namaste)      (Making fun of paganism. I improvised namaste as I thought it sounded spiritual and turns out is Hindi)
That subconscious need to get on your knees. (Touche)

Chorus 2
Silence said the angel to the night
Bow down said the demon to his right
I believe in darkness
I believe in magic
I believe what's tragic
Will save me from harm

Outro:
I believe in darkness
I believe in magic
I believe what's tragic
Will save me from harm

Dark Magic

Dedicated to @jupow103 for his very cool folk songs and his constant support.
Wrote this around the ‘leaf laden hill’/‘darkened days’ time. So, it’s not complex but I did add some slash chords to it. Tried different modes for the strings and different cadences but the basics worked well. The melody for ‘overboard’ ascends for female vocals and descends for male vocals. The strings have the 3rd degree superimposed for the last chorus which I thought gave it a stately feel. Other than that, the strings rise when I sing' rise' and fall when I sing 'fall'. 

Lyrics: It’s mostly about a couple salvaging their relationship. There is absolutely no need to churn out all these lines when you’re doing it in real life. It is called 'Southern Catharsis' cos' it is cathartic to sing and 'Southern' cos' I like the southern drawl. 

                        1,2,3,4
                And I. Want more from this life
Than the tears you’ve shed and the blood you’ve bled on the mattress.(Could be interpreted as a woman losing her virginity but it’s not. It just rhymed.)
And you. Don’t mind what I like. (About a girl that likes what he likes)
 it’s lonely out here in the corners of your mind (needed to rhythm)
I took a ride
Down that old slide
A
You won’t give in (salvaging the relationship)
To dull what’s within

Chorus 1
Too long. With eyes wide open. Oh I breathe. Some foreign air
It makes the ground shake.(Hemingway reference) Causes hearts to palpitate. It rises up stronger than the storm. (Gladiator reference)
And if I told you I was overboard. I want you (Beatles reference). And no one else.


Trust. Falling like waves. Gathering dust.in hardened state.
Love. It’s never too much. Never too strong. Written on your face. 
16 candles in the wind (John Hughes reference. Fave film of his is Breakfast Club)
Locked in. Pouring from my skin. (It just rhymed)
And I know
You won’t give in

Southern Catharsis

Instrumental bluesy noodling in 2015. Album art by Jinn.

The Warmth in Your Eyes (Instrumental)

Damn shame they already made a Johnny Cash biopic

I Could Use Some Cash (Johnny Cash tribute)

From the live houses of the Jing to busking in tunnels (Granted, the 33.3% donation rate was based on the fact that he had removed his stifling white collar shirt and was dancing bare chested) in Singapore, Psychedelic Revolution (aka Psyche Rev) is a one man project that likes most things such as alt r&b and alt rock. Made it as a semi finalist in the 'Song of the Year' competition in 2022 with his song 'Cassius' and a finalist in 2023 with his song 'We'll Go Down'. Tastes like Kung Pao Chicken. Looks like a cross between Brag Pitt and Heath Leather. Smells like team spirit. Feels like baby powder. Oh the music. Yeah, it sounds good. 


Don't respond to DM's on here so if you would like to get touched pls contact  via some other avenue. He does have a sun fetish though.

Daily Musing:
Well, as it turns out, I spent about 4 months on a minor trip.  But, I am back now and in healthy form. We're going to do a synth pop song in the vein of 'Nightcall' next followed by a hip hop song where I will do it melodically and maybe actually rap a few bars. It's a good challenge. A song a month. Then, we'll probably go back to doing soul/rock in that order. Soul. Rock. Soul. Rock. Always wanted to write a song like 'Colors' by Black Pumas or 'Better Than' by Lake Street Dive or 'So Caught Up' by Teskey Brothers. As always, thank you for tuning in.

New song is done. Just sent for mixing. Was supposed to be out right now but I wasn't happy with the mix. So, it will be out before August 10th. So I guess there will be 2 new songs in August. 
2 Bits of good news:
So someone has decided to try me out and release 2 of my songs on Spotify and help me with marketing. So I sent them 5 and they liked Angels Fall and Harder, Better, Faster. Then, the final mix of the latter song was not to their liking so I sent them Southern Catharsis so it will be those 2 songs. And, they have a lot of other songs from other artists they are releasing before me so it will be released on Spotify on the whopping date of...early next year. They said I could release singles before that. Unfortunately everything else I have is in demo form. Oh well, if the next few songs go well I'll release them on Spotify.
The other bit of good news is that an Egyptian (pharaoh) asked me to write a song for him. Before I would have done it for free. I'm charging him $70 USD for it which is cheap. I looked online on Fiverr and going prices were around $100 but it is my first time. They are jingle writers on Fiverr (now before you go off on jingle writers, the guy from Foster the People was a jingle writer).

Psychedelic Revolution

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