A simple chord progression I stumbled on gradually evolved into this piece.

Umbriel

An X6402 collab:
Hakka remix of an original track 'On Your Skin' by Suzanne Ledwith x Six Four Zero Two.
–
Lyrics and vocals: Suzanne Ledwith.
Original music: Six Four Zero Two.
Remix and production: Hakka.
soundcloud.com/hakkabeat
–
Cover: 6402.
Photography: Thomas Stephan on Unsplash.

On Your Skin (Hakka REMIX)

Climate Change (The Only Thing That Worries Me)

There's a beggar
In the city
He walks on his bare feet
His wife lies sick in the gutter
His daughter works the streets
But the beggar doesn't worry about those things
Poverty almost makes him sing!
You might find it strange
But the only thing that worries him
Is the threat from climate change

There's a worker
From Bangladesh
Building houses in Qatar
Football stadiums and hotels
Rising up to reach the stars
But the scaffold gives way and that's the end
For our worker and thousands of his friends
You might find it strange
But on their minds as they fell to death
Was the threat from climate change

There's a family man
In China
He's a slave in a factory
Making lots of plastic stuff
That's shipped to you and me
And the sweatshop's open day and night
Who cares about workers' rights?
You might find it strange
But the only thing that worries him
Is the threat from climate change

Little brother
Walking home
You're now on CCTV
When you stop for a hot dog
The authorities can see
The police reads your life like an open book
But hey! We can't let terrorists off the hook...
You might find it strange
But the only thing that worries him
Is the threat from climate change

These new cars
They are so smart
They don't need energy
Just use the socket on your wall
And charge the battery
They drive by themselves in a long steely chain
It almost looks like (what's it called....?) a railroad train!
It's hard to believe, but it's true:
Electricity is a magic thing
That appears out of the blue!

Climate Change (The Only Thing That Worries Me) - An original song

Chris: Lyrics & melody arrangement/vocals/Brauchli lapslide/audio engineering
Martin: Bass, rhythm, main guitars, shruti, instrumental arrangement & recording.
Another collaboration re-imagining the tradition, with Martin Kirwan…we’ve made this one a free download if you enjoy it. Martin has composed and played the instrumental on layered guitar tracks and shruti, and I've re-arranged the lyrics and vocal melody. As always, I'm blown away by his beautiful playing and imaginative blending of cultural sounds. https://soundcloud.com/tradladsaughrim

This gem can be found in Buntings Ancient Music of Ireland, and the "literal  translation from the original Irish" was undertaken by a Miss Mary Balfour, (there is a slightly different  translation in my 1897 book The Minstrelsy of Ireland). 
The original Irish song was believed to have been collected by an agent of Bunting's associates the McCrackens - a man called Patrick Lynch...who collected over 200 songs from singers around the Mayo area in the early 1800's but this man was never acknowledged in the publication. 
The original tune was believed to have been first published as "Ye Trugh" by Neal in 1724, but Bunting got it from Charles Byrne at a harpist's gathering around the 1790's.

"Arise from thy slumbers, oh fairest of maids!
With me wilt thou wander to Truigha's green shades,
Where sorrel and bright rowan berries abound,
And nuts in rich clusters the branches have crowned.

A bed of fresh ivy to rest thee I'll bring,
The blackbirds and thrushes around us shall sing,
And there with unceasing attachment I'll prove,
How soothing the cares of affection and love.

In my contemporary arrangement I've made the English lyrics flow a bit better. 

Photo by Chris Okunbor

An Seann Triuca

An Seann Triuća (The Old Truigha) Trad. arr. Okunbor & Kirwan. Free download if you like it

No Direction

Long Way Home

Wheelwright: voice, vocal melody and harmony, lyrics @wheelwright

Jonathan: initial music, instruments, mix

Fictive Sisters is a transatlantic collaboration of Wheelwright and Beckenstein. Our album Immaculate Distraction is available at https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com/album/immaculate-distraction

image by Lani Maynard

Crossing time-zones
Godforsaken deserts
Midnight in transit stations
The illusion of freedom
Written in blood written in stone

It's just an idea
It's just an idea

The twisted wreck
Of a helicopter gunship
A distant call to prayer
Sweet liquorice and bitter cigarettes

It's just an idea [...]

He carries her in his heart
She's all he had now all he has
White knuckles holding fast
His mother's photograph in a young man’s hands

Now everything is lost
Now everything is lost

They say half the future’s buried in the past
But the fallen will not weep for us
When it’s our time to choose

It's just an idea [...]

bandcamp

Sweet Licorice And Bitter Cigarettes (with Wheelwright)(Fictive Sisters)

Written by Terry Reeves
Terry Reeves: Vocals
Hans Albers:  All instruments, Arrangement & Production

SC Version Video: https://youtu.be/uHu4SAWhysc  
Dark Version Video: https://youtu.be/AZQoKfJCTYA 

You may be wondering how this song acquired the title it did.  These very words were actually said to me by one of my wife Jo's three long-standing and very close friends.  Over the years, they had all entered into long-term partnerships which, for differing reasons, ended very sadly, resulting in them being left on their own.  So I was, in a manner of speaking, last man standing.

When they needed a male presence, I was volunteered to help in a variety of ways, e.g. being a pretend boyfriend when one of them was being pestered by someone in whom they were not interested.  There are many more instances I could recount, some of which were definitely in the ‘very unusual’ category but I was always happy to be of help if I possibly could.  Besides which, they often turned out to be exceedingly amusing.

Fast forward a few years to when I was diagnosed with MS, which brought about a condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia, causing pain the like of which I’d not known before.  After a spell taking hefty painkilling drugs that basically turned me into a kind of zombie, my MS specialist suggested ‘Gamma Knife Procedure’.  

This involves (and I kid you not) a metal helmet being screwed directly into your skull at four strategic points, rendering your head totally immobile so that radioactive rays can, with pinpoint accuracy, be fired at your Trigeminal Nerve.  It is indeed a singular sensation to feel blood trickling down your face as said helmet is fixed into place but the benefits that ensued were more than worth the temporary inconvenience.  I was pretty much pain-free for the next two years, after which it did return but all things considered, was extremely pleased with the result.

To celebrate, a dinner party was thrown in my honour, a splendid time guaranteed for all.  It was here that Jo’s friend, whose husband had sadly died, uttered the immortal phrase.  It caused much laughter, as it rightly should have.  I wasn’t in the least offended and, anyway, my very first thought was “What a great title for a song”.

Once again, deep thanks are due to Hans for not only producing two brilliant versions of this song but videos to go with each (links above).  The man has a depth of talent of which others can only dream, myself included.  Thanks so much for listening.  (Terry Reeves)

I was invited to a party
I tingled with the chance
To talk about the future
Step in and out of the past
Who’s that man in the corner?
Wearing a helmet on his head?
This is just my day wear
The gamma ray gun Doctor said
(I heard someone say)

Why ain't you not dead yet?
Why are you still here?
Why are you the only man?
Who smiles and has no fear?

We talked about the weather
And laughed about the grass
The world is tasting plastic
And it doesn't seem to last
Who's that man in the corner? 
With the radiation smile
The glow won't last for ever
Why not enjoy it for a while?
(I heard someone say)

Why ain't you not dead yet?
Why are you still here?
Why are you the only man?
Who has ten layers of veneer? 

We shared some special moments
And showed the battle scars
A pigment of growing older
Figments hidden in a jar
Who's that man in the corner? 
Four holes drilled into his head
Tried to screw me to the wall
Keep me standing and out of bed
(I heard someone say)

Why ain't you not dead yet?
Why are you still here?
Why are you the only man?
Who we seem to volunteer?

Why ain't you not dead yet?
Why are you still here?
Why are you the only man?
Who floats in this atmosphere?

Why ain’t you not dead yet?
I may not be really here
If my name gets mentioned 
I want a smile and not a tear

Keep smiling, I want to smile
Keep smiling, Give me a smile
I want to smile, I want to smile
Yeah, smile...

WHY AIN'T YOU NOT DEAD YET? - Cripple Club & Hans Albers (Video links with description)

So many feelings well up regarding the invasion of Ukraine by Putin and his massed forces that I don't know where to begin. So I let them rise up and expressed them through this Piano Improvisation, as they are beyond mere words.

However, I do know that in this moment of peril, I stand with 100s of millions of people around the world and the people of Ukraine in denouncing this barbarous attack on innocent civilians. As this unfolds... the suffering, fear, and displacement are already immense as people flee bombed and shelled-out areas however they can, and head west. And a huge thank you here to the people of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova for welcoming and caring for the 100s of thousands of those refugees! The best and the worst of humanity are highly visible right now. Yet, there is widespread disbelief worldwide that such a thing could occur in today's world.  But here it is. 

Let us celebrate the fact that even in the face of these atrocities, Hope, and Goodness will continue to spring eternal in the human breast!

I pray for the Ukrainians, E.U., and the entire world as 100s of thousands in Russia and millions more around the world demonstrate against Putin's war. (This was before a law was passed that you could get 10 years in prison for such gatherings.) In any case, Putin has succeeded in doing the opposite of what he's been trying to do for 20 years. He's finally United the West! 

Yet still, I ask, when will man's inhumanity to man finally end?

May it be soon. Very soon.

This piano piece goes out to our dear friend Helena Dolgov @Syntaleta in Kharkiv as she and her family weather this terrifying insanity. May they always be safe and warm, and know that they are loved by all in our Soundcloud community.  <3



© Gary Courtland-Miles 2022
℗ Gary Courtland-Miles 2022

All The Things I  Feel

Original Concept / Composition / Production : Chris Dargay
Original Guitar Leads : Matt Michener
E.O.S. 2022

Nexus (M) *leads

33 How Deep is your Love

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuRYVvQRQSc&list=PLV_oSLRa-HaKHuG3vbexCV1TGY2S3RlLd&index=12

Some live looping acoustic music for a lovely day! 🙂 I wrote this song after I was stuck for many hours in a heavy rain in South Europe while hitchhiking to Morocco and West Sahara. Song is in my mother tongue - Latvian. This isn't my most latest song but this is brand new arrangement. Hope you will enjoy!

Let it Happen / Lai Notiek (Live Looping Version)

Reinis Jaunais