First Stop In Progress

A few weeks ago I first heard https://soundcloud.com/user-369089703/stay-original and could already feel the words filling my head before it had finished playing. The song reminded me of a favourite band of mine, Procol Harum because of the piano/organ arrangement. I asked if I could try to make a collaboration out of this wonderful melody and Pascal kindly agreed. Thank you so much for the opportunity Pascal and thank you for listening.

Music/Arrangement/Production/All instrumentation except drums - Pascal PAVY 
 @user-369089703
Drums - Loïc
Lyrics and Vocals - @markjbennett
Photography - Douglas Corrance

Stay just a little closer,
Take me in your arms until the morning has come.
Bring me just a little closer,
Who knows what the day might yet become?

Soon it will be dawn,
And will the dream be gone?
Why is it that we cannot make it last,
Forever?

Stay just a little longer,
Hold me in your arms until the morning has come.
Hold me just a little longer,
Who knows what the day might yet become?

Stay, stay, stay, stay

Now it’s close to dawn,
Why can’t we carry on?
Why is it that we cannot make it last,
Forever?

Stay just a little longer,
Hold me in your arms until the morning has come.
Hold me just a little longer,
We know only too well what’s to come.

Please stay

Stay - Pascal P. Musiques/MarkJBennett

DOWNLOAD FOR OPEN COLLAB

Part of the Elements series. Every track will be/is related, sharing recognisable parts because all is interrelated

PLEASE CREDIT AND DM ME IF YOU REMIX THIS THANKS

Eau-Water

Eau—Water (Open Collab)

Sakugo 2023

Poppy Seed 00:00
Bikini-clad Ice Maiden 05:44

Poppy Seed/Bikini-clad Ice Maiden

I can’t stop the time from passing
I can’t stop time…
How would I not know you
Sister in spirit brother in arms
Taking comfort in the absurd
The fleeting joy of transient bodies
And strange faces
How would I not love you
How would I not pursue you
Weapons of indifference
Shields of sarcasm
Do not deter the ardent adventurer

The Alchemist's Face

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually, as part of a future solo album)

Greetings my friends. I admit up front, this is a strange write-up… culminating from years of trying to navigate a world that no longer makes sense to me. And maybe that’s a good thing. We all needed a wake up call to just how ineffective and unsustainable it all is? And the last few years have provided examples of that… in abundance. 

Speaking of abundance (or in this case, lack thereof), Cheer and I have been discussing this one a lot lately; specifically in regards to the shops and restaurants we frequent. I finally gave up on building a DIY, music-centric desk I designed, because none of the local hardware stores had enough of the pieces in stock. We’ve watched our favorite Romaine lettuce disappear from the shelves, to be replaced by something half the size and twice the cost. Several of our favorite restaurants have closed permanently, and the wait times at others is painfully long now. 

Apparently, shop and restaurant owners can’t get anybody to work for $15/hr when it costs $30/hr to afford rent and groceries now. (How could we have ever predicted or prevented that? One might speculate.)

It’s enough to make the average mind go a little panicky. “Why don’t you have that in stock?”, ‘Why did the price on this just double overnight?”, “Why have we been waiting for 20 minutes just for the menus?”. All of these are very real, and very concerning… specifically if we never stop to question how much of that thinking is the result of being programmed to think like consumers our whole lives.

How often have you heard a commercial say something along the lines of “You deserve this because you are worth it.” Or “You should fear this. And our product/service can protect you.” Or “You should take this prescription, despite the list of side effects being longer than the list of benefits.”

I suggest we ask ourselves ‘Am I thinking with the mind of a consumer right now?’, and then be very willing to let those developing thoughts roll around in our heads for a while. 

Cheer and I concluded (with minor alarm) that we are both profoundly brainwashed by ‘consumer’ thinking; and it shows every time we feel a sense of panic in the store. Sure, things are a bit more scarce than they were 5 years ago… but does anyone (old enough) remember 30 years ago, when the stores contained half of what they offer now? (And none of us were freaking out over a lack of choices then). How about a time when you couldn’t have something shipped to your door overnight (many of us can still remember a time when 6-8 weeks was a decent shipping window).

Maybe the path to changing this paradigm is for us to get out of that ‘consumer’ thinking, and focus more on a ‘grateful for all the amazing things we have’ kind of thinking. I can still go to the store and choose from an abundance of fruits and vegetables, a teetering display of chips and dips, a bevy of beers from around the world. There are still more choices than my simple brain truly wants to think through, even if they are sold out of the Smoked Salmon and Ketchup flavored Cheetos I was specifically looking for.

So my plan going forward is to TASER myself (at least psychologically) every time I catch my brain being consumery. And the goal is to reach a point where I’m not thinking “It’s not fair my favorite restaurant closed.”, but instead thinking “How cool is it that I had that experience; and got to support the family that owned and worked that restaurant.” 

We’ve reached some critical tipping points that are well on their way to determining our future; and I believe a healthy attitude (dipped in gratitude) is the thing that’s going to keep us from gnawing each other’s faces off over the long haul. Them’s my weird thoughts for the day. Take em with a grain of salt (assuming the store carries the brand you like). I hope you enjoy my latest musical offering, ‘I’ll See It When I Believe It”. :)

WTF! The Musical

I'll See It When I Believe It

WHO’S WHO WHAT’S WHAT
WHERE’S LEFT FROM RIGHT
WHAT’S RIGHT FROM WRONG
ME  I DON’T KNOW

CAN YOU MAKE OUT
DAYLIGHT FROM NIGHT
OR HIGH FROM LOW
ME I DON’T KNOW OH
 
QUESTIONS QUESTIONS
WITH NEVER ANSWERS
WHY?
THAT’S ANOTHER QUESTION

WHO ARE YOU WHO IS ME
WHOEVER WE MAY BE
DESTINY
DESTINATION

HORNBILLS CHEAP THRILLS
FOOLS ON BLUEBERRY HILL
THE QUESTION IS
WHO’S GONNA PAY THE BILL 

WHO’S WHO WHAT’S WHAT
WHERE’S LEFT FROM RIGHT
WHAT’S RIGHT FROM WRONG
ME I DON’T KNOW

QUESTIONS (Lyrics)

Written and Produced by Tottery in Ableton Live.
Track art by MagicHappens.

So from the Strange Whisperings of the Villagers,
The Elders chose a Man-Servant to send into the Wilderness.
They stood by the Stable Gates and gazed upon a Faded Moon.
When Morning alighted a Figure Arose from the Mists.
The Man-Servant had Returned, and Fell Before their Feet,
Raggedly muttering . . .

There is a Circle of Magic in the Southern Glade

A meld of Latin & EDM - something a little different!
Don't be fooled by the intro 😁 

Free download if you like it.

Vocals by Mechi (Ghosthack)

Thank you for listening ♥

Tranquilita

Midnight

mostly generative music using Reason players.
trying to avoid known musical genres.
usually the rack makes the track.
more often then not the better parts are happy accidents.

First Stop In Progress

mandatory shroom therapy