Vicki Johnson & Shanise - Goes Without Saying (Prod By.Nick Ray).wav

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At Neon Lightspeed - Part Two

Codices

Let It Be Me

Live Performance by PANdemonium4 Flute Quartet on Aug 3rd, 2025. Sylvia Vance Concert Series - Church of the Master united Methodist - Westerville, Ohio, USA

Inspired by a night in Morocco's desert, 'Dust in the Wind' evokes a desert storm through a rich palette of flute techniques. Fluttering textures, breathy tones, and sharp bursts of air recreate the escalating intensity of the wind. As the storm fades, the piece gently returns to serene tranquility.

Dust in the Wind for Flute Quartet - Live Performance World Premiere

Obsidian Reflections for Small Orchestra - Marco Polo Orchestra (Live World Premiere)

I once overheard a conversation. A friend was saying "we're just women with too much rope".  I wasn't' entirely sure what she meant, but the phrase stuck with me.

Lyrics
Everything’s been easy at every turn
Too much freedom we never had to earn
Too much money, too much sex
Too many things going the way you’d expect

The light is bright, The day is long
We always had plenty of adequate dope
I never complained about what you did
When you gave us too much rope 

Too much coffee
Too much time
Too many options
To keep in line
Too much youth
In early days
Too much time and money
For the current craze

There were questions we didn’t need to answer
That was something that we never had to do
When things went wrong like they always tend to
There was always rope and it would pull us through

You must have made some choices in those empty days
Running up expenses that nobody pays
Did you think about it, was it something you planned
I'm not complaining I just don't understand

You gave us so much, thought we could do without hope
You kept us supplied with plenty of rope
Now it seems we're finding it harder to compe
With the bumpy ground and the slippery slope 

Too much nonsense
Too many rhymes
It's hard to hear
At the best of time
I never want to question
Who I'm talking to
Cuz the answers don't even sound
Half way true

There were questions we didn’t need to answer
That was something that we never had to do
When things went wrong like they always tend to
There was always rope and it would pull us through

All that rope seemed like a gift
I figured it would help me feel free
But I didn’t understand that rope weighs a lot
It’s weighing me down, it’s not letting me be

There came a time when it seemed to me
That this rope became a liability
Things that used to come so easily
Became tangled in their  complexity

For what you gave I felt gratitude
Now things have changed and now I have to conclude
Mabye we’d be better living day to day
If we didn't have this rope getting in our way

There were questions we didn’t need to answer
That was something that we never had to do
When things went wrong like they always tend to
There was always rope and it would pull us through

Too Much Rope

And all of the signs were in my face 
That I should be runnin' away 
And I thought that I had a clue 
But you made me feel like a fool

Breaking All My Rules

I think this is the one where I used a classic soul progression. The packaging at the start that imitates a DJ scratch rhythm came when I accidentally touched a mi goreng pack of noodles around the mic and it fit so I used that. The stop start is influenced by ‘I Try’ by Macy Grey. Then a trademark 4 layers of cello for the chorus. It’s 4 layers cos that’s how I get the cellos to have enough power that I want. First time doing a vocal ’staccato’ sort of chorus like ‘Work Song’ by Hozier which is my fave Hozier song cos’ maybe I’ve overplayed ‘Take Me to Church.’ At the end a brief bit of funk. I remember trying something more complex but the classic James Brown sort of funky riff worked better so I used that.  The second verse is influenced by the production of ‘Hold On’ by Bishop Briggs with the claps. Then, a neopolitan chord for the bridge.  The last chorus has the 2nd chord flattened like ‘Imperfect For you’.  Also a harmonic minor scale being played by the synth lead which reminded me a bit of Just Like You Imagined by NIN. So we’re not lyrically referencing 300 anymore but musically referencing it. The horns are a new addition which I did just based on … what I thought might sound good. The verses/bridge are new but the chorus is from last year. Oh yeah I did reference FNM's Ricochet for the bridge. King for a Day is Spiderman's fave FNM record. Should just hired as a consultant when their biographies are due. Correcting people like, "nah it was a sunny day when that event happened." Yes, the weather is important. Details are important.

Speaking of mi goreng which I discovered in my 1 year of boarding school in Australia. “I do hope my overpriced education doesn’t offend you.” I remember looking at it and thinking it was strange that it had no broth. Then, tasting it and going “ this is amazing.” It’s wonderful how an Indonesian noodle brand has gained popularity in Australia. Other than that, I do miss the meat pies and Shapes (they are a good snack). It was also at boarding school that I discovered Meri lewa which was played once a week by the PNG boys.

Give Me Release

Composer’s Note
Today, new music — or perhaps more accurately, postmodern music — has found within the contemporary soundscape its own set of conventions. These conventions impose upon the composer a particular mode of sonority and a specific way of handling the musical material. In the present work, I have sought to distance myself from such prescriptions by remaining faithful to my own aural heritage, for it is precisely this heritage that sets my musical imagination in motion.
No tradition, rule, or sound possesses the power to mend the fractured porcelain of our listening experience. Only the composer, through the act of composition itself, can forge a new alloy from all that exists — granting melody a renewed definition and being.

The recording was made in Iran, by an Iranian performer, for I believe that both the performer and the real context of performance constitute the final link in a work’s contemporaneity — capable of reawakening, within the piece itself, the very wounds that first set its creation into motion

2. Lament (for Ghazaleh Alizadeh)

Can't Put My Finger On It

Dont Cry For Me

Simon Alami is a Canadian composer with a passion for blending different musical styles and traditions. He draws inspiration from master composers. Simon's compositional style is characterized by a fusion of diverse elements and a willingness to experiment with new forms of expression. He currently lives in Montreal, Canada and is a proud member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC), Canadian Music Center CMC and SOCAN.

Dust in the Wind for Flute Quartet - Live Performance World Premiere

Simon Alami Composer