Close to Robert, a hypermelodic, crooner computer and fan of Bowie & McCartney, unveils Gaia Mantra, a meditation on our relationship with possession, whether romantic or planetary. The downtempo synthpop track interweaves melodies combining the Roland JX3P, Arturia MiniFreak, Minimoog synths, and the cimbalom. The video evokes Ziggy lost in smog, searching for his China Girl.
Gaia Mantra marks Close to Robert’s return with a reworked sound, ideal for calm, dreamy, or introspective moments.

Close to Robert, ordinateur crooner hypermélodique fan de Bowie & McCartney, dévoile Gaia Mantra, méditation sur notre rapport à la possession, amoureux ou planétaire. La composition synthpop downtempo entrecroise les mélodies au cymbalum et synthés Roland JX3P, Arturia MiniFreak, Minimoog. Le clip évoque Ziggy perdu dans le smog cherchant sa China Girl.
Gaia Mantra marque le retour de Close to Robert sur les plateformes, avec un son retravaillé propice aux moments calmes, rêveurs ou introspectifs.

Close to Robert

Gaia Mantra

Gaia mantra

For the ninth instalment of Pet Projects we are delighted to welcome artist, cellist and children’s author Margit van der Zwan to the show. Based in Lancashire, Margit was born in the Netherlands but has Hungarian roots through her grandma – and therein lies a link to her distinctive pet: a Magic Roundabout remix who is an expert at shepherding her music students to the piano – as well as putting them at ease. 

In the course of a highly entertaining chat, Margit reflects on some of her adventures – including touring with pop band Elbow, introducing her wonderful picture book ‘I love my maracas!’ to leg-hugging young readers, and learning to play the musical saw (as well as designing a card game) during lockdown. She also looks ahead to her forthcoming art exhibition, ‘All Made Up’, which runs in Clitheroe from 22 February 2025, and we discuss her own unique musical compositions, excerpts of which are included in the show at the following points: ‘Hearts Hearts’ (38:20), ‘The World’ (46:48), ‘White Van’ (01:00:00) and ‘Een Fijne Melodie’ (01:06:50). 

Thanks so much for coming on the show, Margit! As always, there was much to learn from a wonderful new guest – both about the arts (classical/contemporary string music this time) and about those dawg-gone animals…

Pet Projects is a collaborative project devised by writer and editor Peter Humphreys and artist and filmmaker Ana Rebolledo, who provides the artwork and video content. It is available on Spotify, SoundCloud, iTunes and elsewhere. If you’re enjoying the podcast please like, subscribe and share.

Links to discussion points/project info: 

Margit’s website: https://margitvanderzwan.com 

Margit’s musical book for c. 3-year-olds, ‘I love my maracas!’: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1819613555/i-love-my-maracas-childrens-story-book 

Details of Margit’s forthcoming exhibition, ‘All Made Up’: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE5q3OaAC2A/ 

Margit’s own music on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcy3pHO-OoOBXgfabWXgcHA 

Quartet for Two – a podcast based on Margit’s card game: https://quartetfortwo.weebly.com 

Carlo Curley, classical organist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Curley 

Borrow my Doggy website: https://www.borrowmydoggy.com 

Emily Sandé, singer with whom Margit shared the stage at The Royal Albert Hall: https://emelisande.com

Dame Evelyn Glennie, famous percussionist: https://www.evelyn.co.uk 

Arthur and George – book by Julian Barnes: https://www.julianbarnes.com/books/arthur.html 

Kassia, Byzantine composer who came up when we shuffled the cards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ipNUTtDYU

Pet Projects - Episode 9 - Margit van der Zwan

'Echoes' draws inspiration from nature, light and sun. The music on the EP blends with Slovak folklore and creates a unique sound presenting the arrangement of folk song as well as original compositions.
Contemporary jazz quartet Verva invited guests Patrik Švec on tenor saxophone and Terezie Štanclová on violin to enrich their music with colorful instrumentation.

Aurora Brunensis

Sundog

'Echoes' draws inspiration from nature, light and sun. The music on the EP blends with Slovak traditional melodies and creates a unique sound presenting the arrangement of folk song as well as original compositions.
Contemporary jazz quartet Verva invited guests Patrik Švec on tenor saxophone and Terezie Štanclová on violin to enrich their music with colorful instrumentation.

Spoza vrch Poľany

Test track of Taizé song with cimbalom.

interpret: Schola OP
composer: Taizé
cimbalom: Sára Terezie Kroupová
guitar: Aleš Rašťák
solo: Marie Stavinohová, Doman Kučera, Jonatan Kučera
conductor: Tobiáš Kučera
sound: Šimon Kupka

© 2025

Cimbalom test

Staňte se solí

Zůstaňte (Bleibet hier)

Nada te Turbe

#darkfantasymusic #technofantasy #fantasytechno

Experimental Themes

Echoes from the Core

🌈🎵 Lyrics by Vladin Spectra

Voda, piesok, zábava, čas
Tancujem na hudbu, milujem pláž
Na slnku sa krútim, žiadny mráz
Bikiny, krémy, vysekaný pás

Obloha modrá
Voda je teplá, dobrá
Tričká sú mokré a tesné

Kazeta play
Dance Wednesday

Poďme plávať
Svet rozhýbať
Dnes sa radovať
V noci nezaspať

Ostrovy, párty
Dídžejsky lákač
Emócie prebudí
Som plážový flákač

Poďme si priať
Mať život rád
Spolu sa smiať
I love Shine

Rumy s ľadom
Kalórie páliť
Kluby otestovať
A moonwalk spraviť

Voda, piesok, zábava, čas
Tancujem na hudbu, milujem pláž
Na slnku sa krútim, žiadny mráz
Bikiny, krémy, vysekaný pás

Až pôjdem spať
Príde zima, mráz
Už nebude leto
Nebude ten čas

Otvorím si klub
Nasypem tam pláž
Ako letná párty
Všetko, a ešte drahš’

Tak poďme plávať
Na párty jazdu
Zvyknúť si na bosú
A rozhýbať panvu

Otvor fľašu
S dídžejom hraj
Schlaď sa vo vode
A celému sa smej

Voda, piesok, zábava, čas
Tancujem na hudbu, milujem pláž
Na slnku sa krútim, žiadny mráz
Bikiny, krémy, vysekaný pás

Obloha modrá
Voda je teplá, dobrá
Tričká sú mokré a tesné

Leto je môj obľúbený čas
Keď zavriem oči, nechcem už mráz
Poďme počúvať hudbu, baviť sa, neriešiť
Spev prebudí v nás radosť žiť

Od rána mám good vibe
V lete žijem super life
Ranná káva, ľahká hlava, pokosená tráva
Problémy nemajú knife

Sweet chilli leto, povedal Ben
Ale naše leto je vlastný sen
Zpěv, rap, hudba, my chceme len
Crazy fame, dokým nebude zas mínus päť!

Plážový flákač

Vladin Spectra  
hudebně‑vizuální vypravěč příběhů 🥁  
Díky za poslech! 🎵🍀  
#hiphop #triphop #dnb #trance #soul

Close to Robert is a French composer born in Scotland, pianist, producer and environmental activist, formerly elected to the town hall of Toulouse, France. 
His music mixes pop melodies, crooner voice, catchy bass lines, jazzy piano and synth solos. 
His compositions would be different without the Beatles, Bowie, Gainsbourg, Bashung, 80s Pop, the Roland JX3P synth... Close to Robert likes eclectic musicians, pop in the broad sense, like Chilly Gonzales, Jeanne Added, The Divine Comedy, Lana del Rey, Benjamin Biolay, Emilie Simon, Sébastien Tellier, Get Well Soon...
Ecology takes a major place in his lyrics, in a perspective that is both realistic and optimistic, because we have no other choice but to believe in humanity.

Qui bene cantat, bis orat. (Kdo dobře zpívá, dvakrát se modlí.) - sv. Augustin

Schola OP vznikla jako vokální sbor doprovázející liturgii v olomouckém dominikánském kostele Neposkvrněného Početí Panny Marie. Zpíváme pro „Oslavu Boha a posvěcení věřících.“ - P. J. Olejník

Hledáme zpěváky! Neváhejte se ozvat na schola@skucera.cz

My goal is to create music focused on Tabletop role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder and more.

Verva is a jazz quartet from the Czech Republic that presents modern original compositions with an ambient touch. Their unique approach is characterized by the elegant sound symbiosis of the cimbalom with the electric guitar, accompanied by energetic yet sensitive playing on the double bass and drums.

I'm a writer and editor based in Lancaster. Check out my podcasts Pet Projects (in which I interview creative types about their pets - and their projects), First Impressions (a surreal slice of literary cheesecake), and Monkey Scribbling (two older blokes reflect on their youth in the '90s through the letters they exchanged at the time). 

Pet Projects is a collaboration with Ana Rebolledo and Monkey Scribbling with Richard Pye. 

The family band I formed with my brother, Decaying Leather, in 1989 continues to write and record. Our music can also be found on SoundCloud and elsewhere.

New tracks tagged #cimbalom