To Reach The Northern Star

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually as part of my next BandCamp solo album)

Greetings my wonderful SC friends. I hope you’re enjoying October as much as I am. I adore all the -ember and -ober months. As seasons go, this is my happy space. It’s a great time to reflect, and a great time to reset.

Creatively speaking, this song caused a peculiar reaction I wasn’t expecting; enough to make it the topic for my liner notes. The reaction was... nostalgia. The world instruments made me pine for the experiences of my Scottish (clan Mackay) ancestors. And some of my other synth choices sparked happy feelings of being a teenager in the 80s. 

Even now, I’m strangely comforted by this song (a sort of mother’s love/lullaby effect). It makes me yearn for what I imagine to be easier, simpler times… and I couldn’t be more wrong. 

I know my Scottish ancestors had quite a brutal and destructive history. And if I’m really being honest with myself, I never expected to survive the Cold War in the 80s. In fact, I actually adopted a very dystopian view of the world because of it. So why do I (or any of us) have such a strong desire to return to ‘the good old days’, when almost all evidence points to those times being worse for the majority of us?

I’m reading a book right now that puts all of this into sharp perspective. It’s called ‘Enlightenment Now’ (by Steven Pinker); and it has less to do with being enlightened, and more to do with using reasoning to help us rummage through the inaccuracies stored in our minds. I’ll be the first to admit… I struggle with a lot of the concepts (because my ego loves the drama of believing it’s all going to hell). But truthfully, we have never seen a time when so many people were experiencing such a decent quality of life, and Steven has the analytics to prove it. For example:

On the topic of life…. The average human lifespan is now 71.4 years. In the 1700s it was 35.

On the topic of sustenance… Premodern Europe suffered famines every few decades. The typical diet in France in the 1700s was comparable to Rwanda in 1965 (the most malnourished nation for that year). Today, India’s billion people get an average of 2,400 calories a day. Hunger hasn’t disappeared entirely. But it’s nothing like what our ancestors experienced.

On the topic of wealth… the average preindustrial European was fortunate to own a quality garment only a few times in their lives. And it was not uncommon for clothing to be stolen off a dead body during an epidemic… thus continuing to spread the epidemic. Now we have to store our winter clothes to make room in the closet for our summer attire. And we order these items on our smart phones, to be delivered tomorrow.

On the topic of equal rights… Consider Michelle Obama’s quote from the 2016 National Democratic Convention, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.” That is a hopeful indicator of how far we’ve come toward achieving racial equality. And there are people still alive today who were born before women had the right to vote. Now women can run for President. Another great indicator we are heading in the right direction. We definitely have a long way to go. But again, it is much better than it was.

These are some of the simplest examples pulled from the book. If you need a booster shot of positivity, I highly recommend it. It’s one of the best researched, most logically presented perspectives I’ve encountered in a while; and it is unapologetically hopeful. It reminds us… the ‘good old days’ weren’t really that good; and the best days are now. So let’s focus on what we need to do next, and maybe park those fond (but faulty) memories.

I hope you enjoyed my latest musical offering, ‘Nostalgia’. :)

Vox Populi

Nostalgia

Secret Crush Bunny

From the new album- “aes·thet·ics”
https://moodexhibit.bandcamp.com/album/aes-thet-ics

Mood Exhibit - Absent [from the album “aes.thet.ics”]

Sound track of
https://youtu.be/RVfjiMMWWtQ
Enjoy and Follow me!!

Generative Ambient song.

This video was made with the Generative method with EBOSUITE.
I made the sound with Wotja automatically,then the track load in Ableton live with EBOSUITE.
EBOSUITE with ISF Shader :HyperbolicSpace.fs by Grigoriev Mikhail generated the beautiful images of Hyperbolic Space.
The opacity of the images was modulated by the volume of sound track.

Reach for the stars : Organic shader graphic and ambient PV(Youtube) Please follow ch!!

Me Techno !

Variabile

Baby Jam

Fool's Paradise (v2)

Purple

many thanks to susivalentine and her incredible talent!
https://soundcloud.com/susivalentine

vocals and lyrics by susivalentine

Este peso que llevo/ This weight I carry
me deja el cuerpo roto/ Leaves my body broken
ninguna comida me sacia/ No food satisfies me 
y el amargo me pone en rojo/ And the bitterness turns me red 

pero quiero tenerlo todo/ But I want to have it all
que nunca me falte nada/ May I never lack anything  
quiero gritarlo fuerte/  I want to shout it loud
sentirlo en lo profundo/  And feel it deep down within me 

y para dejar toda esta miseria/  And to leave all this misery 
quiero hacerme de nuevo/ I want to make myself all over again
quiero nacer por completo/  I want to be born completely 

renacer, renacer, renacer / Reborn, reborn, reborn

Este peso que llevo/ This weight I carry
me deja la mente rota/ Leaves my mind broken
pero algo me corre aquí dentro/ But something runs inside me  
quiero que todos lo escuchen / I want everyone to hear it 

porque ahora estoy hecha de fuego / Cuz now I’m made of fire
de las cenizas me convierto / From the ashes I become
porque ahora estoy hecha de fuego / Cuz now I’m made of fire
de las cenizas me convierto / From the ashes i become

porque siempre he estado presente/ Cuz I’ve always been present 
solo que tu nunca me viste de frente/ Just you never saw me head on 
me empujaste y vi oscuro / You pushed me and I saw dark
me perdí por mucho tiempo / I was lost for a long time
caminé por los desiertos/ I walk through the deserts 
pero estoy naciendo desde el polvo/ But I'm being born from the dust
porque ahora estoy hecha de fuego / Cuz now I’m made of fire
de las cenizas me convierto / From the ashes I become

que todos escuchen mi silencio/ Let everyone hear my silence

estoy hecha de fuego / I’m made of fire
de las cenizas me convierto / From the ashes I became 
estoy hecha de fuego / I’m made of fire
de las cenizas me convierto / From the ashes I became 

que empiece el juego de nuevo / I get stronger with every attempt  
me tiraste hacia atrás y comencé de nuevo / You pushed me back and I started again 
pero ahora estoy hecha de fuego / But now I'm made of fire 
de las cenizas me convierto / From the ashes I become

ashes (feat. susivalentine)

the serpent day

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