You Stick To Me Like Glue

04 Life after Birth

03 The Phoenix

A quote attributed to teen-poster-turned-naughty-girl Miley Cyrus is, “A true friend is someone who is always there during the ups and downs; I actually have a song called True Friend.”  Well, she really is a damn good singer we are all probably pleased to hear about her friend status, though to be fair this quote was from the younger, more innocent Miley and Cyrus.  TWA songs can be a tad more sinister and complicated albeit significantly less popular.  Sung by the keen folkster fixture Bert Keith, Twenty Nine Years is no exception on a shady scale of surrender and despair.

While the song generally has a melancholic minor musical progression, Keith’s singing vacillates between contemporary folk and neo progressive rock in some parts.  When he is on top of the world he is vaguely reminiscent of that eons-old one-time hot band Marillion from rural Aylesbury in the UK.  The instrumentation, seemingly by design, is threadbare—mainly one acoustic guitar, gracelessly strummed in a Cobanesque fashion, some oblivious guy having loads of fun with a cranked-up Rickenbacker bass, and the spotty kid next door on the drums.  However, the overall sound is tight, even campy, and while the overused genre is life’s ups and downs, Twenty Nine Years is a fairly big down, but it’s not a downer.

Twenty Nine Years by Two Worlds Apart, with Alex Smith, Bert Keith, and Dragan Stojkovski.

Twenty Nine Years

I think it was Billy Connolly who famously said that Scotsmen only sing about Scotland when they’re far away from home.  Well folk crooner Bert Keith has taken that a bit further and written a gusher of a Christmas song, all about life and the streets of Glasgow and, to the best of my knowledge, he has never been!  Now Glaswegians might think, gonny no dae that, but I would urge them to give this a good listen first.

I have to say, when I hear him chant I do think about wintertime Glasgow, where rain-veneered streets reflect a leeching mix of soft amber and stark white streetlights, and there is a distant echo of a can being kicked inadvertently down some nearby street by a stranger hussling to catch the last bus home.

I believe Bert has played folk music in various pubs in Ireland, but I wouldn’t compare the stark streets of Belfast or the brimful byways of Dublin to the fortitude and grit of Glasgow.  No, if I had to make a comparison to my Scottish hometown I would say it was more like Philadelphia, though with fewer Americans.

Nevertheless, this provenance is no more a stretch than some short Australian playing William Wallace in a County Antrim field.  On a side note, take a look at the foreboding size of William Wallace’s sword in his rock star namesake monument.  Sorry, but no way Mel: Just not plausible.

Confidently reaching for the highs, his liberal legato and relentless retention of those last notes, Bert appears to have captured that authentic pub-enthused croonerism that your Caledonian dad and uncles would indulge in—usually after a few whiskies at any commemorative occasion; with an audience of at least one and devoid of musical accompaniment.  Geez a song Big Yin.

The Glasgow Voyager by Two Worlds Apart.  Lyrics and vocals by Bert Keith, music and guitars by Alex Smith, Keys and percussion by Dragan Stojkovski.

Glasgow Voyager

Bert “Stands With a Fist” Keith creates another solidarity classic in his tribute to working men and women everywhere.  On the back of an upbeat groove, folkster Keith croons “Let me work, you know these hands can work.”  While the world may be turning upside down on who gets employed and who doesn’t, his chant is not about nationalization or globalization.  More essential than politics, more vital than industrialization or automation, it is about application of the human skill, putting to use practiced hands, hands that have been trained for years—through apprenticeship, through mentorship, now prepared for the short span of a human career.  Not to be confused with the current political nationalist fervor, it is a more fundamental ode beyond Walesa or Lenin.

Produced by the brilliant Dragan “Less is More” Stojkovski, who brings out the simple clarity of the music with a paucity of instrumentation, augmented by hammer-like percussion during the breaks, reminiscent of the mechanics of construction.   With Bert Keith on vocals Alex Smith on guitars.

Free My Trade

A Favorable Juncture of Circumstances

At the crossroads of happenstance, ambition and aspiration one may find opportunity.  While many of us may drive continuously through an eternal grid of indistinguishable meandering roads, most of us never get there.  Some of us may come close, but we either dead-end or get scooped onto the highway to dwell.

Bert Keith realizes this, as for him, opportunity “beckons like a whore.” “Just reach out and take it,” he cries persistently, his voice almost breaking with frustration and sincerity.  Underneath, the bass pumps and drops and the 70s-sounding rock guitars riff haltingly, like a braking locomotive.  “Where do we go from here?” Keith barks.  Where indeed.

Written by Steve Mackereth, Alex Smith and Bert Keith, Opportunity was produced by Dragan “the man” Stojkovski.

Opportunity

“You didn’t really notice as the flurries turned to whiteout, suddenly you’re snowbound.” You feel as though you’re there, shivering with Steve, as his imposing voice captivates your imagination. “And the cold that seeps into your bones, slowly turns the marrow into stone,” gives me a resonating shudder every time I hear that line.  Metaphorical or not, I think many of us are waiting longingly for a big thaw. Like Steve, we’re hoping that the big thaw is gonna get here soon.

The song is in two parts. Part I is a full-up progressive folk rock endeavor with Steve Mackereth on voice, guitar and haunting mandola, and Alex Smith on methodical piano and exuberant bass. Percussion and production is by the ever-creative Dragan Stojkovski. 

For Part II, Alex hits a few melodic notes here and there on a small nylon-strung guitar, accompanied by a minimal string arrangement, all tightly coordinated and produced by Enter the Dragan.

Photography © the Intrepid Chris Blackshear.

“And the ice that forms within your veins, slows the oxygen that reaches your brain.”

Two Worlds Apart 2018

Big Thaw Part II

“You didn’t really notice as the flurries turned to whiteout, suddenly you’re snowbound.” You feel as though you’re there, shivering with Steve, as his imposing voice captivates your imagination. “And the cold that seeps into your bones, slowly turns the marrow into stone,” gives me a resonating shudder every time I hear that line.  Metaphorical or not, I think many of us are waiting longingly for a big thaw. Like Steve, we’re hoping that the big thaw is gonna get here soon.

The song is in two parts. Part I is a full-up progressive folk rock endeavor with Steve Mackereth on voice, guitar and haunting mandola, and Alex Smith on methodical piano and exuberant bass. Percussion and production is by the ever-creative Dragan Stojkovski. 

For Part II, Alex hits a few melodic notes here and there on a small nylon-strung guitar, accompanied by a minimal string arrangement, all tightly coordinated and produced by Enter the Dragan.

Photography © the Intrepid Chris Blackshear.

“And the ice that forms within your veins, slows the oxygen that reaches your brain.”

Big Thaw Part I

This song is based on Samuel Morse's career as an (excellent) artist and following some controversy as the inventor of the telegraph - using the morse code.  Sounds a bit dull perhaps, but we embedded codes throughout this song in the bass and rhythm to develop it - and it switches between 4 and 5 measure phrases - until the free form solo.  We had a good time with this one.

Art of Communication

Featuring the folk singer Bert Keith and Mr. Brian Cunningham on the acoustic, this is a retrospective upbeat folksy kinda piece.  Added 2 legato violins towards the end for development.

Beating Heart

Two Worlds Apart is more of a journey than a destination.  We have completed five major projects in the last five years ranging from rock to club/house to verging on classical.  We enjoy pushing boundaries and pushing ourselves but most of all we love to play and we hope you enjoy.  We change some of the members from time to time depending on the requirements of the project - but all are part of the Two Worlds Apart experience.

Art of Communication

Two Worlds Apart

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