Beck mongolian chop squad.

Sometimes you’ll get this feeling
that something is amiss;
it’s like your eyes are peering
into a vast abyss.

There are busy people everywhere,
and everything seems ordinary,
but suddenly you are aware
that all of this is temporary.

These are the last days...
We’re all standing on the brink.
This is our last phase...
We’re all swirling down the sink.
These are the last days...
We’re all wasting them away.
Stuck in our bad ways...
We are the agents of decay!
Whoa ohh
Whoa ohh whoa

Wires, poles, buildings, and roads,
alley cats, roaches, and crows,
all crammed in this urban sprawl,
under a sky that’s about to fall.

Cars, motorcycles, trucks and trains,
bars, gas stations and fast food chains,
sucking up energy, pumping out smoke,
covering our planet in a carbon cloak.

So many stores flashing colorful signs,
with so many things that they want you to buy,
but the only thing you want is to go back inside,
and curl up in a corner, trying to hide.

So many leaders spitting out trash,
never discussing the imminent crash.
So many gadgets streaming out crap,
numbing our minds to the widening gap.

Why aren’t they paying any mind
to the coming of our end?
How can they be so deaf and blind?
It is just around the bend.

How could I possibly be mad,
when my mind’s so very clear?
Under all that saccharine coating,
I see a world consumed by fear.

These are the last days...
We’re all standing on the brink.
This is our last phase...
We’re all swirling down the sink.
These are the last days...
We’re all wasting them away.
Stuck in our bad ways...
We are the agents of decay!
Whoa ohh
Whoa ohh whoa

These are the last days...
This is our last phase...
These are the last days...
Stuck in our bad ways...

Agents of Decay

Trash Queen

Less Than Nothing (you are)

約6年振りとなるニューアルバム『the flowers of romance』を「レッドブル・スタジオ東京」でレコーディング、2015年7月にリリースしたばかりのポストハードコア／ポストロックバンド、mouse on the keys（マウス・オン・ザ・キーズ）が初のスタジオライブ音源『Live at Red Bull Studios Tokyo』（全10曲）をライブ会場限定リリースする。

川崎昭（ドラム、ピアノ）、清田敦（ピアノ、キーボード）、新留大介（ピアノ、キーボード）のトリオから成るmouse on the keysは、作品数は少ないながらも、コアな音楽好きからミュージシャン、音楽業界に数多くのファンを持つ事で知られ、高く評価されている日本最高峰のポストロックバンド。

今作『Live at Red Bull Studios Tokyo』には、2006年の結成以来、その圧倒的なライブ・パフォーマンスにおいて、日本のみならず世界中で評価を積み重ねて来たmouse on the keysの10年間が収められている。

その中から新曲を含む、3曲を「レッドブル・スタジオ東京」のオフィシャルサイトにて独占先行配信。

mouse on the keys - saigo no bansan

Haibane Renmei - 10 - Something - Which - I-cant - Forget

Blue Fields. Who could forget this memorable melody sparking you to action as you first exit Balamb Garden with Squall & Co? This is one of those songs that is permanently etched into my brain due to the countless hours spent grinding on the world map. This whole soundtrack is one of Uematsu's best, but I always liked the sense of mystery and comfort in the repetition of the notes this song evoked. I figured the best way to get it out of my head would be to create my own unique interpretation.

 The final piece in my Piano Collections project, I present to you "Wanderlust". This is a wistful piano-centric orchestral arrangement I composed of the song "Blue Fields" from Final Fantasy 8, originally written by my favorite composer Nobuo Uematsu. Blue Fields can be heard anytime you are traversing about the world map, and is instantly recognizable, catchy, and just gets you in the mood to jaunt about, explore and adventure around the captivating world of FF8. The version used in the game, linked below, is much more up-tempo and has a march-like cadence to it.

*ORIGINAL SONG: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNdGoENQNQ4

For my re-interpretation, I wanted to keep with the piano theme, and slow it down into a plodding, gently developing, brooding, contemplative, and introspective piece. To do this, I first recorded the piano part with light reverb (sorry I didn't make any piano videos for this song) using this sheet music (under Disk 1 - Blue Fields): 

*SHEET MUSIC:
http://ffmusic.ffshrine.org/ff8sheet/ff8-sheet-music.php

After that, I duplicated the piano part so it plays twice in succession, as the song itself is fairly short, and I wanted enough time to experiment with it. I wanted to have 2 different variations of the theme to keep it evolving, so for the first part, I focused on orchestral arrangements with countermelodies and soft ambiance. For the second play through, I stripped down some of the ambiance and created a 2nd piano part using a mellow grand piano preset on my Kawai ES7 digital piano and added delay and reverb effects. I then just improvised for about 2 hours with the song on a never-ending loop until I came up with something I liked as an accompaniment melody and laid that track down, which I think added a very ethereal, dreamy quality, a bit similar to my Helen Jane Long cover. I purposely didn’t follow the exact melody of the song for the second half with the improvised piano, and made it a bit more discordant and harsh.

The song features 44 tracks, including 4 piano live recordings, violins, ambient textures, pizzicato style strings overlaid on the left hand of the piano to give it that poppy, airy sound like it has in the game…and mostly floaty soundscapes I created messing around with synths and using the wonderful creation engine that is Omnisphere Spectrasonics 2. I impressed myself with my efficiency and somehow recorded, mixed, and mastered this entire song in 3 sessions over 2 days (pretty long 6-8 hour sessions though), a minor miracle for someone who usually agonizes and obsesses over every small detail of the song.

Piano Collections will feature 9 tracks and will be submitted on December 21st through Distrokid and should be out on Spotify and elsewhere within the week. Please give it a listen! I am taking the remainder of the year off from musical projects to perhaps work on a website and enjoy the holiday. Starting in January I will be working on my first original solo album which will infuse piano, chill hop, electronic, and ambient. 

As always thanks for listening. Tell your friends! Subscribe! Enjoy!

-Zack

2 - SPICE OF LIFE

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