Piano Improvisations #24.8

"Whatever"is an '80s-style rock song. It talks about the world of disposable and temporary things we live in, where nothing lasts long enough to become real. Friendships, relationships, love — everything is plastic and fleeting. A time without memories.

Whatever (Tanto Faz)

It’s just like that, the way I recall,
Blurred-out words, nothing real at all.
I hit the street, but I’m not there,
Can’t see you — green or red, I don’t care.
I walk ahead, try not to glance behind,
Where I go, you don’t cross my mind — that’s fine.
What’s gone is gone, it won’t return,
The future waits, no need to burn.
It’s gone, it’s done — no more glory,
The fire wipes out every story.
Time just moves, it won’t relent,
Chasing wins, it kills the present.
And memory? It fades, it dies,
Just disappears before your eyes.

++++++++++PORTUGUES

Tanto faz é um rock estilo anos 80. Fala sobre o mundo de coisas descartáveis e temporarias em que vivemos, onde nada dura tempo suficiente para se tornar verdadeiro. Amizades, relacionamentos, amores...tudo é plastico e passageiro. Um tempo sem memórias.

Tanto Faz

É bem por ai, é como eu me lembro;
Palavras difusas, tudo fake;
Descubro a rua e não me vejo;
Não te enxergo, verde ou vermelho;
Sigo em frente sempre tento não olhar pra trás;
Pra onde ando não te percebo, tanto faz;
O que passou, passou. Não volta jamais;
O futuro te espera, fica em paz;
Passou, passou, não tem mais glória.
O fogo varre toda a história.
O tempo sempre segue em frente, buscando a vitória despreza o presente.
A memória se diluí, se desfaz.

Whatever (Tanto Faz)

released in Jan 2025 - https://nomatesensemble.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-never-freer-than-when-i-am-with-you. 


Then She Reaches for the Gun was formed in 2021 by Mat Ward. At its essence is sound collage, Ward invites musicians, sound artists, poets and anyone interested to send him files to be used, abused and showcased ‘as suggested by the work’. They are not always musical but field recordings, spoken word, engine noises and drunken rants. Animals participate a lot too! The raw material is arranged with one phrase asking for the next in an alchemical and intuitive process that will most often feature dozens of tracks weaving in and out of each other, colliding, harmonising, arguing and laughing along the way.

Both the aesthetic and the compositional methods use what Frank Zappa called Xenochrony - the mixing together of separately recorded and rhythmically opposing musical phrases to create polyrhythmic and polytempi compositions.The work also features fragmented story telling with the human voice (in many languages) appearing unannounced throughout the tracks offering up snippets of thoughts, conversations, jokes and existential angst. The absurdity of humanities desperate claim to have any real understanding of its place in the universe is revealed through the recorded follies and genuine emotions of the artists. The project is a celebration of chance, diversity and community. It pays homage to all musical tastes and genres whilst maintaining a sense of humour and irreverence that is needed to stay sane in the climate of  21st Century contemporary culture.

Then She Reaches For The Gun is

Humans

Adam Meredith - Ford XD with XF front mods/Voice
Ambient Annie - Electronica/Field Recording/Voice
Andrew Harper - Field Recordings
Angostura Elwar -  2 x Behringer CRAVE analog synths/Yamaha P200 electronic piano 
Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi - Text/Voice
Ariad Music - Clarinet/Percussion/Piano
Axel Weiß - Electric Guitar/Robot Voices
Banalytic - Experimental Electronics
Belial Pelgrim - Digital Strings/Electronica
Brendan Corey Benson - Electric Guitar
Carolyn Wigston - Voice
Chicago Word Brigade - Electronica
Dan Hewins - Bass Guitar
Dane Renshaw - Drums/Voice
Dani Kirby - Keyboard/Piano/Voice
Dylan Banks - Intonarumori/Voice
Frank Wilke - French Horn/Trombone/Voice
Garbage Truck Disco - Drum programming/Electric Guitar/Joyous Pop Punk
Glenn Ward - Electric Guitar/Skyhooks
Hakan - Moog Voyager XL
Hverheij- Drums/Electric Guitar/Synth
Johnny Python- Bass Guitar/Drum Programming/Electric Guitar/Text/Voice
JZsuperstar - Electric Guitar/Field Recordings/Keyboards
Lady ElectroTrek - Organ
Libby Laksmi - Jazzy Loops/Synth Bass
Loop(c)y - Electric Guitar
Malo Bernard-O’Meara - Drums
Maxx Black - Guitar/Ukulele
Minimal Drone Girl - Cat Wrangling/Field Recordings
Oberlin - Eurorack/Piano
Paolo D’Emilio - Electronica
Paul Miller - Electronic Percussion/Keyboards/Phat Electro Bass
Phil Bywater - Saxophones/Voice
Raul Mainer - DAW Programming/Heavy Metal
Robert Jefferson - Akai Rhythm wolf/GakkenSX-150 ll/Korg Kaosilator/Percussion
Rosin Dust - Violin/Field Recordings
Sarah Megahertz - Speedway Noise
Scratch Kelly - Beats/Electronica
Stan Magendanz - Electronica
Ten Atmospheres - Field Recordings/Synths
Texmex Shaman - Electric Guitar
The Windscale Blues Experiment - Clarinet/Flute/Saxophones
Timothy Korstad - Demons/Electronica
Thomas Bergheim - Bass Guitar/Electric Guitar
Tobias Schmitt - Electronica/Processed Organ/Text
Tuonela - Demons/Electronica
Vartch - Drones/Things/Trousers (not T-shirts)/Voice
Widar’s Spiritual Front - Electronica/Ms Pacman
W:I:L-o’ the-wisp - Bass Guitar/Electric Guitar/Electronica
Wivresse - Electronica/Voice
Zanshin - Acoustic and Processed Drums

Mat Ward - Arrangements/Bass Guitar/Double Bass/Field Recordings/Intonarumori/Marimba/Noise/Percussion/Piano

Dogs
Boogie
Brophy
Buddy
Hancho
Jack
Momo
Neska
Poldo
Senna
Shyamsundara
Star
Oily (cat)
And many cows from Milis, Sardinia

Cooking Hard Boiled Eggs in a Cheap Motel In Adelaide part 3

This is actually the third version of the song. I felt the original idea I’d roughed out with the keyboard and computer could be more interesting. So I reworked the whole track again (twice) adding several ‘hooks’. These were some vocal ‘stabs’, some keyboard/synth riffs as well as writing ( what I hope ) is a more interesting bass line. I beefed up the drum section too. I hope the fun I had creating it is reflected in the overall vibe of the track. Having said all this, the question is: did it actually work? 


Get Up

One acoustic guitar track expanded with some effects

Expansion

A Soul Unchained

My anti-AI rant song ... I wrote this shortly after a friend of mine proudly told me how she'd created a song using AI which she had fed a sample of her voice. This gal doesn't sing. She sent me the YouTube link to the song and obviously wanted my feedback.

That artificiale
You call a song
Bit and bytes pretending
That thing made by machine so perfectly
Much more than your bidding
I won't buy it
Just because you can.

Just because we can
Don't mean that we should
Just let's dig all the way down
Those things can't eat
Need no sleep
Have no cares at all

Don't tell me you're proud
And make a gake fool of ypurself
Things to do your bidding
I hope you made that clear
Take all from the past
For a future rearrange
Let the things make everything
Fake the only name
That's fair

Just because we can
Don't mean that we should
Just let's dig all the way down
Those things can't eat
Need no sleep
Have no cares at all

Digging a grave
For the human made
the work of our hearts
The work of our minds
Digging a grave
For the emanescent
Voices of ourselves

Digging a Grave

Deep Forest Planet

Five Feathers (Remix)

Shimmering

I would like to introduce my son, Joseph, who indulged his dad and did a fabulous job of filling out the end of this short tune with some wonderful guitar soloing on the outro. Even though he has only been playing for a few years, he is miles ahead of where I was at his age as a musician. I couldn't be prouder, and I know that my dad is looking down and smiling, as he played piano and wrote music. I hope this is the first of many!  
May we present:  As an example.

As an Example

on your mark

get ready to

cannonball

into the blue



after swimming

sparkle all around you

catch the sound

breakers breaking



stop the boat

get ready to

pick a spot

to slip into



after swimming

as the sunlight bakes you

summer sips

on a sand dune



after swimming

after swimming

come swimming

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image by Leandro Crespi via Unsplash

After Swimming

“Gina, the new album is amazing. You are such a wonderful, wonderful artist. You and Mark really compliment each other - it sounds like you just lie down in his soundscapes. Your lyrics are fantastic. Wow!” - Ben Fogarty (fan)

Hello, thankyou for stopping by! If you had a listen and liked what you heard, the best way to help us forward in the great sea of music would be to follow us on Bandcamp if you possibly can.... really depends on whether you have a Bandcamp account. If you can't then we still very much appreciate a show of love here in the form of likes, comments and re-posts... thank you very much for these :) <3 
Watchglass are a duo who like exploring 
musical directions and having fun making songs and albums. We have been working as a partnership since 2017, or most of the time since then. Gina is the singer and lyricist. Mark is the guitarist and everything else and makes the songs and is the one who Gina will forever hold responsible for showing her she could not only sing well enough to front a band but also write passable, and sometimes even excellent songs.... Happily we found each other again after a longish split. 

Our 4 albums since reuniting in June 2022 are:

Every Conversation in June 
“The album plays out like one long, slightly spooky fairy tale…A magic spell drifting in from lands unknown, Every Conversation in June is a quiet marvel.” - JE Keyes, Chief Editor Bandcamp Daily

Only Watching Clouds. 

Beautiful Dust-
“delightfully enigmatic pop songs built from enchanting melodies and eternal optimism.” - Ben Salmon (Bandcamp Daily)
“as hushed and evocative as a ghost story whispered around a campfire.”- JE Keyes, Chief Editor Bandcamp Daily

Raw Colours 
“It’s another irresistible album from a band that gets better with each go-round.”- JE Keyes, Chief Editor Bandcamp Daily

All available on Bandcamp.