Seriously good stuff. I will return for more

Captivating track with a sense of soulful yearning

Dylan and I picked up the threads of this improv project after a few months break to pursue other things. Since #1 post a year ago ( https://soundcloud.com/no-mates-ensemble/duet-for-bass-guitar-and-a-huge-pile-of-crap1) the project has expanded - sometimes we don't even use a huge pile of crap but just the physical architecture of where we are set up ( look out for duet for Bass guitar and an empty warehouse), sometimes its a mini pile of crap, sometime 'no input'.. anyway the vibes the same - make some stuff up : )

Duet for Bass Guitar and a Huge Pile Of Crap#2

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually, as part of 'Last Call')

Greetings my SC friends. It’s been a strange few months, and I am excited to be back. But I have a feeling it’s not going to look like it did… at least for the near future. I’m having a hard time organizing my thoughts lately. And while the musical energy is flowing better than ever, my ability to write satisfying liner notes is feeling a little clogged (this will be my 6th attempt at this write-up). 

As much as I regret it, the write-ups may need to stay on hold for a while longer. But first, I wanted to share what happened (in the form of a write-up. Lol). 

For starters, it’s important to mention I’ve been an alcoholic since I was 15 (a 40 year relationship). And although I genuinely loved what a nice beer buzz did for my noisy mind, I also knew what toxic alcoholism looked like (from many examples in my extended family). So I knew I had my work cut out for me, if I wanted to overcome my genetic dependancy. 

Granted, I also have a ‘responsibility’ vein that runs deep. I did my best to prioritize my family and responsibilities first (‘don’t drink til 5:00. Don’t drink if ya have to drive’ kinda stuff), and I considered myself a ‘functioning alcoholic’. Truthfully, I was never ashamed of my drinking. As a teenager, the ability to not give a shit that I found in a beer buzz honestly saved my life. And it allowed me to unplug from the noise for many decades after that.

But I wanted to do better than that, so I started making changes quite a while ago. Here’s a brief summary of how that unfolded:

1. Back in 2006 I concluded my negative headspace was the root of the problem (perspective is huge); so I altered my daily routines, knowing it would take years to undo the lifetime of programming that caused that thinking in the first place. I started consuming info that was positive and hopeful and loving (and avoided negative info like my life depended on it… which it did). And I did that intensively for the next 15 years.

2. But by January of 2023, I realized the beer buzz no longer quieted the noise and ugliness happening in the world (it all went too chaotic too fast). So if the crutch wasn't helpful, it needed to go. That’s when I tried Tai Chi (to give my mind something else to focus on). And it worked brilliantly.

3. Over the next 6 months, thanks to the calmer headspace created by Tai Chi, I cut my drinking tremendously (and for perspective, we’re talking 9-18 Natties daily… down to 3-6 Natties daily). The surprise outcome… the fog in my mind was clearing for the first time, and I was not prepared for sober adult Justin (man is my brain chattery when left to it’s own devices). So at the beginning of August 2023, I decided to take my Social Media break. That was more timely than I could have imagined, because…

4. On August 26th I was given the gift of Pancreatitis (the disease that lets you know ‘Wow, Dude. You drink way too much’). I went to the Emergency room with terrible intestinal pain, and I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. Long story short, I left the hospital sober, and have been that way ever since. And I’m genuinely happy about that… because thankfully, I did a great job preparing for that day.

So in a nutshell... I am back. But the writings may have to wait a while longer (at least until I figure out how my new clearer headspace works). Interestingly, I managed to produce almost an entire album of new music over my break, so I'll put those new songs up on SC over the coming weeks. 

And since I’m just a few songs short of completion, I’ll be releasing a very personal album (symbolizing my adventures with sobriety) very soon. It’s called ‘What Color Is Your Paradox?’, and I hope to have it on Bandcamp in February.

In the meantime, I’m happy to be back. And I look forward to seeing what all of you have been up to over the last few months. :)

 Big hugs from your blatantly open-book friend.
-Justin

Paradox?

Last Call

rising Sun

Voices

We all hear voices 
they tell us to choose!!
And we will destroy them
cause that's what we do!!

I am a cheater!! 
I am a fool!!
I am only human!!
I am like you!!

Voices

naviarhaiku533 – Flowing along
March 20, 2024

Flowing along
changing its colors
a soap bubble.

Takashi Matsumoto was a Japanese poet originally from Tokyo. Born into a family deeply interested in nō theater, he also devoted himself to it in his youth until 1921, when he came into contact with Hototogisu magazine and haiku poetry. Beginning the following year, Matsumoto became a student of Takahama Kyoshi. In 1946, he launched the magazine Fue 笛 ('The Flute').

Haiku by Takashi Matsumoto

Picture by Rodion Kutsaiev

Floating Colors - naviarhaiku533

[[free dl]]

loops 14

Nippur

Kilimanjaro (2016) Anthology CD2 Track 04

Music inspired by the dystopian futures of Blade Runner, I Robot and all the wonderful Science Fiction of the Past and Future.

NEXUS: THE COMING STORM

Umbrae Vitae is a ritual descent into shadow — not as death, but as the hidden vessel of life.
This chapter of the Arkanæa continuum summons ancestral memory through deep drones, cavern percussion, duduk laments, and layered whispers that echo like breath across stone.

Each track is a rite:
⟐ Corpus in Umbra — the body revealed in shadow
⟐ Fons Obscurus — the dark fountain flowing beneath
⟐ Sanguis Vetus — the ancient blood remembering
⟐ Anima in Tenebris — the soul, eternal in darkness

The sound is sacred, heavy, and intimate — a communion with the unseen, where every echo is a heartbeat and every shadow carries breath.

⟐ Genre: Sacred Dark Ambient • Ritual Electronica • Cinematic Chant Fusion
⟐ Mood: Ancestral • Shadowed • Eternal • Reverent
⟐ Instrumentation: Frame drums • Duduk • Cello • Whispered chants • Cavern reverb • Breath loops

This is not the end.
It is the hidden life within shadow.

Fons Obscurus

An intimate frontier.  A melody lost on waking.  A memory from childhood.  A hope for forgiveness.  A season ended.  A photograph of a moment you don’t remember.  A treasured object found and lost.  A thought interrupted.  A mirror in an empty room.  The dust of an evening.  An incomplete equation.  A discussion with possibility.  A missing adversary.  My impression from our last meeting.

Additional Music and downloads available on Bandcamp: 

https://softlands1.bandcamp.com/

On Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5YG49h7BY6wDxSpnDZpHDo

Nippur

Softlands

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