I just saw the film Nightmare Alley. This is a good companion piece!

Yes, really evocative and cinematic vibes, gentlemen! Outstanding performances and sound effects, both of you! ✨🌕 Awesome work!

Love the way you rearranged my guitar track to work with this...

Really welldone..authentic performance for sure..great work my friend

Hey Mark man, this is not what I expected from your description in the email. This sounds like Tom Waits, not stereotypical circus music. Love the vibe, and the theremin in here. Your guitaring, especially the slide, is a real treat, too. What I think I dig most of all are the creepy, story-telling lyrics. Perfect musical vibe for them, too. Wish we would've had access to this for Halloween. Hey brother man, outstanding work here!

most evocative of the theme, that slide certainly set the mood. Great thinking and collaboration

I could probably write a short story on how everything on this track, sounds amazing.. and perfectly fits together..so, Mark and Remnants.. astonishing! Astounding! Befuddling madness! Absolutely top notch in every aspect!! Yes! A bit envious of yer talents and vision.. yes I am!💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🏆🏆🏆🏆🙌🙌🙌🙏🙏🙏

Awesome spookiness! Great sfx, amazing atmosphere, fun storytelling, Mark, and your vocal delivery 👏 And Bill’s slide guitar 👏 Reminds me of a vintage radio show  production 👏 but also suitable for film, video 😀

“A fictional narrative about a broken relationship inspired by Cameo, Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran.” 

stranded. 

Lost, lost myself now you are gone
Broken dreams since Monday afternoon
It’s over just heartbreak and moving on
I’m loveless here in my isolation, yeah
Left behind
No love and nobody
Single life is mine with tragedy 
Sit by the window
A table for one 
This man is an island

I’m stranded 
This lonely world is where I am right now
I’m empty handed
I’m not holding you anymore my heart is on the floor
It’s not the way I planned it
We were going to be for each other
Now never
I’m stranded 
My soulmate and my heart are so far apart
I’m stranded forever 

I’m stranded 
I’m stranded 

No love, no love from you anymore
A broken heart beaten down and hits the floor 
The going back won’t happen with me
Nobody’s home
My soul is gone suddenly  
This increasing pain inside of me
No blood or bones or cut to my body
A stranded one
Broken plans now for we
I’m keeping hope
I still believe 

© heart house and the new kindness. 2025

Written, performed, recorded, produced and mixed by heart house and the new kindness. 
Mastered by DOLBY

stranded.

Multi-tracked clarinet, flute and alto flute with gradual layers of beats.

['Blown in the Wind' was  an alternative title but I stuck to the present title as a nod to my favourite Jeff Beck album.]

Pic: taken from  Hitesh Durgani by Beth Verheyden c/o Pinterest.

BLOW BY BLOW

Exiled From Your World

Happy Halloween.... the song is actually a tribute to Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople ..one of the best bands of the 70s....Ian is still rocking into his mid 80s..so I am the one with the rigor mortis clearly..go Ian go...
sound clips from 1931 Frankenstein movie
There are at least 8 Mott the Hoople Song titles in the lyrics


Rock N Roll Rigor Mortis

Roll Away The Stone                                        
God is calling, he's on the phone
He's got a glambam plan, one last stand        
Before they take you home                               

Spotlight shines in your face
You better put on a pair of Ian Hunter shades
I Wish I Was Your Mother, wish I was your father
Never could put you in your place

Hey, old man
What don't you understand?
Know your rights
Plead that Habeas Corpus
Hey, old man 
The music makes demands
Shake off your rock n roll rigor mortis

Move your hips to the beat
Take a deep breath, unstick yourself from that seat
Shine a light through your pupil, of pure Mott the Hoople
To energise those ancient feet

Time to rise again
Like Lazarus, a comeback, this ain’t the end
You're one wild stiff, rockin all my riffs
Be careful how your body bends 

Hey old man
What don't you understand?
Know your rights
Plead that Habeas Corpus
Hey old man 
The music makes demands
Shake off your rock n roll rigor mortis

All The Way From Memphis               
The Golden Age Of Rock N Roll    
Elvis and the Whizz Kids                 
Ain’t no peace in the valley for the last patrol 

Drivin’ Sister, Jerkin’ Crocus
Help me When My Mind Is Gone
Do the shimmy shake, bring it into focus
Sing it loud this victory song

Chorus

It's alive!!! It's alive!!! It's alive!!!

lyrics HotR/ Ian Hunter & co
music HotR





Rock N Roll Rigor Mortis

white rabbit (musician’s note)
i wanted the opening bass line to stay alive without using an actual bass. the trick was to make the low end a memory instead of a note — letting the chords ring long enough that the room carries the pulse. the rhythm guitar keeps brushing the floor, the reverb fills in the ghost frequencies, and together they fake the gravity.

it’s more felt than heard. that’s how the song stays grounded while everything else starts to melt.

— skunt (alphabeta band)

white rabbit Lift Vocals-2025-11-01-143921-623.mp3

I hope old Edvard wouldn't be offended by this experience in his style...

«Sol over fjorden» (imitating Grieg) 2025

I've been hearing so much AI music on SoundCloud lately that instead of jumping on the AI bandwagon, it's pushing me in the other direction where I want to do more songs with just me and my guitar.  
This is a live version that I played straight through from start to finish which I am using as an audition song for the Tucson Folk Festival.
And if you're curious, here's a link to a YouTube video of me singing a different version  the song live (iPhone recording). https://youtu.be/qMe4Uh39uhY?si=jBvf8uvDZQyDgiVg

Elvis in the 1970’s in his jumpsuit and his cape.
Some say he didn’t really die he just decided to escape.
Over the year’s there’ve been sightings like Bigfoot and UFO’s.
Of Elvis shopping at Walmart dressed in ordinary clothes.
They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not.
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot.
If Elvis was still alive, he’d be approaching the century mark.
He’d be a tired old hound dog - would he still be able to bark.
If he put on a pair of blue suede shoes and he tried to shake his hips.
And he strummed his guitar on a street corner would people give him any tips.
They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot
There’s day’s when you feel like you’re trapped in a routine 
And you’re going through the motions, and you want to start fresh and clean.
Somewhere between 1968 and 1977 Elvis took a detour and he ended up in Heaven.
It’s nice to imagine that maybe he was sick of sick and tired of all that fame.
And one day he just decided to retire from playing the game.
If he sang that song love me tender, would it till make the young women swoon.
Or would they stare at him with curiosity like at the zoo when you see a baboon.
If he put on the black leather costume that he wore in 1968 
And he played the same set list would people still think he was so great?
Elvis in Black leather in 1968 strumming his guitar he looked so good
And his voice was really great.
At the top of his game in perfect form he could have stopped right then
He could have walked away - still would have still been a rock and roll legend
They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot.
They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot

Lukewarm King (Acoustic Live Version)

'babe...' 

Scotty: epiphone casino guitar, fender squire 3/4 bass, lyrics, vocals 

(1-2-3-2-1) 

Babe, is my love in vain?
This loss of trust with you has made me rather quite insane.
Say what you need to say.
Get it off your chest, and lay to rest all of your blame. 

Some sorta solution needs to be figured out.
Otherwise resolution is without beyond doubt.
I'll do whatever it takes just to figure out
whatever's going on and causing us this drought.
Maybe you're right and I am nothing but a grouch.
Or, maybe, I am, and you just need to shut your mouth.
Maybe we're both to blame and should just carry out
our lives that remain and hang upon the couch. 

Babe, why can't we be
happy, understand we'll disagree and soon make peace?
Yet we always want to leave.
Turn our backs upon our love during difficulties.

babe...

This is something I've had in mind for a while, and was planning to put it out for Halloween, but I'm really slow.  It's a macabre spoken word thing about a travelling circus that's a little 'off' in dark and unsettling ways that you can't quite put your finger on. Originally I thought it would sound good as an old timey Delta Blues with acoustic guitar accompaniment. But since I can't play, I enlisted the help of a fellow Soundcloud artist whose music I admire, Remnant60 (@remnant60). It just so happened Bill had previously posted a guitar track that he left open for collaboration. I downloaded his track, but it was left on the shelf for a while, until this came along, and I thought it was a perfect fit. 
It kind of borders on the edge of creepy cool and just hokey. But it's a fun bit of storytelling, and I'm grateful to Remnant60 for letting me tinker with his wicked slide guitar track. 
I strongly recommend listening to this with headphones for the full effect. 
Hope you dig it!

ARTISTS
Remnant60 - acoustic slide guitar
Mistermark - vocals, lyrics, evil laugh!, sound effects, all other instruments 
                      (played on keyboard): cathedral organ, pump organ, toy piano, 
                       worn tape piano, mellotron, percussion, musical saw

image designed with ChatGPT and Photoshop

LYRICS
A travelling circus creaked into our little town
They set up in Duggart’s field by the old burying ground
A ramshackle lot ‘neath the moonlight’s glare
With their trinkets and their theatre, put on an evening affair

Chorus
From village to village and from town to town
When the circus came they put their stakes deep in the ground
They promised spectacle, laughter and mirth
The travelling circus, the greatest show on Earth

Inside the big top it was crowded and hot
Everyone was kept waiting whether they wanted or not
Something in the tent corner was circled by flies
And I noticed a bruise under the flower girl’s eye

(Chorus)

The horses were skittish when they caught sight of a whip
And a big toothy grin was painted over the clown’s lips
The ringmaster never looks you quite straight in the eye
From the moment you enter he starts waving goodbye

(Chorus)

Travelling Circus (collab with Remnant60)

mistermark

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