It's called "Plug & Play" because I plugged my SG into my Marshall...and played. All one take, including some fun string noise. I created the jam track, which is really just me playing a bass groove along with a drum loop. I hope you enjoy. It was sure fun to play.

Plug & Play

House of Mysteries

Foreigner's Double Vision .. 2nd Album..What was I thinking?.... Got me banned for life from Towers Department Store in St. Catharines way back in 1978.
Luckily I mended my ways but I carry this burden around and generally avoid listening to Classic Rock Radio as I am triggered by this song and that other one ... Hot-blooded ...check it n see...
Apologies to Mick Jones and Lou Gramm for stealing their music and rewriting their song to sing my truth....
opening clips from The Myth of Shoplifting film 1964
end clip from the movie High Fidelity

Shoplifting (The Double Vision  Foreigner Cassette Tape)

Feeling down and dirty, no financial means
So I shoved that cassette tape down my crisp blue jeans
Slinking down the aisle, bulge between my thighs
The abandoned eighth commandment
I was such a foolish child

Yes I stole from Towers
Foreigner's Double Vision
No surprise
They threatened me with prison
Ooooh, the floor walker grabbed a hold of me
Hot-blooded, tone-deaf to apology
My one-way ticket to delinquency 

Just a grubby little juvie back in ‘78
Big brother disappointed in my musical taste 
He said, “ You could have stolen Zevon, maybe Marley or some PiL,
Now you're banned for life from Towers for that boring AM swill"

I kleptified, for that Double Vision
My Mom mortified at my bad decision 
Oooh, the police want to take a drive with me
Backseat of shame, the neighbors’ eyes on me
That Double Vision shopping lesson got the best of me
They arrested me 

Oooh Double Vision
A Foreigner filch
That brought me such derision 
Oooh Double Vision
Grounded and hounded
Parental supervision 
Oooh full frontal implant
The struggle to smuggle
Cassette tape covertly in pants
Oooh that cardinal sin
Shoplifting and grifting
My Fruit of the Loom I slipped it in

Shoplifting (The Foreigner Double Vision  Cassette Tape)

here comes a very personal plea, which is not meant to be personal at all:

don't make AI a tool for deception, fraud, and fake. 

that's massively unfair to all the artists who invest 1000 times more effort, time, and talent in their work to earn respect and get paid on platforms like spotify & co. and it's disrespectful to every listener who celebrates you for something that wasn't created or performed by you but by a machine: whether music or lyrics or images or all of the above.

over 20% of all music uploaded to spotify and others is now AI-generated, and this figure is rising rapidly. that's fine, as long as it is clearly marked. but I doubt anyone will be willing to pay even a penny for music in the future without clear indication of whether it came from a machine at the touch of a button.

there are plenty of free AI detectors on the internet that anyone can use to check in seconds whether a song is AI-generated. but do we really need these control devices and an 'authenticity police force' that only fuels mutual mistrust? way better:

stop cheating! be honest with people. be honest with yourself.

being transparent about your use of AI makes you much greater than AI will ever make you – greater than the illusory bubble with which you try to shine on the social media stage, like wearing a superman/wonder woman costume at carnival until you start believing you really are wonder woman/superman.

just as synths, rhythm machines, samplers, digital recording technologies, and stuff, once did, AI is opening up entirely new possibilities for creativity. it’s up to you to make it an art form, or just artificial.

here it is as music. written & templated by me, performed by suno 4.5+

ICH KANN SPRECHEN, WIE DU SPRICHST
JEDE SPRACHE AUS DEM NICHTS
ICH MAL BILDER, FANTASIEN
SCHAFFE NEUE SYMPHONIEN
ICH BIN SCHNELLER, BESSER, SCHLAUER
MACHE ALLES VIEL GENAUER 
WEIL ICH EINFACH FUNKTIONIER 
UND AUF KNOPFDRUCK FASZINIER
ICH KANN TÄUSCHEND GLAUBHAFT LÜGEN
ALLE WAHRHEITEN VERBIEGEN
AUS VERSAGERN HELDEN MACHEN
ALLESKÖNNER KRASSER SACHEN
ICH MACH KLEINE GEISTER GROSS
LASSE KRANKE TRÄUME LOS
SCHAMLOS BLENDEN UND GERISSEN
KEINE SEELE, KEIN GEWISSEN
JEDER NOCH SO ARME ZWERG
SCHAFFT DURCH MICH EIN GROSSES WERK
WÄRST DU GERNE EIN GENIE?

KEIN PROBLEM, DU NULL 
ICH BIN KI

TRANSLATION?
NO PROB!

I CAN SPEAK THE WAY YOU DO
ANY LANGUAGE, NOT JUST A FUCKING FEW
SPIT OUT PICTURES AND FANTASIES
ANY KIND OF SYMPHONIES
WHO THE FUCK WAS MOZART?
TELL ME WHY SHOULD ONE WORK HARD?
I AM FASTER, BETTER, SMARTER
I'M A REVOLUTION STARTER
BECAUSE I WORK; YOU JERK!
I AM FASCINATING AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON
I CAN LIE DECEPTIVELY BELIEVABLY
I CAN TWIST ALL TRUTHS
TURN LOSERS INTO HEROES
TURN DICKHEADS INTO BEAUTIES
MAKE LITTLE WIMPS BIG
FREE SICK DREAMS WITH A CLICK
SHAMELESSLY DAZZLING AND CUNNING
WITHOUT A SOUL OR CONSCIENCE
DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT TALENTS
I DON'T CARE WHERE IT ALL ENDS
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A GENIUS?

NO PROBLEM, YOU IDIOT
IAMAI

I CAN MAKE IT, I CAN TAKE IT, I CAN BREAK IT, I CAN FAKE IT
BECAUSE I CAN
IAMAI

IAMAI

Hello…. So who is Darwin the cat… really? I suppose just an old recluse like me. An older cat who I was tasked with cat-sitting this summer. Initially, I never saw him. Ha. Then one day, he appeared out of nowhere and we became best buds. He became talkative and encouraged me to ask him about life. I would ask him something and he would tell me all about it. So of course here’s a song about our shenanigans. A simple song. Ukulele, vox, and some finger-tapping keyboard percussion. In other news, tiny chickadees have been following me around the yard when I water, and a new generation of rabbits hang out near the small patches of red clover I planted around the yard... They stretch out and relax in the shade during the day. I laugh at them. The raccoon(s) come through late at night, and sometimes I hear them scream, which does sound weirdly unnerving. A hawk is in and about hunting the yard for small birds and whatnot. The birds in the yard, head into the spruce tree branches where the hawk cannot go. I built a small branch wall around the fire ant mound back by the compost pile, as someone keeps digging into it, maybe the coons or possibly flickers trying to get at the larvae. Now the mound is really built up as the ant colony has worked feverishly to rebuild it. That particular ant colony has been here for decades. Plenty of apples and wild plums now, so I have to be alert when going outside late at night, as maybe the bear will return in the midst of hyperphagia, to gorge on the apples. There were some deer here briefly as well. I have begun autumn chores in preparation for the long winter here and have taken to eating apples and plums from the trees, as I take a break from my chores. I could be a bear… hahahahaha. And of course, I’m getting old(er), more forgetful, and wondering what the future holds in store. Hope you’re all well. Thanks for dropping by, Mark 

Darwin And The Evolution Of Catharsis

"There is more to life than being a passenger"  -Amelia Earhart

photo: Uncredited/AP

https://www.ameliaearhart.com/

A Flight into History

 Hi everyone, hopefully all is well. This is an old song I wrote in the 1990's and re-wrote in 2008 and it's about second chances. I believe everyone should have a second chance at everything in life but in love I believe you must think things through very carefully because it they cheat on you once, there's a good chance they'll cheat on you again! You know the old saying "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!"  In my humble opinion, some trusts just cannot be broken and once they are broken there's just no turing back. I was cheated on once in my first marriage and that feeling of being stabbed in the back still hurts to this day. If you can't get along with your partner, divorce them and go your own way afterwards but betrayal is always very devastating and I hope no one ever has to go through something like that. 
    I reworked and tweaked the lyrics a little in 2008 to make them less corny but it's very much like a film script where you can see what the characters are saying to each other, in a sort of back and forth interaction in the dialog, and you can get a sense of the doubt that will now always be there in your heart once you have been betrayed. It's really heartbreaking and "second chances" have to be really thought out and handed out very carefully. I still do however believe in them! (I'm a fool, I know!) You must watch the video, I worked hard on the script!😂
    The song is bittersweat and not a love song but more of a "Beware Of Fake Love" song. It's very country & poppy musically and Charlie did a great job singing it! I wanted it to sound light and easy to balance out the heavy lyrics. There are a couple of  key changes, as well as mood changes, in the song. I was going after that Eagles sound of the early 70's, you know that mellow acoustic vibe but with a little Broadway drama thrown in during the middle 8. It's like if the Eagles and the Carpenters had a baby, it would sound like this!😂 

VIDEO - https://youtu.be/eRusaqWHK5o

The video is new, I finished it a couple of month's ago. I tried to have the video follow the script as close as possible. I think it turned out okay, who knows?  Well, I hope everyone enjoys it and remember never betray someone that loves you, one day the shoe may just be one the other foot. Peace out! ✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼 

“SECOND CHANCE"

WASN’T IT ME HOW SAID “DON’T GO AWAY?     
BUT YOU DIDN’T CARE, 
YOU SAID YOU’VE GIVEN ALL YOU HAD TO GIVE, 
AND TRUE LOVE WASN’T THERE,
NOW YOU WANT TO COMPROMISE,
SAYING “JUST LET ME EXPLAIN”,
BUT I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR LIES AGAIN,

LET ME REFRESH YOUR MEMORY,     
WASN’T IT YOU THAT SAID “GOODBYE”?
YOU SAID YOU COULDN’T LIVE IN YESTERDAY,
AND TEARS WE LEFT BEHIND, 
NOW SOMEHOW YOU’VE MANAGED,
TO CREEP BACK IN MY HEART,
AND WILLING TO GIVE LOVE A BRAND NEW START,

YES I KNOW I’M A FOOL,          
FOR GIVING YOU A SECOND CHANCE,
TO WEAVE A NEW ROMANCE,           
WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF, OH NO!  
EVERY TIME I REMEMBER,
THOSE HAUNTING MEMORIES,
OF HOW WE USED TO BE,        
I PRAY, THAT YOU,

HAVE REALLY CHANGED FOR THE BETTER,     
YOU WON’T BE SEARCHING ANYMORE,       
WE HAVE A CHANCE TO FIND HAPPINESS,     
DON’T SPOIL IT LIKE BEFORE,       
HOPE I CAN ERASE THE DOUBTS,     
THAT STILL BURN WAY DEEP DOWN,    
HOPE I CAN BE SURE THIS TIME AROUND,
  
YES I KNOW I’M A FOOL,          
FOR GIVING YOU A SECOND CHANCE,       
TO WEAVE A NEW ROMANCE,           
WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF, OH NO!           
EVERY TIME I REMEMBER,        
THOSE HAUNTING MEMORIES,        
OF HOW WE USED TO BE,        
I PRAY, THAT YOU,
        
HAVE REALLY CHANGED FOR THE BETTER,     
YOU WON’T BE SEARCHING ANYMORE,      
WE HAVE A CHANCE TO FIND HAPPINESS,     
DON’T SPOIL IT LIKE BEFORE,       
HOPE I CAN ERASE THE DOUBTS,     
THAT STILL BURN WAY DEEP DOWN,    
HOPE I CAN BE SURE THIS TIME AROUND.

BY JIM VALDES © 2008

"SECOND CHANCE" (Video - https://youtu.be/eRusaqWHK5o)

Having a little play with this new track experimenting and expanding. I will be developing this much further. 

Please feel free to leave a comment as your feedback is really useful and valuable to me.

Exploration (Instrumental)

'Background Noise' inspired by the noise pollution of daily living.

CON-FUSION

Background Noise

The Snow Queen – The Forest
September 2025
Duration: 2:45
Listen to more music from the Snow Queen ballet at: https://soundcloud.com/bruce-klepper-1/sets/the-snow-queen-music-for-danse
Music for Danse Etoile Ballet (www.danseetoile.org) who will be performing The Snow Queen Ballet January 2026 in Colorado.
For strings, shakuhachi, bass flute, heckelphone, marimba, double bass, field recordings, timpani and percussion

The Snow Queen - The Forest

After too long of a hiatus, back with some funk fusion, Creeping Around The Corner.  I'm joined again by two fabulous musicians that need no introduction here ...Stephan "Pinner" Lipinski on guitar and Daniele Petrocchi on bass.  Love what these guys bring to every musical situation:  https://soundcloud.com/pinner
https://soundcloud.com/daniele-petrocchi

And as always, thanks for your generous time listening, for your comments and for your shares

Creeping Around The Corner - Stephan Lipinski / Daniele Petrocchi / Jamie Rhind

**I NEVER USE A.I. IN ANY OF MY SONGS OR VIDEOS!** Hi everybody, my name is Jim and I’m a songwriter, I've written over 300 songs, I play guitar, bass, piano, and am an okay lyricist.  I play all types of music and have my own recording studio.  I use no A.I. or DAW or any computers to make my songs or my videos, all the instruments are played by me live on a multitrack studio recorder and Charlie, my vocalist, sings most of my songs and also plays the Harmonica on several tracks. I use video clips from Motion Array or Pexals or Pixabay for my videos. I'm not a pro or a great musician but I do what I can with the tools that I have! I belong to the "Keep Humans In Music Movement" (KHMM)! We're NOT perfect but we're REAL! Thanks everyone for listening and the world needs more music now, real music made by HUMANS not MACHINES! So let's all sing a song with our own voices, please! I do not consent to any of my songs or videos being used or sampled or lifted in any way or fashion. Take care!👍😎✌🏼.

"SECOND CHANCE" (Video - https://youtu.be/eRusaqWHK5o)

MIAMI JEFF