Trying to write songs! Still getting used to how my voice sounds. Please listen with headphones.

Help me break the pattern of the centuries way before me
Of narcissistic men preying on your self-esteem and your body

Why do I attract broken people, why is loving you oh so evil, when do we begin to fall apart? 
Why did you have to be so deceitful, why couldn’t we all just be equal, why do you rely on me to repair you?
Sleepless nights and crying endlessly, holding in all this anxiety, while you talk to your friends who barely saw me
Constant arguments that you’d always win, loneliness that’s caused by your gaslighting, compassion that’s returned for your deliberate conniving

So this why I think before speaking, knowing that you’re always listening, and criticizing the things I have to say
But you’d go on on and on talking about philosophy and your pessimistic views
Meanwhile friends would sit around you, captivated and yet confused
But the worst thing they’d do, is turn theirs eyes to you and say I guess you silently support his view
But all I thought to myself was “fuck you”

Why do I attract broken people, why is loving you oh so evil, when do we begin to fall apart? 
Why did you have to be so deceitful, why couldn’t we all just be equal, why do you rely on me to repair you?
Sleepless nights and crying endlessly, holding in all this anxiety, while you talk to your friends who barely saw me
Constant arguments that you’d always win, loneliness that’s caused by your gaslighting, compassion that’s returned for your deliberate conniving

Break the Pattern

release October 6, 2021

Music and lyrics by Formerly Alien, except:
"Somewhere" and "Somewhere (Reprise)" music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Rights secured via Harry Fox Agency

Drums and percussion by Jason Burger
CTS Elysium announcements by Jessica Jacobson
Fraudcast news updates by Liesel Hanson
Cover photo by Eric Halvorsen

Produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Formerly Alien
all rights reserved

Somewhere

21st Century

Composed for, and premiered and recorded by, Drs. Nancy Roldán and Noel Lester, 2002.

In two movements:
I. Fantasia
II. Fugue

This piece is based on a “Requiem” theme I found in the Liber Usualis, a wonderful treasury of the prayers, chants and lessons used by Roman Catholic monks first published in 1896. The most singular thing about the music contained in this volume is that the music, when separated from the religious texts, can still stand quite well on its own. This theme is at first presented literally in the first movement, and is then developed, harmonized, and elaborated upon throughout the course of the movement, and is combined with various counter-themes of my own composition. In the second movement, I altered the even note values of the original chant to make the theme into a fast mixed-meter fugue subject, and developed it in the traditional fugue style (with expositions, episodes and middle entries). I then composed another fugue entirely of my own creation, and made the second movement into a large double fugue by superimposing the two themes at the end of the movement. Both movements give ample opportunity for the pianists to show off both their lyric and interpretive sensibilities and the technical
“chops” required to play exciting, pyrotechnic piano music. This piece is dedicated to Drs. Nancy Roldán and Noel Lester, with great admiration and appreciation.

Fantasia and Fugue on a Gregorian Theme

More Love

Margot's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/margotseigle

Photo by Jess Benjamin, taken at Let My People Sing! Summer Retreat 2023

Spider / Araña Nigun - Margot Seigle

gabe jarrett drum samples, mbira, rain stick, electric guitar, ableton live

Mbira heara

by Bernice Johnson Reagon (adapted by Toshi Reagon, I think)

Let your light shine, shine, shine
There is someone down in the valley tryin' to get home
It may be one and it may be two, it may be me and it may be you
(Call + response)
1: Tryin' to get home
2: Let your little light shine

Let Your Light Shine (w/ Harmony)

how can I ...

be a little more soft today
feel a little more connected today
get a little more grounded today
be a little more free today 
___ a little more ____ today

A part of the melody inspired by and based on "Faith's Hymn" by Beautiful Chorus

How Can I

Vocal accompaniment and production by Baci Weiler

I will carry you through these changes
V'ad seva ani esbol
(When you turn grey, I'll still carry you/be patient with you/bear you) 
- Isaiah 46:4

(((It's odd to do this as a duet because to me, it's about learning to hold myself and have my own back, and sometimes feeling like the universe is holding me too.)))

I Will Carry You/V'ad Seva — Inspired by Isaiah 46:4

3. JIGS: John Naughton’s / Apples in Winter / Music On the Wind (Lucy Farr) 
Peter Daffy, guitar

A cherished moment of recording this album: this track is the result of one take, and is the last track I recorded while in Australia.

From: The Great Southern Ocean
Laura Flanagan, Fiddle

“At the end of a holiday in July 2018, I found myself stranded in Melbourne for an additional six weeks…” 

So began Laura Flanagan’s beautiful journey to rediscover why she fell in love with playing and teaching music in the first place. Honest and straightforward in presentation, this album seeks to capture a feeling of gratitude and celebration for the generous gift of life and music shared among friends and communities. It is crafted as a love letter addressed to the best of what a musical community can be. 

Thirteen tracks of traditional Irish tunes on the fiddle are exquisitely accompanied in turns by Australian masters, Peter Daffy (guitar) and Luke Plumb (bouzouki). These are followed, on the final track, by Flanagan stepping out with her own original composition to paint the extraordinary physical and emotional background of the album without words.
https://www.lauraflanaganmusic.com

The Great Southern Ocean

Lucy Farr's/ Apples In Winter/Music On The Wind

Episode 29 includes music & discussion of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring selections by Stevie Wonder, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sonia Sanchez, Rodney Whittenberg ("We Stood Up" project), The Sprout U School of the Arts Choir, Lingelbach School Students, Don Henry, Professor Louie, Luciano Berio, Magpie, Two of a Kind, Nina Simone, Charlotte Blake Alston, James Taylor, Soweto Gospel Choir and U2, and testimonials from Julian Bond and Rabbi Harry Sky.

Playlist:
1. Stevie Wonder: Happy Birthday
2. Sweet Honey in the Rock: Letter To Dr. Martin Luther King (text: Sonia Sanchez)
3. The Honorable Julian Bond On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (from "We Stood Up")
4. The Civil Rights Act (from "We Stood Up")
5. The Sprout U School of the Arts Choir: Free To Be (by Rodney Whittenberg; from "We Stood Up")
6. Lingelbach School: We Should Talk Our Problems Out (recorded with Two of a Kind & Rodney Whittenberg)
7. Don Henry: Beautiful Fool
8. Professor Louie: More Than a Dreamer
9. Luciano Berio: Sinfonia - Section II. O King
10. Two of a Kind: I Just Want to Sing Your Name (The Martin Luther King Song, by Greg Artzner/Terry Leonino, Magpie)
11. Nina Simone: Why? (The King of Love is Dead)
12. Charlotte Blake Alston: Martin Luther King Rap
13. Rabbi Harry Sky On The March On Washington (from "We Stood Up")
14. James Taylor: Shed a Little Light
15. Soweto Gospel Choir: Pride (In The Name Of Love) (by U2)

Episode 29: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For bio, list of compositions, media, and more:
https://www.russellnadel.com

Fantasia and Fugue on a Gregorian Theme

Russell Nadel

Related tracks