Written March/April/May 2013. I probably shouldn't have posted this one. It began as an experiment trying to follow restricted instrumentation rules – only bass, percussion, harpsichord, vocals and minimum electronic messing about – though I have lapsed by fiddling with the formants on the backing vocals and bulking-up parts of the chorus with Mellotron choir. The song focuses almost exclusively on issues associated with being trapped in a pyramid on Mars with a psychopathic nun, though in this instance the nun is actually also a cyborg-nun (unfortunately I was unable to convey this nuance in the lyric).

10/7/13: Changed the title from "Pyramid Of Mars" to "Trapped In A Pyramid On Mars" on account of not wanting to collide with classic Dr Who story.

I have cropped and modified the (rather fantastic) image, but I have no idea where it originated (I'm thinking it is maybe derived from an image of Diana Rigg); it is one of the many remarkable things you get back when you ask the interwebs for 'nun with gun' (not something I'd really recommend though).

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She said "put your hands on the floor where I can see them". Meanwhile, underneath the door the secretions from the creature we'd so recently defeated were seeping towards her feet (good, she *hasn't* noticed).

I said "how could you betray me so?" stalling. She said "you'd do the same to me" then momentarily she froze in contact with the icy blood of the recently deceased minion of Thoth.

I'm trapped in a pyramid on Mars with a psychopathic nun. We're running short of oxygen and she's pointing a big gun at my head. What have I done? Yeah – what have I done?

The advert said "physicist with interest in mythology, no previous experience of firearms required" yeah (yeah, right).

I turned to run coz she was un-thawing rapidly but fortunately I got to the end of the corridor before she could start shooting at me *again* (and then I hid in the stationery cupboard).

I'm trapped in a pyramid on Mars with a psychopathic nun. We're running short of oxygen and she's got a great big gun. What have I done? Yeah – what have I done?

Trapped in a pyramid on Mars – with a psychopathic nun.

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Produced arranged composed performed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright.

Trapped In A Pyramid On Mars

Written April-May 2013, arranged June: This was meant to be a conventional song, but has ended up as more of an experiment. I had written the lyrics a while back but couldn't work them into verses/choruses etc., so instead I set each section to different chord sequences with near-by repetition only. I did a basic version with just the chords and a bass part, but it was a bit too short and dull, so I added more chords for an instrumental ending and tried perking it up with some strings, at which point it got seriously out of hand and has now become a bit of a pseudo-orchestral curiosity/monstrosity.

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.

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The source image for the picture is at www.flickr.com/photos/klg19/4416474472/in/photostream/ (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0). I have cropped and otherwise heavily processed/fiddled-with the original.

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22nd April 2016: Replaced with 'remastered' version (mix unchanged)

By The River's Edge

Cut and paste construction job with assorted vocal, trumpet, orchestral and piano samples.
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Produced arranged composed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
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Photo credit (detail) Atul Vinayak https://unsplash.com/@atulvi

Metro Spring - Instrumental

It ended up a lot more 80s than I originally intended.
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Fish with anxiety problems
Lobsters with anxiety problems
Squid with anxiety problems

They think about
Disturbing facts
They think about
Things I don't want to
But I don't want to
Come across as
The kind of person
You'd walk away from so

I'm trying hard to be happy
Even though everything is wrong
I'm trying not to be down
Even though that doesn't really work

Girls with anxiety problems
Boys with anxiety problems
Robots with anxiety problems

They think too much
They focus on
On all the things that
That could go wrong but
But I don't want to
Come across as
The kind of person
You wouldn't talk to so

[Repeat chorus]

Fish with anxiety problems etc.

[Repeat chorus]
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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
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Original photo (I've messed about with it a bit) Sigmund https://unsplash.com/@sigmund
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I'm Trying Hard To Be Happy

Thumpy thumpy thing. Messed about vocals from a couple of sample libraries. Not EDM in the modern sense but I don't think it really counts as house or pop either (90s handbag house (upmarket handbag?) - ish maybe). Many thanks to grumpy Ian (not an SC presence) for his valuable feedback on an earlier version of this track.
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Produced arranged composed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
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Original photo (detail) James Michael Vallado https://unsplash.com/@jamesval

Escape Sequence (3:33 edit) - Instrumental

Fairly simple song I wrote quite quickly (quickly for me anyway) with added attempted enlivening of final chorus by means of cod-orchestrals. 
---

I want another cup of coffee but I've had too much already
I get caught up in the details and then I feel a bit unsteady
So I'm staring through the window at the people out at lunchtime
In the sunshine

I dreamt I went to heaven on the train
Oh they've got canapes and badges where you write your name and I
Sat next to an angel
We got into conversation
I got caught up in the details
And I missed my destination

I thought I knew just what I wanted but I did not know my nature
You get caught up in the details and then it's five years later
And when you told me that you loved me well I know at first you meant it
(I know you really meant it)

[Repeat chorus]

Can't be ordinary and also extraordinary
I'm tying not to be someone who's going to let you down

[Repeat first verse]

Think I'm gonna go out in the sunshine

[Repeat chorus]

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
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Original photo (detail) Matt Palmer unsplash.com/@mattpalmer

Caught Up In The Details

A solstice song - possibly - not exactly cheery and I'm probably unwise to post but it's the shortest day today (in the northern hemisphere) so it's now or never.

Many thanks to Jonathan Beckenstein and grumpy Ian (unknown on SC) for their extremely helpful feedback on an earlier version of this track.
______________________________________________________________

The light grows weak and the dark grows strong
But life must end for life to go on
Rich and strange
This world is rich and strange my child

When the snow comes down it's so beautiful
But the birds will starve and the cold will kill
Rich and strange...

We cherish the lamb keep him safe from harm
Then we slit his throat cut the meat from the bone
Rich and strange...

And if you don’t fight they’ll drive out our kind
But to win a war you've got to lose your mind
Rich and strange...
______________________________________________________________

Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
______________________________________________________________

Original image (detail, processed) by Jr Korpa https://unsplash.com/@jrkorpa
______________________________________________________________

17th November 2023: Replaced with a hopefully somewhat better mix.

Rich And Strange

I was feeling extremely grumpy when I wrote this.

This is another track from my 2013 backlog (and thanks again to Phil McWalter for his helpful suggestions regarding an early mix of this track).

Lyrics:

You too can grow a beard and become a serious young man
And you too can ride a bicycle that's not very practical

And there may be young ladies who'll find some amusement
In your constant cultural references
Though most of them may be uninterested and will not care
That someone once said
You look like the guy out of Radiohead

It's all part of the process
We're all part of the process – yes

You too can ostentatiously not go to the gym
And you too can like things in theory that are really quite dreary

And as time passes you'll probably need glasses
And may have become fat and or married
And the assumptions you thought were valid will come undone
When it becomes clear
That you've failed to die young

[Repeat chorus]

And all the new music
Oh it will sound rubbish – yes

[Repeat chorus]

La de de, la de dah
What you gonna do, what you gonna do
It's all part of the process
It's all part of the process
La de de, la de dah, it's all part of the process
What you gonna do, what you gonna do
It's all part of the process

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.

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The picture is of Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet (the well known whiny Danish prince).

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10th May 2015 : Replaced with 'remastered' version.

It's All Part Of The Process

This track is based on the Western Skies Motel track : https://soundcloud.com/westernskiesmotel/music-for-1-musician-so-far and also on Faerytale's separate vocal parts https://soundcloud.com/faerytale/inspiration-at-the-western which she made as part of another collaboration based on the original WSM track.

This is another track from my 2013 backlog which I have been sitting on for ages.

The first part is more or less identical to the two originals, though I have used the computer to change the chords a bit and have squished Lisa's vocals around too. As the thing goes on I add more and more new stuff, and it gets odder.

Many many thanks to Western Skies Motel and Faerytale for being so nice about it and allowing me to post this despite my miss-treatment of their original musicianly work.

The spoken word part is an extract of a classic BBC TV interview with Richard Feynman.

The picture is by the artist Marion Costentin: http://marioncostentin.com/ 

---

2014-03-02 Reduced vocal level - otherwise unchanged


Music For 2½ Musicians (Western Skies Motel, Faerytale & Wheelwright)

This started out as a completely different song (can't remember what it was about other than it had the word 'patio' in the chorus for some reason) - I couldn't get the lyrics to work at all - but I liked the chords and the (hopefully) hooky chorus melody - and I had some of the lines for what has now become this song already written, so I grafted them onto the chords of the song that wasn't working, and they seemed to fit together very well - and then it more or less 'naturally' extended into this full length song.

This is a song from my 2013 backlog, and many thanks once again to Phil McWalter for his helpful suggestions regarding an earlier mix of this track.

The picture is by the artist Jarek Puczel: http://puczel.pl/g.html

Lyrics:

Walking down the promenade like Catherine Deneuve
Looking straight through everyone who passes in your
Continental raincoat and your timelessly fashionable dark glasses
No matter Saint-Tropez or Scarborough
This bourgeois melancholia ain't gonna go away

I can't stop the rain when it starts falling in your heart
I can't stop this storm from breaking
All these mistakes I'm making
I can't stop the rain, falling in your heart, yeah
I can't stop the rain, falling in your heart

Sitting in a traffic queue wishing this was France
Looking like you really don't care less in your
Imaginary sports car and you timelessly fashionable black dress, oh yes

Sometimes I think you wish, your life was like a movie
In tasteful black and white, from which you would exclude me
Made by moody Scandinavians

[Repeat chorus]

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.

I Can't Stop The Rain When It Starts Falling In Your Heart

This track is based on the concept and fantastic riff in http://soundcloud.com/paddyconner/the-coalface-of-rock-n-roll

When I first heard the riff in that song it really hooked me, so I sampled it and started experimenting - and have finally ended up with this. I've messed about with the original sample something horrible in places - but Mr Sturmey Archers has been extremely nice about the whole thing. 

This track is from my 2013 backlog, and many thanks to Phil McWalter for his advice on an early mix of this track.

The picture is called 'I around in circles' and is by the artist Luciano de Liberato: http://www.lucianodeliberato.com/cicli/

Lyrics:

I've been working in the factory
The factory of rock and roll
I've been working with the robots
They say we've got no soul
In the factory of rock and roll
They say we've got no soul down there
Oh and they're probably right
But you know, we don't care

I've been working in the factory
The factory of rock and roll
I've been ch-checking the computers
They say we've lost control
In the factory of rock and roll
They say we've lost control down there
Oh and they're probably right
But you know, we don't care

It looks like you are
Either trying to write a song
Or a suicide note
Would you like some help with that

Et maintenant en Français

[Repeat first section en Français]

---

Stonking guitar riff sampled from http://soundcloud.com/paddyconner/the-coalface-of-rock-n-roll

Computer generated voices Google Translate.

Other parts produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.

I also wish to immediately and unconditionally apologise to any/all French speaking peoples of the World for my un-schooled attempts at pronouncing your lovely language at the end of this track.

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13th July 2015: Replaced with a probably slightly better mastered version.
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14th May 2019: Replaced vocal in middle section with computer dialogue.

The Factory Of Rock And Roll (featuring The Sturmey Archers)

This is a song from my 2013 backlog.

[Update] I also did a later extended version here https://soundcloud.com/wheelwright-labs/pay-to-play-extended

Lyrics:

The Dauphin of Dagenham and Lady Constance Biscuit-Tin
Proceeding down the high street in their daily quest for fags and gin
Encountering resistance from the school kids at the bust stop shouting
Slogans from the internet, oh yeah

It's Thursday afternoon, did you hear the news they say
The future's here today, but we're gonna have to pay to play
And all our yesterdays, yeah, they'll be swept away
On a massive tide of glitter, but we're gonna have to pay to play
We're gonna have to pay to play

Mary Queen of discount slacks collapsed just outside TK Maxx yeah
Someday her prince will come but probably not today coz now she's
Under observation on a Section 136 coz she had
Advocaat and Valium for breakfast on her Weetabix

[Repeat Chorus]

Bring me your destitute you lame and your unfashionable and
I will take their pictures and arrange them very tastefully

[Repeat Chorus]

[Short extract from Kubla Khan - Samuel Taylor Coleridge]

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.

Pay To Play

Last minute Christmas-ish song, written when I was supposed to be doing something else - but at least I have posted something this year now.

Many thanks to Jonathan Beckenstein for his extremely helpful feedback on an earlier mix of this track.
___________________________________________________

People hurry home
Against the cold
They crowd below
In metro stations

A small child stands transfixed
By Christmas lights
Despite the wind speed and
Direction

The eternal now
The eternal now

The circumpolar low
The wind blown snow
The coniferous tree
Exception

An accident prevented by
An angel on the
Roof tops
Intervention

[Repeat chorus]

[Repeat verse]

[Repeat chorus]
______________________________________________________________

Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
______________________________________________________________

Original image (detail) Nicolas Gras https://unsplash.com/@armgd
______________________________________________________________

14th November 2023: Replaced with a hopefully better mixed version also with some changes/fixes for the piano part in places.

The Eternal Now

RIP Terry Hall.

I like this song very much. It was written by Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos and Hall, apparently following a brief affair, though I didn’t know any of this until reading about it recently after the sad news of Terry Hall’s death in December. I have never before inflicted a cover on the world and if my attempt here works at all I think it’s a demonstration of how a really good pop song can survive a minimal arrangement and a dodgy vocal.

I may end up having to take it down :/ but there are other covers of this on SC already – so something something Mechanical Licencing Collective something something something. Maybe.

Many many thanks to Jonathan Beckenstein for his encouragement.
______________________________________________________________

Produced performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
______________________________________________________________

Original image (detail) Michael Fenton https://unsplash.com/@michaelrfenton

Our Lips Are Sealed - Cover

Began as an exercise but I think it's worked out reasonably OK (represents progress for me anyway). It's quite long (sorry) - I tried to shorten it but couldn't really. Also tagging as classical may be pushing it a bit but is probably closest - or maybe should be soundtrack? Don't know.

Many thanks to Jonathan Beckenstein for his encouragement with this track.
______________________________________________________________

Produced arranged composed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
______________________________________________________________

Original image (detail) Kristine Cinate https://unsplash.com/@kristine_cinate

In Sight Of Spring - Instrumental

Beckenstein: guitar parts, musical composition and mixing @jonathan_beckenstein
Wheelwright: other instrumental parts, musical composition, vocal, vocal melody and lyrics

Fictive Sisters https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com is a transatlantic online collaboration between Wheelwright and Jonathan Beckenstein. Notes for the Fictive Sisters curious appear after the lyrics below.
________________________________________________________________

Man running from burning building
He says why does everyone, everyone have to be on a journey
What if I don't want, I don't want to be on a journey

And you can fight the flames
Try to salvage what remains and tell yourself you're someone good
But there's a part of us that's wild
Doesn't want to be rewired to live in tidy neighbourhoods

Man running from burning building
He says why does everything, everything have to be for a reason
What if I don't want, I don't want to know if there's a reason
________________________________________________________________

Image credit: Unseen Histories unsplash.com/@unseenhistories
________________________________________________________________

The ongoing online collaboration between Jonathan Beckenstein and Michael Wheelwright has been named Fictive Sisters.

Fictive Sisters does not have an SC page and so all tracks will remain exactly where they are on SC. This is also the plan as/if/when we ship new ones, and all Fictive Sisters tracks will of course continue to be free to stream on SC - so no change on SC at all really.

We have though setup on bandcamp https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com and corralled a selection of past and present tracks into Immaculate Distraction, an album-type-thing, so anyone who wants a download (of a single track or the whole lot) can now obtain the original files for a modest consideration.

bandcamp

Wild (with Jonathan Beckenstein) (Fictive Sisters)

I put this together a while back as a contribution to @utu-lautturi 's inspiring Noise Laundry project. I had a huge amount of fun doing it and though my final mix was a spectral trainwreck the amazing @bitzone - who mastered all of the Noise Laundry tracks - has managed to work a miracle on it. He makes me realise how much I still have to learn - thank you so much Steffen (again)!
Utu has done a sampler for the full Noise Laundry album here: 
https://soundcloud.com/utu-lautturi/noise-laundry-promotional-mix-collaborative-album-see-info and the original project invitation is here: https://soundcloud.com/utu-lautturi/sets/noise-laundry-invitation-to-a-dirty-collaborative-album-check-info
---
26th June 2015 : Replaced with (probably) improved master of the same mix as previous versions.
---
15th April 2015 : The original mix of this track, which I did back in December, was not-good, and though @bitzone did an amazing job under the circumstances with mastering it there was only so much he could do for it at that point. I have learned more about mixing since December, and I also have some better tools, so I have attempted an improved basic mix this week and have replaced the originally posted file on this page with it.

Do Washing Machines Dream Of Electrical Fires - for Utu Lautturi's Noise Laundry

There is now a better mastered version of this track featuring an excellent intro on Phil's page here: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/song-for-a-fallen-rockstar-with-overture-1 which I would definitely recommend over the version here.

I wrote this song after David Bowie died – started out with a lot of lyrics – which I later worked into sections, then wrote chords and melody lines and kept on going with more sections until I’d run out of energy. Didn’t have a chance to record it until Easter when I did a basic arrangement with piano along with some strings and simple brass.

I then ran it past Phil McWalter (@phil-mcwalter) – who very kindly offered to do some guitar parts, and also had a lot of other ideas – and – to cut a long story short – Phil has since put in loads of work on the track and has developed it with enormous energy and enthusiasm (and stoic tolerance for my pickiness and un-adventurousness). We’ve ended up with a truly collaborative result that is hugely more entertaining and substantial than my first version, and Phil’s vision for the track has brought out meaning in it for me that I don't think I'd seen properly when I was writing it. Thank you so much Phil - for all your time, and all your patience!

Also many thanks to Jonathan Beckenstein (@jonathan_beckenstein) for his thoughtful and encouraging feedback on this track in both its later version and, crucially, on its first version.

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@wheelwright: Words, vocals, chord structure and vocal melody, piano, some strings and a bit of rather dull brass here and there.

@phil-mcwalter: Guitars, trumpets, drums and percussion, bass, choir, bells, snyths, cello, extra strings, general production on all parts, and mixing.

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Well there's a danger
If you're a rock star
And you live too long
They'll say you died too late to save your reputation

But what do they know
They still played the songs you sang
And printed photographs
Of you when you were young

Oh what do they know
Yeah what do they know
There can be no music in their souls

Just for a moment
Seemed like a star shone
Brighter than the sun

But on the next day
It was all explained away
And life just carried on

But this unbearable
Sense of impermanence
It builds us up
It cuts us down

But when the air is still
Just before the dawn
I think maybe
Oh just maybe
I could find my way back home

Then all the bad girls sing along
Coz all the good girls couldn't come
To your performance

And as the closing credits roll
All the kids get up to go
Oh maybe someone shed a tear
But we'll never know
And I begin to realise
I'm not so good at letting go

They'll try to break into your mind
They'll try to steal away your strangeness
But there’s no future with no engine of desire
Oh who’s going to paint those pictures
Who’s going to set the world on fire

Oh who needs structure for the sake of structure
Who needs love for the sake of love
When your daddy said history repeats you said
I don't want to hear about that

And when they took him away he said
Please don't test my blood
In case it's already cold

And we made up all these stories
But they turned out to be true
But we’ve got to make a new life
Anywhere but here

And we ran before the flood
And we thought our hearts would burst
But it turned out we were young
And so we didn't die

And we ran before the flood
And we thought our hearts would burst
And I took your hand in my hand
And we ran for miles and miles

And I'm dreaming that I'm lying here
With my back against the snow
I'm reaching for the stars
But the earth won't let me go
They say there's nothing left now
But something still remains
Yeah

There's something out there



Song For A Fallen Rockstar (Wheelwright & Phil McWalter)

Many thanks to https://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein and https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter for their invaluable feedback on earlier versions of this track (years ago now) The line 'and the rain shall make a door for me...' is nicked from the writer Susanna Clarke. The idea for the lyric 'sitting in a British car park...' was inspired by an SC comment exchange with https://soundcloud.com/steph-sweet about rain (also years ago). The field recording used in the middle and at the end is https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/midnight-summer-rain-in-chelsea

And mum said do you hear that sound
It means the swifts are here from Africa
And I don't know why they fly that far
Just to be hear with us in the pouring rain

And it was British Summer Time
Yes it was British Sumer Time
With ice-cream in the rain
Coz it might just turn out nice again

And we’re on the beach and it’s a cold grey day
But at breakfast dad said well let’s go anyway
Coz with a bit of luck it’ll brighten up
But we got wet through and my hands went blue

But it was British summer time
I remember British Summer Time yeah
With ice-cream in the rain
Coz it might just turn out nice again

And on that last day when I held your hand
And you weren’t quite sure where you were
And we turned you round so you could see the sun
And you said well at least it’s turned out nice again

And it was British Summer Time
And now I’m listening to the rain
And I know all things must pass
But you can’t escape the pain
And there’s this seaside photograph
Of that day I cried and cried
Then we had ice-cream in the rain
And it was all alright again
And the rain shall make a door for me
And I shall walk through it

Sitting in a British car-park waiting for the rain to stop
And if the rain don’t stop then we’ll just get wet

[Shipping Forecast]

[Repeat chorus]

You get accustomed to the rain
You get accustomed to the rain

[Shipping Forecast continues]

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.

Download

British Summer Time

Written April 2012. The chorus for this has been an idea in my head for years - the verses took ages to finish as I wanted the lyrics to be as strong as I could manage. The first version I uploaded was, I think, far too long and had a kind of hat-stand introduction that really belonged in another song. What I've ended up with now, which is much shorter, hopefully doesn't stretch it too far - it's basically a simple song about the tension between adjusting-to and kicking-against breakup. Maybe the arrangement is still a bit much.

The picture is derived from a painting called 'The Iles d'Or' by Henri-Edmond Cross (public domain).

24 Jan 13: Replaced with the shorter arrangement - and changed the picture.

8 Feb 13: Replaced with new 85 bpm version.

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Couldn't sleep last night, went and watched TV
Made myself some toast - thought about you and me
Dreamed I was a child, swimming out to sea
Didn't call for help 'coz I felt so free

You can take the car and you can sell the house
I’ll move out of town, to a smaller place
When I fetch the kids and I shake his hand
We can all pretend, that we’re still good friends but

You can’t make someone love you if they don’t love you
You can’t make someone love you if they don’t love you

You can change the lock, but not the history
He seems nice enough, not at all like me
See you've changed your hair, I hardly recognise
We reinvent ourselves through another’s eyes but

You can’t make someone love you if they don’t love you
You can’t make someone love you if they don’t love you

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Produced arranged composed performed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright.

You Can't Make Someone Love You

Written June 2012.

I was subsequently most honoured that @PhilMcWalter covered this song here: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/shes-not-crying-because-shes-a

Unusually for me I worked most of this song out in my head first before recording anything - so I had the melody and lyrics and more or less how the chords should go - but I had no ideas for instruments or arrangement. The first version I recorded was rather horrible and I went through a lot of trial and error, but what I ended up with eventually works reasonably OK I think (believe me it's certainly better than the first one!). I should probably have written a second verse too.

The picture is derived from 'Portrait of Bia de' Medici' by Agnolo Bronzino (public domain). I have cropped it and messed severely with the colours (my apologies to Bronzino).

---

The child in the sparkly dress
She thought she was looking her best
The wedding is over, the grownups all dancing
But she’s gone and hidden away, so she won’t have to say...

She’s not crying because she’s a girl
She’s crying 'coz this is the real world
When you start to see how it works
That’s when it hurts

She’s not crying because she’s a girl
She’s just trying to live in the real world
When you get to see how it works
That’s when it hurts

You think she’s weak
But then you think that showing your feelings
Always means that you’re strong
But you’re wrong

---

Produced arranged composed performed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright.

She's Not Crying Because She's A Girl

Written February 2012. Finally finished as part of clearing my 2012 backlog. World of stress with the mixing and arrangement. I think I've just about lost any perspective I may have ever had on this one at the moment. It started out with the chords for the verse, and then the chords for the rest of it, with the melody done next, and then fitting lyrics to the melody at the end, and I've almost abandoned it at least twice. There's quite a bit of (deliberate) distortion on some of the instruments - but I don't think I'm handling it very well in the mixing - I have this idea for the kind of sound I want but I don't think I have enough skill to get it right yet. This is also the first time I've done so many tracks that I need to scroll my mixer window all the time, so maybe this is telling me I should be spending less time obsessing/displacing on production and arrangement and 'sound' of existing stuff and more time on writing new stuff - or maybe it's just telling me I need a bigger telly - or maybe both.

The picture is a detail of a design by artist Alphonse Mucha (public domain) for a song book cover.

---

He shuts the window
So he won’t have to hear the
Sentimental song that’s on the radio

Makes him remember
Although he’d never say
He can’t regret the day that they first met

Don’t miss the heartache or the fights
Saying she’s wrong when all along
You knew that she was right and
You were such a fool

It’s just a sentimental song
From such a long long time ago
We were so young, what did we know?

When love is true can’t be rehearsed
For good or bad, can’t be reversed
Know what you had after you'd lost it

When love is true, can't be reversed

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Produced arranged composed performed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright.

It's Just A Sentimental Song

Written January 2013. This began with a title (originally Sirius) and was intended to be mostly instrumental with just minimum vocals. I started with the computer, building a fairly long chord progression – trying to keep a consistent mood. I then experimented with layering on extra parts using different instruments, aiming for a mixture of acoustic and electronic (trying to be 'spacey' and 'earthy' at the same time). I then chopped it all up, threw about half of it away, and re-ordered the remaining sections into a song structure (had to do some work patching up some of the new joins also). I then got completely stuck and decided to work on something else – then revisited it about a week later and started to get ideas for lyrics fairly easily. I then spent a while trying to write a full set of lyrics for all the verse and bridge parts before finally recording the vocals. This is another one I've found quite difficult on the production/mixing side (bass sounds particularly), though the end result is reasonably close to what I was originally after in terms of the overall sound-scape and, hopefully, the mood.

The source image for the picture is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard_lev/5238261272/ (licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). I have cropped and heavily processed the original.

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Produced arranged composed performed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright.

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9 March 13: Uploaded a new version with a longer intro with some extra vocals added to the chorus, and edited down the description.

Time For A Trim

Written mid 2012. I worked most of this out lyrically and melodically last year during a night time drive down the M40, and then shelved it. I was then having a lot of aggravation last month trying to write new stuff, so, because this one was basically done already I decided to record it in the hope it would be low stress, and it did actually turn out to be really straightforward – it isn't exactly complicated musically and, unusually for me, I had no trouble writing lyrics for a second verse. It's a song about the intense despair and existential reflection that can sometimes be brought on by mechanical failure. I also want to make it clear that I have nothing against Watford (granted I spent many unhappy years going to school in Watford but that wasn't Watford's fault, that was my fault – I would have been grumpy going to school anywhere). However, as a nominal grown-up not long after I had learned to drive I did once get stuck at the entrance barrier to one of Watford's multi-storey car parks with a long queue of unsympathetic motorists backed up behind me, in the rain (I was on a panicky last minute Christmas shopping trip as well) and the experience has stayed with me.

The source image for the picture is at www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/1723709355/ (licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0). I have cropped and slightly processed the original.

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This is Watford
And it's raining
And I've stopped for
The parking thing
And I'm thinking about
When you were leaving
But the barrier
It isn't lifting
And there's no one
On the intercom
To come and help me
Can't go on
Can't reverse
I guess it could be worse

When I was young
I used to think
That everything
Would be just great
So this is not
Exactly what I had in mind
When I was young
I used to dream
I used to think
I'd be just fine
So this is not
Exactly what I had in mind

So I'm watching
My washing
Rotating
Through the window
Of the launderette
Coz my washing-machine
It just won't go
And I can't get
Anyone to repair it
At the weekend
And I've got no clean shirts
I guess it could be worse

When I was young [etc.]

When I was young
I used to think
I'd be just fine, yeah

This is Watford
And it's raining
And the barrier
It isn't lifting

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Produced arranged composed performed & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright.

Not Exactly What I Had In Mind

April 2013: This is based on the first 40 seconds of EvilSizer's all-vocal spoken-word/beatbox track Laughy Taffie: http://soundcloud.com/evilsizer/laughy-taffie . I first came across this about a month ago and I thought her voice was really fantastic, and in particular the way she timed the words "cheap plastic open toe high heels" – which gave me the idea of building a groove around it. This is the sort of loop(s)/sounds/samples based thing I used to do a lot (though since I started up again I've had a self-imposed ban up to now on working on anything like this). It didn't take too long to do a first draft, but I've been fiddling with details ever since, so I've decided it needs to get shipped as I'm trying to air as much of the stuff I'm doing as possible. Many thanks to EvilSizer for her very helpful feedback and advice, and for her forbearance in allowing me to use her work!

The picture is a heavily processed piece of one of the frames from the original Laughy Taffie video (http://youtu.be/J55uWSaE73s).
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5th September 2015 : Replaced with louder re-mastered version (mix unchanged).

EvilSizer - Laughy Taffie (Cheap Plastic Remix)

Jonathan Beckenstein: Guitars, bass, musical composition and mix http://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein
Clarence Paisley-Cheesemont: Drums
Wheelwright: Vocals, vocal melody, lyrics and sampled cello

This track is available on Immaculate Distraction https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com/album/immaculate-distraction

I am a great admirer of Jonathan's work and when he approached me with this wonderful piece of music asking if I might have a go at lyrics and a vocal I felt really privileged. I wanted to try to do as good a job as I could, but initially I struggled, and then, feeling extremely despondent I took a break from it. On my second attempt I think I started to listen properly to what the music was saying – rather than imposing too much of myself on it – and I  began to get melodies and word patterns that seemed like they were there under the surface already.

This has been an amazing project to work on, and Jonathan has been hugely supportive throughout. I've done my bit for sure, but it would have been nothing without the music.

Jonathan's posting of the song is here:

http://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein/we-all-know-how-it-ends

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Last night I dreamed that I could play the guitar
I was on The Titanic trying to sing
My heart will still go on
But I kept getting it wrong and
I couldn't get the high notes but
At least we hadn't hit the iceberg yet and

All the stars above us shone
Like cheap sequins in the sky
Like they'd all just been stuck on
By someone who didn't try

I was studying Kate Winslet
She was standing by a ventilation inlet
In a girly dress despite the cold and
I could see that she was not impressed
By my extraordinary rendition
I said you're looking nice and
I need relationship advice and she replied
Let's take a walk on the starboard side

And the stars above us shone
Like cheap sequins in the sky
Like they'd all just been stuck on
By someone who didn't try
When life's too flattering too sweet
We all like to pretend
But we all know how it ends

We're listing to port and
Kate's politely listening as
I'm listing all the things I should have said to you but
Never did
And realistically I think she's thinking
Less about you and me and
Rather more about the fact that
We've all started sinking yeah
Into the unforgiving sea oh

But the stars above us shone...

We All Know How It Ends (Wheelwright + Beckenstein)

What you need
Is a stable boy
Yeah you need someone
You can rely on
Yeah you need someone
Who'll bolt the stable door
Before the last horse has gone

And love it's such a cheesy song
But we've all got to sing along
Yeah love is blind it's plain to see
That love will never let us be

What you need
Is a stable boy
Yeah you need someone
Someone who isn't me
Yeah you need someone
Who'll bolt the stable door
Before the last horse has gone

[Repeat chorus]

[Repeat verse]

[Repeat chorus]

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Produced arranged composed performed recorded & mixed (inexpertly) by Wheelwright in bedroom.
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The picture (detail) is from 'The Mystery of Love is Greater than the Mystery of Death' by Russell Oliver.
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20210317 Yet another attempt at a better mix
20210301 Uploaded another attempt at better mix
20210228 Uploaded attempt at better mix

Stable Boy

Music's got a hold of me.
I am also half of Fictive Sisters https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com

I have a soundcloud manifesto too (I know almost no one cares):
(1) I do not want to win at soundcloud
(2) I respect people who listen by trying to do work that is as good as I can make it but I may attempt (and possibly fail badly at) different kinds of music so you will probably find some of my tracks suck quite badly even if you like others
(3) If I follow you please feel no obligation to follow me back or to listen to my tracks because I know different people like different things
(4) If you follow me please don’t expect me automatically to follow you back because as I said different people like different things. I try to listen to most new uploads of the people I do follow, so there are only so many people I can meaningfully follow (and only so many reposts I can cope with) at any one time before it all gets a bit overwhelming
(5) If I add a track of yours to my likes that means I particularly like it and if I comment on a track that means I really did want to communicate something. I do not do these things expecting or wanting anything in return or fishing for listeners/followers etc.
(6) Soundcloud (still) can be wonderful and has wonderful people in its universe but some aspects of it do my head in and so I am putting this out here so everyone knows where I am coming from. This is not intended as criticism of anyone else, it is just what works for me

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