Time for everyone’s favourite pagan ritual summoning holiday that has diminshed into a obnoxiously commercial and lukewarm puddle of marshmellows and lager, which still tries desperately to make us believe that we’ve been scared, and therefore entertained, by the yearly cashcrabbing, money-making, pumpkin-baking activity, which only leads to the feeling of total disillusionment and confusion what was the point of this sentence anyway!

When the time comes, Happy Halloween, folks!

NOTHING IS QUITE THERE is the title and it’s appropriate for the season. It slowly creeps in with a bang, bang & bang.

The movie I last saw in theater was “The Beyond” (1981) by the legendary smut-meister Lucio Fulci. (My last movie theater visit was like a month ago, not in 1981. It was a 4K super-duper remix) I think something from that movie carried over to our tune here. In spirit I mean, not in a taking musical influence sort of way, because the music in the movie was jazz-rock fusion, and mine’s not.

Yes, there’s some bangs (to the head), and then there’s some actual music. Off you go to the madness, in fun ofc.

Ahh, Italian horror films. There’s just something about them. Weird dubbing, unconventional plots & scores, (over)acting paired with imaginative photography, genuinely unsettling special effects, being very, very classy and trashy at the same time, and end credits that roll right after the last kill.

I think the starting point for ARPOET was the following:

– Use mostly arpeggiator synths
– Big, exotic chords
– Twist some knobs

Aaand the explanation for our three pointers there would be:

– When you press chords on keyboard, arpeggiator makes arpeggios of it, aka play the chord’s tones one at the time in a certain order
– Meaning chords with many, many individual tones in them
– Twist knobs, you know like DJ’s do – not like wrestlers do – hence altering the timbre

That’s it. The music itself is something like electronic art music to accompany time-skip videos, with Frank Zappa making special appearance in the role of the corner sun. Also, not scary, unlike…

There’s this Pigsy guy. We’ve met him before.

Who is he? What does he want? Why he doesn’t wear a cape? Why he just prances around like a darn fool?

Well, beats me.

Anyway, here’s PIGSYS RIVERSIDE ADVENTURE. It’s something that we in the music business like to call “silly stuff with fabricated real instruments & ummpah & stuff”. Plus, there’s some delightfully pointless prancing.

Coming soon: Pigsy Takes Manhattan, Pigsy: The New Blood and Pigsy vs. Freddy & Jason.

Dance music not intended to provide the set for dancing. Or sure it could if you’ve got restless feet, but I choose to stay put & place my trusty ol’ buttski safely on the rockin’ chair.

BIG SQUEEZE is story driven video game techno pop music extravaganza.

I’m picturing it all: 1ups, coins, loot, damsel in distress/prince in a predicament, fun boss, nasty boss, how is that even fair & NG+. And of course mutant space pirates platforming the medieval village, while steam-powered zeppelins split the sky of the psst-apocalyptic world.

“Don’t tell anyone it happened.”

Soundcheck is the ultimate bringer of ideas, cornucopia of riffy stuff unheard, and a pretty good situation to come up with something new! That’s when your musical defences are down, you’re just messing with an instrument without a plan or compass.

FEATHER FLOW came to me while doodling with a guitar: Playing E-major – adjusting the amp – playing A-major + a few notes here and there – adjusting the tone, reverb and so on – repeating the procedure until forgetting that you was supposed to look for a nice sound, not write a song.

Well, I’ll take it.

Also, the vibe and mood of the tune translated perfectly from my head into the tape. This is a pretty rare occasion. I usually hit very near the center, because it’s fun to leave some space for changing you mind during production. This time the path was unsurprising but pro.

I’ll take that 2.

… and then, even more that guitar-oriented stuff:

HYPNOTIZER. It’s mid-tempo-heavy-mania to the max! Like med-swing of metal, without the swing or med, because it’s metal and everything goes to eleven, except time signature.

Starting about 1.57 and onwards, you can hear these notes, the little quick ones. They kinda remind me of Doom. Not the impending one, but the 1995 game.

In case you didn’t know, Doom’s soundtrack is… umm, heavily inspired by several well known rock & metal songs. There’s the “not-Behind the Crooked Cross” by not-Slayer and the tune that doesn’t at all have strong resemblance to “Angry Chair” by Alice In Chains. Doomwiki (I’m sure there is one) tells you the rest of the story.

So, Doom copies metal classics and I’m ripping off Doom. What’s next? Anthrax records an soundtrack album full of kongano originals for the all-female reboot of Doom the Movie, thus completing the circle?

Be my guest.

“Hmm, I think I’ve got very few tunes with guitar in it, and now that I’m feeling like playing guitar, I really should make guitar-oriented songs.”

Aaand then it turns out ¾ tunes this month have guitar in ‘em…

So, I guess I’m recording guitar at night while sleeping, or just don’t keep tabs of the contents of my hard drive.

Anyway, POPPING WITH A STRANGE CURVE is the name and… umm… popping with a strange curve is the game. Check the EQ of your music player. You’ll get it.

And then we get renaissance on your brain!

When you say the word aloud, the image you get is probably paintings by those grand old men, many of which depict people who pose with a face we nowdays see in passport pictures.

Also Italy. High arts, low democracy, the quality of wine somewhere in between.

But what about the common people? You know, Bruno the Butcher & Letizia the Laundress? How they were doing? Poverty more than Pavane, I’m sure of that.

How about our song here, is it more the court etiquette or bloody peasant stuff? I’d say, it’s in the middle. Sort of “wearing stockings & going to the pig house to check if the ol’ Buttercream’s wig is free of louse”.

So, MISS PICARDYS JUMP AND RIBBON. The title is a reference of John Dowland’s way of giving weird titles of his tunes.

And hey, it’s recorders all right. A little break from stringed instruments.

GET BACK IN THERE.

Get Back, Got To Get Yo Into My Life, I’ll Get You, When I Get Home

Back in the U.S.S.R., Can You Take Me Back?, I’ll Be Back

A Day In The Life, Baby’s In Black, Devil In Her Heart, I’m In Love, In My Life, In Spite Of All The Danger, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Why Don’t We Do It In The Road

Here There and Everywhere, I Saw Her Standing There, There’s A Place

All roads lead to Rome.

Hey, you know that circus song? The one that you and everyone associates with circus. Yeah, that’s the one!

You know what’s the songs title, you made it and when?

Neither did I. It’s called “Entrance of the Gladiators” by Czech composer Julius Fučík, the birth year being 1897. You’re welcome.

(Ok, I’ve fabricated this kind if information in the past, for humouristic purposes. However, this time the facts are real)

((The second song at least I associate with circus is of course “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” by the Beatles))

I thought the world could use some more circuscian & carnivalian music. So, CIRCUS IS HERE AND CARNIVAL TOO.

No ambiguity there. Also no orchestra, just some tasty reed organ stuff!