The Summer Projects (album) (2013-08), It’s Another… Wonder Under, Over You (EP) (2013-09)

-Summer Projects- (2013-08)

This release consists of various recordings from early July through early September 2013.
I had been working with The Voorholes (Pronounced 'Voor-'ōls) in June with a result of two albums and one decent EP.
Of the time in between, there was an occasional recording that didn't fit in anywhere; it proved very useful to have a reciprocal project underway.

 ‘The Computer Mouse that Misfired and Destroyed The Whole World’
MPK 2013

We define our elapsed time based upon our expectations before the occurrence?

What a brilliantly shitty Summer, it could be a film in the French Republic.

In a rather roundabout manor, I stated that I liked a first cousin (born one month apart from me).

Essentially, what did happen is that I asked for my cousins e-mail address by contacting her children on Facebook; I had no other contact data.

Eventually, I had a conversation on the telephone with her father, my uncle.

The problem was that there was no capacity in the discussion to accommodate my objective to contact her.
I wanted a mailing address, I didn't receive as much as that.
I don't trust him in an any affair because his preconceived notion is the basis of extinguishment.

‘Summer of No-Distance’
MPK 2013

I have known my uncle as something of an evangelist that regularly worked with children's ministries throughout the northeastern United States.

About twenty years ago, I drove my Grandparents out to his house for Sunday dinner.

There were too many people seated at the dinner table so, I was told to eat in the basement; I had to come up stairs for additional items on my plate.

I guess that's why I really don't believe much of anything my uncle says; he animates the truth as a cheap corrosive 'guiding light'.

I wanted to contact my cousin in person a and basically say 'hi'.

So, hello to the family!

‘Distant Child’
MPK 2013

So, as of early July, I'm really unhappy about non-communication in the family.

If I knew how to stick my foot out more, I would; because I want to communicate not, have someone do it for me.

‘Focal Wind To The South (When I Call For You, The Truth Is Never Told)’
MPK 2013

I see murky layers where none would have been expected.

I see incompetence where communication should have flourished.
I see a family that maintains a thin outer truth without a interior. 

‘Dead After I’m Young’
MPK 2013

I like this song with the typical two part composition that I enjoy.
I recorded the second part first; a few days later I recorded the first part with a 12 string.

So, I wanted to return to my church and that was fun too.

In fact, for the rest of this album, you can go through and pick and choose what topic these songs belong in.

‘What If I Had It So Wrong, It Could Only Be Right?’
MPK 2013

This song was composed quickly.

‘So…Our Church Is In Good Company, and You Are Becoming Increasingly Alone’
MPK 2013

mmm....there was this e-mail.......

‘The Uninhibited Corridor’
MPK 2013

I really need to be walking outside.
 I really need to be driving outside.
I need an income.

‘Why Don’t You Travel With Me Over The Hills and Through The Ravines?’
MPK 2013

The Summers coming to an end and I need to be somewhere soon.

‘Misunderstood Without a Reply’
MPK 2013


Someone is pissed off somewhere.

‘Dead After I’m Young (Reprise)’
MPK 2013

One more time around.

‘Out of My Head’
MPK 2013

At least I'm using it.

‘Worthless American Ministers’
MPK 2013

Chain letters are for assholes.
mmm....there was this e-mail.......

‘Thoughts Of The Unseen Child That Will Not Be Extinguished’
MPK 2013

This song is part of ‘The Computer Mouse that Misfired and Destroyed The Whole World’ set.

‘Midnight Highway’
MPK 2013

It's quick.

‘Are You Severe?’
MPK 2013

Not the most difficult style to play.

‘I Can’t Explain This Morning’
MPK 2013

Nothing new here.

‘All Roads Are Built To Be Spoken Of’
MPK 2013

Minimal recording
 


 
‘The Writing On The Earth and In The Sky’
MPK 2013

Overcast and similar but, it's familiar.

‘Lately...’
MPK 2013

Sound shaping!

‘Come On…Pull the Weary Soul Away From Hell 

and Walk with It In The Light of Assurance 

(Corner of Time)’
MPK 2013

Words of encouragement to walk by, with and, through.

Audio Release:

-Summer Projects- (2013-08)

It’s Another… Wonder Under, Over You (EP) (2013-09)

Sitting here alone, thinking about how everything is regarded and handled.
I decided to scribble together a small album; many of these recordings are two tracks only.

Dysfunctional Family I-IV

‘Dysfunctional Family-I’
‘Dysfunctional Family-II (…i name you…)’
‘Dysfunctional Family-III (…and now there are two…)’
‘Dysfunctional Family-IV (…and now there are three…)’
MPK 2013

It's about a really nice person and he gets rotten feedback about the manor in which he addresses others as he attempts to contact his cousin.

It's about not being encouraged to speak freely.

It's about corrosment.

Fearful of Truth V-VIII

‘The New Star Rests Quietly On A Park Bench-V’
‘I Said I Wanted To Be With You Because I Knew I Would Do Well For You-VI’
‘Fearful of Truth-VII’
‘Many Different Colours In Fuckland-VIII’
MPK 2013

It is quick and moderately fluid in nature.

Human IX and X

‘Reach Out To So Many Of You-IX’
‘The Selfish Diving Human Cannonball Misses The Swimming Pool and Stuns All!!!-X’
MPK 2013

I had this long instrumental piece that needed to be inserted somewhere, I used it in the last track.
Mostly, this summer was desolate as it revealed an element of the family that is so goddamn irresponsible that it cannot permit communication.
Yet another minister type character that has a rotting core of truth; I am so fucking pissed off at this holy mans standards.
I eat in his basement while he proclaims the unchallenged word of the lord.
In the past, I would attempt to avoid anything like this but, lately, there's not too much to step aside onto.

For the record:
The album is OK.
I really like my cousin.

This is my fourth time at attempting to straighten up the writing in this blog.
I have had too much caffeine.

That's how things went this Summer; I need to be situated in life with work and a family.

Audio Release:

It’s Another… Wonder Under, Over You (EP) (2013-09)

Projects During The Summer of 2013

After the release of XII in May of 2013, 

there has been very little activity under the name MPK (band).

'Road to Vermont' 

XII was released in 2013-05.

Most of my recording activities have been centered around The Voorholes (Pronounced 'Vo͝or-'ōls).

A few small projects are planed during the summer of 2013 under the name MPK (band); mostly single recordings.

  
‘Misunderstood Without a Reply’
MPK 2013

I used a 4 string bass with a capo clamped on the strings.
It was played it as a three string bass, 
the lowest string was played singularly and, 
the other strings were played as double strings. 
The bass is rich but, 
it resonates in such a way that it sounds over saturated.
This is more or less a grunge style. 
I will be working on the playing technique and signal processing style 
to accommodate this type of bass on future recordings.

‘Distant Child’
MPK 2013

There was a problem with my Facebook embedded videos, 
it affected everything here in.
At some point in the future, I will re-post all of the missing video content.

22 Original Rockin’ Hits: Volume One

 WTF happened????
I was taking classes at the community college,
I passed the audio engineering class with a grade of A-.
If it wasn't for that one grade, there wouldn't be too much to write about.
I went to work at a newspaper/commercial print facility as a truck driver.
In January of 2012, I connected the keyboard to my computer and started recording on to the hard-drive with Audacity.
In late February of 2012, I bought my first guitar.
I sit here at my desk looking at the font in front of me, I hear and see the vague songs about love but, does anyone realize just how potent of an occurrence it really is as depicted here in these songs?
I go out of my way to try to keep the content vague because, I have a tendency to 'fall between the lines' in such a way that it has been a ongoing sequence of events that have changed the course of my life.
It is just as easy to say that I have never been so lost as it is to say that I have gained ground in the course of life.

The reality is:

The school, Broome Community College will not return an e-mail to me; 

I wanted to take a few classes since I was laid off from the truck driving job.

I can barley play a guitar; I sound it out and cut/copy and paste anything that I can work with.

 Much of my time is spent contemplating the miserable failures of my church the West Corners Baptist Church; I was forcibly removed during a Sunday service in 2009 after I wrote about an unfair church election.

I have publicly criticized my church and my former employer online in the United States and the Russian Federation.

The retaliation against me effectively results in a forced incursion to a broad environment that enables me to formulate objectives and project from deep within.




I remember composing this song and I was pleased with the keyboard arrangements and the guitar.
At least I have a healthy activity that does keep me active.
I accidentally had the camera in a movie recording mode so, that became the theme of this video.

This song was originally used in my blog depicting a concrete flood wall in Endicott, NY.
Sometime later, I produced this video.
'The Other Lane' is used as the introduction of  'It Just Wasn't Today'.

This song was composed and recorded after walking 14.6 miles. 

It was a Thursday afternoon and I was thinking about a commercial driving job that I had worked on in the recent past. 

As I was sitting at my desk cutting and pasting the guitar tracks together, there was a car accident at the intersection in front of my house. 

I walked to the front of the house to see that two cars had collided at the traffic signal. 

The car parked in front of my house was missing a plastic bumper that was in the hands of a young woman in her 20's, she had a gentle gloss to her eyes as she smiled in a dreamlike state and started giggling to her girlfriend that she had missed the traffic signal. 

After she had placed the bumper on the backseat of her car, she looked up to the front porch where I was standing to see that I was holding a wireless handset, I looked down to her and said that the police were on the way. 

The young woman looked at me in exasperation and asked "You called the cops?".

The answer is yes I usually dial 911 when cars are partially dissembled at the intersection. 

The other vehicle involved was damaged and not the fault of the driver. 

There was no actual difficulty with the process involved as the police compiled the report but, I was surprised at the magnitude of damage that some people can encounter and try to compensate for by simply rearranging debris.

It Just Wasn't Today!

 
 A very quick song.



  
It’s a broken world, broken world, broken world
I’m never getting high.
It’s so late, so late, so late to wonder why?
If there’s only one thing, one thing, one thing, it’s only asking why?

You stood beside me; I learned to take another day to write what I had to say.
It’s a broken world, broken world, broken world
I’m never getting high
Walking. walking, walking is more than I can say.
Walking. Walking, walking is burning time away.
I wrote strong, you told me I was wrong; I learned to forget about my heart.

I have been fighting elsewhere for so long.
I want you to stand by my side but,
I won’t come to town to put anyone down.
I know I’m wrong, I know I’m not right but,
I won’t stand obstinate and start a fight to bring you down.

It’s a broken world, broken world, broken world
I’m never getting high.

It’s a broken world, broken world, broken world
All I have is the sky.




The intro guitar is the best that I ever recorded, it rivals anything that I ever thought of.
This is the first of the 'three minute rock songs'.

In all actuality, this is my best music composition and production video of  2012.
It is a early morning trip to New Rochelle, NY.
I am crossing the Hudson River on the Tappen Zee Bridge, as I am driving, I am listening to WNYC (public radio) as the BBC World News is broadcast.
As I travel forward, I continue to look back in thought at the hills of the Broome and Tioga County, NY area.
Finally, I materialize at Schoolhaire Creek in the Catskill Mountains with a full sun and blue sky, it is the only colour in the entire video.
I have traveled far, my soul is quenched at the waters of the stream that flows from great heights in many directions to eventually travel through the Mowhawk and Hudson Rivers into the Atlantic Ocean.
Although it is a overall duration of time that features uncertainty, there can not be a more appreciated climax to this journey than to stand amongst the waters that flow.
The extra large coffee along the way wasn't too bad either.
As of this writing, I have recorded no less than six of the Nighttime Bridge Songs, it has proven to be a fairly adaptable approach as the concept of a "bridge" can be spiritual and rendered with little mare than vague similarities from one bridge song to another.




I like the opening guitar in this song, it reminds me of
'Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory' by Traffic.



'Clancy'

If there is a question to be asked, it could be:
What happens when your leash is a full tank of fuel?
The St.Lawrence River is too far,
I don't want to travel West,
Running south in the Appalachian Mountains is appealing but, the leash is not that long.
At some point in time during the duration, the small boy in the sky must leave his mountains, rivers, and the historical icon trail behind as he returns home.
'Clancy' is the cutting edge of the morning, the dim light that ends the journey of the night and reflects somberly of someone that I had been in thought of.
I had huge production problems with this song; with or without compression, it sounds different on every website; if you can get in the grove with it, this song is a pretty smooth ride.




If it doesn't sound good played forward, try it backwards.
Ever since The Velvet Underground's 'What Goes On' played live on the two LP set titled '1969' I have had a strong appreciation for extended sets, 'Small Boy In The Sky' and 'Clancy Doe's Not Return' are not exceptions to this appreciation.




She sure doesn't, she sure doesn't return.
Lonely people that drive day and night,
under every streetlight,
beside every stop at every stream,
Clancy is nowhere to be seen.




Let there be no doubt,
I often wish I had established activities elsewhere.
This video ends with the characteristically triumphant crossing of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge as I am on route to the Kaaterskill Clove.
I took whatever I could sound out of the 12 string acoustic and ran with it.
In reality, I'm really happy with the ending of this song




Of the ongoing development of the 'bridge song videos',
this is the first short duration bridge song.




First time down, I thought I would die.
Second time down, I wept, I cried.
Third time down, I started to moan.
Fourth time down, I wondered why?

This video was meant to be a fun love song.
I was trying to set the signal processing equipment to something like 'Hold Me In The Middle'.
The sound that I came up with was too good to not use in a song,
I would have been a fool not to compose/develop a song around the intro guitar.
Mostly, it was a matter of using whatever material I had on hand.
A few embellishments of thought, a few arrangements and, 'Capital District' is a fairly cool song.
I have realized that it really doesn't matter how experienced I am with the guitar; slow down and sound it out.
The solo is what I wanted to hear, I wanted feeling that encouraged continuation and optimism.
As far as it went for the count, I could have gone far above four.




I really enjoy the reprise, it is more open ground to try different arrangements.




Many of the tracks that I record are doubled and occasionally tripled, for this reason, I try to keep the sound levels down below 25%.
Unfortunately, I didn't maintain the correct sound levels in this recording.
In spite of the technical failure, this song is a higher caliber than many of the previous recordings.
As for the empty fields, I'm just happy to be walking through there.




This is the first video produced in the light that reflects the fact that travel videos are going to be more difficult to come by.
The song is not really intended to be sarcastic.
There was a situation with quite a bit of finger pointing, it became obvious that one party wanted a conclusion in a specific category.
As I produced this video, I was glad I had realized the above in a functional manor.




This is the first song that crosses into modern folk music.
Effectively, this song really turns out good.




The guitar that I was waiting for was a Epiphone SG-400 PRO.
On Thanksgiving morning, I composed this song.




I could vanish without a trace; never see another look on my face.

I know I’m far from home.
I’m here just to roam.
I have the satisfaction of knowing I’ll return home.

I park on the ridge along the highway and look down on Canajoharie.
Somewhere along the way,
time took all of the fear out of me.

I know where the Susquehanna starts to flow,
in the east it is called Jefferson,
in the north it is called Columbia Center.

I wanted you to be my wife,
I drove all night just to prove I’m alive.

I drove by the Tepee, something happened to me,
I haven’t been here since 1974,
A flood of memories opened the door,

I can’t be like I was before.
I can’t be like I was before.
I can’t be like I was before.
I can’t be like I was before.
I can’t be like I was before.



  
Waiting, waiting all along.
Once I was a child and now I’m older;
I can’t help but, to notice it’s all in the same day.

You can take time from all of your life and stay in bed;
It’s sad to see what occurs afterward when the kidneys are dead.

Water flows downstream,
rain falls from the sky,
sometimes there are floods and people wish they lived on higher ground.

Every year there is a Christmas parade;
I live three blocks away and put on a Christmas charade;
I drive across Washington Avenue and notice they had the parade.
The charade is that I say to myself,
I could have been Santa; Ho Ho Ho Ho
The ice is melting at the North Pole! Ho Ho Ho Ho.
True magnetic north sways and swings; Ho Ho Ho Ho.




Getting serious with the 'J Bass' (5 string bass).
This is the first song where I start to play around the deeper 5 string bass.




Volume One ends with a more developed style and a promise of continuation.
There are many more recent works and projects planed in the months ahead.

This collection represents March 2012 through November 2012 at Thanksgiving.

  

A Handful of Songs Thrown in for Inclusion:

This song was actually recorded in late February 2012 therefore, it is one of the first songs that I recorded.
I laid it out and produced it entirely with the keyboard.
The video was recorded on the dining room table.

Perhaps a bit smug;
definitely on my way to stand in awe at a waterfall.

Christ Man tell me what you believe.
Christ Man tell me what you perceive.
Christ Man tell me what you will weave.
Christ Man tell me why you tell me I have to leave.

This song is not intended to be antagonistic, 
it is reflective as it questions the judgement of a pastor of a church.

It’s a Sunday and I didn’t get out today,
didn’t kneel at the edge of the bed and start to pray.

Funny how things will go your way,
even if it’s another day.

Who’s to say what’s a prayer,
I don’t care if your far or near.

Not exactly a cry of unity.

A song that travels nicely through the night.
Although, not in the video, there is an extra large coffee with cream at the end of the song.

What an 80's feel this song has!
I was really into Bauhaus, Love and Rockets and, more upbeat material from groups such as Boom Crash Opera.
As I composed this song, I realized that it had a very different feel, mostly because of the percussion.
The ending is dry and hard but, the first few minutes are reasonably retro.

GB GB BA BA DG DG AD AD
This combination of chords was used to render a decent blues recording.
I spent at least one hour playing this as I recorded it.
The final mix stands out toward the end with a hard and somewhat detached ambiance.
The 'downtown' video enhanced this project very nicely.

As I started this recording project on a Saturday evening, it was now early Sunday morning.
The reprise has a comparatively spiritual ending.

The covered bridge at Downsville, Delware County, NY is a well known attraction.
The posted speed limit is five miles per hour, I would travel at three miles per hour to acquire video.
As a child, the covered bridge was a exciting attraction.
There are other covered bridges that are closed to vehicles near the East Branch Delaware River and, there are several more bridges in use on the West Branch Delaware River.
It is important not to exceed the speed limit of five miles per hour and, the vehicle must not exceed 6,000 pounds and, it must not be greater than six feet in height.