shh vintage cd

renaissance was the first song i wrote for vintage. it is fitting that renaissance means rebirth in french since it has been several years since i’ve written and produced music.

renaissance is often associated with the middle ages, roughly the 14th through the 16th century. during these times, a revival of learning based on classical sources occurred. in many ways, the music on vintage is inspired by classical or vintage sources. so it is fitting that this is the first song.

track relation(s):
08. nostradamus (the prophet nostradamus lived in the renaissance era)

invaders is about classic sci-fi video games such as space invaders. i remember space invaders fondly as a child. it was the first time that i’ve seen and played a video game. the structure of the song is based on the “thump thump thump” sound as the invaders moved. the original designer of space invaders, toshihiro nishikado, was inspired by star wars and war of the worlds.

track relation(s):
05. sci-fi b movie (inspiration)

this song is about the mysteries behind old faded sepia photographs. the electronic backbeat of the song signifies the present and the thin/harsh pipe organ represents clues from the past. for song inspiration and ideas, i looked online for old photographs of items such as sci-fi b movies and dodge chargers.

track relation(s):
04. 1958 charger (photographs)
05. sci-fi b movie (photographs/posters)
06. world war one (photographs)

my dad owned a shiny dark green dodge charger when i was a young boy. i remember how cool it was riding in the muscle car . 1968 is also my birth year. the old record “pops” are part of the groove baby!

track relation(s):
10. memoirs of a green earth (machines polluting our planet)

alien invaders, war, cheesy special effects, bad acting. i always enjoy those old sci-fi movies just because they were so bad. one thing for certain though, those movies were definitely imaginative.

track relation(s):
06. world war one (does art mimic reality or does reality mimic art?)
08. nostradamus (war of the worlds)

this experimental track has a lot of hidden meanings. the upbeat celebratory march of days gone by were stark contrasts to the realities of war. the pause of 11 seconds represents remembrance day on november 11. the noise/lack of noise represents communications/broken communications (loneliness, confusion, anxiety). the monotone rhythm is “war” in morse code.

track relation(s):
03. shades of sepia (memories)
07. amazing grace (aftermath, consequences)
10. nostradamus (predictions)

amazing grace is a well known christian hymn. the origins of the music (not the words) is believed to be scottish or irish since the hymn was written for bagpipes. my chord arrangements, timing signature, and instrumentation are different from what is believed to be the original song. amazing grace is often played/sung after tragic events have occurred.

track relation(s):
07. world war one (aftermath, consequences)
10. memoirs of a green earth (will amazing grace be played once we fail to save out planet?)

nostradamus was a famous prophet from the 15th century during the french renaissance. the song is in two parts.

the first part is about his studies in health, math, languages, astrology, and astronomy.

the second hypnotic part is about his visions of the future. i chose part of the 1938 orson wells radio broadcast based on the h. g. wells 1898 novel war of the worlds as his vision of the future. the novel is about an alien invasion of earth at the end of the 19th century. war of the worlds represents the wars that nostradamus predicted.

“we know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's, and yet as mortal as his own. we know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”

“with infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small, spinning fragment of solar driftwood which, by chance or design, man has inherited out of the dark mystery of time and space.”

track relation(s):
05. sci-fi b movie (the future)
07. world war one (prophecy)
10. memoirs of a green earth (will this prophecy become a reality?)

this 1980’s 12 inch record style track is about happiness and the desire to live a wonderful life. the music of the 80’s was upbeat and fun. from my experience, those were much happier years than of today.

track relation(s):
05. nostradamus (if we could avoid his predictions, would we live happier lives?)
10. memoirs of a green earth (to save our planet is to love our world)

this song is a warning about climate crisis. it’s frustrating to see the childish accusations between politicians who agree that there is a major problem but can not agree on any solution. is our man made economy, man made regulations, and our man made trinkets worth more than our lives, our future, and our planet?

i do my part. i do not own a car. i walk everywhere (work, shopping) whenever i can or use public transportation. even on a bad year in terms of my emissions (flying to and from china), i still generate less than half the carbon emissions of the average canadian.

the opening of memoirs is a sample of amazing grace played backwards.

track relation(s):
04. 1958 charger (machines polluting our planet)

la fin is an elegant new age waltz. the message is the same as live live love love since we tend to forget how important happiness is.

the key to saving our planet (and ourselves) lies in the simplicity of our past. our appetites for power and for consumable goods in this crazy and complicated world is killing us.

track relation(s):
09. live live love love (happiness)
10. memoirs of a green earth (to save our planet is to love our world)