tales of banyan

the blog is back!

The Blog is back! I'm about to go out of town for a bit and I'm gonna turn this into a travelog, hopefully a musical travelog, stay tuned.... I've been working on mixing/editing my tunes properly with my good friend Yonatan and he's actually doing a feature on me this week on his blog, check that out here: yonatanelkayam.com. Anyway, there's a new mix of an old tune that I wanna throw out there lemme know what you think. Actually we're trying something out with the mix that I think is kinda funny, see if you can hear it, we may not keep it...here 'tis: http://soundcloud.com/mcbrasil/now-and-then-2-1-yon

I know this is an old tune, but I'll be posting some new ones on here too...

I've been stumped

Hey all, as it turns out I have been stumped! There are other things requiring my immediate attention and as a result I haven't been able to finish my tunes that are on the way. I'm still writing a lot and finishing some tracks so check back in a couple of weeks, there's more music coming soon! -marcel

Here's another week and another tune, this one is another blast from the past that I'd like to have in this collection, another Fairmona ditty. It's called Genital Handshake - a term coined by a friend I had in college - and it's about having casual sex. I didn't add anything new to this track because I thought it sounded good just how it was...so here 'tis, track 11...

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This week I'd like to share something else from the past, this actually has been released and some of you may already know it, it's another fairmona tune. i just wanted to put it out here because I like it and I wanted it to be a part of this collection of music.

The name of this tune is Zoom Zoom, I co-wrote it with Barbara Gruska a few years ago. It's about this guy we knew that called himself Zoom Zoom Zammy, he is pretty awesome and we were so inspired by his awesomeness that we wanted to name our band after him, but he declined arguing that there is only one Zoom Zoom Zammy. We have reason to believe he played Gamelan in his room and we know for a fact he used old drums as light fixtures (they look cool like that). These little notes should explain why the lyrics are what they are. Without further ado I give you Zoom Zoom, track ten...

Portrait

Yup, I'm late again, I know...I've been caught up in other work and I've been sick also. But I do have a song for this week, it's another oldie, this one I think was originally recorded in early 2002. Back then I used to play in a jam band called Jam Handy, it was with Rob Perkins and Dan Lutz - Gretchen Parlato sang on a few tracks on our album and we once did a show with a guest apperance by Dwight Trible . It turns out we never released that album, but I think about that music still. One of the tracks was something I played by myself; it's a tune about a memory I have of the brief time I lived in France with my family. I was about four years old and someone knocked on our door selling paintings. My parents liked one paiting in particular, of a clown crying, and they bought it. That picture obviously made an impression on me because it stayed on my mind for all these years. What I did recently, in the last couple of weeks, is add accordion and 12-string guitar to the original track, you can hear the original by itself in the very beginning - it's a prepared jazz guitar. I think the tune is kinda funny, but sad and serious at the same time, much like a portrait of a clown crying.

The original recording was done by John LaCroix, it's the prepared guitar with a mic on the amp, one on the instrument and added noise that sounds like a scratched-up vynil record spinning. The accordion I added is Aaron Arntz's and the 12-string is Richie's. Here it is, "Portrait," number nine...

...if you like what you hear feel free to download it and share it with your friends, if you want to help this project push the button below...

Beyond the Castle Gate - new version

Hey everyone, sorry this week's post is late.

First, a bit of news: I'm starting a new deali-o today; I've decided to give away my tunes as free downloads because I want everyone to have my music. I will, however, be accepting donations through paypal, so if you like what you're downloading please contribute, no amount is too small or too large. All of the proceeds from these donations will go toward enabling me to have better resources and more time for this project - as I've mentioned before I'm currently working with a budget of zero dollars. Also, all of the tunes that have collaborators will not be available for free download because I'd like to fairly compensate my partners for their time and talents.

Ok, now on to this week's tune...it's an oldie but a goodie and it's an all new version - I re-tracked everything and changed some things. I wrote this little ditty a couple of years ago and it sprouted out of my frustration with failed attempts at songwriting. It's called "Beyond the Castle Gate," it's about a king who is trapped in his own castle and is an aspiring fugitive. Every time he has tried to run away he makes mistakes and ends up back where he started.

Once again I have Zach Harmon to thank for lending me his drums and Richie Kohan for the Glockenspiel. All of the rest of the gear is mine (Gypsy Jazz acoustic guitar, Nashville acoustic, Baritone electric).

Here 'tis, track 8:

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Here's the lyrics to the tune:

BEYOND THE CASTLE GATE

I belong beyond the castle gate,
I'll escape though I've been here forever
I made many mistakes when trying to run before...

I have seen beyond the castle gate,
I wanna hear about the way the weather feels when it changes pace;
Does it feel lighter?

How many mistakes does it take?
Don't wanna get any closer I want to escape

I'm not a king beyond the castle gate.
But I've never been, I've given in to other forces;
I feel the same as my own prisoners.

How many mistakes does it take?
Don't wanna get any closer I want to escape

For Yoon Seung

This week's post was inspired by a show I was very fortunate to play in, it was a 30-piece orchestra playing the music of Arthur Verocai who also was there conducting. Arthur writes with a lot of influence from Jazz and Classical music and I hadn't written anything like that in a while so I thought I'd give it a go. The show was last Sunday, I wrote the tune on Monday and recorded it Tuesday. I wrote it thinking it would be perfect for my friend Yoon Seung Cho to play on piano, so I called him up and he agreed to do it. This was his first take and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

This is the first blog tune that I didn't record at home - we did at Cho's - and it's also the first tune of mine that I don't play anything on. Here it is, track 7...

...to buy this tune...

A Dead Tree, Part I

This week's tune is the same tune as last week's, but it sounds very different. This version was recorded when I came off a tour with Missy Higgins and the tune was very much inspired by her way of getting ideas out through music. It's just guitar and voice recorded simultaneously with one mic, later I added all the other instruments that you hear on Part II on top of this track. I thought it would be interesting to post both versions because the "band" one ended up altering the groove and some of the harmonies of the original which gave each version a very distinct feel. Well, here it is, it's track 6 on the list...

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A Dead Tree, Part II

This week's song is the sequel to the prequel, it's the produced version of something that was originally meant to be just voice and guitar. I like both versions and I think they're different enough that I will post both, one this week and one next week. The tune is about what happens when we impose age expectations on our lives. The main character here is attached to an idea of what life "should" be like in the future and he gets disappointed, gives up for a while, but then comes back. The "you" in the song is the main character's dream, or the idea of what he wants his life to be like. In the end he is still chasing a dream but he is then able to detach himself from it.

I'm playing Zach's drums, Aaron Arntz's accordion and the rest is all my gear...

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A DEAD TREE

When we lived a life of promise
And our future was all possibility
We counted on what were only hopes

You used and abused our powers                                                      
And I refused to see what harm we could do
Now here I am, after you

I was looking with war in my heart but it was love that cleared the way
I expected to find enemies but I found myself instead
Dreaming I was a dead tree in a false winter.
When I woke I could be myself again  

When our fantasy started crumbling
And the future was our responsibility
We ran away from our troubles

You ran with our driving forces
And I fell in a sleep that cured me of the truth
But now I am after you

I was looking with war in my heart but it was love that cleared the way
I expected to find enemies but I found myself instead
Dreaming I was a dead tree in a false winter.
When I woke I could be myself again  

And now for something completely ridiculous...

This little number is inspired by Looney Tunes.

It's a tune I wrote a few years back, in the fairmona days, I woke up in the middle of the night and the whole tune came out. It's about how I like to eat and how I really don't keep up with or care about film and sports celebrities. The voices were recorded back when I wrote the tune - it's me and Barbara singing on one track - everything else was recorded in the last couple of weeks. I also had help from my friends Garrett Smith on trombone and Yonatan Elkayam on explosions - many thanks dudes!

On this track I play Zach Harman's drums, Aaron Arntz's accordeon, all the rest of the gear is mine. Yes, I overdubbed kazoo.

Here's my tunes, this one is number 4:

Lyrics:

Love to eat like an animal
Spend my days eating cocoa
Never too much, not for me,
Keep it coming I'm running out of pig's feet

Love Kevin Bacon, he's so fine,
If it's bacon that you're making then it'd better be mine
Love Kobe and Shaquille O'Neill
If it's Kobe beef it'll make me feel real

Love to eat like an animal
Why should I stop when I'm ready to go
Never too much not for me
Put the pedal to the metal
It'll make me feel free

Love Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
If it's a bar of chocolate he'll never do wrong
Love to be in love with me
If we are what we eat then I'll eat my own feet