“California Love” is an unabashedly romantic tune laced with a big dose of dance rhythm.
The imagery includes photos shot by Gary Wium from around Sonoma County and the SFBay. All very “Californian”.
The lyrics are easy to read in the video so get ready to singalong.
You can download a hi-fi version from our BandCamp: https://themadmaggies.bandcamp.com/track/california-love
May you all have as much love as you need, as much peace as possible and plenty of joy throughout the new year and beyond.
The Mad Maggies turn 20 this year. Look out for new tunes and shows.
Before I veered into the world of squeezeboxes and the musical ensemble project of the Mad Maggies, I was busy creating soundscapes and songs for theatre and dance performances.
Recently two collectors of electronica from the 80s and 90s contacted me having found “Limines” on our Bandcamp. Did I have more cassettes? Did I have more music? Would I consider a re-release?
This got me thinking about my early material. What almost forgotten, almost lost, musical gems were waiting to be heard again? I went looking and uncovered several works tucked away on tape cassettes, hi-speed tape cassettes, digital sequences and archived folders.
After a bit of dusting off – volume levels, stereo balance, a pinch of tape pitch correction, I uploaded a set of tracks and compiled them as an album on our Bandcamp called “Lost & Found”.
If you enjoy moody, cinematic, quirky, fascinating sonic experiences, you will certainly find listening worthwhile. Of course, I’d love to hear what you think.
For electronic music nerds, I used an array of synths including ESQ-1, DX7, Juno 106, SQ-80.
I played most of these tracks in real time into the sequencing software, or in the case of the SQ-80, onto the onboard sequencer. The feel is natural, even, at times, imprecise.
I wrote some of the tunes for particular commissions, others just because, well, I just can’t help writing music.
A NEW TUNE & VIDEO
I am pleased to present the Mad Maggies’ latest single: “Un Jaguar en el Agua” – a dance groove with a good dose of Californiana.
I wrote the tune inspired by the strength and beauty of the largest wild cat in the Western Hemisphere.
The imagery is inspired by the joy-filled skeletons of el Dia de Los Muertos. These calacas – a colloquial Mexican word for skeleton – are whimsical celebrations of those on the “other side”.
Listen to it in hi-fi quality at our BandCamp.
Kick off your shoes and get ready to shake your self-isolating booty!
Watch on YouTube, give it a like, share it far and wide and be sure to click the subscribe button.
Creating this video is what’s been keeping me busy these last few months.
My ability to draw is in strong inverse proportion to my songwriting talent. I can see how I want a story to look but even stick figures are a struggle. Happily illustrator Dale Horstman was up for working with us again. Dale illustrated our albums “Skull & Magpies” and “Shake Those Bones“. The man has got talent galore.
His drawings for “Un Jaguar en el Agua” are perfectly quirky.
To be able to create a good story with the 2D images and have some fun with effects, I had to get up to speed on a non-linear video editor. DaVinci Resolve 16 has a free version that is very powerful. I recommend it if you have an interest in going beyond simple apps like iMovie.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to our YouTube channel so you’ll know what we’re up to, especially now. We plan on bringing you more musical treats … from a safe physical distance.
Happy Spring!
We have just released a new single. ☠️🎶☠️🎶☠️🎶
“Blue Ska” is our version of an early Ska classic from Jamaica. We recorded and mixed the tune at Wally Sound in Oakland, California.
Listen to it for free on our BandCamp page. Throw in a dollar and you can download your own hi-fi file.
This is a very danceable groove that will surely please your endocannabinoid system. 😉
That’s right. Researchers have discovered that when we’re in motion, we release Anandamide the body’s naturally occurring cannabinoid that is similar to THC. This clever neurotransmitter (aren’t they all?) relieves anxiety.
So, lifting your legs will definitely lift your spirits. And, like the good musicians we are, we’re here to help.
Cue up “Blue Ska”, picture a warm beach with blue skies and start shaking that booty.
In the summer of 1972, I went to Hawaii to help my youngest sister who had just lost her boyfriend in a car accident. She was 17 1/2 years old and several months pregnant.
She and Michael had been living in Tracy, California. Now she was suddenly alone, grieving and expecting. Rough times, to say the least. She wanted to go back to Maui where she had lived before and where she felt safer and more comfortable.
I picked up what little I owned in Sausalito, California and moved with her to Kihei, Maui to be her support. We rented a small one room unit on a property across from the beach. It was made of concrete blocks like many buildings on the islands were. It had space for two single beds on either side of the room. The bathroom was tiny. The kitchenette was just big enough. The geckos were easily seen on the white painted walls. We had a small table with two chairs and a record player.
I rented LPs from the library. We listened to music, drew, played cards, swam, walked, dealt with our crazy mother who lived “up country” and waited for “Tiny” to arrive.
I took the time to learn the words to some of my favourite songs. I would play a song over and over again on the record player, lifting the needle up and setting it down again on the groove just before the cut, and transcribe the lyrics by hand.
Here is my transcription from then of the Leonard Cohen song that I especially loved. You can click it to see it larger.
“One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong” by Leonard Cohen
And now, 44 years later I live a few kilometres from the Jewish cemetery in Montréal where Leonard Cohen is freshly buried.
I was glad to hear he passed peacefully.
Leonard Cohen – One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong
Throughout the months of the 2016 presidential campaign, much of the public and many in the media framed this odious man as a normal politician. His outrageous utterances and behavior were simply “rough politics”. His supporters were simply exercising their rights to free expression.
He is not normal. His statements and actions were and are crass and malevolent. His supporters are terrifyingly likewise.
This pussy grabbing creep epitomizes the “loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless, ignorant, and ethnocentric behavior” of an ugly American.
Congratulations. America will now have its very own ugly American president.
The question now is can he and his supporters get any uglier?
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