Remixing the Past : The Fortune Song

Final song remixed on the 2008 "Broken Sails" EP.
Mostly done with the Virtual String Machine from Gforce.

We are coming to grips
With the way things end
The pursuit of fortune
Is the pursuit of death
Empty the boat
Lighten the load
From the river to the sea
The ocean taught us
Things we don’t understand
The pursuit of fortune
Is the pursuit of death

There’ll be no spring
And we won’t harvest
The pursuit of fortune
Is the pursuit of death

Empty the boat
Lighten the load
From the river to the sea

We are coming to grips
With the way things end
The pursuit of fortune
Is the pursuit of death

Remixing the Past : Ghost of India Supreme

Fourth song remixed on the 2008 "Broken Sails" EP.

Sleeping as if already dead
In the foam of a wave
All the pleasures of the world
Left us empty and cold
Oh the pleasures of the world
Left us empty and cold
Our sleep broken
Our lives ashore
All the pleasures of the world
Lost us so far from home
The deafening sound of thunder
The crushing grip of the waves
We crossed over the sea
Where things arise and pass away
From river to the sea
Where things arise and pass away
We crossed over the sea
Where things arise and pass away
This is the house
This is the house of bones
This is the lake
These are the thousand cranes
This is the fish
This is the hollow shell
Craving pleasure and nursing pain
This is the dying summer
The island flood can’t overwhelm
This is the fragile jar
This is the helpless reed
Crushed by the ocean
Free from fear
Death fetches away
The man distracted by the world
The sea takes away
The man deflected by the waves

Remixing the Past : Empty the Boat

Third song remixed on the 2008 "Broken Sails" EP...

We are the worried men
We are the worried men
Without purpose or claim
We are the worried men

Some know their place and some don’t
Some will be safe and some won’t
Some will sing along
Some be guilty and some innocent

We are the worried men
We are the worried men
Without purpose or claim
We are the worried men

Late in the night as we strode
Past the Cape of Good Hope
On the China Sea we lost our faith
We are the ones who leave no trace

We are the worried men
We are the worried men
Without purpose or claim
We are the worried men

Empty the boat in time
Lighten the load in time
Empty the boat in time
Lighten the load in time

We are the worried men
We are the worried men
Without purpose or claim
We are the worried men

Remixing the Past : Broken Sails

Second song remixed from the 2008 "Broken Sails" EP, the title track.

The Mockery King of Snow
Sits silent in the rain
Staring into the wound
In the side of his broken sail
The stars they’re wandering
In the troubled sky below
All the men lay deep in sorrow
They knew of joys that never go

At the corner of sunken roads
In the pure shroud of snow
Even the greatest ship
Gets lost in the undertow
A heavy rain is pouring down
And it’s pouring on our souls
All the men lay deep in sorrow
They knew joy would never go

The fog bells ring, then ring no more
The poison’s getting cold
And who’s to heal our wounds
While we take the highest road
While the oceans depose
Our Mockery King of Snow
He’s been living on the tight rope
Carrying such a heavy load
Leading us to our broken home

Remixing the Past : "Heart of Darkness"

Apart from new projects, I took to task to remix my older catalogue, starting with the 2008 EP "Broken Sails".
Opening song : "Heart of Darkness".
Mostly recorded with the Prophet 08 I had just acquired.

"The waves of murder past
Grieve before the mast
No map no charts
Just a darkness in our heart
The ship our home
All things are sinking down
The underwater nest
The drowning of regrets
Get me another chance
A sweeter way to die
Oh well it’s such a sorry sight

Your sad complexion
Beyond this place
There be dragons
Oh why the sour face
We sail through rain and thunder
We just live in the flicker
I guess we don’t fit in
We just…

Drenched in the sea of lead
Mocking our tears of rage
The sea our grave
Adrift in storm and hail
Grant me another wish
An exit way from time
Oh well it’s such a sorry sight
Corruption
Beyond this place
There be dragons
Why the sour face
We sail through rain and thunder
We just live in the flicker
I guess we don’t fit in
I guess we don’t fit in
We just…

Death is skulking in the air
In the water
In the air"

New Short Film Coming Up (and it's Horrible)

My song "Heart of Darkness", from the "Broken Sails" EP will be featured on Thomas Lesourd's new movie, "Horrible Boy", a great, weird little work that should be online in March. Stay tuned for more info.

The Pursuit of Fortune

Here's something new : an instrumental track written for an upcoming short film.

It's based on "The Fortune Song" off the "Broken Sails" album and showcases the new Gforce M-Tron Pro.

The Pursuit of Fortune by khoral

What's Next?

Well, more Cover Series obviously, but more important order of business is the follow-up to "Broken Sails", that is, the upcoming "Life on a Sinking Ship" EP.

It will feature 6 brand new songs.

Here's the probable tracklist:

1 - Colour of Bone (atmospheric, deep pop, part of our live répertoire)

2 - Life on a Sinking Ship (swirling, winding funky trip)

3 - Machines are your Friends (a long, almost progressive work)

4 - Opium Spider II (psychedelic electro-pop, based on the closing track to "Chasing Ghosts")

5 - Who the Fuck are You (bouncy edgy groovy tune, of which a demo has been released here some months ago, but this is a brand new recording, and the ending song of the live act)

6 - We Die in Sleep (beautiful ballad sung by Molly Sundar)

I can't give a release date yet, but it'll be a commercial one, first released as a nicely crafted CDR, then as iTunes digital download.

600

Checking out on the "Broken Sails" EP, and it's been downloaded over 600 times now...

So, if you haven't got it, it's a free 5-tracks EP, lush electronic pop, and it's HERE

And don't forget the new album, "Strawberry Blonde", it's 12 songs of outstanding funky electro-pop, and it's on iTUNES

What's Going On

So, what have we got round these parts?

I - As you're already aware, my 3rd album is out, see this post.

And to get it, go there!

Now, for future projects...

II - "The Hollow Lands" EP

I've already mentioned this, it will be a folk-blues EP, without synths, which means lots of guitars, bass, drums and other acoustic delicacies...

It will most probably be on iTunes, around Christmas, and it's an intimate yet somehow apocalyptic road trip through 1930's America.

The tracklist :

- Days of Constant Sorrow

- Hungry Ghosts

- The Hollow Lands

- Endgame Blues / The Flood Song

- Muddy River

III - "Chasing Ghosts" EP

Not sure about the format to this, but it'll probably be a side-project with a different singer. The style will be indie pop, with more electric guitar than usual.

The tracklist :

- The Farewell Song
- The Great Lost Sorrow Tune (featuring Lowlifi on lap steel)

- Ghosts of my Enemies
- End of Words

IV - "Broken Sails II" EP

Just a temp title, but it'll be another free EP, in the same lush synthpop vein than "Broken Sails" with a little more rhythm and funkiness.

The tracklist so far :

- Colour of Bone (nice pop song with Miss Roxanne on vocals and some samples from the Twilight Zone)
- Leaving (remake of a song previously released by the now defunct Papergoose Records)
- Mary’s Mellotron Song (same)
- Life on a Sinking Ship (another sea-inspired tripping song)
- The Farewell Song II (big band pop, with Queen-like choir... well, almost!)

"Heart of Darkness" Video

UPDATED : Short video by Mr Plaire for a tutorial, using "Heart of Darkness" from "Broken Sails".

Paper Music II from Nicolas Plaire on Vimeo.

300

I've been quiet around here these days, but I'll post some music this week...

Meanwhile, just a word about the "Broken Sails" EP, which has been downloaded more than 300 times so far.

If you haven't got it, it's 5 songs filled with analogue sounds and vintage drums, and it's all HERE

New free EP : Broken Sails

The new EP is here!

It's called "Broken Sails (Life in a Sinking Ship)" and the whole zip with complete CD artwork is HERE

If you liked it, be sure to give me feedback here or by email to khoralnet[nospam]free.fr

Thematically, "Broken Sails" is about XIXth sea travel... not really a concept album, but it's subtitled "Life in a sinking ship" because that's pretty much what the songs are all about... a dark, intense trip to India, set on a broken ship...

I took inspiration from John Cale's song "Captain Hook", the epic but introspective tale I covered some time ago for a compilation, and of course, the Conrad novel which lends its name to the opening track.

Musically, we're in lush analogue pop territory, with rich, warm textures and vintage drum machines.

Looking back, the sound is evocative of Dennis Wilson's incredible "Pacific Ocean Blues" album, with its dense, intricate wall of sound, but also Devo's synth-pop ("Heart of Darkness"), Dylan and REM's folk classicism ("Broken Sails") and Peter Gabriel's organic soundscapes ("The Ghost of India Supreme", which borrows its name from "Captain Hook" lyrics).

It was essentially done with the Prophet 08 as main instrument... if you listen to tracks 1 or 4, for instance, that's pretty much the fantastic synth from Dave Smith Instruments all the way through...

Save for that... well, whenever you hear bass, that's the Moog Little Phatty...

The strings on "The Fortune Song" are Gforce Virtual String Machine and there's some Roland Alpha Juno-1 as well on the instrumental parts for this track.

The opening chords on "Empty the Boat" are Korg Wavestation.

[Update] : archive.org version

Juno Waltz

The "sea songs" EP will probably be called "Broken Sails"...
Here's an idea for the back cover, with what should be the final track list (unless I change my mind, which is also quite probable because I tend to do that a lot) (I actually changed my mind a couple of times while writing this about whether or not I should write about my habit of changing my mind) (if you are reading this, then I changed my mind again, because for a moment I thought it'd be silly to expose how foggy my brain really is) (but I digress...).

There's still quite some work to do, but in the meantime here's an all-Juno waltzy mix I've extracted from "Broken Sails" (there are other instruments in the real song mix).

Juno Waltz (beat, piano and Juno-1)

In progress : fiddling with the Juno

Still working on the "sea songs EP"...

I spent most of my sunday stacking up parts around a demo I had done with the Virtual String Machine just after buying it...

For demonstration purposes, here's a selective mix of the Alpha Juno parts (that is, a bass line, some analog flutes, a string sound and a warm pad.

alpha juno 1 demo

The Alpha Juno has a very distinctive sound, which I would describe as lo-fi, gritty, dirty, which comes as a good surprise because it provides a complement to the more sophisticated, "educated" sound of the Prophet 08...

Prophet 08 demo

Now that my new albums are done, the next order of business is to record a 4 songs EP... sea songs, that is...

Yes, the sea... you know, XIXth century dark romantic stuff, with opium and analog synths...

Here's the tracklist so far :

1 - Heart of Darkness
2 - The Ghost of India Supreme
3 - Broken Sails
4 - Endgame

I'll be using my new setup quite a lot, and most notably the DSI Prophet 08.
Here is the early sketch that got me started on the first song : Heart of Darkness demo mp3
I don't usually use factory presets, but the main rhythmic part here is played on a great Prophet 08 factory patch called "Softie", then I wrote lyrics and developed the whole song on that basis.