Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:03:51 +0200 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ en-EN billboethius@yahoo.co.uk billboethius@yahoo.co.uk https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ https://img.hearthis.at/8/1/8/_/uploads/8183441/image_user/w1400_h1400_q70_ptrue_v2_----cropped_1512172818.jpg no no https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/noe-sphere-crystal-cyclone-bill-boethius-with-agitation-phi/
The guitar used was my Ibanez, which I call 'Red Mist' [pictured].]]>
The guitar used was my Ibanez, which I call 'Red Mist' [pictured].]]> 1233558 no no Thu, 21 Jan 2016 19:20:10 +0100 2016-01-21T19:20:10+01:00 10:14 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/nile-insect-air/
Foraging Venusian vales of vegetation
We follow the perimeter down and around
Enwraping lush scenes, sounds, and unsighted suns,
As our sagging sails come to wired walls, and wainscoted walkways.
We tread upon buried mountains, and live beneath unrisen peaks,
As pteradactyl beaks adorn our magician queen honouring fountains,
In the blinding heat.
]]>
Foraging Venusian vales of vegetation
We follow the perimeter down and around
Enwraping lush scenes, sounds, and unsighted suns,
As our sagging sails come to wired walls, and wainscoted walkways.
We tread upon buried mountains, and live beneath unrisen peaks,
As pteradactyl beaks adorn our magician queen honouring fountains,
In the blinding heat.
]]> 1233556 no no Sat, 30 Jan 2016 15:26:30 +0100 2016-01-30T15:26:30+01:00 10:40 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/cant-keep-a-sippin-bill-boethius-with-al-wood/
When I first heard Al Wood’s blues playing on Soundcloud, there was something about it that struck me as being very authentic, very fresh and very spontaneous. Even though I tend to work in the area of experimental music and free improvisation, my own roots are in blues guitar, and I recognised in Al a kindred spirit, and he me. What I like about his playing is his magical phrasing and his attention to his sound, his tone, his timbre.

Al is also a really nice guy, and he had suggested we do a collaboration at some time.

Anyway, I wanted to look back at some of my past tracks which I have long deleted from Soundcloud and rework them. This piece was the first, being a favourite track. The original was all me on acoustic slide and electric slide and electric bass. I fancied adding a straight electric guitar solo in the middle for the reworked version, but couldn’t quite cut it myself.

Perhaps I am so used to playing ‘outside’, that I couldn’t quite work the downhome mojo needed for the piece. I therefore asked Al to put a solo there. He got out his Strat, and with an amazingly scathing tone, started to knock my socks off. It is the mark of a masterful blues guitarist that he can play just a few notes and make a very emotionally complex and powerful statement with them. Al’s guitar solo enters about four minutes in and just blisters.

With Al’s permission, I added a fair bit of post production, but the licks and tone are all his.

The piece is about drinking, of course, and the realisation that alcoholic self-medication is only a short term fix.

I dedicate the piece to Ruairi Ui Ghallchouir
]]>
When I first heard Al Wood’s blues playing on Soundcloud, there was something about it that struck me as being very authentic, very fresh and very spontaneous. Even though I tend to work in the area of experimental music and free improvisation, my own roots are in blues guitar, and I recognised in Al a kindred spirit, and he me. What I like about his playing is his magical phrasing and his attention to his sound, his tone, his timbre.

Al is also a really nice guy, and he had suggested we do a collaboration at some time.

Anyway, I wanted to look back at some of my past tracks which I have long deleted from Soundcloud and rework them. This piece was the first, being a favourite track. The original was all me on acoustic slide and electric slide and electric bass. I fancied adding a straight electric guitar solo in the middle for the reworked version, but couldn’t quite cut it myself.

Perhaps I am so used to playing ‘outside’, that I couldn’t quite work the downhome mojo needed for the piece. I therefore asked Al to put a solo there. He got out his Strat, and with an amazingly scathing tone, started to knock my socks off. It is the mark of a masterful blues guitarist that he can play just a few notes and make a very emotionally complex and powerful statement with them. Al’s guitar solo enters about four minutes in and just blisters.

With Al’s permission, I added a fair bit of post production, but the licks and tone are all his.

The piece is about drinking, of course, and the realisation that alcoholic self-medication is only a short term fix.

I dedicate the piece to Ruairi Ui Ghallchouir
]]> 1233555 no no Sat, 05 Mar 2016 20:59:38 +0100 2016-03-05T20:59:38+01:00 10:35 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/twisted-azure-bill-boethius-with-wou-wou-the-wormling/ https://soundcloud.com/wouwouopencollab/the-bum-note-blues-feat-midipunk
As always with my experimental works, the concept grew and grew, and the original kernel receded somewhat into the sonic distance.
But even so, the 'bum note blues' stamped its marque on the final piece, which has a surfeit of such twisted azure notes.

Twisted Azure

Turned turquoise, a startled garnet

Thrust from shadows mercurial,

Blushed in purple sapphire heat;

Unquenched at the seat of Urda’s well.
]]> https://soundcloud.com/wouwouopencollab/the-bum-note-blues-feat-midipunk
As always with my experimental works, the concept grew and grew, and the original kernel receded somewhat into the sonic distance.
But even so, the 'bum note blues' stamped its marque on the final piece, which has a surfeit of such twisted azure notes.

Twisted Azure

Turned turquoise, a startled garnet

Thrust from shadows mercurial,

Blushed in purple sapphire heat;

Unquenched at the seat of Urda’s well.
]]> 1233554 no no Fri, 11 Mar 2016 04:06:55 +0100 2016-03-11T04:06:55+01:00 10:19 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/moon-fear/ The Moon was once held in awe ...
In fear and awe...
So feared was she, that men sought to appease her.

Therefore, in ancient days, many did sacrifice their lives
To the moon.
Whether willingly or no,
Their blood would flow, and fathers, mothers
Husbands and wives would go to the lovers
Of the moon god to take their last journey.

Meanwhile, in these less looney times,
To what or to who, do we sacrifice?
What fear we most?

------------
Started as a blues, so it still is a blues - dig?

Some guitar parts played on a Dean Baby ML I picked up the other day - loving that axe!]]> The Moon was once held in awe ...
In fear and awe...
So feared was she, that men sought to appease her.

Therefore, in ancient days, many did sacrifice their lives
To the moon.
Whether willingly or no,
Their blood would flow, and fathers, mothers
Husbands and wives would go to the lovers
Of the moon god to take their last journey.

Meanwhile, in these less looney times,
To what or to who, do we sacrifice?
What fear we most?

------------
Started as a blues, so it still is a blues - dig?

Some guitar parts played on a Dean Baby ML I picked up the other day - loving that axe!]]> 1233553 no no Sat, 19 Mar 2016 23:24:33 +0100 2016-03-19T23:24:33+01:00 9:03 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/maxed-out-bill-boethius-with-solar-maximum/ https://soundcloud.com/solar-maximum

I first heard Solar Maximum through the good offices of Droning Earth.
https://soundcloud.com/droningearth
I found SM's minimalist riffage astounding, - like a metal haiku.

SM were good enough to invite me to collaborate on some tracks they had made just for that purpose.

Of course, my own baroque approach is very different to their classicism, and so I very quickly found myself making layers as my equipment went into melt-down.

So 'Maxed Out' is the result of my barbaric excess meeting the toned discipline of SM's perfected riffs.

There's some blues in there too - I happened to be listening to the British experimental blues band Steamhammer at the time, which rubbed off.

Main guitar used was a Dean Baby ML]]> https://soundcloud.com/solar-maximum

I first heard Solar Maximum through the good offices of Droning Earth.
https://soundcloud.com/droningearth
I found SM's minimalist riffage astounding, - like a metal haiku.

SM were good enough to invite me to collaborate on some tracks they had made just for that purpose.

Of course, my own baroque approach is very different to their classicism, and so I very quickly found myself making layers as my equipment went into melt-down.

So 'Maxed Out' is the result of my barbaric excess meeting the toned discipline of SM's perfected riffs.

There's some blues in there too - I happened to be listening to the British experimental blues band Steamhammer at the time, which rubbed off.

Main guitar used was a Dean Baby ML]]> 1233552 no no Sat, 26 Mar 2016 20:23:44 +0100 2016-03-26T20:23:44+01:00 6:33 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/mommy-why-do-daddies-die-bill-boethius-with-lyn-kalley-ingram-on-vocals/ https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram
I must admit, it was her picture that first caused me to pause.
When I listened, it wasn't what I expected, and I moved on ... but soon returned. There was something captivating about the way she put her songs down acapella.
So I went to Lyn's page and heard some superb collaborations ... I knew I would have try myself.

So this morning I downloaded this very poignant song of Lyn's, got my SG out with a brass slide, and through a tiny amp, began my Dali's Car type improvisation along to her voice.
This is the original:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/mommy-why-do-daddies-die-1


The result might be 'Hard Listening', but then the song is about the pain of loss. I therefore was tempted to quote 'In my time of dying' a few times ... But there is a positive side: the life and death cycle ...]]> https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram
I must admit, it was her picture that first caused me to pause.
When I listened, it wasn't what I expected, and I moved on ... but soon returned. There was something captivating about the way she put her songs down acapella.
So I went to Lyn's page and heard some superb collaborations ... I knew I would have try myself.

So this morning I downloaded this very poignant song of Lyn's, got my SG out with a brass slide, and through a tiny amp, began my Dali's Car type improvisation along to her voice.
This is the original:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/mommy-why-do-daddies-die-1


The result might be 'Hard Listening', but then the song is about the pain of loss. I therefore was tempted to quote 'In my time of dying' a few times ... But there is a positive side: the life and death cycle ...]]> 1233551 no no Fri, 01 Apr 2016 14:31:24 +0200 2016-04-01T14:31:24+02:00 10:07 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/sol-invictus-bill-boethius-with-solar-maximum/
This is my second collaboration with Solar Maximum, and is a kind of sequel [or maybe a prequel] to the first.

This piece, 'sol invictus', Latin for ‘the invincible sun’ [an epithet for a god worshipped by the Roman centurions] recognises that all cultures begin with a creation riff.

Solar Maximum provide this godlike riff in the bass right here.

In its repetition, this splendid stripped down blues riff describes the ascent of the sun as it achieves its solar maximum at the very zenith, the house of the gods.

It reaches this red house and then luxuriates in timeless swathes and trailing rays.

To become ‘maxed out’, and refreshed - the sun god is then ready to begin his regal descent once more.
]]>
This is my second collaboration with Solar Maximum, and is a kind of sequel [or maybe a prequel] to the first.

This piece, 'sol invictus', Latin for ‘the invincible sun’ [an epithet for a god worshipped by the Roman centurions] recognises that all cultures begin with a creation riff.

Solar Maximum provide this godlike riff in the bass right here.

In its repetition, this splendid stripped down blues riff describes the ascent of the sun as it achieves its solar maximum at the very zenith, the house of the gods.

It reaches this red house and then luxuriates in timeless swathes and trailing rays.

To become ‘maxed out’, and refreshed - the sun god is then ready to begin his regal descent once more.
]]> 1233549 no no Wed, 06 Apr 2016 23:38:05 +0200 2016-04-06T23:38:05+02:00 10:54 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/jammed-together-a-mutant-blues-bill-boethius-with-jonathan-beckstein/
When they can’t find their shoes,
When they’ve nothing to lose ,
When they’re feeling low down and dirty,
Dazed and thoroughly confused.

When they’re broken down, beaten up and bruised.
When they have no choices,
So they just can’t choose ...

What else would these poor boys do?
Smile and be happy?
No way ...
Get out of here!

They jammed together,
A mutant blues,
A mutated strain,
So the world could hear,
Their pain, and know,
They’d paid their dues.
__________________

Jonathan Beckenstein, guitar.
Bill Boethius, slide guitar, bass and drums.

Main riff idea by Jonathan,
Production by Bill.

Jonathan plays a Fender Telecaster .
Bill plays an Indie Shape semi-hollow guitar with a glass bottleneck, an Epiphone SG guitar with a brass slide, a Revelation lap steel guitar with a bar, a Squier Jazz bass and an Alesis drum machine
.......
A collaboration between Jonathan and Bill had been on the Tarot cards for some time.
They finally decided that they were both fans of Robbie Krieger of the Doors, and therefore it was ‘alright’ for them to do one.
Jon sent Bill a track that he subconsciously hoped Bill would be able to do nothing with, and Bill then tried to consciously obliterate it with his own noises.
Neither of these things worked, and Jon’s original raunchy guitar riffing stood up amongst a host of Bill’s slide guitars and the stomp of Bill’s rhythm section.
‘That worked’, they said – ‘we dedicate this one to Robbie then?’ - Bill said.
Why not, say I – there’s more than a bit of ‘moonlight drive’ in there.
https://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein]]>
When they can’t find their shoes,
When they’ve nothing to lose ,
When they’re feeling low down and dirty,
Dazed and thoroughly confused.

When they’re broken down, beaten up and bruised.
When they have no choices,
So they just can’t choose ...

What else would these poor boys do?
Smile and be happy?
No way ...
Get out of here!

They jammed together,
A mutant blues,
A mutated strain,
So the world could hear,
Their pain, and know,
They’d paid their dues.
__________________

Jonathan Beckenstein, guitar.
Bill Boethius, slide guitar, bass and drums.

Main riff idea by Jonathan,
Production by Bill.

Jonathan plays a Fender Telecaster .
Bill plays an Indie Shape semi-hollow guitar with a glass bottleneck, an Epiphone SG guitar with a brass slide, a Revelation lap steel guitar with a bar, a Squier Jazz bass and an Alesis drum machine
.......
A collaboration between Jonathan and Bill had been on the Tarot cards for some time.
They finally decided that they were both fans of Robbie Krieger of the Doors, and therefore it was ‘alright’ for them to do one.
Jon sent Bill a track that he subconsciously hoped Bill would be able to do nothing with, and Bill then tried to consciously obliterate it with his own noises.
Neither of these things worked, and Jon’s original raunchy guitar riffing stood up amongst a host of Bill’s slide guitars and the stomp of Bill’s rhythm section.
‘That worked’, they said – ‘we dedicate this one to Robbie then?’ - Bill said.
Why not, say I – there’s more than a bit of ‘moonlight drive’ in there.
https://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein]]> 1233547 no no Fri, 29 Apr 2016 20:26:16 +0200 2016-04-29T20:26:16+02:00 9:16 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ice-lava/
The ice had always been here,

And so had the volcanos.

And then it started ...

The lava, it spewed ...

Searing hot, sticky, snapping,

Slowly seeping and destroying all

In its wake.

Until it met the ice.

Then it began to scab over,

Blister and bubble

Hardening into blood red

Sculptures.
]]>
The ice had always been here,

And so had the volcanos.

And then it started ...

The lava, it spewed ...

Searing hot, sticky, snapping,

Slowly seeping and destroying all

In its wake.

Until it met the ice.

Then it began to scab over,

Blister and bubble

Hardening into blood red

Sculptures.
]]> 1233546 no no Thu, 19 May 2016 01:19:00 +0200 2016-05-19T01:19:00+02:00 9:59 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/take-him-away-bill-boethius-with-lyn-kalley-ingram-on-vocals/
This is my second collaboration with Lyn Kalley Ingram, and follows naturally on from the first, ‘Mommy, why do daddies die?’

Like that, it is a death song, and I similarly feature electric slide guitar – it also has a similar weird blues vibe, although I added bass and drums for this one.

I was alerted to the song by egb of Droning Earth, who is great guide to what is worth listening to.
Strictly speaking, the song isn’t a blues, but a ballad; however, they can be interchangeable in that ballads can be treated as blues and vice versa. The song grabbed me with its incredible lyric – and I like anything where there is a certain lyrical ambiguity, as there is here.
‘Take him away’ could ostensibly mean, melodramatically, ‘go away’. Unwanted attention – a relationship that is over etc. But it could also mean ‘take the man’s [dead] body away’, as it does in this ballad too. It flits between both, and the singer even says ‘take me away’ – i.e., to the cells – or worse, after the deadly deed has been done. It is a pre-emptive revenge song – get them before they get you.

It is universal and refers to the figure of the domineering, possessive and insanely jealous male, terrorising his unfortunate female partner, their children and their family. He will, like Hey Joe, ‘shoot them all down to the ground’ if she leaves him.

The only solution she can see to this problem is to kill the man – and so crimes of passion mushroom in the darkness that is human – all too human – emotion.

And yet, it is rational rather than passional. The irrational man must be killed – that is a rational 'plan', and yet as the song repeatedly mentions, why doesn’t she just leave? Will he really kill her, their children and the rest of her family?

That is the risk she doesn’t want to take.

It has to be said that Lyn turns in an incredible vocal performance, deftly narrating the tragedy, while at the same time conveying complex emotions with the simplest means.

The original song with the lyrics written down is on Lyn’s page.
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/take-him-away

In terms of my treatment – it is free- form experimental, something I think is inherent in the blues; I think it no coincidence that the American pioneers of free jazz, like Ornette Coleman, were very bluesy players. I think it is one of the great disappointments in music that blues artists often feel compelled to do everything in I IV V, 12 bars and the blues scale. In the British blues boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were many experimental blues bands who disappeared due to the force of this conformity – thinking of bands like Steamhammer, Bakerloo, Killing Floor and Back Door to name just a few.

The throaty slide guitar is an Indie Shape with P90s [using a glass slide].
The twangy guitar is my cheap lefty Strat copy with the tremolo bar set up to float. It sounds as good as a Fender Strat to me, but perhaps I’m missing something.
The bass is an active Squier Jazz bass which is unbelievably good value, and looks incredibly mean into the bargain.
]]>
This is my second collaboration with Lyn Kalley Ingram, and follows naturally on from the first, ‘Mommy, why do daddies die?’

Like that, it is a death song, and I similarly feature electric slide guitar – it also has a similar weird blues vibe, although I added bass and drums for this one.

I was alerted to the song by egb of Droning Earth, who is great guide to what is worth listening to.
Strictly speaking, the song isn’t a blues, but a ballad; however, they can be interchangeable in that ballads can be treated as blues and vice versa. The song grabbed me with its incredible lyric – and I like anything where there is a certain lyrical ambiguity, as there is here.
‘Take him away’ could ostensibly mean, melodramatically, ‘go away’. Unwanted attention – a relationship that is over etc. But it could also mean ‘take the man’s [dead] body away’, as it does in this ballad too. It flits between both, and the singer even says ‘take me away’ – i.e., to the cells – or worse, after the deadly deed has been done. It is a pre-emptive revenge song – get them before they get you.

It is universal and refers to the figure of the domineering, possessive and insanely jealous male, terrorising his unfortunate female partner, their children and their family. He will, like Hey Joe, ‘shoot them all down to the ground’ if she leaves him.

The only solution she can see to this problem is to kill the man – and so crimes of passion mushroom in the darkness that is human – all too human – emotion.

And yet, it is rational rather than passional. The irrational man must be killed – that is a rational 'plan', and yet as the song repeatedly mentions, why doesn’t she just leave? Will he really kill her, their children and the rest of her family?

That is the risk she doesn’t want to take.

It has to be said that Lyn turns in an incredible vocal performance, deftly narrating the tragedy, while at the same time conveying complex emotions with the simplest means.

The original song with the lyrics written down is on Lyn’s page.
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/take-him-away

In terms of my treatment – it is free- form experimental, something I think is inherent in the blues; I think it no coincidence that the American pioneers of free jazz, like Ornette Coleman, were very bluesy players. I think it is one of the great disappointments in music that blues artists often feel compelled to do everything in I IV V, 12 bars and the blues scale. In the British blues boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were many experimental blues bands who disappeared due to the force of this conformity – thinking of bands like Steamhammer, Bakerloo, Killing Floor and Back Door to name just a few.

The throaty slide guitar is an Indie Shape with P90s [using a glass slide].
The twangy guitar is my cheap lefty Strat copy with the tremolo bar set up to float. It sounds as good as a Fender Strat to me, but perhaps I’m missing something.
The bass is an active Squier Jazz bass which is unbelievably good value, and looks incredibly mean into the bargain.
]]> 1233545 no no Fri, 27 May 2016 21:09:26 +0200 2016-05-27T21:09:26+02:00 8:27 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/choctaw-people-bill-boethius-with-lyn-kalley-ingram-on-vocals/
"One thousand miles upon this earth
The Choctaw people walked it first.
They had no shoes upon their feet,
cold, and blistered they would bleed".
[The Trail of Tears by LK Ingram]

This piece combines two of Lyn’s Native American songs, ‘The Trail of Tears’, and ‘Hey Hey Watenay’.

https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/the-trail-of-tears
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/hey-hey-watenay-ojibwa-lullaby

Guitars used by me were all Squiers – a Squier jazz bass, and three different Squier Strats.

LK Ingram, vocal
B Boethius, guitar, bass, percusssion.

Song by LK Ingram
Produced by B Boethius



]]>
"One thousand miles upon this earth
The Choctaw people walked it first.
They had no shoes upon their feet,
cold, and blistered they would bleed".
[The Trail of Tears by LK Ingram]

This piece combines two of Lyn’s Native American songs, ‘The Trail of Tears’, and ‘Hey Hey Watenay’.

https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/the-trail-of-tears
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/hey-hey-watenay-ojibwa-lullaby

Guitars used by me were all Squiers – a Squier jazz bass, and three different Squier Strats.

LK Ingram, vocal
B Boethius, guitar, bass, percusssion.

Song by LK Ingram
Produced by B Boethius



]]> 1233544 no no Sat, 18 Jun 2016 10:57:24 +0200 2016-06-18T10:57:24+02:00 7:52 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ten-bill-boethius-with-lyn-kalley-ingram-on-vocals/
A collaboration with Lyn Kalley Ingram

The original song is here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/mama-died-when-i-was-ten

Lyn Kalley Ingram; vocals
Bill Boethius; guitar, bass and drums

Song written by Lyn Kalley Ingram

Mama died when I was ten.
Daddy held her till the end,
I heard him cry all through the night.
And, slip away at mornings light.

Yes, mama died when I was ten.
She left my dad a broken man.
I heard him cry all through the night.
He slipped away at mornings light.

Oh, Mama died when I was ten.
She took my daddy with her then.
Father Time could never mend.
My despair when I was ten.

Produced by Bill Boethius.

Another lyric from Lyn that intrigued me.

Ten is such an important age; it is when we have some of our first fully formed memories that stay with us our whole lives.

So to experience great tragedy at that age is even more traumatic.
Or then again, perhaps we are better able to absorb and incorporate great tragedy at that age.

See in the song that the father is not able to cope with the tragedy of the death of his wife and so dies shortly afterwards.

But the child in the song, faced with the death of not one, but both of its parents, is able to live on and make sense of the event in a song.

A song almost sung from the perspective of its own parents, suggested by the introduction of Father Time.

The metal sounding guitars on this is mainly my Dean, with my Rockster for whammy bar action.

Also, the brief interlude of clean guitar after the middle is my Indie semi-acoustic with P90s.

The bass is my five string Crafter which also does the faux organ at the end.

]]>
A collaboration with Lyn Kalley Ingram

The original song is here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/mama-died-when-i-was-ten

Lyn Kalley Ingram; vocals
Bill Boethius; guitar, bass and drums

Song written by Lyn Kalley Ingram

Mama died when I was ten.
Daddy held her till the end,
I heard him cry all through the night.
And, slip away at mornings light.

Yes, mama died when I was ten.
She left my dad a broken man.
I heard him cry all through the night.
He slipped away at mornings light.

Oh, Mama died when I was ten.
She took my daddy with her then.
Father Time could never mend.
My despair when I was ten.

Produced by Bill Boethius.

Another lyric from Lyn that intrigued me.

Ten is such an important age; it is when we have some of our first fully formed memories that stay with us our whole lives.

So to experience great tragedy at that age is even more traumatic.
Or then again, perhaps we are better able to absorb and incorporate great tragedy at that age.

See in the song that the father is not able to cope with the tragedy of the death of his wife and so dies shortly afterwards.

But the child in the song, faced with the death of not one, but both of its parents, is able to live on and make sense of the event in a song.

A song almost sung from the perspective of its own parents, suggested by the introduction of Father Time.

The metal sounding guitars on this is mainly my Dean, with my Rockster for whammy bar action.

Also, the brief interlude of clean guitar after the middle is my Indie semi-acoustic with P90s.

The bass is my five string Crafter which also does the faux organ at the end.

]]> 1233543 no no Thu, 14 Jul 2016 14:09:21 +0200 2016-07-14T14:09:21+02:00 7:08 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/sleep-on-spikes-of-unicorns-bill-boethius-with-hot-os/
There is a knot in the wood,
Like an eye, an eye of a whale,
Or an old man,
Or Odin’s eye.
Plucked out and thrust
In the side of the tree of wisdom,
Yggdrasil

Unicorn,
Your shaft, your mind-shaft, sharp,
Spears mine eye,
Gouges into its iris,
Spurting the blood of poetry,
It trickles down and waters the ground.

And all kinds of flowers and plants
Upspring: toadstools, devil’s mushrooms,
Nightshade, worms, snakes and
Reptiles, squelching on the sod,

Walk upon nightmares,
Sleep on spikes of unicorns!
Spikenard!

[Lyrics by Bill Boethius]

Bill Boethius: vocals, guitars, bass
Hot Os: beats, beds, synths

My second collab. with Hot Os who always puts up so many atmospheric and suggestive sounds.
Here I improvised guitar, bass and vocals over parts of three of his tracks:
https://soundcloud.com/hotos/a-new-dawn-awakens
https://soundcloud.com/hotos/ground-controll
https://soundcloud.com/hotos/shadow

Guitars used were my cheap Yamaha ERG1 for the lead lines; the metal sounding guitars were my Dean ML. Any jazzy noodling was done on my Indie semi-acoustic with P90s. The bass was my Squier Jazz bass.

'Spikenard' - the word got into the poem through word association and a dim Biblical recall. It was a very precious ointment that was used at one time to anoint the feet of Jesus.

The lyrics are from a poem I had written when I couldn’t sleep.
I can sleep now.

]]>
There is a knot in the wood,
Like an eye, an eye of a whale,
Or an old man,
Or Odin’s eye.
Plucked out and thrust
In the side of the tree of wisdom,
Yggdrasil

Unicorn,
Your shaft, your mind-shaft, sharp,
Spears mine eye,
Gouges into its iris,
Spurting the blood of poetry,
It trickles down and waters the ground.

And all kinds of flowers and plants
Upspring: toadstools, devil’s mushrooms,
Nightshade, worms, snakes and
Reptiles, squelching on the sod,

Walk upon nightmares,
Sleep on spikes of unicorns!
Spikenard!

[Lyrics by Bill Boethius]

Bill Boethius: vocals, guitars, bass
Hot Os: beats, beds, synths

My second collab. with Hot Os who always puts up so many atmospheric and suggestive sounds.
Here I improvised guitar, bass and vocals over parts of three of his tracks:
https://soundcloud.com/hotos/a-new-dawn-awakens
https://soundcloud.com/hotos/ground-controll
https://soundcloud.com/hotos/shadow

Guitars used were my cheap Yamaha ERG1 for the lead lines; the metal sounding guitars were my Dean ML. Any jazzy noodling was done on my Indie semi-acoustic with P90s. The bass was my Squier Jazz bass.

'Spikenard' - the word got into the poem through word association and a dim Biblical recall. It was a very precious ointment that was used at one time to anoint the feet of Jesus.

The lyrics are from a poem I had written when I couldn’t sleep.
I can sleep now.

]]> 1233542 no no Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:35:42 +0200 2016-07-22T10:35:42+02:00 9:31 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/merlin-staggers/
Merlin staggers ‘cross
Forest – woollen cape catches on
Brambles – Star & Moon designs:
Hooded cape with Staff,
Gnarled, marked with Ogham glyphs:
Grey beard, fulsome,
He roars toward the
Glowing moon which capers ‘bove
The canopies of twisted branches ...
Halo.

Spells rend the night air,
Synchronicities are
Brought to bear
And curses & blessings enfold,
Enshatter in One.

As above, so below.

The god & the devil are One
And the Same.
Man is neither sane nor insane.
Life is neither victory nor defeat.
There is only magic.
There is no life,
But magic.

[Lyrics by Bill Boethius]


Bill Boethius: voices, guitars, bass and drums
Another of my word pieces set to my sounds ... most of the words did not survive into the final mix, although they were all put on there. Instead it became an invocation of Merlin and centred on the mantra that “man is neither sane nor insane”. In my world all absolutes are suspect, including that one [and this one]. My sounds express this philosophy in a way that words can’t. And nor did Merlin. He used rather his wand which was an ancient theramin.
]]>
Merlin staggers ‘cross
Forest – woollen cape catches on
Brambles – Star & Moon designs:
Hooded cape with Staff,
Gnarled, marked with Ogham glyphs:
Grey beard, fulsome,
He roars toward the
Glowing moon which capers ‘bove
The canopies of twisted branches ...
Halo.

Spells rend the night air,
Synchronicities are
Brought to bear
And curses & blessings enfold,
Enshatter in One.

As above, so below.

The god & the devil are One
And the Same.
Man is neither sane nor insane.
Life is neither victory nor defeat.
There is only magic.
There is no life,
But magic.

[Lyrics by Bill Boethius]


Bill Boethius: voices, guitars, bass and drums
Another of my word pieces set to my sounds ... most of the words did not survive into the final mix, although they were all put on there. Instead it became an invocation of Merlin and centred on the mantra that “man is neither sane nor insane”. In my world all absolutes are suspect, including that one [and this one]. My sounds express this philosophy in a way that words can’t. And nor did Merlin. He used rather his wand which was an ancient theramin.
]]> 1233541 no no Sat, 30 Jul 2016 18:43:02 +0200 2016-07-30T18:43:02+02:00 9:49 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/yes-i-hurt-you-bill-boethius-with-lyn-kalley-ingram-on-vocals/
Wasted words on ears of stone
There you sit and I’m alone
Days are years as time goes on
Same old movie, same old song.

Yes I hurt you many years ago.
Why must we keep on walking down that road?
I’ve tried to mend what I did sow,
But you refused to let it go.

Song by Lyn Kalley Ingram
Produced by Bill Boethius.

Lyn Kalley Ingram, vocals.
Bill Boethius, background vocals, guitars, basses, drums

I really liked this country-blues song of Lyn’s.

Full song here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/yes-i-hurt-you

My own treatment and setting of it grew out of a down-home, but subverted approach.
Layers of acoustic slide, and then electric semi-acoustic slide. Then raw electric guitar on the Dean. Then jangly chordal twangs on the Phantom guitar, Not to mention the various bass and drums layers, and some vocal sounds of my own at the beginning and during Lyn’s vocal, but in the background.

The piece gives a good idea of where I want to take bluesy stuff: in and out of laminal psychedelic deconstructive slurries.
]]>
Wasted words on ears of stone
There you sit and I’m alone
Days are years as time goes on
Same old movie, same old song.

Yes I hurt you many years ago.
Why must we keep on walking down that road?
I’ve tried to mend what I did sow,
But you refused to let it go.

Song by Lyn Kalley Ingram
Produced by Bill Boethius.

Lyn Kalley Ingram, vocals.
Bill Boethius, background vocals, guitars, basses, drums

I really liked this country-blues song of Lyn’s.

Full song here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/yes-i-hurt-you

My own treatment and setting of it grew out of a down-home, but subverted approach.
Layers of acoustic slide, and then electric semi-acoustic slide. Then raw electric guitar on the Dean. Then jangly chordal twangs on the Phantom guitar, Not to mention the various bass and drums layers, and some vocal sounds of my own at the beginning and during Lyn’s vocal, but in the background.

The piece gives a good idea of where I want to take bluesy stuff: in and out of laminal psychedelic deconstructive slurries.
]]> 1233540 no no Fri, 05 Aug 2016 10:04:34 +0200 2016-08-05T10:04:34+02:00 6:12 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/a-snatch-of-the-abyss/
Delirium clears ...
There is only the cold light of day.
Is poetry possible here?
There is only war ...
Poems scribed with a knife on flesh.
Tattoos of bruise,
Blood, grime, death ... pallor.
Tumescence, de-tumescence.
Furore of rumour, flood,
Conflagration ...

Sound paints the air,
Lingers like perfume.
A phantom shape,
Phantom collage,
Ghostly.

Rabid dogs of midnight, with
yellow fang and purple tongue,
Foaming jaws, stinking coats,
Ears erect, and clawed paws,

I am the testimony to your madness,
And my fear.
Witness to my own
Animal gestation.
[poem by Bill Boethius]

Bill Boethius: Phantom guitar, Jazz bass, Alesis cymbals.

Usually I use different guitars for the various sounds, but here I used only one guitar, the Phantom [Revelation VTX63] for each guitar part.
The fine sounding single coil pickups in this guitar are by Alan Entwistle; the coffin shape of the guitar by the Design Council. Such a guitar can probe the abyss, as it does here.

The Phantom proves Nietzsche’s dictum: that when one stares too long into the abyss, the abyss stares out of one.

I am the abyss, I am the womb of doom.



]]>
Delirium clears ...
There is only the cold light of day.
Is poetry possible here?
There is only war ...
Poems scribed with a knife on flesh.
Tattoos of bruise,
Blood, grime, death ... pallor.
Tumescence, de-tumescence.
Furore of rumour, flood,
Conflagration ...

Sound paints the air,
Lingers like perfume.
A phantom shape,
Phantom collage,
Ghostly.

Rabid dogs of midnight, with
yellow fang and purple tongue,
Foaming jaws, stinking coats,
Ears erect, and clawed paws,

I am the testimony to your madness,
And my fear.
Witness to my own
Animal gestation.
[poem by Bill Boethius]

Bill Boethius: Phantom guitar, Jazz bass, Alesis cymbals.

Usually I use different guitars for the various sounds, but here I used only one guitar, the Phantom [Revelation VTX63] for each guitar part.
The fine sounding single coil pickups in this guitar are by Alan Entwistle; the coffin shape of the guitar by the Design Council. Such a guitar can probe the abyss, as it does here.

The Phantom proves Nietzsche’s dictum: that when one stares too long into the abyss, the abyss stares out of one.

I am the abyss, I am the womb of doom.



]]> 1233539 no no Sun, 14 Aug 2016 10:38:52 +0200 2016-08-14T10:38:52+02:00 10:36 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/from-the-page-of-the-dark-mage/
Swart Suns, Twain ...
Twa beasties for the aeons.

Humankind strives towards one sun,
For one goal he naively drives.

‘The One’ he murmurs piously,
And,
as he grasps it,
fragmenting,
It is no longer one but two.

Never three,
but two,

Always Two.
]]>
Swart Suns, Twain ...
Twa beasties for the aeons.

Humankind strives towards one sun,
For one goal he naively drives.

‘The One’ he murmurs piously,
And,
as he grasps it,
fragmenting,
It is no longer one but two.

Never three,
but two,

Always Two.
]]> 1233538 no no Sun, 21 Aug 2016 00:27:55 +0200 2016-08-21T00:27:55+02:00 10:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/above-snakes/
Strung out
Grip the taut twanging, line.
A rod scythes skies
Plunging perspective
Alone, above, below.
Hover like a bee,
Blindly buzzing around
In haphazard fits
Maddening.

The trapeze, concentrated,
Elemental
In pure air,
The stretched rope,
The hanged man.

Writhing tree
Coffin-spider
Conveyor-belt
Quiver.
All falls back
Through the Earth
To the bottom
Endlessly.

Layer upon layer,
No finality
Dropping trap-door hatch
Sewer
Hole
Bird bone-yard.

Dust
Dead skin
Life’s eternal flux
Downward fleeing
Continual decline
Shudder the rope
Legs kicking
Noose throttling
Purple-tongue
Final evacuation of
Spirit surrender.

The drop
Pierrpoint’s shilling
Total condemnation.

This life is punishment
Enough
Wronged, wrung-out
Fool’s errand.
Past resurges, backs-up,
Ebbing basin
Vomit-spiced nostrils
Quick-sinking
Slow death.

Breaking off the noses
Iconoclasts
He hit every ledge on his way down
Chipped away
Worn away by the rain
Attrition.
Make a bomb
Look what they done
It's only atoms
Rearranging

Order is only a tidier
Form of chaos

Burned bridges

Void
Ovid’s dove descended
Delenda
Devastation
Devoid of recognisable features
Footless, unable to
Land
Landless in flight
Fleet unable to dock
Prison ship pallor.
Siege mentality
Hovering in limbo
Cosmo naught
The umbilical cord
Un-severed
Without gravity
Nor ground,
Void

Silence
Wistful whisper of wisdom on the silent wind
Shh- peaceful
Pray like you don’t know how to pray
Pray quickly
Silently
Golden silence
Sniff, snort, creep around
Without a sound
Pin-drop
Library shuffle,
Wall of silence.

They know each other so well they don’t speak
He communicates by smiles and grins
She glares in return.
Vision is my wisdom
Looking and learning
Gazing and yearning
Eyes tightly shut as colours explode
Behind my lids.

I hear your voice in my head
Dolor
Life’s funeral
Sadness
Snuffle, snuffle
Enough said.

Thus unspake
Tied his tongue
His rude ruddy
Tongue
Lolled.

[poem by Bill Boethius]
-------------------------------

On this track I vocalise some of my poem ‘Above Snakes’ [I did it all but sometimes it became silent for other sounds, so the poem is there silently].

The poem speaks of being hanged and how that experience compares to life and existence – and how, at the moments of brutal hanged death – each microsecond is hung out and seems an aeon.
This is what the Hanged God asks us to contemplate in our daily meditation upon his Rune. It is also analogous to making sounds, particularly on the sky guitar.

The sky guitars used here were an Epiphone Les Paul for all the crunchy riffs, reverbed leads and some of the wails along with the Ibanez GAX. The cleaner jazzy patterns were also the Les Paul [it’s a versatile beast, as Furtkamp would say]. The whammy bar stuff was a new four pick up Jaguar/Jazzmaster type guitar I just got from Revelation [on cover pic]. That is what is known in the biz as a ‘tone monster’! The bass is my trusty 5 string Crafter. I dedicate the bass riffs on this to Solar Maximum as they are in their ballpark.
]]>
Strung out
Grip the taut twanging, line.
A rod scythes skies
Plunging perspective
Alone, above, below.
Hover like a bee,
Blindly buzzing around
In haphazard fits
Maddening.

The trapeze, concentrated,
Elemental
In pure air,
The stretched rope,
The hanged man.

Writhing tree
Coffin-spider
Conveyor-belt
Quiver.
All falls back
Through the Earth
To the bottom
Endlessly.

Layer upon layer,
No finality
Dropping trap-door hatch
Sewer
Hole
Bird bone-yard.

Dust
Dead skin
Life’s eternal flux
Downward fleeing
Continual decline
Shudder the rope
Legs kicking
Noose throttling
Purple-tongue
Final evacuation of
Spirit surrender.

The drop
Pierrpoint’s shilling
Total condemnation.

This life is punishment
Enough
Wronged, wrung-out
Fool’s errand.
Past resurges, backs-up,
Ebbing basin
Vomit-spiced nostrils
Quick-sinking
Slow death.

Breaking off the noses
Iconoclasts
He hit every ledge on his way down
Chipped away
Worn away by the rain
Attrition.
Make a bomb
Look what they done
It's only atoms
Rearranging

Order is only a tidier
Form of chaos

Burned bridges

Void
Ovid’s dove descended
Delenda
Devastation
Devoid of recognisable features
Footless, unable to
Land
Landless in flight
Fleet unable to dock
Prison ship pallor.
Siege mentality
Hovering in limbo
Cosmo naught
The umbilical cord
Un-severed
Without gravity
Nor ground,
Void

Silence
Wistful whisper of wisdom on the silent wind
Shh- peaceful
Pray like you don’t know how to pray
Pray quickly
Silently
Golden silence
Sniff, snort, creep around
Without a sound
Pin-drop
Library shuffle,
Wall of silence.

They know each other so well they don’t speak
He communicates by smiles and grins
She glares in return.
Vision is my wisdom
Looking and learning
Gazing and yearning
Eyes tightly shut as colours explode
Behind my lids.

I hear your voice in my head
Dolor
Life’s funeral
Sadness
Snuffle, snuffle
Enough said.

Thus unspake
Tied his tongue
His rude ruddy
Tongue
Lolled.

[poem by Bill Boethius]
-------------------------------

On this track I vocalise some of my poem ‘Above Snakes’ [I did it all but sometimes it became silent for other sounds, so the poem is there silently].

The poem speaks of being hanged and how that experience compares to life and existence – and how, at the moments of brutal hanged death – each microsecond is hung out and seems an aeon.
This is what the Hanged God asks us to contemplate in our daily meditation upon his Rune. It is also analogous to making sounds, particularly on the sky guitar.

The sky guitars used here were an Epiphone Les Paul for all the crunchy riffs, reverbed leads and some of the wails along with the Ibanez GAX. The cleaner jazzy patterns were also the Les Paul [it’s a versatile beast, as Furtkamp would say]. The whammy bar stuff was a new four pick up Jaguar/Jazzmaster type guitar I just got from Revelation [on cover pic]. That is what is known in the biz as a ‘tone monster’! The bass is my trusty 5 string Crafter. I dedicate the bass riffs on this to Solar Maximum as they are in their ballpark.
]]> 1233537 no no Sun, 28 Aug 2016 20:15:05 +0200 2016-08-28T20:15:05+02:00 9:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-forbidden/
I summon the gods of darkness.

Use your hammer well!
Hammer your nails into the limbs of the limp ones.

I call upon the strong
Dark
Gods.

The gods who feed upon burning flesh.

_____________

A very nasty dark piece which grew out of an innocent blues solo on a Squier Strat.

Through the magick of transformation it became this .... vile thing!

"we strive after the forbidden"

]]>
I summon the gods of darkness.

Use your hammer well!
Hammer your nails into the limbs of the limp ones.

I call upon the strong
Dark
Gods.

The gods who feed upon burning flesh.

_____________

A very nasty dark piece which grew out of an innocent blues solo on a Squier Strat.

Through the magick of transformation it became this .... vile thing!

"we strive after the forbidden"

]]> 1233536 no no Sat, 10 Sep 2016 23:42:52 +0200 2016-09-10T23:42:52+02:00 9:05 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/silvern-starquake/
Your winged finger
Pointed skyward
To pterodactyl worlds
Afar.

All of a sudden, an
Up-rush reptilian ,
On a quaking skyless
Star.

[poem by Bill Boethius]

This grew out of some guitar tracks I made with my four pick up Revelation Jag-like seen in the cover pic.
I added the nasty fuzz bass/drums and the delayed Les Paul lead afterwards, and began to get cosmic Pterodactyl sounds in my head. I kept thinking of Bolan’s beautiful line, “Pterodactyl beak adorn my brow”: I only realised that he left this Earth on this day however many years ago. This is a tribute to all bird guitarists.
]]>
Your winged finger
Pointed skyward
To pterodactyl worlds
Afar.

All of a sudden, an
Up-rush reptilian ,
On a quaking skyless
Star.

[poem by Bill Boethius]

This grew out of some guitar tracks I made with my four pick up Revelation Jag-like seen in the cover pic.
I added the nasty fuzz bass/drums and the delayed Les Paul lead afterwards, and began to get cosmic Pterodactyl sounds in my head. I kept thinking of Bolan’s beautiful line, “Pterodactyl beak adorn my brow”: I only realised that he left this Earth on this day however many years ago. This is a tribute to all bird guitarists.
]]> 1233535 no no Fri, 16 Sep 2016 22:21:53 +0200 2016-09-16T22:21:53+02:00 9:09 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/sucht-sucht-sucht-bill-boethius-with-augenmerk-on-vocals/
Augenmerk’s Open Collaboration, ‘Today I have screwed my other head on’. Full poem and text here:
https://soundcloud.com/augenmerk/open-collab-today-i-have-screwed-on-the-other-head_ich-habe-heute-den-anderen-kopf-angeschraubt-lyrics

It was the sound of Augenmerk’s voice that fascinated me, and her wonderful articulation of the German language.

So I tried to integrate and feature her voice in the same way I would any other instrument.

The word ‘sucht’ leapt out in the poem, which means ‘addiction’ . In the wider sense, addiction becomes a paradigm for life.

Augenmerk; vocals
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass and drums]]>
Augenmerk’s Open Collaboration, ‘Today I have screwed my other head on’. Full poem and text here:
https://soundcloud.com/augenmerk/open-collab-today-i-have-screwed-on-the-other-head_ich-habe-heute-den-anderen-kopf-angeschraubt-lyrics

It was the sound of Augenmerk’s voice that fascinated me, and her wonderful articulation of the German language.

So I tried to integrate and feature her voice in the same way I would any other instrument.

The word ‘sucht’ leapt out in the poem, which means ‘addiction’ . In the wider sense, addiction becomes a paradigm for life.

Augenmerk; vocals
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass and drums]]> 1233534 no no Sat, 24 Sep 2016 10:34:16 +0200 2016-09-24T10:34:16+02:00 10:45 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/blows-of-creation/
As the cosmic smith useth hammer and anvil
To forge the savage sword,
So we too bellow, rage and ravage sound,
For good and for evil.
...........
Bill Boethius; 8 string guitar, 6 string guitar, 5 string bass & percussion.]]>
As the cosmic smith useth hammer and anvil
To forge the savage sword,
So we too bellow, rage and ravage sound,
For good and for evil.
...........
Bill Boethius; 8 string guitar, 6 string guitar, 5 string bass & percussion.]]> 1233533 no no Sat, 01 Oct 2016 03:41:22 +0200 2016-10-01T03:41:22+02:00 9:27 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/swamp-stealer-bill-boethius-with-sammy-lips-on-harmonica/
O collector of souls and feeder on worlds,
Vanquisher of ghouls and vampyre bleeder.

Swallower of swamps and murderer of mud,
Defiler of girls and devourer of crud,

Turn your stinking visage skywards.
For even vastation has vision ...

And even this swampy morass
Gives rewards.
[Bill Boethius]

This a voracious piece of weird blues, at full tilt and near cacophony, or guitarophany, with its orchestra of guitar parts.
It features the harmonica playing of Sammy Lips, another discovery on Soundcloud for me.

Listen to Sammy here:
https://soundcloud.com/samuel-castle

As a blues-hound I’ve always loved the harp, which goes so well with electric guitar.

Sammy is quietly putting out great authentic blues harmonica purely for the love of it, and with a total lack of ego.
And that is real blues.

I wanted to hear how his harp would sound in an experimental free-form Boethiusesque setting, so here is an example of Sammy taking a ride in Dali’s Car for once.

Bill Boethius, guitars, lap steel, bass and drums
Sammy Lips, harmonica, breath and foot-tapping]]>
O collector of souls and feeder on worlds,
Vanquisher of ghouls and vampyre bleeder.

Swallower of swamps and murderer of mud,
Defiler of girls and devourer of crud,

Turn your stinking visage skywards.
For even vastation has vision ...

And even this swampy morass
Gives rewards.
[Bill Boethius]

This a voracious piece of weird blues, at full tilt and near cacophony, or guitarophany, with its orchestra of guitar parts.
It features the harmonica playing of Sammy Lips, another discovery on Soundcloud for me.

Listen to Sammy here:
https://soundcloud.com/samuel-castle

As a blues-hound I’ve always loved the harp, which goes so well with electric guitar.

Sammy is quietly putting out great authentic blues harmonica purely for the love of it, and with a total lack of ego.
And that is real blues.

I wanted to hear how his harp would sound in an experimental free-form Boethiusesque setting, so here is an example of Sammy taking a ride in Dali’s Car for once.

Bill Boethius, guitars, lap steel, bass and drums
Sammy Lips, harmonica, breath and foot-tapping]]> 1233532 no no Sun, 09 Oct 2016 00:11:30 +0200 2016-10-09T00:11:30+02:00 10:40 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/amongst-wolves/
Are ye amongst men?
Nay, you are among wolves.

For man is a beast of prey,
And more of a wolf, than any wolf.

---------------------

Join me here on Planet Wolf, where everything is thoroughly lupine!]]>
Are ye amongst men?
Nay, you are among wolves.

For man is a beast of prey,
And more of a wolf, than any wolf.

---------------------

Join me here on Planet Wolf, where everything is thoroughly lupine!]]> 1233531 no no Sun, 16 Oct 2016 01:28:58 +0200 2016-10-16T01:28:58+02:00 10:25 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/around-mysteries-bill-boethius-with-peter-novak/
Seeking Freedom unknown,
Around Mysteries,
Intangible, sensory Invisibilities.

Sounds like powdered smoke
Filter through,
Then crash, reek
And explode, as the god

Enters.

Antlers high,
Streaked in dry blood,
Androgynous.

Look where we worship,
At the veined, ivory feet,
Cold
And impious.
--------------
Bill Boethius, guitar, bass and drums
Peter Novak, guitar

I first chanced upon Peter N’s shrapnel guitar sounds a while ago.
https://soundcloud.com/novpko

I had never heard such a hard edge that retained girth in its sound.
In this collaboration, Peter supplies some of that hard edged guitar - hear him at around three minutes in, and especially in the final bars at the end. But he also produces some clean chordal, almost Spanish rhythm guitar [e.g., at around 05:20], which is really the body of the piece, as well as some clean picking at around 08:20.
To contrast the hard edged sound of Peter, I played a smooth Les Paul lead – heard first at the intro and then throughout, and low ominous riffage [e.g., around 090:00], as well as various synth guitar parts.
The piece itself started life as a fuzz bass and drums jam, but went far beyond that, as it should.
Peter suggested the title, which then inspired my poem above.

Subsequently, Peter developed his own guitar parts from this into another solo piece - so that is a very fruitful sound journey. Here it is:
https://soundcloud.com/novpko/guitars-for-bill]]>
Seeking Freedom unknown,
Around Mysteries,
Intangible, sensory Invisibilities.

Sounds like powdered smoke
Filter through,
Then crash, reek
And explode, as the god

Enters.

Antlers high,
Streaked in dry blood,
Androgynous.

Look where we worship,
At the veined, ivory feet,
Cold
And impious.
--------------
Bill Boethius, guitar, bass and drums
Peter Novak, guitar

I first chanced upon Peter N’s shrapnel guitar sounds a while ago.
https://soundcloud.com/novpko

I had never heard such a hard edge that retained girth in its sound.
In this collaboration, Peter supplies some of that hard edged guitar - hear him at around three minutes in, and especially in the final bars at the end. But he also produces some clean chordal, almost Spanish rhythm guitar [e.g., at around 05:20], which is really the body of the piece, as well as some clean picking at around 08:20.
To contrast the hard edged sound of Peter, I played a smooth Les Paul lead – heard first at the intro and then throughout, and low ominous riffage [e.g., around 090:00], as well as various synth guitar parts.
The piece itself started life as a fuzz bass and drums jam, but went far beyond that, as it should.
Peter suggested the title, which then inspired my poem above.

Subsequently, Peter developed his own guitar parts from this into another solo piece - so that is a very fruitful sound journey. Here it is:
https://soundcloud.com/novpko/guitars-for-bill]]> 1233529 no no Sun, 23 Oct 2016 02:55:47 +0200 2016-10-23T02:55:47+02:00 10:36 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/little-orphic-annie-bill-boethius-with-lyn-kalley-ingram-on-vocals/
Unravelling blues, violets, pinks, and beige,
My soul is a rainbow in absentia.
Absinth pages, green, and golden snow,
Little Orphic Annie came to Arhus to stay.
While vertiginous goblins gambolled along,
And had their way with her again,
In crimson flow and cosmic pain.
.........
Starting point was Lyn Kalley Ingram’s reading of ‘Little Orphant Annie’, which has that perverse dark underbelly of all nursery crymes, sorry, rhymes.
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/little-orphant-annie-james-whitcomb-riley-1885

I also made the association with the Orphic art of the Delauneys with the proximity of the variant ‘orphant’ and ‘orphic’, and how life and art are essentially orphaned and orphic states.

I am your Orpheus.

Lyn Kalley Ingram; vocal,
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass and drums.]]>
Unravelling blues, violets, pinks, and beige,
My soul is a rainbow in absentia.
Absinth pages, green, and golden snow,
Little Orphic Annie came to Arhus to stay.
While vertiginous goblins gambolled along,
And had their way with her again,
In crimson flow and cosmic pain.
.........
Starting point was Lyn Kalley Ingram’s reading of ‘Little Orphant Annie’, which has that perverse dark underbelly of all nursery crymes, sorry, rhymes.
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/little-orphant-annie-james-whitcomb-riley-1885

I also made the association with the Orphic art of the Delauneys with the proximity of the variant ‘orphant’ and ‘orphic’, and how life and art are essentially orphaned and orphic states.

I am your Orpheus.

Lyn Kalley Ingram; vocal,
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass and drums.]]> 1233528 no no Sat, 29 Oct 2016 23:14:56 +0200 2016-10-29T23:14:56+02:00 9:42 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/xenology/
The study of extra-terrestial life.

Philosophy must be as the Romantics conceived it; as a great overarching, overreaching, attempt to encompass the Multiverse.

The philosopher must be a voracious, divine animal; - a descendant of the killer ape, he jettisons himself into the solar system and beyond.

Fermi's Paradox states that if extra-terrestials existed they would be here now ... hear now ... hear hear ...

Bill Boethius - guitar, bass and drums]]>
The study of extra-terrestial life.

Philosophy must be as the Romantics conceived it; as a great overarching, overreaching, attempt to encompass the Multiverse.

The philosopher must be a voracious, divine animal; - a descendant of the killer ape, he jettisons himself into the solar system and beyond.

Fermi's Paradox states that if extra-terrestials existed they would be here now ... hear now ... hear hear ...

Bill Boethius - guitar, bass and drums]]> 1233527 no no Sun, 06 Nov 2016 03:05:45 +0100 2016-11-06T03:05:45+01:00 10:00 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-last-spaceship-on-venus-bill-boethius-with-wou-wou-the-wormling/
Silent Venus,
Sister Venus,
Cosmic vessel,
My Earthling brethren
Desire with you to speak,
And upon your red sod, to tread.

You draw me upwards,
O Crimson lady.

Dear Venus,
Make a sound or three,
So that we, may,
To your dunes voyage,
And join ye, once more, in cosmic
Cacophany.

'''''''''''''''''
My second open collaboration with the amazing Wou Wou and the Wormling.

https://soundcloud.com/wouwouopencollab/spaceship
Bill Boethius; guitar, synth
Wou Wou; Bass, beats and flute.

Arranged and produced by Bill Boethius.]]>
Silent Venus,
Sister Venus,
Cosmic vessel,
My Earthling brethren
Desire with you to speak,
And upon your red sod, to tread.

You draw me upwards,
O Crimson lady.

Dear Venus,
Make a sound or three,
So that we, may,
To your dunes voyage,
And join ye, once more, in cosmic
Cacophany.

'''''''''''''''''
My second open collaboration with the amazing Wou Wou and the Wormling.

https://soundcloud.com/wouwouopencollab/spaceship
Bill Boethius; guitar, synth
Wou Wou; Bass, beats and flute.

Arranged and produced by Bill Boethius.]]> 1233526 no no Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:09:20 +0100 2016-11-12T22:09:20+01:00 10:13 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ascent-of-sky-mountain/
Everything tells you ‘no’ and blocks your stumble.
‘Better to stay at home and avoid adventure.
These climes are not for you, nor can you climb so,
To reach such giddy heights, where the air will be
All too thin, and the silence will deafen you,
And the light, blind you, and the sleet bind you.
You will be deaf, dumb and blind as you try to climb’.

No matter, climb I will, for I know that there is something
Beyond these senses, and that there are heights beyond heights,
And sounds beyond sounds, and scents beyond scents,
And sights beyond sights, and beyonds beyond beyonds,
And ascents beyond ascents ...
Ad infinitum.
................
A little mountain climbing:
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass and percussive sounds.]]>
Everything tells you ‘no’ and blocks your stumble.
‘Better to stay at home and avoid adventure.
These climes are not for you, nor can you climb so,
To reach such giddy heights, where the air will be
All too thin, and the silence will deafen you,
And the light, blind you, and the sleet bind you.
You will be deaf, dumb and blind as you try to climb’.

No matter, climb I will, for I know that there is something
Beyond these senses, and that there are heights beyond heights,
And sounds beyond sounds, and scents beyond scents,
And sights beyond sights, and beyonds beyond beyonds,
And ascents beyond ascents ...
Ad infinitum.
................
A little mountain climbing:
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass and percussive sounds.]]> 1233525 no no Sun, 20 Nov 2016 01:22:47 +0100 2016-11-20T01:22:47+01:00 10:25 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/vibrance-spheres-and-dragons-bill-boethius-with-agitation-phi/ https://soundcloud.com/agitationphi

Invited to put some guitar down on a 30 minute long track of bass drums and electronica, I baulked at first, and then - after a few days - bit the bullet.
So this morning, picking up my Revelation four pick up Jaguar [through the Kaoss pad], and my Gibson Les Paul, I set to work on the whole 30 mins.
Then, as befits a real collaboration, Phi stepped in once more; this time as Arranger.
We then cut it down, and got this usable piece which is still long at 14 mins.
Let the dust settle ... yes, we have something here ... that guitar solo is one of a kind, and listen how Phi slips into Raga on the fade out ...

Agitation Phi, Rickenbacker bass, beats and electronica.
Bill Boethius, Guitars, Kaoss pad, production.

Our previous collab:
https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/noe-sphere-crystal-cyclone-excerpt-collaboration-of-agitation-and-bill-boethius]]> https://soundcloud.com/agitationphi

Invited to put some guitar down on a 30 minute long track of bass drums and electronica, I baulked at first, and then - after a few days - bit the bullet.
So this morning, picking up my Revelation four pick up Jaguar [through the Kaoss pad], and my Gibson Les Paul, I set to work on the whole 30 mins.
Then, as befits a real collaboration, Phi stepped in once more; this time as Arranger.
We then cut it down, and got this usable piece which is still long at 14 mins.
Let the dust settle ... yes, we have something here ... that guitar solo is one of a kind, and listen how Phi slips into Raga on the fade out ...

Agitation Phi, Rickenbacker bass, beats and electronica.
Bill Boethius, Guitars, Kaoss pad, production.

Our previous collab:
https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/noe-sphere-crystal-cyclone-excerpt-collaboration-of-agitation-and-bill-boethius]]> 1233523 no no Sun, 27 Nov 2016 01:50:01 +0100 2016-11-27T01:50:01+01:00 14:36 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-ancient-ambassadors-of-eternity/
If there is such a thing as Eternity, then it follows that there must be Immortal Beings within that Eternity.

If there weren’t, then there would be a break in Being if mortals expired all at once – a strong possibility.
There would then be a break in existence, and an End to Eternity, assuming that Existence is dependent upon Being.

Therefore, Logic itself dictates that Immortals must populate Eternity, alongside mortals.

And what would these Immortals do?

They would certainly act as Ambassadors from Galaxy to Galaxy, and so on.

These were sometimes called gods by mortals.

We are now discovering the movements of these Ancient – for they have no beginning and are older than Time – Ambassadors of Eternity.

They typically move on floating stairways of sound.

This track is an envisioning of one of those pathways.
.......................
Bill Boethius, guitars, lap steel, synth, Theremin, bass and drums.]]>
If there is such a thing as Eternity, then it follows that there must be Immortal Beings within that Eternity.

If there weren’t, then there would be a break in Being if mortals expired all at once – a strong possibility.
There would then be a break in existence, and an End to Eternity, assuming that Existence is dependent upon Being.

Therefore, Logic itself dictates that Immortals must populate Eternity, alongside mortals.

And what would these Immortals do?

They would certainly act as Ambassadors from Galaxy to Galaxy, and so on.

These were sometimes called gods by mortals.

We are now discovering the movements of these Ancient – for they have no beginning and are older than Time – Ambassadors of Eternity.

They typically move on floating stairways of sound.

This track is an envisioning of one of those pathways.
.......................
Bill Boethius, guitars, lap steel, synth, Theremin, bass and drums.]]> 1233522 no no Sun, 04 Dec 2016 15:45:56 +0100 2016-12-04T15:45:56+01:00 10:45 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/in-deepest-starmoot/
Continuing the theme of The Ancient Ambassadors of Eternity, to which this is a sequel, we follow the Ambassadors as they reach the furthest, darkest and deepest star.

Probing the planet’s surface they reach the inner habitations to parley with the strange beings there.

This is part of their conversation.
----------------------

Bill Boethius, guitars, Theremin, bass and drums]]>
Continuing the theme of The Ancient Ambassadors of Eternity, to which this is a sequel, we follow the Ambassadors as they reach the furthest, darkest and deepest star.

Probing the planet’s surface they reach the inner habitations to parley with the strange beings there.

This is part of their conversation.
----------------------

Bill Boethius, guitars, Theremin, bass and drums]]> 1233521 no no Sun, 11 Dec 2016 12:44:42 +0100 2016-12-11T12:44:42+01:00 10:28 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/polar-midnight/
And everything repeats
Even beyond Death.

For if the End is not the End,
But yet another End, ad infinitum,

Then so does Life return,
Eternal.

From polar midnight to solar daybreak.



Bill Boethius; guitars, theremin, bass and drums]]>
And everything repeats
Even beyond Death.

For if the End is not the End,
But yet another End, ad infinitum,

Then so does Life return,
Eternal.

From polar midnight to solar daybreak.



Bill Boethius; guitars, theremin, bass and drums]]> 1233520 no no Sat, 17 Dec 2016 01:01:52 +0100 2016-12-17T01:01:52+01:00 10:35 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-interview-at-gethsemane-bill-boethius-with-lemonade-on-vocals/
I first head Lemonade on a collaboration she did with the wonderful guitarist then known as Pourqoui, now known as Walzendorfer.
https://soundcloud.com/walzendorfer
I was intrigued at how she would lend her voice to such an avant garde sound as that.
https://soundcloud.com/lemonadelove

So I kept in the back of my mind to muster up the courage to importune her into a collaboration with moi!

I had a bluesy abstract sketch of guitars to which she put this lovely spoken word part.
The lyrics conjure up a strange juxtaposition of the every day and the mythical.

This arrangement I have made [and title - or rather Lemonade called it 'the interview', and I added the 'Gethsemane' part] is just my interpretation of her words, but I won’t try and impose that interpretation on you – just listen to the words carefully, and make your own.

------------------

Lemonade, vocals, words
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drums]]>
I first head Lemonade on a collaboration she did with the wonderful guitarist then known as Pourqoui, now known as Walzendorfer.
https://soundcloud.com/walzendorfer
I was intrigued at how she would lend her voice to such an avant garde sound as that.
https://soundcloud.com/lemonadelove

So I kept in the back of my mind to muster up the courage to importune her into a collaboration with moi!

I had a bluesy abstract sketch of guitars to which she put this lovely spoken word part.
The lyrics conjure up a strange juxtaposition of the every day and the mythical.

This arrangement I have made [and title - or rather Lemonade called it 'the interview', and I added the 'Gethsemane' part] is just my interpretation of her words, but I won’t try and impose that interpretation on you – just listen to the words carefully, and make your own.

------------------

Lemonade, vocals, words
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drums]]> 1233519 no no Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:59:35 +0100 2016-12-22T12:59:35+01:00 9:54 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/yew/
This time of year, one reflects, and the ancient gods rise up.
So today, with just one guitar and a beat, I had to play some forest blues for the gods.
The guitar, being made from blessed wood, is a wand, and conjures up runes against the crackle of its bonfire of amplified heat.
The following rune was met;

The Yew
Is a strung bow,
And the brittle iron,
Of a harm striking arrow.
Bow Rainbow.
[from the Old Icelandic Rune Poem]

Guitar used; Revelation RJT-60Q [four Entwistle single coil pickups, offset Jaguar]]]>
This time of year, one reflects, and the ancient gods rise up.
So today, with just one guitar and a beat, I had to play some forest blues for the gods.
The guitar, being made from blessed wood, is a wand, and conjures up runes against the crackle of its bonfire of amplified heat.
The following rune was met;

The Yew
Is a strung bow,
And the brittle iron,
Of a harm striking arrow.
Bow Rainbow.
[from the Old Icelandic Rune Poem]

Guitar used; Revelation RJT-60Q [four Entwistle single coil pickups, offset Jaguar]]]> 1233517 no no Mon, 26 Dec 2016 11:37:40 +0100 2016-12-26T11:37:40+01:00 5:33 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/exploring-the-labyrinth/
There are labyrinths at all levels of existence,
From the gross dingy material dungeons subterranean,
To the highest, most stratospheric ethereal solar mansions,
From the whorls of the ear to the spirals of the soul.

They draw us in, inexorable, lusting, obsessively hunting for the centre.

The centre, that Ariadne mirage which inevitably vanishes,
As the exhausted seeker, tries to seize his goal.

----------------------------

Bill Boethius; guitars [synth sounds are guitars through an old secondhand Boss GT-6] and bass.]]>
There are labyrinths at all levels of existence,
From the gross dingy material dungeons subterranean,
To the highest, most stratospheric ethereal solar mansions,
From the whorls of the ear to the spirals of the soul.

They draw us in, inexorable, lusting, obsessively hunting for the centre.

The centre, that Ariadne mirage which inevitably vanishes,
As the exhausted seeker, tries to seize his goal.

----------------------------

Bill Boethius; guitars [synth sounds are guitars through an old secondhand Boss GT-6] and bass.]]> 1233515 no no Sat, 31 Dec 2016 11:43:24 +0100 2016-12-31T11:43:24+01:00 8:23 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-carnival-of-fire-ice/
From the free play and conflict of these two opposites,
Worlds were born,
From these joyous extremes,
Was existence generated.
------------------


Another back to the basics with primarily two guitars, a red Les Paul [Fire] and a white Strat [Ice] - see cover pick.

You can get blisters from both fire and ice, right? [kaun]]]>
From the free play and conflict of these two opposites,
Worlds were born,
From these joyous extremes,
Was existence generated.
------------------


Another back to the basics with primarily two guitars, a red Les Paul [Fire] and a white Strat [Ice] - see cover pick.

You can get blisters from both fire and ice, right? [kaun]]]> 1233514 no no Sun, 08 Jan 2017 04:22:53 +0100 2017-01-08T04:22:53+01:00 6:40 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/cosmic-juice/
Everything living runs on juice,
And supple star sweat, such as
Jupiter’s dripping rings, and
The liquid sliver of Mercury’s silver,
And the red wine of Mars.

Only death is dryasdust,
While life is moist astart,
& damp, with bleeding heart.

----------------------------

Bill Boethius: guitars, theremin, synths, drum machine]]>
Everything living runs on juice,
And supple star sweat, such as
Jupiter’s dripping rings, and
The liquid sliver of Mercury’s silver,
And the red wine of Mars.

Only death is dryasdust,
While life is moist astart,
& damp, with bleeding heart.

----------------------------

Bill Boethius: guitars, theremin, synths, drum machine]]> 1233513 no no Sat, 14 Jan 2017 22:53:39 +0100 2017-01-14T22:53:39+01:00 10:02 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/sleeping-niobe/
Living at different times, in different dimensions,
It wasn’t possible – even for a space traveller – to make contact with Niobe.

And yet her ebon form pressed heavily against my pale thoughts.

So much so, that – taking a leaf from the master of the mystic arts,
I did insinuate myself into her heady dreams.

......................................
Bill Boethius, guitars, theremin, fx, bass and drums.]]>
Living at different times, in different dimensions,
It wasn’t possible – even for a space traveller – to make contact with Niobe.

And yet her ebon form pressed heavily against my pale thoughts.

So much so, that – taking a leaf from the master of the mystic arts,
I did insinuate myself into her heady dreams.

......................................
Bill Boethius, guitars, theremin, fx, bass and drums.]]> 1233512 no no Sun, 22 Jan 2017 16:26:01 +0100 2017-01-22T16:26:01+01:00 10:05 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ockams-switchblade/
Your switchblade knife is your axe, your wand, your mojo.

Ockam’s switchblade is a particular use of your machine.

It’s when you use it like Ockham’s Razor, and so to slice through the Gordian knot of existence.

Blast a hole through the wall and grab it all by the ghoulies.

This track is just that – a blasting jam of loud guitars.

Guitars are blown apart in the process.

Sometimes destruction is just ....
Necessary
And cleansing.

........................

Bill Boethius; slide guitar and synth.]]>
Your switchblade knife is your axe, your wand, your mojo.

Ockam’s switchblade is a particular use of your machine.

It’s when you use it like Ockham’s Razor, and so to slice through the Gordian knot of existence.

Blast a hole through the wall and grab it all by the ghoulies.

This track is just that – a blasting jam of loud guitars.

Guitars are blown apart in the process.

Sometimes destruction is just ....
Necessary
And cleansing.

........................

Bill Boethius; slide guitar and synth.]]> 1233511 no no Sat, 28 Jan 2017 22:02:52 +0100 2017-01-28T22:02:52+01:00 6:54 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/blues-after-the-revolution/
Blues is not a music *of* the revolution, but rather a music that comes *after* the revolution.

It expresses that post revolutionary feeling; that, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’.

The bluesman is therefore philosophically a Stoic, a resigned fatalist, but one who embraces life in all its contradictions.

Revolutions come, and revolutions go,
But the Blues, they live on for ever.

Even so, every blues bears the imprint of the revolution which preceeded it.

This blues track here is rare – it is a window into a future revolution.

------------------------------

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass and synth.]]>
Blues is not a music *of* the revolution, but rather a music that comes *after* the revolution.

It expresses that post revolutionary feeling; that, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’.

The bluesman is therefore philosophically a Stoic, a resigned fatalist, but one who embraces life in all its contradictions.

Revolutions come, and revolutions go,
But the Blues, they live on for ever.

Even so, every blues bears the imprint of the revolution which preceeded it.

This blues track here is rare – it is a window into a future revolution.

------------------------------

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass and synth.]]> 1233510 no no Sun, 05 Feb 2017 00:36:42 +0100 2017-02-05T00:36:42+01:00 10:06 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/a-genealogy-of-metals/
There are gods of metals.

From metalloids to supermetals,

Ferrous compounds, & pure Germanium.

Metals are seen by many,
As a gift from the gods.

Here I have distilled a few metals,
Smith-like, anvil hammered,
Heat blasted and fired cooled,
And all full of worship.

---------------------------------
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth]]>
There are gods of metals.

From metalloids to supermetals,

Ferrous compounds, & pure Germanium.

Metals are seen by many,
As a gift from the gods.

Here I have distilled a few metals,
Smith-like, anvil hammered,
Heat blasted and fired cooled,
And all full of worship.

---------------------------------
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth]]> 1233509 no no Sun, 12 Feb 2017 11:18:18 +0100 2017-02-12T11:18:18+01:00 10:06 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/viral-reality/
The reality virus had escaped, and spread like wild lice.
Petrifying forests, Paralysing parasites, concreting towns
And solidifying cities.

We were trapped under the mousetrap gaze of its TV Eye.

Our brains squirmed and swarmed, uncoiled.

The final migration of the imagination was here,
And fantasy was about to breathe its last gasp,
Amongst our dying and diseased dreams.
..........................
[Poem by Bill Boethius - that feeling we have when coming out of a dream...]

Bill Boethius: guitars, bass, synth]]>
The reality virus had escaped, and spread like wild lice.
Petrifying forests, Paralysing parasites, concreting towns
And solidifying cities.

We were trapped under the mousetrap gaze of its TV Eye.

Our brains squirmed and swarmed, uncoiled.

The final migration of the imagination was here,
And fantasy was about to breathe its last gasp,
Amongst our dying and diseased dreams.
..........................
[Poem by Bill Boethius - that feeling we have when coming out of a dream...]

Bill Boethius: guitars, bass, synth]]> 1233507 no no Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:37:22 +0100 2017-02-19T15:37:22+01:00 10:46 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/wake-of-the-grail-king/
Gathering, in leafy play
Did the swirling hero, with
Garlanded, gauntlets,
In rainbow sway,
Unleash feedback throes.

Blazing sunflowers,
Bluesy ,
knotted woes,
Wailing,
In the hall of mirrors.

[for Larry Coryell]

-----------------------------

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, theremin, synth.]]>
Gathering, in leafy play
Did the swirling hero, with
Garlanded, gauntlets,
In rainbow sway,
Unleash feedback throes.

Blazing sunflowers,
Bluesy ,
knotted woes,
Wailing,
In the hall of mirrors.

[for Larry Coryell]

-----------------------------

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, theremin, synth.]]> 1236730 no no Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:28:21 +0100 2017-03-05T00:28:21+01:00 10:41 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/playing-hide-seek-with-the-stars/
He lay awake at night counting the stars,
And before he reached one thousand
Did drift into deep dream laden slumber.

Then did the stars chase his fugitive life:

‘You cannot count us, don’t even try’.

-----------------------------
Bill Boethius; guitars, and synths]]>
He lay awake at night counting the stars,
And before he reached one thousand
Did drift into deep dream laden slumber.

Then did the stars chase his fugitive life:

‘You cannot count us, don’t even try’.

-----------------------------
Bill Boethius; guitars, and synths]]> 1253005 no no Fri, 17 Mar 2017 12:34:35 +0100 2017-03-17T12:34:35+01:00 10:19 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-earth-had-two-moons-with-augenmerk-on-vocals/ https://soundcloud.com/augenmerk/sets/the-earth-had-two-moons-thank

I had intended to do something when I first heard Augenmerk’s lyric, but shelved it, not happy with my efforts.
But the concept of the two moons haunted me bemeantimes.
It had that combination of science fact and science fiction, all rolled into mythology. One thinks of the twin gods of the ancients, dual moon gods and goddesses. And the sexual implications too involved in all creation stories – and destruction stories.

As always, Augenmerk’s voice was the catalyst. And it wasn’t until I started noodling around on a jazz guitar behind her voice that I felt I had something [and all the guitars used on this are semi-acoustics – even the screaming ones].
I even spoke the English version of her poem [slightly altered] and put it on the track – but I eventually erased it. It sounded better with it off and only the Teutonic tones of Augenmerk on there.
And are we Englsh and Germans not twin 'sisters' too? Like jazz and blues?
Twin moons of Europa's Erde!

Augenmerk; vocals
Bill Boethius: guitars, bass and volca beats.
Lyrics by Augenmerk
Sounds, arrangement and production by Bill Boethius.

The Earth Had Two Moons, by Augenmerk

The earth had two moons,
which an immense crash united.
Boundlessly
memory
dreams.
Solar flood,
asteroid spheres ....
I am the twin sister, the rear guard
I open dreams, balance the sleep
But if I come!
And how I come! Closer to you, wake up!

The time has come, sister of the middle!
After millions of years in the orbit
I'm breaking out
towards the blue planet
Being together!
Drink, father, fire, sea
Your stone, your light!
Which strength deters us?
Sister, let's become one, skin on skin.
We will burst, tear, melt
Giant rock, stone massacre
Inundation -
Water wars, where mountains break
And become one, beloved sister!
I am approaching, my way on yours, moonlitpath.
Great are you, bind me the most!
Born of same blood, grown from the same stone
Finally united.
CRASH.
Ok, that would be the moon.

Die Erde hatte zwei Monde,
die ein gewaltiger Crash vereinte
Uferlos träumt Erinnerung
Sonnenflut, Asteroidenräume
Ich bin die Zwillingsschwester, die Nachhut
Öffne Träume, balanciere den Schlaf
Doch wenn ich komme!
Und wie ich komme! Dir näher, wach auf!
Die Zeit ist gekommen, Schwester der Mitte!
Jahrmillionen lang in der Bahn
Ausbrechen
Dem blauen Planeten entgegen
Beieinander sein.
Den Vater getrunken, Feuermeer
Dein Stein, dein Licht!
Welche Kraft hält uns ab?
Schwester, werden wir eins, kracht Haut an Haut.
Wir werden bersten, zerreißen, verschmelzen
Riesenurgestein, Steinmassaker
Wir werden nässen –
Wasserschlachten, an denen Berge brechen
Und werden eins, geliebte Schwester!
Ich nähere mich, meine Bahn an deiner, Mondlichtbahn
Große du, die mich am meisten bindet!
Aus gleichem Blut geboren, aus gleichem Stein gewachsen
Endlich vereint. CRASH.
Ok, das wäre der Mond.]]> https://soundcloud.com/augenmerk/sets/the-earth-had-two-moons-thank

I had intended to do something when I first heard Augenmerk’s lyric, but shelved it, not happy with my efforts.
But the concept of the two moons haunted me bemeantimes.
It had that combination of science fact and science fiction, all rolled into mythology. One thinks of the twin gods of the ancients, dual moon gods and goddesses. And the sexual implications too involved in all creation stories – and destruction stories.

As always, Augenmerk’s voice was the catalyst. And it wasn’t until I started noodling around on a jazz guitar behind her voice that I felt I had something [and all the guitars used on this are semi-acoustics – even the screaming ones].
I even spoke the English version of her poem [slightly altered] and put it on the track – but I eventually erased it. It sounded better with it off and only the Teutonic tones of Augenmerk on there.
And are we Englsh and Germans not twin 'sisters' too? Like jazz and blues?
Twin moons of Europa's Erde!

Augenmerk; vocals
Bill Boethius: guitars, bass and volca beats.
Lyrics by Augenmerk
Sounds, arrangement and production by Bill Boethius.

The Earth Had Two Moons, by Augenmerk

The earth had two moons,
which an immense crash united.
Boundlessly
memory
dreams.
Solar flood,
asteroid spheres ....
I am the twin sister, the rear guard
I open dreams, balance the sleep
But if I come!
And how I come! Closer to you, wake up!

The time has come, sister of the middle!
After millions of years in the orbit
I'm breaking out
towards the blue planet
Being together!
Drink, father, fire, sea
Your stone, your light!
Which strength deters us?
Sister, let's become one, skin on skin.
We will burst, tear, melt
Giant rock, stone massacre
Inundation -
Water wars, where mountains break
And become one, beloved sister!
I am approaching, my way on yours, moonlitpath.
Great are you, bind me the most!
Born of same blood, grown from the same stone
Finally united.
CRASH.
Ok, that would be the moon.

Die Erde hatte zwei Monde,
die ein gewaltiger Crash vereinte
Uferlos träumt Erinnerung
Sonnenflut, Asteroidenräume
Ich bin die Zwillingsschwester, die Nachhut
Öffne Träume, balanciere den Schlaf
Doch wenn ich komme!
Und wie ich komme! Dir näher, wach auf!
Die Zeit ist gekommen, Schwester der Mitte!
Jahrmillionen lang in der Bahn
Ausbrechen
Dem blauen Planeten entgegen
Beieinander sein.
Den Vater getrunken, Feuermeer
Dein Stein, dein Licht!
Welche Kraft hält uns ab?
Schwester, werden wir eins, kracht Haut an Haut.
Wir werden bersten, zerreißen, verschmelzen
Riesenurgestein, Steinmassaker
Wir werden nässen –
Wasserschlachten, an denen Berge brechen
Und werden eins, geliebte Schwester!
Ich nähere mich, meine Bahn an deiner, Mondlichtbahn
Große du, die mich am meisten bindet!
Aus gleichem Blut geboren, aus gleichem Stein gewachsen
Endlich vereint. CRASH.
Ok, das wäre der Mond.]]> 1263107 no no Fri, 24 Mar 2017 23:12:40 +0100 2017-03-24T23:12:40+01:00 10:37 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/whistling-down-the-whales-road/
... a land lubber’s lament.

I’ve had me fill a’ sailing the cosmic wave.
Let me drag me feet here on earth awhile,
And pick me a whale bone grave,

Thought I’d do some live guitar looping as a departure from the layered stuff. Time to chill. Guitar used was a recently acquired Ibanez AF75 seen in track pic.

Bill Boethius; Live solo guitar with some added atmos.]]>
... a land lubber’s lament.

I’ve had me fill a’ sailing the cosmic wave.
Let me drag me feet here on earth awhile,
And pick me a whale bone grave,

Thought I’d do some live guitar looping as a departure from the layered stuff. Time to chill. Guitar used was a recently acquired Ibanez AF75 seen in track pic.

Bill Boethius; Live solo guitar with some added atmos.]]> 1270595 no no Thu, 30 Mar 2017 08:56:10 +0200 2017-03-30T08:56:10+02:00 9:14 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/new-ears-for-new-music/
The experience of seven solitudes.
New ears for new music,
New eyes for what is most distant.

A new conscience for truth that had hitherto remained unheard.
The will to economise in the grand manner, and hold together its strength, its enthusiasm.

Reverence of self,
Love of self,
Absolute freedom of self.

The rest are merely humanity.
One must make oneself superior to humanity;
In power,
In loftiness of soul,
In contempt.

[FW Nietzsche, from the Preface to the Antichrist – translated by Mencken, read by Cohen, in public domain]
https://archive.org/details/antichrist_librivox_

Nietzsche’s words on music have always inspired me, particularly the words here. We need the hard words of Nietzsche today more than ever.

I did set the whole of the Preface to sounds, but cut it down to the few words above as I felt that to do justice to the whole preface the sounds would have to run to hours.

Bill Boethius; guitars, theremin, bass, synth.]]>
The experience of seven solitudes.
New ears for new music,
New eyes for what is most distant.

A new conscience for truth that had hitherto remained unheard.
The will to economise in the grand manner, and hold together its strength, its enthusiasm.

Reverence of self,
Love of self,
Absolute freedom of self.

The rest are merely humanity.
One must make oneself superior to humanity;
In power,
In loftiness of soul,
In contempt.

[FW Nietzsche, from the Preface to the Antichrist – translated by Mencken, read by Cohen, in public domain]
https://archive.org/details/antichrist_librivox_

Nietzsche’s words on music have always inspired me, particularly the words here. We need the hard words of Nietzsche today more than ever.

I did set the whole of the Preface to sounds, but cut it down to the few words above as I felt that to do justice to the whole preface the sounds would have to run to hours.

Bill Boethius; guitars, theremin, bass, synth.]]> 1280955 no no Fri, 07 Apr 2017 18:18:04 +0200 2017-04-07T18:18:04+02:00 10:20 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-first-book-of-the-law-read-by-robert-furtkamp-sounds-by-bill-boethius/
Robert Furtkamp gave an incredible reading of the first chapter of Crowley’s Book of the Law.
https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/first-day-of-the-writing-of-the-book-of-the-law-2017-ev

I immediately put some spontaneous guitar sounds behind it which I offer here.

Robert Furtkamp, spoken word
Bill Boethius, guitar

Full text:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm]]>
Robert Furtkamp gave an incredible reading of the first chapter of Crowley’s Book of the Law.
https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/first-day-of-the-writing-of-the-book-of-the-law-2017-ev

I immediately put some spontaneous guitar sounds behind it which I offer here.

Robert Furtkamp, spoken word
Bill Boethius, guitar

Full text:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm]]> 1284998 no no Tue, 11 Apr 2017 17:56:24 +0200 2017-04-11T17:56:24+02:00 15:01 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-book-of-the-law-chapter-2-read-by-robert-furtkamp-sounds-by-bill-boethius/
I put some heavy guitar sounds to it.

Full Text:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm
]]>
I put some heavy guitar sounds to it.

Full Text:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm
]]> 1285981 no no Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:31:34 +0200 2017-04-12T14:31:34+02:00 17:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-book-of-the-law-chapter-3-read-by-robert-furtkamp-sounds-by-bill-boethius/ https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/third-day-of-the-writing-of-the-book-of-the-law-2017-ev
That reading made me realise how important Crowley's book *is*.
We are now at the point of its understanding.
And that is terrifying ... to some.

On this track I used guitars and theremin. There are a few glitches but I have put it out warts and all as the spirit is there.

The theremin is a thelemic instrument, too!

BOOKS ONE AND TWO:

https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/the-book-of-the-law-read-by-robert-furtkamp-music-by-bill-boethius

https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/the-book-of-the-law-chapter-2-read-by-robert-furtkamp-sounds-by-bill-boethius

FULL TEXT
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm]]> https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/third-day-of-the-writing-of-the-book-of-the-law-2017-ev
That reading made me realise how important Crowley's book *is*.
We are now at the point of its understanding.
And that is terrifying ... to some.

On this track I used guitars and theremin. There are a few glitches but I have put it out warts and all as the spirit is there.

The theremin is a thelemic instrument, too!

BOOKS ONE AND TWO:

https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/the-book-of-the-law-read-by-robert-furtkamp-music-by-bill-boethius

https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/the-book-of-the-law-chapter-2-read-by-robert-furtkamp-sounds-by-bill-boethius

FULL TEXT
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm]]> 1297871 no no Fri, 21 Apr 2017 18:18:56 +0200 2017-04-21T18:18:56+02:00 17:38 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/phenomenesia-bill-boethius-with-wou-wou-the-wormling/
As the cosmos uncoupled its consciousness,
And Phenomena fizzled into forgetfulness,
So stars suffered amnesia,
Lurching slowly from their orbits,
And fading into deadly eviscerata.

Cosmic soup, returning, without limits,
Without limits ...

------------------------------
This piece began as a collaboration with Wou Wou and the Wormling, using the loop samples of their Open Collab Loop Pack 01

https://soundcloud.com/wouwouopencollab/sets/wou-wou-open-collab-loop-pack-01
It kind of grew and grew with me putting a whole array of guitars, basses and synths on there until those original loops got rather buried – but they remain as part of the piece’s gestation.]]>
As the cosmos uncoupled its consciousness,
And Phenomena fizzled into forgetfulness,
So stars suffered amnesia,
Lurching slowly from their orbits,
And fading into deadly eviscerata.

Cosmic soup, returning, without limits,
Without limits ...

------------------------------
This piece began as a collaboration with Wou Wou and the Wormling, using the loop samples of their Open Collab Loop Pack 01

https://soundcloud.com/wouwouopencollab/sets/wou-wou-open-collab-loop-pack-01
It kind of grew and grew with me putting a whole array of guitars, basses and synths on there until those original loops got rather buried – but they remain as part of the piece’s gestation.]]> 1297877 no no Fri, 21 Apr 2017 18:25:25 +0200 2017-04-21T18:25:25+02:00 11:53 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/dark-satanic-mills/
With it being St George’s day last weekend, Blake’s Jerusalem was often on my mind.
Outwardly a patriotic lyric, it deconstructs itself with the powerful line, ‘dark satanic mills’.

It is the ambivalence that I too feel towards homelands and resting places, which are all too earthly.

We are ‘born to go’, rather than to stay put, and our ultimate homeland is in outer space.

Some lines from Blake’s poem can be heard through this.

---------------------

Bill Boethius, guitars, basses, synths.]]>
With it being St George’s day last weekend, Blake’s Jerusalem was often on my mind.
Outwardly a patriotic lyric, it deconstructs itself with the powerful line, ‘dark satanic mills’.

It is the ambivalence that I too feel towards homelands and resting places, which are all too earthly.

We are ‘born to go’, rather than to stay put, and our ultimate homeland is in outer space.

Some lines from Blake’s poem can be heard through this.

---------------------

Bill Boethius, guitars, basses, synths.]]> 1309392 no no Mon, 01 May 2017 16:35:00 +0200 2017-05-01T16:35:00+02:00 9:28 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-tangled-moon/
I chanced upon this poem called 'Black Nights', written and spoken by Shirley Kobar, here:
http://www.poetscoop.org/archalphatitle.htm

It evoked the kind of sounds I like to make, with its ambivalent imagery.
It speaks to me of the eternal feminine, and the pathos of distance, all via the language of Space.
Of how the need to repel includes the need to attract; and how the need to hide is allied to the need to expose .... One-Self ...

Black Nights.

The sky is quilted, with double crochets,
Peace magenta horizon,
Fisted stars torch,
Blinded milky way,
As it rollercosters
Around a tangled moon.

Where does she stay,
On black nights?
Tucked under, no doubt,
Warming toes, and solar flares.
Surfing puddles in a riddle,
Gleaming on windows.

Or hidden in a lagoon,
Drawing waves like a blanket,
Far from Peeping Toms
And binoculars.

Where would you be?

[Black Nights, by Shirley Kobar]

Bill Boethius: guitars, bass, synths

Shirley Kobar, vocals and words,
Bill Boethius, sounds and production]]>
I chanced upon this poem called 'Black Nights', written and spoken by Shirley Kobar, here:
http://www.poetscoop.org/archalphatitle.htm

It evoked the kind of sounds I like to make, with its ambivalent imagery.
It speaks to me of the eternal feminine, and the pathos of distance, all via the language of Space.
Of how the need to repel includes the need to attract; and how the need to hide is allied to the need to expose .... One-Self ...

Black Nights.

The sky is quilted, with double crochets,
Peace magenta horizon,
Fisted stars torch,
Blinded milky way,
As it rollercosters
Around a tangled moon.

Where does she stay,
On black nights?
Tucked under, no doubt,
Warming toes, and solar flares.
Surfing puddles in a riddle,
Gleaming on windows.

Or hidden in a lagoon,
Drawing waves like a blanket,
Far from Peeping Toms
And binoculars.

Where would you be?

[Black Nights, by Shirley Kobar]

Bill Boethius: guitars, bass, synths

Shirley Kobar, vocals and words,
Bill Boethius, sounds and production]]> 1314320 no no Sat, 06 May 2017 09:54:12 +0200 2017-05-06T09:54:12+02:00 8:55 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/death-comes-a-thousand-crows-screaming/
http://www.poetscoop.org/archalphatitle.htm

I got this poem from the above source.

A fascinating work as it expresses in imagistic language an almost ritualistic experience of death followed by life – a life that is only found beyond death.
I implicitly looped the poem, as I feel this life after death cycle recurs eternally.

The path grows narrow.
I sit stunned, still,
At ring’s edge.
Death comes.
A thousand crows,
Screaming.

Black flapping wings,
Yellow eyes poking about.
Cheeks fade to light .

Eyes partially opened,
Look away.
Silence is suffocating.

I close my eyes in despair.

Suddenly, as promised,
I’m standing by a crystal river,
That flows from the plateau,
To the jungle below.

Each ripple and wave tipped with silver,
Every stone touched, a precious gem,
Emerald or amethyst.

A hundred robins singing,
In the lush green foliage.
The path widens to gold.
The light is everywhere.

My eyes open in wonder.

[Abstract Painting, by Gordon Holladay]

Gordon Holladay, words and vocals
Bill Boethius, guitar, bass, synth]]>
http://www.poetscoop.org/archalphatitle.htm

I got this poem from the above source.

A fascinating work as it expresses in imagistic language an almost ritualistic experience of death followed by life – a life that is only found beyond death.
I implicitly looped the poem, as I feel this life after death cycle recurs eternally.

The path grows narrow.
I sit stunned, still,
At ring’s edge.
Death comes.
A thousand crows,
Screaming.

Black flapping wings,
Yellow eyes poking about.
Cheeks fade to light .

Eyes partially opened,
Look away.
Silence is suffocating.

I close my eyes in despair.

Suddenly, as promised,
I’m standing by a crystal river,
That flows from the plateau,
To the jungle below.

Each ripple and wave tipped with silver,
Every stone touched, a precious gem,
Emerald or amethyst.

A hundred robins singing,
In the lush green foliage.
The path widens to gold.
The light is everywhere.

My eyes open in wonder.

[Abstract Painting, by Gordon Holladay]

Gordon Holladay, words and vocals
Bill Boethius, guitar, bass, synth]]> 1321145 no no Sat, 13 May 2017 04:53:59 +0200 2017-05-13T04:53:59+02:00 9:00 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/avian-sands/
A place by mortal feet untouched,
No featherless bipeds here.

The avian creatures rule.
From eagle to wagtail,
From hawk to sparrow.
From crescendo to whisper,

In sky-popping freedom.
[Bill Boethius]
---------------------
As a change from the usual density tracks I make, I offer this chamber-like piece. It is essentially a bluesy free improvisation between bass and lap steel.
This combination is used to great effect by the duo Insect Ark, and listening to their album [Portal/Well] inspired me to explore this combination, although this track is nothing like their stuff [if only].

This track was created with two bass guitars [Epiphone TBird and Yamaha 5 string] and a lap steel {Revelation with Alan Entwistle pick up]. No regular guitars were used. Drum track was made with a drum machine [Alesis].

------------------------

Bill Boethius, basses, lap steel, drum machine.]]>
A place by mortal feet untouched,
No featherless bipeds here.

The avian creatures rule.
From eagle to wagtail,
From hawk to sparrow.
From crescendo to whisper,

In sky-popping freedom.
[Bill Boethius]
---------------------
As a change from the usual density tracks I make, I offer this chamber-like piece. It is essentially a bluesy free improvisation between bass and lap steel.
This combination is used to great effect by the duo Insect Ark, and listening to their album [Portal/Well] inspired me to explore this combination, although this track is nothing like their stuff [if only].

This track was created with two bass guitars [Epiphone TBird and Yamaha 5 string] and a lap steel {Revelation with Alan Entwistle pick up]. No regular guitars were used. Drum track was made with a drum machine [Alesis].

------------------------

Bill Boethius, basses, lap steel, drum machine.]]> 1329080 no no Sat, 20 May 2017 15:53:41 +0200 2017-05-20T15:53:41+02:00 10:09 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/carved-hail/
Eroded stone,
Split and striated,
By the agency of Time.

All of a sudden ...
Thunder and lightning,
Storm and hail ...

Crash!

Nature carves her runes,
Onto the tattooed land.
------------------------------

Bill Boethius, guitar, guitar synth, bass & drums]]>
Eroded stone,
Split and striated,
By the agency of Time.

All of a sudden ...
Thunder and lightning,
Storm and hail ...

Crash!

Nature carves her runes,
Onto the tattooed land.
------------------------------

Bill Boethius, guitar, guitar synth, bass & drums]]> 1356065 no no Tue, 13 Jun 2017 08:24:40 +0200 2017-06-13T08:24:40+02:00 10:49 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/seeds/
http://www.poetscoop.org/archalphatitle.htm

Sounds often work like seeds, and so I found Kathryn Bass’s poem a natural subject for a sound setting.

Also, I found her spoken reading quite mellifluous and musical in it’s own right.

There's also a pagan thrust to her words: "you must have faith ... and luck".

The Song of the Seeds

A Song for Seeds

Now is the time
of sharp bird bones,
of the rustling ghosts
of last year’s leaves.

Now is a time silvered
slick—only a trick
of moonlight and frost.

Now, pink sky
and berries stain
the snowscape.

Know that blood rushes
beneath this cold. Each
seed follows
its trail of breadcrumbs

through hard
light to darkness
to something
unimagined: the self
cracked open. One day,

you will remember
this time as sleep.
One day, you will
live, not as tooth, but
as velvet, green
and growing.

One day, you will feel
quite ready to shrug
out of yourself. Believe,
then, in the warm
light you seek.

You must have
faith. You must have faith
and luck.

(Kathryn Bass, from Within/Without, 2005)

-------------------------

Kathryn Bass, words and vocal,
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drums, production.]]>
http://www.poetscoop.org/archalphatitle.htm

Sounds often work like seeds, and so I found Kathryn Bass’s poem a natural subject for a sound setting.

Also, I found her spoken reading quite mellifluous and musical in it’s own right.

There's also a pagan thrust to her words: "you must have faith ... and luck".

The Song of the Seeds

A Song for Seeds

Now is the time
of sharp bird bones,
of the rustling ghosts
of last year’s leaves.

Now is a time silvered
slick—only a trick
of moonlight and frost.

Now, pink sky
and berries stain
the snowscape.

Know that blood rushes
beneath this cold. Each
seed follows
its trail of breadcrumbs

through hard
light to darkness
to something
unimagined: the self
cracked open. One day,

you will remember
this time as sleep.
One day, you will
live, not as tooth, but
as velvet, green
and growing.

One day, you will feel
quite ready to shrug
out of yourself. Believe,
then, in the warm
light you seek.

You must have
faith. You must have faith
and luck.

(Kathryn Bass, from Within/Without, 2005)

-------------------------

Kathryn Bass, words and vocal,
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drums, production.]]> 1358888 no no Fri, 16 Jun 2017 00:16:23 +0200 2017-06-16T00:16:23+02:00 10:04 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/these-days-im-swamp-with-augenmerk-vocal/ https://soundcloud.com/augenmerk/these-days_d

I noticed how many who had already taken up the challenge to collaborate this time often took a minimalist position, accompanying or dueting with Karin, using just one or a few instruments, always letting the words and voice sound with their full weight.

Likewise I used a single guitar to accompany, and at times counterpart - or countermand, the words; my whole intention being to make the poem - and Karin's voice - central.

The poem reminds me of the Nietzschean warning to those who want to be ‘at one’ with Nature.
A Nature that is cruel, inhuman, fickle, inequitable and terrifying ...
... so you want to be ‘at one’ with that?

1
These days I am swamp, I’m mountain and dale.
I’m deep, I’m steep, I’m dumb and deaf,
my word gets lost on me.
Landslide is, the year of power passed.
Screens of fog run through me
till blind and dark I touch the ground,
still resisting.
2
How may my shield break away
without pervading sun,
without meadows floating me green
and water that allays?
Who climbs free, once my vision has gone
and my strength has turned?
Where to tears me the war?
3
Scarce years at the bottom of breath -
I’m clouds, I’m abyss and sea.
Demons and angels rise
My light fades and glints
Years run through me
Caught in a circle I surround me
The world’s beauty mere sensing
Busy life far away.
4
Has the wall penetrated me,
leaning me bare against the cleft?
I’m falling not knowing the end.
But in the thick of it you cannot get out.
At times the world reaches hands to me,
at times a river flows through,
sometimes voices.
My inner eyes still weighty with tears.
5
You filled me full, life, glass from which I drink,
Now I’m the mountain that I ascend.
I’m the canyon into which I jump.
My own dance has changed and emptied me.
Silence yet.
6
Are you quiet, world?
Another door is opening, another view.
Accordance now
between soles and the ground,
Confine myself to one step, in which I’m whole.
And within me one wakes up,
whose dance is not exhausted yet,
but innocent and loud.
7
Here, this bird is mine and his tone am I.
I extend these wings, I paint him colourful.
I throw him the flight.
I raise him out of flames, out of calm waiting.

8
Behind the dark horizon there is the sun.
The sun-hour clears and the nightbark lands.
The silent sea sets me free
into a new measure of time.
My step has got other tracks.

Augenmerk, vocals, words;

Bill Boethius; guitar, production.

[illustration by Bill Boethius]]]> https://soundcloud.com/augenmerk/these-days_d

I noticed how many who had already taken up the challenge to collaborate this time often took a minimalist position, accompanying or dueting with Karin, using just one or a few instruments, always letting the words and voice sound with their full weight.

Likewise I used a single guitar to accompany, and at times counterpart - or countermand, the words; my whole intention being to make the poem - and Karin's voice - central.

The poem reminds me of the Nietzschean warning to those who want to be ‘at one’ with Nature.
A Nature that is cruel, inhuman, fickle, inequitable and terrifying ...
... so you want to be ‘at one’ with that?

1
These days I am swamp, I’m mountain and dale.
I’m deep, I’m steep, I’m dumb and deaf,
my word gets lost on me.
Landslide is, the year of power passed.
Screens of fog run through me
till blind and dark I touch the ground,
still resisting.
2
How may my shield break away
without pervading sun,
without meadows floating me green
and water that allays?
Who climbs free, once my vision has gone
and my strength has turned?
Where to tears me the war?
3
Scarce years at the bottom of breath -
I’m clouds, I’m abyss and sea.
Demons and angels rise
My light fades and glints
Years run through me
Caught in a circle I surround me
The world’s beauty mere sensing
Busy life far away.
4
Has the wall penetrated me,
leaning me bare against the cleft?
I’m falling not knowing the end.
But in the thick of it you cannot get out.
At times the world reaches hands to me,
at times a river flows through,
sometimes voices.
My inner eyes still weighty with tears.
5
You filled me full, life, glass from which I drink,
Now I’m the mountain that I ascend.
I’m the canyon into which I jump.
My own dance has changed and emptied me.
Silence yet.
6
Are you quiet, world?
Another door is opening, another view.
Accordance now
between soles and the ground,
Confine myself to one step, in which I’m whole.
And within me one wakes up,
whose dance is not exhausted yet,
but innocent and loud.
7
Here, this bird is mine and his tone am I.
I extend these wings, I paint him colourful.
I throw him the flight.
I raise him out of flames, out of calm waiting.

8
Behind the dark horizon there is the sun.
The sun-hour clears and the nightbark lands.
The silent sea sets me free
into a new measure of time.
My step has got other tracks.

Augenmerk, vocals, words;

Bill Boethius; guitar, production.

[illustration by Bill Boethius]]]> 1365783 no no Wed, 21 Jun 2017 22:47:49 +0200 2017-06-21T22:47:49+02:00 10:52 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/miss-jaguar/
Jewels she wore,
rubies,
sore hilted tusk,
encrushed with
mambo suns.

Musk, masked
sweat silvered
paw, and
Toes,
Beringed in
Gold.
-------------------------
Experimenting on a Jaguar guitar with a vintage set up. Other guitars used include an Epiphone Les Paul.

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, theremin, synth]]>
Jewels she wore,
rubies,
sore hilted tusk,
encrushed with
mambo suns.

Musk, masked
sweat silvered
paw, and
Toes,
Beringed in
Gold.
-------------------------
Experimenting on a Jaguar guitar with a vintage set up. Other guitars used include an Epiphone Les Paul.

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, theremin, synth]]> 1428292 no no Sun, 16 Jul 2017 16:50:57 +0200 2017-07-16T16:50:57+02:00 12:01 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/nine-wells-of-weird/ of weird,

In darkness
dug,

Where diamond
dogs
sup.

.........

Longer piece using various guitar sounds and textures.

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, synth.
[Cover from a painting by Bill Boethius]]]> of weird,

In darkness
dug,

Where diamond
dogs
sup.

.........

Longer piece using various guitar sounds and textures.

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, synth.
[Cover from a painting by Bill Boethius]]]> 1428323 no no Sun, 16 Jul 2017 16:54:21 +0200 2017-07-16T16:54:21+02:00 14:37 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/load-stone-death/
Life has been compared to a deadly weight,
Bearing down mercilessly on the living,
Crushing them to death, with its stone-like fate.

Those slaves of breath, relentlessly driven
By those base animal urges to procreate.

Hence the need to return to our alien
Forms invisible, and pure souls of white light.

-----------------------

Bill Boethius: guitars, lap steel, Theremin, bass & synth]]>
Life has been compared to a deadly weight,
Bearing down mercilessly on the living,
Crushing them to death, with its stone-like fate.

Those slaves of breath, relentlessly driven
By those base animal urges to procreate.

Hence the need to return to our alien
Forms invisible, and pure souls of white light.

-----------------------

Bill Boethius: guitars, lap steel, Theremin, bass & synth]]> 1449674 no no Sat, 22 Jul 2017 22:25:23 +0200 2017-07-22T22:25:23+02:00 11:07 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/darkness/
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/arts/romantics/audio/mp3/byron_darkness.mp3

For the sounds, I used a variety of guitars, basses, and a drum machine. It was in the mixing and mastering that the main shadings and transformations were done, to create a kind of aural monochrome.]]>
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/arts/romantics/audio/mp3/byron_darkness.mp3

For the sounds, I used a variety of guitars, basses, and a drum machine. It was in the mixing and mastering that the main shadings and transformations were done, to create a kind of aural monochrome.]]> 1468738 no no Mon, 31 Jul 2017 14:57:10 +0200 2017-07-31T14:57:10+02:00 9:44 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/dandelions-daisies/
Another song of Lynn’s has piqued my interest.
This song, ‘Dandelions and Daisies’, despite its nursery rhyme quality, has sinister undertones.
At the very least it speaks of an obsession; – for 20 years David yearns for this woman, and finally she gives into him and becomes ‘his’.
His wish comes true ... or does it?

Original track and lyrics here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/dandelions-and-daisies

I quickly improvised a stark, one-off bluesy backdrop to accompany the vocal, with one guitar, bass and a drum machine, keeping the texture sparse, with a dialogue between the guitar and bass like that between the dandelion and daisy of the song.

Lion’s tooth, and day’s eye.

Symbolically, the dandelion represents flirtation, hope, endurance and dreams – eventually – coming true. The name is from the French, literally meaning, ‘lion’s tooth’.
The name daisy derives from the Anglo-Saxon ‘day’s eye’, and symbolises innocence.
The implication being that David’s yearning began innocently, and therefore dubiously.]]>
Another song of Lynn’s has piqued my interest.
This song, ‘Dandelions and Daisies’, despite its nursery rhyme quality, has sinister undertones.
At the very least it speaks of an obsession; – for 20 years David yearns for this woman, and finally she gives into him and becomes ‘his’.
His wish comes true ... or does it?

Original track and lyrics here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/dandelions-and-daisies

I quickly improvised a stark, one-off bluesy backdrop to accompany the vocal, with one guitar, bass and a drum machine, keeping the texture sparse, with a dialogue between the guitar and bass like that between the dandelion and daisy of the song.

Lion’s tooth, and day’s eye.

Symbolically, the dandelion represents flirtation, hope, endurance and dreams – eventually – coming true. The name is from the French, literally meaning, ‘lion’s tooth’.
The name daisy derives from the Anglo-Saxon ‘day’s eye’, and symbolises innocence.
The implication being that David’s yearning began innocently, and therefore dubiously.]]> 1476763 no no Sat, 05 Aug 2017 01:31:03 +0200 2017-08-05T01:31:03+02:00 9:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/doom-tube/
Rights of Way

Star Gates and Jump Gates

Boom Tubes and Doom Tubes

It was a bumpy ride through Space.

There is always pain in passing through ...

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass & drum machine]]>
Rights of Way

Star Gates and Jump Gates

Boom Tubes and Doom Tubes

It was a bumpy ride through Space.

There is always pain in passing through ...

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass & drum machine]]> 1496049 no no Sat, 12 Aug 2017 02:24:35 +0200 2017-08-12T02:24:35+02:00 10:40 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/flying-wand/
At Wight did you flux the wanded arrow black.
And waves of torrented tormented tides flowed
From wings garlanded with medalled generals.

This wand is now three and jousts with jaguar spears,
If I may be so bold.

.........

Thinking of when Jimi took up his Flying V at the Isle of Wight. This track essentially pits the Jaguar guitar against three Flying Vs! There is little doubt to me that the flying V guitar, of whatever name, is a wand, and so channels spirit upward.

Bill Boethius: guitars, bass and drum machine]]>
At Wight did you flux the wanded arrow black.
And waves of torrented tormented tides flowed
From wings garlanded with medalled generals.

This wand is now three and jousts with jaguar spears,
If I may be so bold.

.........

Thinking of when Jimi took up his Flying V at the Isle of Wight. This track essentially pits the Jaguar guitar against three Flying Vs! There is little doubt to me that the flying V guitar, of whatever name, is a wand, and so channels spirit upward.

Bill Boethius: guitars, bass and drum machine]]> 1507657 no no Sat, 19 Aug 2017 03:57:59 +0200 2017-08-19T03:57:59+02:00 10:54 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/bukowskis-blues/ As a contrast to my cosmic stuff, here’s some weird blues.
I always wanted to hear Bukowski talking his stuff over some wayward blues, so I took the following:
https://soundcloud.com/brainpicker/charles-bukowski-reads-friendly-advice-to-a-lot-of-young-men
and put it over some rough edged blues. It sounds like a drunk blues band, but then that is only right when it comes to Bukowski.
Guitar used was the Vintage Flying V, and the bass was a Yamaha 5 string.

Credits:
Charles Bukowski reading his own poem, ‘Friendly Advice to a Lot of Young Men’.
Bill Boethius, all instruments, arrangement and production

www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013…-of-young-men/

FRIENDLY ADVICE TO A LOT OF YOUNG MEN

Go to Tibet
Ride a camel.
Read the bible.
Dye your shoes blue.
Grow a beard.
Circle the world in a paper canoe.
Subscribe to The Saturday Evening Post.
Chew on the left side of your mouth only.
Marry a woman with one leg and shave with a straight razor.
And carve your name in her arm.

Brush your teeth with gasoline.
Sleep all day and climb trees at night.
Be a monk and drink buckshot and beer.
Hold your head under water and play the violin.
Do a belly dance before pink candles.
Kill your dog.
Run for mayor.
Live in a barrel.
Break your head with a hatchet.
Plant tulips in the rain.

But don’t write poetry.]]> As a contrast to my cosmic stuff, here’s some weird blues.
I always wanted to hear Bukowski talking his stuff over some wayward blues, so I took the following:
https://soundcloud.com/brainpicker/charles-bukowski-reads-friendly-advice-to-a-lot-of-young-men
and put it over some rough edged blues. It sounds like a drunk blues band, but then that is only right when it comes to Bukowski.
Guitar used was the Vintage Flying V, and the bass was a Yamaha 5 string.

Credits:
Charles Bukowski reading his own poem, ‘Friendly Advice to a Lot of Young Men’.
Bill Boethius, all instruments, arrangement and production

www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013…-of-young-men/

FRIENDLY ADVICE TO A LOT OF YOUNG MEN

Go to Tibet
Ride a camel.
Read the bible.
Dye your shoes blue.
Grow a beard.
Circle the world in a paper canoe.
Subscribe to The Saturday Evening Post.
Chew on the left side of your mouth only.
Marry a woman with one leg and shave with a straight razor.
And carve your name in her arm.

Brush your teeth with gasoline.
Sleep all day and climb trees at night.
Be a monk and drink buckshot and beer.
Hold your head under water and play the violin.
Do a belly dance before pink candles.
Kill your dog.
Run for mayor.
Live in a barrel.
Break your head with a hatchet.
Plant tulips in the rain.

But don’t write poetry.]]> 1521779 no no Sat, 26 Aug 2017 18:32:57 +0200 2017-08-26T18:32:57+02:00 8:28 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/raggedy-raga-blues-collab-bill-boethius-al-wood/ Yesterday, on his 'Blues Thursday', the great bluesman Al Wood put forward an open collaboration where he plays acoustic guitar:
https://soundcloud.com/a-wood/lets-all-bring-the-house-down

Al is stunning on electric, but I really dig his acoustic playing too, so I quickly took his track and laid down some electric guitars of my own on top of his acoustic.
There's a modal feel to his chord work, so I got some raga touches on there. albeit rather ragged. I kept thinking of the Beatles' 'Within and Without You', which is slyly [mis]quoted quite a few times.
Also, the changes reminded me of Hawkwind's 'Hurry On Sundown', so the spaceship did get a few revs.
-----------------

The guitars I used were a Tokai Telecaster, a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul.

Al Wood, acoustic guitar
Bill Boethius, electric guitars.

Orignal idea by Al Wood.
Produced and arranged by Bill Boethius.]]> Yesterday, on his 'Blues Thursday', the great bluesman Al Wood put forward an open collaboration where he plays acoustic guitar:
https://soundcloud.com/a-wood/lets-all-bring-the-house-down

Al is stunning on electric, but I really dig his acoustic playing too, so I quickly took his track and laid down some electric guitars of my own on top of his acoustic.
There's a modal feel to his chord work, so I got some raga touches on there. albeit rather ragged. I kept thinking of the Beatles' 'Within and Without You', which is slyly [mis]quoted quite a few times.
Also, the changes reminded me of Hawkwind's 'Hurry On Sundown', so the spaceship did get a few revs.
-----------------

The guitars I used were a Tokai Telecaster, a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul.

Al Wood, acoustic guitar
Bill Boethius, electric guitars.

Orignal idea by Al Wood.
Produced and arranged by Bill Boethius.]]> 1532234 no no Sun, 03 Sep 2017 15:46:01 +0200 2017-09-03T15:46:01+02:00 4:55 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/transhuman-blues-with-ulrika/
The Blues seeps and sifts through
Each crease and crevice of existence.

And man is so very insignificant in this cosmic play,

This cosmos, which weeps, and moans, as it
Reflects upon the warp and weft of its
Own Nothingness.

--------

This track comes from the same sessions that produced my recent weird blues outings, and demonstrates my experiments in playing both inside and outside the blues at the same time. Everything is then put inside Derridean parantheses.
It was in one of Nick Davies’ brilliant collaborations with Telefan that I first heard the wonderful vocal loops of the Swedish singer Saltlakrits, or as I call her, Ulrika.
Her mysterious vamps naturally added other dimensions to these strange blues.
----------------------------------------------
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drum machine
Ulrika Saltlakrits, vocals]]>
The Blues seeps and sifts through
Each crease and crevice of existence.

And man is so very insignificant in this cosmic play,

This cosmos, which weeps, and moans, as it
Reflects upon the warp and weft of its
Own Nothingness.

--------

This track comes from the same sessions that produced my recent weird blues outings, and demonstrates my experiments in playing both inside and outside the blues at the same time. Everything is then put inside Derridean parantheses.
It was in one of Nick Davies’ brilliant collaborations with Telefan that I first heard the wonderful vocal loops of the Swedish singer Saltlakrits, or as I call her, Ulrika.
Her mysterious vamps naturally added other dimensions to these strange blues.
----------------------------------------------
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drum machine
Ulrika Saltlakrits, vocals]]> 1557251 no no Sun, 24 Sep 2017 21:42:57 +0200 2017-09-24T21:42:57+02:00 10:34 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/passing-hades/
Upon Charon’s boat we sail, while
Through the deadly waters, his punt pole
Pokes the infested shallows, where
Dead men float, pale faces turned up,
To gloat at the living, who too shall soon
Be in this hole, forgotten.

Then, why visit I this Hel?
Why? I want only its sounds, to tell.

---------

A journey through the sonic underground, guided by an underworld of dark riffs.
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drum machine.]]>
Upon Charon’s boat we sail, while
Through the deadly waters, his punt pole
Pokes the infested shallows, where
Dead men float, pale faces turned up,
To gloat at the living, who too shall soon
Be in this hole, forgotten.

Then, why visit I this Hel?
Why? I want only its sounds, to tell.

---------

A journey through the sonic underground, guided by an underworld of dark riffs.
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, drum machine.]]> 1566140 no no Sun, 01 Oct 2017 11:25:54 +0200 2017-10-01T11:25:54+02:00 10:18 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/sad-blues-with-keitonie/ The backing track is by Keitonie which he put out as an open collab.
I’ve always said [ad nauseam] that my main impetus is the Blues, and that many of my experimental pieces begin as blues sketches,
To that end, I have playlist of tracks which still retained a blues semblance, albeit experimental, and therefore called ‘Strange Blues’.
Perhaps I should start another playlist called ‘Straight Blues’, as this current track is definitely that.
No attempt to play around with the backing track [well, not much], and the guitars are just jammed straight on in time honoured blues fashion. There is some experimentation in the guitar sounds, though, but all within the framework of electric blues.

Main guitar was the Hendrix Psychedelic V in the track pic. The counter guitar was a blue Epiphone Les Paul Standard.

Bill Boethius, guitars
Keitonie, backing track.]]> The backing track is by Keitonie which he put out as an open collab.
I’ve always said [ad nauseam] that my main impetus is the Blues, and that many of my experimental pieces begin as blues sketches,
To that end, I have playlist of tracks which still retained a blues semblance, albeit experimental, and therefore called ‘Strange Blues’.
Perhaps I should start another playlist called ‘Straight Blues’, as this current track is definitely that.
No attempt to play around with the backing track [well, not much], and the guitars are just jammed straight on in time honoured blues fashion. There is some experimentation in the guitar sounds, though, but all within the framework of electric blues.

Main guitar was the Hendrix Psychedelic V in the track pic. The counter guitar was a blue Epiphone Les Paul Standard.

Bill Boethius, guitars
Keitonie, backing track.]]> 1567034 no no Sun, 01 Oct 2017 22:35:07 +0200 2017-10-01T22:35:07+02:00 6:37 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-fire-beacon/
Read the words of the poem [given below] while listening.

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, synth and drum machine

Main guitar used was a Fender Strat.

The Fire Beacon

Here, where an island grew between seas,
A stone altar steeply piled up,
Here beneath blackened sky,
Zarathustra lit his mountain fire,
The beacon for mariners driven off course,
The question mark for those who have answers ...

This flame with a white-grey belly —
Flickers its greedy tongue into the cold beyond,
Bends its neck towards ever purer heights —
A raised serpent of impatience:
This signal I placed before me.

My soul is this flame,
Insatiable for new expanses
To blaze upward, upward in silent passion.
Why did Zarathustra flee from animals and men?
Why did he run away suddenly from all settled lands?
Six solitudes he knew already —
But the sea itself was not lonely enough for him,
The island let him rise, on the mountain he became the flame,
Into a seventh solitude
Searching now, he casts a hook over his head.

Lost mariners! Wreckage of ancient stars!
You seas of the future! Unexplored sky!
Now I cast my hook towards all solitary ones:
Give an answer to the impatience of the flame,
Catch me, fisherman on high mountains,
My seventh ultimate solitude! — —

[Friedrich Nietzsche]]]>
Read the words of the poem [given below] while listening.

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass, synth and drum machine

Main guitar used was a Fender Strat.

The Fire Beacon

Here, where an island grew between seas,
A stone altar steeply piled up,
Here beneath blackened sky,
Zarathustra lit his mountain fire,
The beacon for mariners driven off course,
The question mark for those who have answers ...

This flame with a white-grey belly —
Flickers its greedy tongue into the cold beyond,
Bends its neck towards ever purer heights —
A raised serpent of impatience:
This signal I placed before me.

My soul is this flame,
Insatiable for new expanses
To blaze upward, upward in silent passion.
Why did Zarathustra flee from animals and men?
Why did he run away suddenly from all settled lands?
Six solitudes he knew already —
But the sea itself was not lonely enough for him,
The island let him rise, on the mountain he became the flame,
Into a seventh solitude
Searching now, he casts a hook over his head.

Lost mariners! Wreckage of ancient stars!
You seas of the future! Unexplored sky!
Now I cast my hook towards all solitary ones:
Give an answer to the impatience of the flame,
Catch me, fisherman on high mountains,
My seventh ultimate solitude! — —

[Friedrich Nietzsche]]]> 1574231 no no Sat, 07 Oct 2017 18:26:45 +0200 2017-10-07T18:26:45+02:00 10:12 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/pawn-my-blues/
The last blues jam I did with Keitonie was fun:
https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/sad-blues-with-keitonie

So here’s another ‘straight blues’ on a pre-made backing track from:
http://www.bluesblast.com/

It allows me to blow some simple blues guitar.

It’s based on the ‘Rock Me Baby’ format, but it’s just a straight forward 12 bar.

The two guitars I used are both Epiphone Les Pauls [a black Studio, and a blue Standard], which I bought at a Pawn shop a while ago, hence the title of ‘Pawn my Blues’.

Bill Boethius; lead and rhythm guitars,
Blues Blast; backing track]]>
The last blues jam I did with Keitonie was fun:
https://soundcloud.com/bill-boethius/sad-blues-with-keitonie

So here’s another ‘straight blues’ on a pre-made backing track from:
http://www.bluesblast.com/

It allows me to blow some simple blues guitar.

It’s based on the ‘Rock Me Baby’ format, but it’s just a straight forward 12 bar.

The two guitars I used are both Epiphone Les Pauls [a black Studio, and a blue Standard], which I bought at a Pawn shop a while ago, hence the title of ‘Pawn my Blues’.

Bill Boethius; lead and rhythm guitars,
Blues Blast; backing track]]> 1577379 no no Mon, 09 Oct 2017 18:30:12 +0200 2017-10-09T18:30:12+02:00 6:42 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/accost-the-sacred/
There are places so sacred,
That even the gods won’t go.

There are no fences around them,
But these places are impenetrable,
Like virgin forests and undiscovered
Jungles.
Where all incomers will get lost.
Never to return.

Only a few yearn to enter.
They tremble with a cold lust,
Breathlessly aching to accost
The hitherto unfingered altar.

***********************

A strange forest of sounds, taking in quite a gamut of guitars from acoustic to electric.
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass]]>
There are places so sacred,
That even the gods won’t go.

There are no fences around them,
But these places are impenetrable,
Like virgin forests and undiscovered
Jungles.
Where all incomers will get lost.
Never to return.

Only a few yearn to enter.
They tremble with a cold lust,
Breathlessly aching to accost
The hitherto unfingered altar.

***********************

A strange forest of sounds, taking in quite a gamut of guitars from acoustic to electric.
Bill Boethius, guitars, bass]]> 1584932 no no Sat, 14 Oct 2017 03:04:46 +0200 2017-10-14T03:04:46+02:00 9:10 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/storms-ov-steel/
Can flesh and bone withstand
Storms of steel?

Can wounds, unstaunched
Forever bleed,
And never heal?

..................................................

Time to get heavy, and to revel in the evils of amplification and distortion – there is nothing so spiritual!

Basic introspective power trio jazz-metal sceance.

_________________

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass and drum machine.]]>
Can flesh and bone withstand
Storms of steel?

Can wounds, unstaunched
Forever bleed,
And never heal?

..................................................

Time to get heavy, and to revel in the evils of amplification and distortion – there is nothing so spiritual!

Basic introspective power trio jazz-metal sceance.

_________________

Bill Boethius, guitars, bass and drum machine.]]> 1589749 no no Mon, 16 Oct 2017 15:55:35 +0200 2017-10-16T15:55:35+02:00 9:10 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/freaky-friday-blues/
The Eagle flies on Friday .... ooohwee!
I have always liked to play around the Stormy Monday changes, and so offer a quick Boethiusque version of them here.

The unheard lyrics of Stormy Monday suggests that there’s a blues for every day of the week, just as there’s a rune for every day of the week too.

Well, Freya’s day became a guitar freakout day for me today.

Wands – sorry, guitars- used included a Fender Strat, an Epiphone Les Paul and an Epiphone Tbird bass.

I wanted to emphasise more single-coil Fenderish sounds on this one after my Les Paul fest, Pawn my Blues, but there's a Les Paul blast [but bridge pickup only] at about 06:30. Hard to leave the Paul out of a blues, these days!]]>
The Eagle flies on Friday .... ooohwee!
I have always liked to play around the Stormy Monday changes, and so offer a quick Boethiusque version of them here.

The unheard lyrics of Stormy Monday suggests that there’s a blues for every day of the week, just as there’s a rune for every day of the week too.

Well, Freya’s day became a guitar freakout day for me today.

Wands – sorry, guitars- used included a Fender Strat, an Epiphone Les Paul and an Epiphone Tbird bass.

I wanted to emphasise more single-coil Fenderish sounds on this one after my Les Paul fest, Pawn my Blues, but there's a Les Paul blast [but bridge pickup only] at about 06:30. Hard to leave the Paul out of a blues, these days!]]> 1608354 no no Sun, 29 Oct 2017 11:35:25 +0100 2017-10-29T11:35:25+01:00 10:01 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/cry-havoc/ ... and let slip the dogs of war ...”
[The Bard, 1601]

Sometimes we need the shock of war,
to shake us out of our complacencies.
The crack of fear to strike at our spinal cord,
and the yowling yawp,
of barking mad freedom.
...............
Some more heavy therapy?

Basically a Fuzz Face Fest, with bass and guitars through a Fuzz Face – mayhem.

[cover drawing by Bill Boethius after Falcone 1647]]]> ... and let slip the dogs of war ...”
[The Bard, 1601]

Sometimes we need the shock of war,
to shake us out of our complacencies.
The crack of fear to strike at our spinal cord,
and the yowling yawp,
of barking mad freedom.
...............
Some more heavy therapy?

Basically a Fuzz Face Fest, with bass and guitars through a Fuzz Face – mayhem.

[cover drawing by Bill Boethius after Falcone 1647]]]> 1628821 no no Sun, 12 Nov 2017 03:18:17 +0100 2017-11-12T03:18:17+01:00 10:17 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/my-today/
My today is gonna be better than it was yesterday,
When I was drowning in my sorrow, drowning in my pain.
Oh I was weak and weary, would not pray for strength,
Lost my faith along the way, giving the Lord some blame.

But, my today is gonna be better than it was yesterday,
‘Cause I’m standing up and fighting, for the light of a brand new day.
I’m reaching out to glory, taking back my faith,
So my day is gonna be brighter, than it was yesterday.
[by Lyn Kalley Ingram]

This lyric of Lynne’s struck home to me.
It’s about the devastating effect that loss can have upon us, and how that grief over a loss can almost destroy us.

Almost, for we have to find the strength to overcome the deadly feeling of loss, and to recover our former selves.

Indeed, we can be even stronger if we turn things around and make the negative into a positive.

But, it is still a bitter pill to swallow, and so when we overcome the loss, we are changed.

Lyn’s fine acapella version of her song is here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/my-today-is-gonna-be-better

Lyn Kalley Ingram, vocals
Bill Boethius, guitars, guitar synth, drum machine

Song written by Lyn Kalley Ingram,
Arranged and produced by Bill Boethius

My earlier collaborations with Lyn are here:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/album/how-terrible-it-is-to-love-something-that-death-can-touch]]>
My today is gonna be better than it was yesterday,
When I was drowning in my sorrow, drowning in my pain.
Oh I was weak and weary, would not pray for strength,
Lost my faith along the way, giving the Lord some blame.

But, my today is gonna be better than it was yesterday,
‘Cause I’m standing up and fighting, for the light of a brand new day.
I’m reaching out to glory, taking back my faith,
So my day is gonna be brighter, than it was yesterday.
[by Lyn Kalley Ingram]

This lyric of Lynne’s struck home to me.
It’s about the devastating effect that loss can have upon us, and how that grief over a loss can almost destroy us.

Almost, for we have to find the strength to overcome the deadly feeling of loss, and to recover our former selves.

Indeed, we can be even stronger if we turn things around and make the negative into a positive.

But, it is still a bitter pill to swallow, and so when we overcome the loss, we are changed.

Lyn’s fine acapella version of her song is here:
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/my-today-is-gonna-be-better

Lyn Kalley Ingram, vocals
Bill Boethius, guitars, guitar synth, drum machine

Song written by Lyn Kalley Ingram,
Arranged and produced by Bill Boethius

My earlier collaborations with Lyn are here:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/album/how-terrible-it-is-to-love-something-that-death-can-touch]]> 1636401 no no Fri, 17 Nov 2017 16:08:30 +0100 2017-11-17T16:08:30+01:00 8:20 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/both-sides-of-the-sky/
The line is from Jimi: “understand both sides of the sky”, in Midnight Lightning,

There is a veritable riot and war in the skies, but few notice, so concerned are they with what is below.

Look up to the sky.

The piece is a sky haunting,
A sky scraping,
And a sky scrying.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth, drum machine.

Cover pic. from Panteo's 'Art of Metallic Transmutation', 1519.]]>
The line is from Jimi: “understand both sides of the sky”, in Midnight Lightning,

There is a veritable riot and war in the skies, but few notice, so concerned are they with what is below.

Look up to the sky.

The piece is a sky haunting,
A sky scraping,
And a sky scrying.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth, drum machine.

Cover pic. from Panteo's 'Art of Metallic Transmutation', 1519.]]> 1656824 no no Sat, 02 Dec 2017 00:50:10 +0100 2017-12-02T00:50:10+01:00 10:28 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/so-that-the-vine-burst-from-my-fingers/ ... the poet himself able to overleap the barriers of time/space and envision Dionysos in his very here and now.

The poet’s delivery is surprising, with archaic trills, and a constant descending cadence, reminding me of blues guitar phrasing.

From there I started to accompany the poet.

‘So that the vine burst from my fingers ...’

And the bees weighed with pollen
Move heavily in the vine-shoots;
chirr – chirr – chirr-rikk – a purring sound,
And the birds sleepily in the branches.
ZAGREUS! IO ZAGREUS!
With the first pale-clear of the heaven
And the cities set in their hills,
And the goddess of the fair knees
Moving there, with the oak-wood behind her,
The green slope, the white hounds leaping about her;
And thence down to the creek’s mouth, until evening,
Flat water before me, and the trees growing in water,
Marble trunks out of stillness,
On past the palazzi, in the stillness,
The light now, not of the sun, Chrysophrase,
And the water green clear, and blue clear;
On, to the great cliffs of amber. Between them,
Cave of Nerea, she like a great shell curved,
And the boat drawn without sound,
Without odour of ship-work,
Nor bird-cry, nor any noise of wave moving,
Nor splash of porpoise, nor any noise of wave moving,
Within her cave, Nerea, she like a great shell curved
In the suavity of the rock, cliff green-gray in the far,
In the near, the gate-cliffs of amber,
And the wave green clear, and blue clear ...

Ezra Pound, Canto XVII
http://thecantosproject.ed.ac.uk/index.php/canto-17-27-overview/xvii?showall=1&limitstart=

Bill Boethius; guitars, theremin, synth, production
Ezra Pound; voice, words]]> ... the poet himself able to overleap the barriers of time/space and envision Dionysos in his very here and now.

The poet’s delivery is surprising, with archaic trills, and a constant descending cadence, reminding me of blues guitar phrasing.

From there I started to accompany the poet.

‘So that the vine burst from my fingers ...’

And the bees weighed with pollen
Move heavily in the vine-shoots;
chirr – chirr – chirr-rikk – a purring sound,
And the birds sleepily in the branches.
ZAGREUS! IO ZAGREUS!
With the first pale-clear of the heaven
And the cities set in their hills,
And the goddess of the fair knees
Moving there, with the oak-wood behind her,
The green slope, the white hounds leaping about her;
And thence down to the creek’s mouth, until evening,
Flat water before me, and the trees growing in water,
Marble trunks out of stillness,
On past the palazzi, in the stillness,
The light now, not of the sun, Chrysophrase,
And the water green clear, and blue clear;
On, to the great cliffs of amber. Between them,
Cave of Nerea, she like a great shell curved,
And the boat drawn without sound,
Without odour of ship-work,
Nor bird-cry, nor any noise of wave moving,
Nor splash of porpoise, nor any noise of wave moving,
Within her cave, Nerea, she like a great shell curved
In the suavity of the rock, cliff green-gray in the far,
In the near, the gate-cliffs of amber,
And the wave green clear, and blue clear ...

Ezra Pound, Canto XVII
http://thecantosproject.ed.ac.uk/index.php/canto-17-27-overview/xvii?showall=1&limitstart=

Bill Boethius; guitars, theremin, synth, production
Ezra Pound; voice, words]]> 1717638 no no Thu, 11 Jan 2018 08:55:00 +0100 2018-01-11T08:55:00+01:00 10:38 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/it-enters-the-dark-hole-of-the-head/
The Thought Fox has long been one of my favourite poems by Ted Hughes.
I love the way it breaks those boundaries between the real and the unreal, where the unreal becomes far more real than the real.
It is not really about a fox, it is really about the jungle of the mind.
At most, the 'fox' in the poem is a ‘familiar’, a totemic animal spirit – one of the old gods.
Ostensibly the poem describes the act of writing.
It could also describe the act of making sounds.

Bill Boethius: guitars, synths, drum machine, production
Ted Hughes; words [reading by The Passionate Transitory:]
https://youtu.be/jVX36zmqz4U

Ted Hughes, "The Thought-Fox"
I imagine this midnight moment's forest:
Something else is alive
Beside the clock's loneliness
And this blank page where my fingers move.

Through the window I see no star:
Something more near
though deeper within darkness
Is entering the loneliness:

Cold, delicately as the dark snow
A fox's nose touches twig, leaf;
Two eyes serve a movement, that now
And again now, and now, and now

Sets neat prints into the snow
Between trees, and warily a lame
Shadow lags by stump and in hollow
Of a body that is bold to come

Across clearings, an eye,
A widening deepening greenness,
Brilliantly, concentratedly,
Coming about its own business

Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox,
It enters the dark hole of the head.
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.

~

From The Hawk in the Rain (1957)]]>
The Thought Fox has long been one of my favourite poems by Ted Hughes.
I love the way it breaks those boundaries between the real and the unreal, where the unreal becomes far more real than the real.
It is not really about a fox, it is really about the jungle of the mind.
At most, the 'fox' in the poem is a ‘familiar’, a totemic animal spirit – one of the old gods.
Ostensibly the poem describes the act of writing.
It could also describe the act of making sounds.

Bill Boethius: guitars, synths, drum machine, production
Ted Hughes; words [reading by The Passionate Transitory:]
https://youtu.be/jVX36zmqz4U

Ted Hughes, "The Thought-Fox"
I imagine this midnight moment's forest:
Something else is alive
Beside the clock's loneliness
And this blank page where my fingers move.

Through the window I see no star:
Something more near
though deeper within darkness
Is entering the loneliness:

Cold, delicately as the dark snow
A fox's nose touches twig, leaf;
Two eyes serve a movement, that now
And again now, and now, and now

Sets neat prints into the snow
Between trees, and warily a lame
Shadow lags by stump and in hollow
Of a body that is bold to come

Across clearings, an eye,
A widening deepening greenness,
Brilliantly, concentratedly,
Coming about its own business

Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox,
It enters the dark hole of the head.
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.

~

From The Hawk in the Rain (1957)]]> 1717656 no no Thu, 11 Jan 2018 09:36:22 +0100 2018-01-11T09:36:22+01:00 10:09 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/crushed-velvet/
Time for a jam!

Here I jam with the drummer Zanshin's open collaboration track. I'm using a Yamaha five string bass and a Tokai Tele guitar.

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, production
Zanshin; percussion]]>
Time for a jam!

Here I jam with the drummer Zanshin's open collaboration track. I'm using a Yamaha five string bass and a Tokai Tele guitar.

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, production
Zanshin; percussion]]> 1728874 no no Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:32:14 +0100 2018-01-19T16:32:14+01:00 10:26 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/transhuman-blues-remodeled/
The original track
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/transhuman-blues
Ulrika:
https://soundcloud.com/saltlakrits-1]]>
The original track
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/transhuman-blues
Ulrika:
https://soundcloud.com/saltlakrits-1]]> 1750489 no no Mon, 05 Feb 2018 13:41:47 +0100 2018-02-05T13:41:47+01:00 10:41 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/paradigm-shuffle/ It becomes a Paradigm Shuffle, because the shapes of the past continually break into the shapes of the future and the future into the past.

Bill Boethius; original idea, guitars, bass, synth, percusssion.
Leonel Cardoso; production, sax, percussion, fx]]> It becomes a Paradigm Shuffle, because the shapes of the past continually break into the shapes of the future and the future into the past.

Bill Boethius; original idea, guitars, bass, synth, percusssion.
Leonel Cardoso; production, sax, percussion, fx]]> 1751808 no no Tue, 06 Feb 2018 13:36:29 +0100 2018-02-06T13:36:29+01:00 7:12 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/leons-way/ Bill Boethius; guitars and bass

Orignal version:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/the-lions-way

Remake of a track no longer on my SC, although a previous collaboration version here with Robert Furtkamp:
https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/bill-boethius-robert-furtkamp?in=bill-boethius/sets/bad-men-with-bad-guitars-bill]]> Bill Boethius; guitars and bass

Orignal version:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/the-lions-way

Remake of a track no longer on my SC, although a previous collaboration version here with Robert Furtkamp:
https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/bill-boethius-robert-furtkamp?in=bill-boethius/sets/bad-men-with-bad-guitars-bill]]> 1752701 no no Wed, 07 Feb 2018 08:08:22 +0100 2018-02-07T08:08:22+01:00 10:13 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/blue-cameo/
Second posting as I accidentally deleted the first posting.

ON ALBUM:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/album/searching-the-blues]]>
Second posting as I accidentally deleted the first posting.

ON ALBUM:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/album/searching-the-blues]]> 1755076 no no Thu, 08 Feb 2018 15:31:03 +0100 2018-02-08T15:31:03+01:00 3:03 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/fountains-of-the-deep-remastered/
Original here:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/fountains-of-the-deep]]>
Original here:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/fountains-of-the-deep]]> 1764968 no no Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:44:40 +0100 2018-02-14T17:44:40+01:00 11:07 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/wings-over-the-abyss/
"He must have wings who loves the abyss"
[Nietzsche, Amid Birds of Prey]

Looking back on some of my past sounds, in collaboration with saxophonist Leonel Cardoso. The track began as Avian Sands:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/avian-sands

Here is Leonel's first take on Avian Sands;
https://soundcloud.com/leonel-cardoso-104759319/inspired-by-bill-boethius-avian-sands

Robert Furtkamp added even more sound to Wings:
https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/bill-boethius-leonel-cardoso-robert-furtkamp-wings-over-the-abyss-dropping-fast?in=bill-boethius/sets/collaborations]]>
"He must have wings who loves the abyss"
[Nietzsche, Amid Birds of Prey]

Looking back on some of my past sounds, in collaboration with saxophonist Leonel Cardoso. The track began as Avian Sands:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/avian-sands

Here is Leonel's first take on Avian Sands;
https://soundcloud.com/leonel-cardoso-104759319/inspired-by-bill-boethius-avian-sands

Robert Furtkamp added even more sound to Wings:
https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/bill-boethius-leonel-cardoso-robert-furtkamp-wings-over-the-abyss-dropping-fast?in=bill-boethius/sets/collaborations]]> 1775802 no no Thu, 22 Feb 2018 08:49:39 +0100 2018-02-22T08:49:39+01:00 11:08 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/maritas-revenge/
The lyric mentions sado-masochism, and I found myself continuously listening to the Velvet's 'Venus in Furs' as I was producing this, - also thinking of John Cale,- and his work with Nico. So that was the immediate backdrop. All the guitars used are either fretless or slide.

Cover pic is Marita Lorenz with Castro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marita_Lorenz

SabrinaCounts; words, vocal
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, drum machine

Produced & arranged by Bill Boethius

Here is the original vocal
https://soundcloud.com/toltec-jewels/for-nova

Lyrics:

Oh god
My heart is breaking
Each moment I am
Tortured again
In my reconstructed
Memory of rejection
In hard porn
Life style
Shooting
The breeze
Looking for religion
And lost to that
Razor blade speculation
Humming
The inside out
To the suicide thought:

They tortured me with knives
They tortured me with knives
Look at the scar
Screaming
Still on my throat
Attempting the new voice
The reconstructed margin
Of personality potential
Looking for help
In the alters
In the alters of the mind
Screaming still
Only
Cutting
The skin deeply enough
To make blood beads beautiful
In sadomasochistic realization
Baring the soul in exclamation
Of the spread
Shaking the hand to her screaming
Shaking the hand to her screaming
Help
Me
God
In
The
Heart
Of
Mock
Ceremony
Glimpsing
The crucifixion
For real]]>
The lyric mentions sado-masochism, and I found myself continuously listening to the Velvet's 'Venus in Furs' as I was producing this, - also thinking of John Cale,- and his work with Nico. So that was the immediate backdrop. All the guitars used are either fretless or slide.

Cover pic is Marita Lorenz with Castro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marita_Lorenz

SabrinaCounts; words, vocal
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, drum machine

Produced & arranged by Bill Boethius

Here is the original vocal
https://soundcloud.com/toltec-jewels/for-nova

Lyrics:

Oh god
My heart is breaking
Each moment I am
Tortured again
In my reconstructed
Memory of rejection
In hard porn
Life style
Shooting
The breeze
Looking for religion
And lost to that
Razor blade speculation
Humming
The inside out
To the suicide thought:

They tortured me with knives
They tortured me with knives
Look at the scar
Screaming
Still on my throat
Attempting the new voice
The reconstructed margin
Of personality potential
Looking for help
In the alters
In the alters of the mind
Screaming still
Only
Cutting
The skin deeply enough
To make blood beads beautiful
In sadomasochistic realization
Baring the soul in exclamation
Of the spread
Shaking the hand to her screaming
Shaking the hand to her screaming
Help
Me
God
In
The
Heart
Of
Mock
Ceremony
Glimpsing
The crucifixion
For real]]> 1781613 no no Mon, 26 Feb 2018 15:04:04 +0100 2018-02-26T15:04:04+01:00 7:22 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-nebula-blinks-bill-boethius-with-augenmerk/
Man against the universe ...
The most pitiful david, against the most overwhelming Goliath.

The voice doesn’t just speak ‘out’ of the void,
The Voice ‘is’ the Void.

The nylon strung acoustic guitar, with its smaller voice is that tiny adversary, which I set against the larger sounding guitar synth. Augenmerk's voice then bridges the void between them, and becomes the void. So very minimal, three basic tracks: voice, acoustic guitar and synth - all expanded a little in post production.

This is not an attempt to 'set' Augenmerk's words - many have already done that in an excellent fashion.
Here I rather make a sound version of what the poem means to 'me*.

Just as the voice is the void, so here the poem is the sounds and vice versa.

My interest in etymology [which is an interest in 'beginnings'] took me to the words 'nebulae' and 'blink' as transliterations of Augenmerk's 'nebel-blicke'.
So the poem took on a different meaning; Augenmerk's personal meaning is still there, but it also takes on a cosmic sigificance for me, that of one life-form facing up to the gigantic universe.

Bill Boethius, acoustic guitar, synth
Augenmerk, voice

Nebelblicke
Die Wand wegdrücken,
die mir zu nahe kommt, mich bindet.
Wohl eher: tilgt?!
Flächenrausch, dem nichts entrinnt.
Saugt ein, verschlingt.
Bodennebel, der in Füße kriecht und steigt,
den Kopf nicht mehr trennt von sich selbst.
Bin ich umnebelt? Benebelt? Bin Nebel?
Bin ich das Kind in Wolken?
Mein Mäusebussard kreist,
Laune, die mein Wollen schafft.
Platznot ist und freie Platzwahl]]>
Man against the universe ...
The most pitiful david, against the most overwhelming Goliath.

The voice doesn’t just speak ‘out’ of the void,
The Voice ‘is’ the Void.

The nylon strung acoustic guitar, with its smaller voice is that tiny adversary, which I set against the larger sounding guitar synth. Augenmerk's voice then bridges the void between them, and becomes the void. So very minimal, three basic tracks: voice, acoustic guitar and synth - all expanded a little in post production.

This is not an attempt to 'set' Augenmerk's words - many have already done that in an excellent fashion.
Here I rather make a sound version of what the poem means to 'me*.

Just as the voice is the void, so here the poem is the sounds and vice versa.

My interest in etymology [which is an interest in 'beginnings'] took me to the words 'nebulae' and 'blink' as transliterations of Augenmerk's 'nebel-blicke'.
So the poem took on a different meaning; Augenmerk's personal meaning is still there, but it also takes on a cosmic sigificance for me, that of one life-form facing up to the gigantic universe.

Bill Boethius, acoustic guitar, synth
Augenmerk, voice

Nebelblicke
Die Wand wegdrücken,
die mir zu nahe kommt, mich bindet.
Wohl eher: tilgt?!
Flächenrausch, dem nichts entrinnt.
Saugt ein, verschlingt.
Bodennebel, der in Füße kriecht und steigt,
den Kopf nicht mehr trennt von sich selbst.
Bin ich umnebelt? Benebelt? Bin Nebel?
Bin ich das Kind in Wolken?
Mein Mäusebussard kreist,
Laune, die mein Wollen schafft.
Platznot ist und freie Platzwahl]]> 1789014 no no Sat, 03 Mar 2018 15:00:46 +0100 2018-03-03T15:00:46+01:00 8:51 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/night-witch/
The Boethiusian witches ride out over Eee Ville’s open collaboration drum track.
https://soundcloud.com/user-596886256/open-invitation-for-jam-and-score-old-drums-in-a-non-sterile-environment-1

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth
Eee Ville; drums

Extra incidental percussion by Zanshin, subliminal drones by Cappauei
https://soundcloud.com/cappauei]]>
The Boethiusian witches ride out over Eee Ville’s open collaboration drum track.
https://soundcloud.com/user-596886256/open-invitation-for-jam-and-score-old-drums-in-a-non-sterile-environment-1

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth
Eee Ville; drums

Extra incidental percussion by Zanshin, subliminal drones by Cappauei
https://soundcloud.com/cappauei]]> 1804839 no no Tue, 13 Mar 2018 13:18:22 +0100 2018-03-13T13:18:22+01:00 10:26 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-road-is-long-dark/
This is an impression of Lyn Kalley Ingram’s poignant song, 'Mercy Mercy, Free My Soul', which begins with the words, “The road I’m on is long and dark”, and inspired this web of plucking.

Here, I used only acoustic guitars, both nylon strung, and steel strung.

So many fragments ...

Bill Boethius; acoustic guitars
Lyn Kalley Ingram; voice
Song by Lyn Kalley Ingram
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/mercy-mercy-free-my-soul]]>
This is an impression of Lyn Kalley Ingram’s poignant song, 'Mercy Mercy, Free My Soul', which begins with the words, “The road I’m on is long and dark”, and inspired this web of plucking.

Here, I used only acoustic guitars, both nylon strung, and steel strung.

So many fragments ...

Bill Boethius; acoustic guitars
Lyn Kalley Ingram; voice
Song by Lyn Kalley Ingram
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram/mercy-mercy-free-my-soul]]> 1827527 no no Wed, 28 Mar 2018 08:35:33 +0200 2018-03-28T08:35:33+02:00 10:26 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/green-grapes-of-proserpine/
The Victorian Pre-Raphaelite English poet Algernon Swinburne wrote some powerful verse, very rhythmic and yet full of imagery. Perhaps he was the rapper of his day!
The poet Stephen Howarth brings out the rhythms in his great reading of Swinburne's Proserpine, to which I put some of my sounds,

Stephen Purbeck Howarth; reading
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth.
Zanshin; drums

The Garden of Proserpine

Here, where the world is quiet;
Here, where all trouble seems
Dead winds' and spent waves' riot
In doubtful dreams of dreams;
I watch the green field growing
For reaping folk and sowing,
For harvest-time and mowing,
A sleepy world of streams.

I am tired of tears and laughter,
And men that laugh and weep;
Of what may come hereafter
For men that sow to reap:
I am weary of days and hours,
Blown buds of barren flowers,
Desires and dreams and powers
And everything but sleep.

Here life has death for neighbour,
And far from eye or ear
Wan waves and wet winds labour,
Weak ships and spirits steer;
They drive adrift, and whither
They wot not who make thither;
But no such winds blow hither,
And no such things grow here.

No growth of moor or coppice,
No heather-flower or vine,
But bloomless buds of poppies,
Green grapes of Proserpine,
Pale beds of blowing rushes
Where no leaf blooms or blushes
Save this whereout she crushes
For dead men deadly wine.

Pale, without name or number,
In fruitless fields of corn,
They bow themselves and slumber
All night till light is born;
And like a soul belated,
In hell and heaven unmated,
By cloud and mist abated
Comes out of darkness morn.

Though one were strong as seven,
He too with death shall dwell,
Nor wake with wings in heaven,
Nor weep for pains in hell;
Though one were fair as roses,
His beauty clouds and closes;
And well though love reposes,
In the end it is not well.

Pale, beyond porch and portal,
Crowned with calm leaves, she stands
Who gathers all things mortal
With cold immortal hands;
Her languid lips are sweeter
Than love's who fears to greet her
To men that mix and meet her
From many times and lands.

She waits for each and other,
She waits for all men born;
Forgets the earth her mother,
The life of fruits and corn;
And spring and seed and swallow
Take wing for her and follow
Where summer song rings hollow
And flowers are put to scorn.

There go the loves that wither,
The old loves with wearier wings;
And all dead years draw thither,
And all disastrous things;
Dead dreams of days forsaken,
Blind buds that snows have shaken,
Wild leaves that winds have taken,
Red strays of ruined springs.

We are not sure of sorrow,
And joy was never sure;
To-day will die to-morrow;
Time stoops to no man's lure;
And love, grown faint and fretful,
With lips but half regretful
Sighs, and with eyes forgetful
Weeps that no loves endure.

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

Then star nor sun shall waken,
Nor any change of light:
Nor sound of waters shaken,
Nor any sound or sight:
Nor wintry leaves nor vernal,
Nor days nor things diurnal;
Only the sleep eternal
In an eternal night.

BY ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE
Read by S. P. Howarth
https://youtu.be/dujygHJ3nsg]]>
The Victorian Pre-Raphaelite English poet Algernon Swinburne wrote some powerful verse, very rhythmic and yet full of imagery. Perhaps he was the rapper of his day!
The poet Stephen Howarth brings out the rhythms in his great reading of Swinburne's Proserpine, to which I put some of my sounds,

Stephen Purbeck Howarth; reading
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, synth.
Zanshin; drums

The Garden of Proserpine

Here, where the world is quiet;
Here, where all trouble seems
Dead winds' and spent waves' riot
In doubtful dreams of dreams;
I watch the green field growing
For reaping folk and sowing,
For harvest-time and mowing,
A sleepy world of streams.

I am tired of tears and laughter,
And men that laugh and weep;
Of what may come hereafter
For men that sow to reap:
I am weary of days and hours,
Blown buds of barren flowers,
Desires and dreams and powers
And everything but sleep.

Here life has death for neighbour,
And far from eye or ear
Wan waves and wet winds labour,
Weak ships and spirits steer;
They drive adrift, and whither
They wot not who make thither;
But no such winds blow hither,
And no such things grow here.

No growth of moor or coppice,
No heather-flower or vine,
But bloomless buds of poppies,
Green grapes of Proserpine,
Pale beds of blowing rushes
Where no leaf blooms or blushes
Save this whereout she crushes
For dead men deadly wine.

Pale, without name or number,
In fruitless fields of corn,
They bow themselves and slumber
All night till light is born;
And like a soul belated,
In hell and heaven unmated,
By cloud and mist abated
Comes out of darkness morn.

Though one were strong as seven,
He too with death shall dwell,
Nor wake with wings in heaven,
Nor weep for pains in hell;
Though one were fair as roses,
His beauty clouds and closes;
And well though love reposes,
In the end it is not well.

Pale, beyond porch and portal,
Crowned with calm leaves, she stands
Who gathers all things mortal
With cold immortal hands;
Her languid lips are sweeter
Than love's who fears to greet her
To men that mix and meet her
From many times and lands.

She waits for each and other,
She waits for all men born;
Forgets the earth her mother,
The life of fruits and corn;
And spring and seed and swallow
Take wing for her and follow
Where summer song rings hollow
And flowers are put to scorn.

There go the loves that wither,
The old loves with wearier wings;
And all dead years draw thither,
And all disastrous things;
Dead dreams of days forsaken,
Blind buds that snows have shaken,
Wild leaves that winds have taken,
Red strays of ruined springs.

We are not sure of sorrow,
And joy was never sure;
To-day will die to-morrow;
Time stoops to no man's lure;
And love, grown faint and fretful,
With lips but half regretful
Sighs, and with eyes forgetful
Weeps that no loves endure.

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

Then star nor sun shall waken,
Nor any change of light:
Nor sound of waters shaken,
Nor any sound or sight:
Nor wintry leaves nor vernal,
Nor days nor things diurnal;
Only the sleep eternal
In an eternal night.

BY ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE
Read by S. P. Howarth
https://youtu.be/dujygHJ3nsg]]> 1835957 no no Mon, 02 Apr 2018 15:19:47 +0200 2018-04-02T15:19:47+02:00 9:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/cant-keep-a-sippin-third-rail/ Al Wood: lead guitar
Jeff Wiedenfeld, samples, keys, other noises and madness.
Previous versions: 2016
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/cant-keep-a-sippin-new-version-featuring-al-wood
2015
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/cant-keep-a-sippin]]> Al Wood: lead guitar
Jeff Wiedenfeld, samples, keys, other noises and madness.
Previous versions: 2016
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/cant-keep-a-sippin-new-version-featuring-al-wood
2015
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/cant-keep-a-sippin]]> 1862691 no no Wed, 18 Apr 2018 08:11:52 +0200 2018-04-18T08:11:52+02:00 11:03 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/blue-cameo-chicken-mother/ Jeff Wiedenfeld; keys, other noises and madness]]> Jeff Wiedenfeld; keys, other noises and madness]]> 2011922 no no Mon, 21 May 2018 13:41:01 +0200 2018-05-21T13:41:01+02:00 3:03 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/inspired-by-avian-sands/ Leonel Cardoso; saxes

original track, Avian Sands:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/avian-sands]]> Leonel Cardoso; saxes

original track, Avian Sands:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/avian-sands]]> 2059997 no no Tue, 05 Jun 2018 17:49:51 +0200 2018-06-05T17:49:51+02:00 11:10 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/hung-doom/
All civilisations must be prepared to meet their doom.
China in your hand.

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, drum machine
Jeff Wiedenfeld; keys, samples
https://soundcloud.com/jwiedenfeld]]>
All civilisations must be prepared to meet their doom.
China in your hand.

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass, drum machine
Jeff Wiedenfeld; keys, samples
https://soundcloud.com/jwiedenfeld]]> 2106839 no no Sat, 16 Jun 2018 14:31:15 +0200 2018-06-16T14:31:15+02:00 8:58 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/alien-jaunty-blues/ Marco Turrini; backing

https://soundcloud.com/demelia-denton/alien-jaunt-challengedownload-add-guitar-and-upload]]> Marco Turrini; backing

https://soundcloud.com/demelia-denton/alien-jaunt-challengedownload-add-guitar-and-upload]]> 2139024 no no Tue, 03 Jul 2018 15:26:06 +0200 2018-07-03T15:26:06+02:00 3:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/they-mapped-the-skys-palm/
Bill Boethius; acoustic guitar, slide guitar, electric guitar, fretless guitar, electric bass.

It was while reviewing some of my older tracks with Dali's Car , I chanced upon The Blue Dusk of Andromeda:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/the-blue-dusk-of-andromeda
Caveman420 https://soundcloud.com/caveman420 added some drums and piano to it which interested me as interruptions. Then I used just very short sections of that to interject into a completely new track inspired by this. Additionally, I used the open collab bed of Paploviante:
https://soundcloud.com/paplo-repost/difficult-mission-open-collab to inject extra flavours, with added snatches of these vocals:
https://soundcloud.com/malissa-grey-turnage/folsom-prison-blues-acapella

The track title comes from a line in Bolan’s The Warlock of Love.]]>
Bill Boethius; acoustic guitar, slide guitar, electric guitar, fretless guitar, electric bass.

It was while reviewing some of my older tracks with Dali's Car , I chanced upon The Blue Dusk of Andromeda:
https://billboethiusdaliscar.bandcamp.com/track/the-blue-dusk-of-andromeda
Caveman420 https://soundcloud.com/caveman420 added some drums and piano to it which interested me as interruptions. Then I used just very short sections of that to interject into a completely new track inspired by this. Additionally, I used the open collab bed of Paploviante:
https://soundcloud.com/paplo-repost/difficult-mission-open-collab to inject extra flavours, with added snatches of these vocals:
https://soundcloud.com/malissa-grey-turnage/folsom-prison-blues-acapella

The track title comes from a line in Bolan’s The Warlock of Love.]]> 2152490 no no Thu, 12 Jul 2018 14:12:31 +0200 2018-07-12T14:12:31+02:00 9:48 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-earth-stepper/
Old English poetry is important to me, as it links us to the Dark Ages in a very real way.
Despite being written down in the early Christian era, the poetry betrays much of its pagan roots.

Here I have taken some lines from ‘The Wanderer’, which title I have transliterated as the ‘earth-stepper’.
The poem ponders the theme of alienation, and shows that there are many kinds of doom.
And yet, in the deepest moments of abjection appear sudden reveries and insights – peaks of a higher perception.

I began by freely accompanying the poem on the lute, an instrument which gets us closer to the Dark Ages.
I then added electric guitar and bass etc., for extra colour.
Lorenzo Quant had sent me a Midi track for a possible collaboration. Here I have used part of it for some subtle background colour in certain places.

Most of all, there is the reading of the poem by the poet Charles Bryant. I like the way he really owns the poem, sounding like the aged and broken writer of the original.

Bill Boethius; lute, electric guitar, electric bass, drum machine, sound fx.
Charles Bryant; reading
https://youtu.be/pqzC4GCaWds

Some background midi keys from Lorenzo Quant:
https://soundcloud.com/orenzouant

from The Wanderer

OFT-TIMES the Wanderer waiteth God’s mercy,
... Long must he row o’er the rime-crusted sea—

—Fate is severe.

Of hardships, the wanderer saith:—
Oft must I lonely, when dawn doth appear,
Wail o’er my sorrow—since living is none
Whom I may whisper my heart’s undertone.

Weary at heart, yet his Fate is unyielding—
Help cometh not to his suffering mind.

Thus must I often, afar from my kinsmen,
Fasten in fetters my home-banished heart.

I, a poor exile, have wandered in winter
Over the flood of the foam-frozen wave,
Seeking, sad-hearted, some giver of treasure,
Someone to cherish me friendless—some Chief
Able to guide me with the wisdom of counsel,
Willing to greet me and comfort my grief.

Chill is his heart as he roameth in exile—

Knoweth he well that all friendless and lordless
Sorrow awaits him a long bitter while;—
Yet, when the spirits of Sorrow and Slumber
Fasten with fetters the orphaned exile,
Seemeth him then that he seeth in spirit,
Meeteth and greeteth his master once more,
Layeth his head on his lord’s loving bosom,
Just as he did in the dear days of yore.

But he awaketh, forsaken and friendless,
Seeth before him the black billows rise,
Seabirds are bathing and spreading their feathers,
Hailsnow and hoar-frost are hiding the skies.

Sad is the mind that remembereth kinsmen,
Greeting with gladness the days that are gone.

When the sad exile so often must send
Thoughts of his suffering spirit to wander
Wide o’er the waves where the rough billows blend.

Thus is the earth with its splendor departing—
Day after day it is passing away,
Nor may a mortal have much of true wisdom
Till his world-life numbers many a day.
He who is wise, then, must learn to be patient—

Surely the wise man may see like the desert
How the whole wealth of the world lieth waste,
How through the earth the lone walls are still standing,
Blown by the wind and despoiled and defaced.
Covered with frost, the proud dwellings are ruined,
Crumbled the wine-halls—the king lieth low,
Robbed of his pride—and his troop have all fallen
Proud by the wall—some, the spoil of the foe,
War took away—and some the fierce sea-fowl
Over the ocean—and some the wolf gray
Tore after death—and yet others the hero
Sad-faced has laid in earth-caverns away.

Void stood the work of the giants of old!

From ‘The Wanderer’
Anglo-Saxon Literature
Translation of William Rice Sims

http://www.bartleby.com/library/poem/262.html]]>
Old English poetry is important to me, as it links us to the Dark Ages in a very real way.
Despite being written down in the early Christian era, the poetry betrays much of its pagan roots.

Here I have taken some lines from ‘The Wanderer’, which title I have transliterated as the ‘earth-stepper’.
The poem ponders the theme of alienation, and shows that there are many kinds of doom.
And yet, in the deepest moments of abjection appear sudden reveries and insights – peaks of a higher perception.

I began by freely accompanying the poem on the lute, an instrument which gets us closer to the Dark Ages.
I then added electric guitar and bass etc., for extra colour.
Lorenzo Quant had sent me a Midi track for a possible collaboration. Here I have used part of it for some subtle background colour in certain places.

Most of all, there is the reading of the poem by the poet Charles Bryant. I like the way he really owns the poem, sounding like the aged and broken writer of the original.

Bill Boethius; lute, electric guitar, electric bass, drum machine, sound fx.
Charles Bryant; reading
https://youtu.be/pqzC4GCaWds

Some background midi keys from Lorenzo Quant:
https://soundcloud.com/orenzouant

from The Wanderer

OFT-TIMES the Wanderer waiteth God’s mercy,
... Long must he row o’er the rime-crusted sea—

—Fate is severe.

Of hardships, the wanderer saith:—
Oft must I lonely, when dawn doth appear,
Wail o’er my sorrow—since living is none
Whom I may whisper my heart’s undertone.

Weary at heart, yet his Fate is unyielding—
Help cometh not to his suffering mind.

Thus must I often, afar from my kinsmen,
Fasten in fetters my home-banished heart.

I, a poor exile, have wandered in winter
Over the flood of the foam-frozen wave,
Seeking, sad-hearted, some giver of treasure,
Someone to cherish me friendless—some Chief
Able to guide me with the wisdom of counsel,
Willing to greet me and comfort my grief.

Chill is his heart as he roameth in exile—

Knoweth he well that all friendless and lordless
Sorrow awaits him a long bitter while;—
Yet, when the spirits of Sorrow and Slumber
Fasten with fetters the orphaned exile,
Seemeth him then that he seeth in spirit,
Meeteth and greeteth his master once more,
Layeth his head on his lord’s loving bosom,
Just as he did in the dear days of yore.

But he awaketh, forsaken and friendless,
Seeth before him the black billows rise,
Seabirds are bathing and spreading their feathers,
Hailsnow and hoar-frost are hiding the skies.

Sad is the mind that remembereth kinsmen,
Greeting with gladness the days that are gone.

When the sad exile so often must send
Thoughts of his suffering spirit to wander
Wide o’er the waves where the rough billows blend.

Thus is the earth with its splendor departing—
Day after day it is passing away,
Nor may a mortal have much of true wisdom
Till his world-life numbers many a day.
He who is wise, then, must learn to be patient—

Surely the wise man may see like the desert
How the whole wealth of the world lieth waste,
How through the earth the lone walls are still standing,
Blown by the wind and despoiled and defaced.
Covered with frost, the proud dwellings are ruined,
Crumbled the wine-halls—the king lieth low,
Robbed of his pride—and his troop have all fallen
Proud by the wall—some, the spoil of the foe,
War took away—and some the fierce sea-fowl
Over the ocean—and some the wolf gray
Tore after death—and yet others the hero
Sad-faced has laid in earth-caverns away.

Void stood the work of the giants of old!

From ‘The Wanderer’
Anglo-Saxon Literature
Translation of William Rice Sims

http://www.bartleby.com/library/poem/262.html]]> 2211621 no no Tue, 31 Jul 2018 12:56:04 +0200 2018-07-31T12:56:04+02:00 10:04 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-sodden-glimmerings-of-gloam/
Face pressed to the damp mud,
The moon lashed rays of the morning sun
Fleet in.
Awaken, Ragnarok:

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass.
Dariusz Jackowski; fingerdrummming
https://soundcloud.com/dariusz-jackowski-1/fingerdrumming-open-invitation-for-jam-and-collaborate]]>
Face pressed to the damp mud,
The moon lashed rays of the morning sun
Fleet in.
Awaken, Ragnarok:

Bill Boethius; guitars, bass.
Dariusz Jackowski; fingerdrummming
https://soundcloud.com/dariusz-jackowski-1/fingerdrumming-open-invitation-for-jam-and-collaborate]]> 2228475 no no Mon, 06 Aug 2018 17:54:52 +0200 2018-08-06T17:54:52+02:00 10:05 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/blood-of-purple-hue/
Bill Boethius; fretless guitar, bass, chimes]]>
Bill Boethius; fretless guitar, bass, chimes]]> 2357330 no no Fri, 07 Sep 2018 14:50:21 +0200 2018-09-07T14:50:21+02:00 6:20 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/hagalaz/
Hagalaz is an ancient rune name, meaning 'hail'.
It is also the 'mother rune'.

During the ritual, Lyn Kalley Ingram sings half remembered snatches of songs, including 'come wander with me', suggested perhaps by the wanderings and wonderings of the rune god. While Ann Uta Beisswenger leads the rite, chanting some ancient proto-Germanic runes using the throat galdr technique.

Bill Boethius; acoustic and electric guitars, bass, & drum machine.
Lyn Kalley Ingram; vocal
Ann Uta Beiswenger; chanting

Galdr rune chants:
Othala
Ansuz
Thurisaz
Isa
Hagalaz

Ann Uta Beisswenger:
https://youtu.be/g-bNx97-JiQ

Lyn Kalley Ingram;
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram]]>
Hagalaz is an ancient rune name, meaning 'hail'.
It is also the 'mother rune'.

During the ritual, Lyn Kalley Ingram sings half remembered snatches of songs, including 'come wander with me', suggested perhaps by the wanderings and wonderings of the rune god. While Ann Uta Beisswenger leads the rite, chanting some ancient proto-Germanic runes using the throat galdr technique.

Bill Boethius; acoustic and electric guitars, bass, & drum machine.
Lyn Kalley Ingram; vocal
Ann Uta Beiswenger; chanting

Galdr rune chants:
Othala
Ansuz
Thurisaz
Isa
Hagalaz

Ann Uta Beisswenger:
https://youtu.be/g-bNx97-JiQ

Lyn Kalley Ingram;
https://soundcloud.com/lyn-kalley-ingram]]> 2382383 no no Sat, 15 Sep 2018 16:15:25 +0200 2018-09-15T16:15:25+02:00 10:18 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/ultimate-sparks-of-the-intimate-fire-the-book-of-the-law/
Reading by Robert Furtkamp.
Guitar sounds and production by Bill Boethius.
Words by Aiwass via Aleister Crowley.

https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp

http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm]]>
Reading by Robert Furtkamp.
Guitar sounds and production by Bill Boethius.
Words by Aiwass via Aleister Crowley.

https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp

http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm]]> 2401277 no no Wed, 19 Sep 2018 15:15:15 +0200 2018-09-19T15:15:15+02:00 50:25 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/death-of-my-soul/
May I have courage to take from my own superabundance.
Let me forget righteousness.
Free me of morals.
Lead me into the temptation of myself,
For I am a tottering kingdom of good and evil.
May worth be acquired through those things I have pleasured.
May my trespass be worthy.
Give me the death of my soul.
Intoxicate me with self-love.
Teach me to sustain its freedom;
for I am sufficiently hell.
Let me sin against the small beliefs.
- AMEN.
[from ‘The Anathema of Zos’, by Austin Osman Spare, 1927]
https://youtu.be/55m4ENityJM
Cover line drawing by Austin Osman Spare

Austin Osman Spare is easily my favourite artist/thinker.

Salient words from the above passage filter through this piece.

Bill Boethius; electric & acoustic guitars, bass and drum machine.
Orlee Stewart; voices]]>
May I have courage to take from my own superabundance.
Let me forget righteousness.
Free me of morals.
Lead me into the temptation of myself,
For I am a tottering kingdom of good and evil.
May worth be acquired through those things I have pleasured.
May my trespass be worthy.
Give me the death of my soul.
Intoxicate me with self-love.
Teach me to sustain its freedom;
for I am sufficiently hell.
Let me sin against the small beliefs.
- AMEN.
[from ‘The Anathema of Zos’, by Austin Osman Spare, 1927]
https://youtu.be/55m4ENityJM
Cover line drawing by Austin Osman Spare

Austin Osman Spare is easily my favourite artist/thinker.

Salient words from the above passage filter through this piece.

Bill Boethius; electric & acoustic guitars, bass and drum machine.
Orlee Stewart; voices]]> 2594079 no no Tue, 27 Nov 2018 12:00:26 +0100 2018-11-27T12:00:26+01:00 8:55 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/a-model-of-the-universe/
All creativity suggests a model of the universe.

And every such model includes the catastrophe of that said universe.

Bill Boethius; theremin, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, synth, drum machine.]]>
All creativity suggests a model of the universe.

And every such model includes the catastrophe of that said universe.

Bill Boethius; theremin, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, synth, drum machine.]]> 2621379 no no Thu, 06 Dec 2018 16:57:43 +0100 2018-12-06T16:57:43+01:00 7:59 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-sisters-of-rarn/ Cover art, Bill Boethius]]> Cover art, Bill Boethius]]> 2644547 no no Thu, 13 Dec 2018 13:57:54 +0100 2018-12-13T13:57:54+01:00 6:00 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/the-cat-said-jozxyqk/
Rumblin' Cynth Rampo recently posted an open collab synth solo called Jozyq.
https://soundcloud.com/rumblin_cynth_rampo/jozyxq
A puzzling title very similar to the word that occurs in the sci fi series Red Dwarf.
The word describes getting one's genitals 'caught' - painful!
Hence lots of anguished glitchy guitar and wailing feline Theremin [it is, after all, a cat word].

Bill Boethius; Theremin, guitar, guitar synth.
Rumblin' Cynth Rampo; Synth

Short excerpt from Red Dwarf used for review purposes only.

"Jozxyqk is supposedly a word in the language of the Felis sapiens.
The Cat revealed this to Dave Lister as the two played Scrabble, and the Cat used it as one of his words to win. According to the Cat, it is a genuine Cat word, being "the sound you make when you get your sexual organs trapped in something".
Lister was wary, believing that the Cat may have been making the word up, and therefore cheating. Asking if it was in the dictionary, the Cat replied to Lister that it could be, if you're reading in the nude and close the book too quick. He then demonstrated how this word would be pronounced. Lister remained skeptical ("Bodyswap", Series III)
Red Dwarf"
https://youtu.be/n_rsLagmU3I]]>
Rumblin' Cynth Rampo recently posted an open collab synth solo called Jozyq.
https://soundcloud.com/rumblin_cynth_rampo/jozyxq
A puzzling title very similar to the word that occurs in the sci fi series Red Dwarf.
The word describes getting one's genitals 'caught' - painful!
Hence lots of anguished glitchy guitar and wailing feline Theremin [it is, after all, a cat word].

Bill Boethius; Theremin, guitar, guitar synth.
Rumblin' Cynth Rampo; Synth

Short excerpt from Red Dwarf used for review purposes only.

"Jozxyqk is supposedly a word in the language of the Felis sapiens.
The Cat revealed this to Dave Lister as the two played Scrabble, and the Cat used it as one of his words to win. According to the Cat, it is a genuine Cat word, being "the sound you make when you get your sexual organs trapped in something".
Lister was wary, believing that the Cat may have been making the word up, and therefore cheating. Asking if it was in the dictionary, the Cat replied to Lister that it could be, if you're reading in the nude and close the book too quick. He then demonstrated how this word would be pronounced. Lister remained skeptical ("Bodyswap", Series III)
Red Dwarf"
https://youtu.be/n_rsLagmU3I]]> 2772445 no no Thu, 24 Jan 2019 12:19:53 +0100 2019-01-24T12:19:53+01:00 10:04 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/floating-liquid-gardens-remastered/
It showcases reversed electric guitar - the guitar used was a left-handed Strat copy which I played right handed for the Jimi vibe.

Bill Boethius; guitars, synth, drum machine, production]]>
It showcases reversed electric guitar - the guitar used was a left-handed Strat copy which I played right handed for the Jimi vibe.

Bill Boethius; guitars, synth, drum machine, production]]> 2813387 no no Tue, 12 Feb 2019 10:22:57 +0100 2019-02-12T10:22:57+01:00 8:38 https://hearthis.at/bill-boethius-6e/blue-rings-under-saturn/
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass and drum machine]]>
Bill Boethius; guitars, bass and drum machine]]> 3036510 no no Tue, 23 Apr 2019 13:39:20 +0200 2019-04-23T13:39:20+02:00 8:35