One of my crazy moments. Experimenting with pure intuition in music. No pre-conceived arrangement. No knowledge. No skill in playing the keyboards. Just pure feeling and the moment. The spoken word is used from one of my very first CD-s I bought in Serbia, it's one of the first ever made in Russia. It's a collection of Russian Orthodox music. This part was a "song" with no music. Only the voice of a priest speaking. I find it mesmerizing so I had to through it in the mix. Only after I finished recording I realized this will have to come together with this voice. Somehow, my intuition has this Orthodox Christian sound... I'm still exploring it. I have more to come.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
With Hope
With Hope
I'm working on a list of songs for my band and I will post each one as I get it ready. The song you are listening is originally written by Darko Kraljic, a Serbian composer. This song was called Bez Nade (Without Hope) but I rewrote the lyrics as I felt the original is a bit too sad. Here is my lyrics:
With Hope
How many lonely people
How many broken hearts
Are lost without love
I wonder?
Not so long ago
We were part of
The story that would
never end...
The night has fallen
In my arms
You're sound asleep
Your face in peace
My heart in bliss
All over you
Looking at all those years behind
And all the years ahead
There's nothing I can see
But us together
Life is really simple
With your hand in mine
Your heart in mine
My life has hope
The night has fallen
In my arms
You're sound asleep...
Monday, November 7, 2011
Jacky and Saki
I was digging through some old crap I should have got rid of long ago, and came across my old essays, journals, and term works from the Vancouver Community College where I attended College Prep English classes after I moved to Canada. When I moved to Canada in 1995 i didn't speak any English except some very basic sentences. They put me in an Intermediate Level class so I had lots of catching up to do, and there I started my journey. The College Prep classes started after about a year of basic stuff. Now when I read them they seem so funny and naive so I decided to share it with you so you can have a chuckle.
"Jacky and Sacky (now I know this should have been spelled Saki)
Jacky and Sacky were the best friends that I ever had (ah that drama!), even though they were very different in character. One distant freezing winter in my childhood, in a morning dressed in frost, when icy brunches crack under the gusts of wind, two black scared eyes curiously stared at me from the shadow of a carton box on my veranda, shivering and waiting for my reaction. (Obviously I was getting into writing really seriously!). At my friendly approach the eyes responded by letting out the rest of the black-gray hair of the body, slowly, step by step, in a big hesitation, as if that small, but robust body of a dog had been beaten by men too many times. Those eyes caught me forever because they talked. While he was walking up to me, still trembling, they begged me to allow that miserable appearance to stay in the quiet and the warmth of the house, and they were promising, too. What they promised me that morning I fully understood the same afternoon when a visitor came. At first, Jacky waited to see if the man would just pass by or if he will try to enter the veranda. As he showed the latter, from a seemingly indifferent, dreamy little doggy, Jacky transformed into a frightening gigantic monster all over the place.
Jacky never bit. But no stranger ever entered the house. And he had an incredible hate toward wheels too. No matter how many cars or bikes would pass in a day, all of them had to experience Jacky's madness. He would run with all his might directly into a wheel, hysterically keeping his barking cheeks to the tire, after which the car would speed up and disappear with its tail between its legs. Jacky would always come home trotting after the job well done.Only once he went sadly back to the house. After two years of my abandoning him, because we had to move to a condo that my family could finally afford, I was riding my bike through the former neighborhood. While I was approaching the house and thinking if I would see Jacky, he launched off the gate and ran into the wheels of my bike. Although I was quite disturbed I called his name. The first time he missed it, but the second he stopped, looked straight into my eyes, and recognized me! What I saw was a real exhilaration. He did everything that he used to do when he greeted me after school or every time if he hadn't seen me for a while. He jumped, ran in circles, took my hands with his jaws, licked me, all with uncontrolled sounds of happiness. And that was the last time that I left him. The last that I saw him too. It was to sad to be repeated.
Sacky was an even more incredible dog. Even though you could hardly guess her breed like Jacky's, she was surprisingly smart. But, she was eager to learn, while Jacky was an independent, almost obstinate dog. A reason for that could be that she was no more than a three week old pup when my mother found her lost on a street. Jacky was a mature dog who chose his owners by himself. However, just after we met, Sacky caught my attention by instantly bringing back a small thrown ball. She learned very fast all ordinary, useful things while living in a house with a yard. Jacky was never allowed into the house, but he hadn't have any interest in that. Sacky was quite a lady. If the door was closed, she would call me to let her out, and also she would knock to let her in. While Jacky had hunted for the wheels, Sacky was a much better hunter for mice and rats than any of the neighbor's cats. She would share with me every one of her successes in hunting (which admittedly, was not necessary). Oh, if only Jacky had done that with the cars! I can't remember I ever played with Jacky, but Sacky loved to play. She even had her toys. With one of them, she trained me to join in with her - it was a small blue hedgehog with a whistle. Her catching a ball became developed to the extreme of doing that with her front paws. She even new how to sing! She had learned that while I was tuning my guitar with a whistle. You should have seen the expression on her face while she was trying to mimic the sounds. It was an expression of a person absorbed in the effort. Every time that she spent sleeping, I watched her face and I knew she was dreaming. Then I could always see the face of Jacky in his carton box - they both had personality. But, contrary to Jacky, she was never in a rage. She was friendly to all people and all of them loved her. She never hated cars, not even when one had hit her and injured her leg. But her fate was similar. I had to leave her as I moved to a different city. Once more she proved how incredible she was. It happened after a year, when I moved back to my town. One morning I found her in the shed with twelve new born pups. She had escaped from my friend where I had left her miles away, came to give birth, and after a short time she left.
I knew then that she had matured for she had made her first decision, as Jacky had done it long before. I knew too, that I will never have a dog again if I have to leave them."
And that was apparently supposed to be a comparison exercise...
Till next time
Your RB
"Jacky and Sacky (now I know this should have been spelled Saki)
Jacky and Sacky were the best friends that I ever had (ah that drama!), even though they were very different in character. One distant freezing winter in my childhood, in a morning dressed in frost, when icy brunches crack under the gusts of wind, two black scared eyes curiously stared at me from the shadow of a carton box on my veranda, shivering and waiting for my reaction. (Obviously I was getting into writing really seriously!). At my friendly approach the eyes responded by letting out the rest of the black-gray hair of the body, slowly, step by step, in a big hesitation, as if that small, but robust body of a dog had been beaten by men too many times. Those eyes caught me forever because they talked. While he was walking up to me, still trembling, they begged me to allow that miserable appearance to stay in the quiet and the warmth of the house, and they were promising, too. What they promised me that morning I fully understood the same afternoon when a visitor came. At first, Jacky waited to see if the man would just pass by or if he will try to enter the veranda. As he showed the latter, from a seemingly indifferent, dreamy little doggy, Jacky transformed into a frightening gigantic monster all over the place.
Jacky never bit. But no stranger ever entered the house. And he had an incredible hate toward wheels too. No matter how many cars or bikes would pass in a day, all of them had to experience Jacky's madness. He would run with all his might directly into a wheel, hysterically keeping his barking cheeks to the tire, after which the car would speed up and disappear with its tail between its legs. Jacky would always come home trotting after the job well done.Only once he went sadly back to the house. After two years of my abandoning him, because we had to move to a condo that my family could finally afford, I was riding my bike through the former neighborhood. While I was approaching the house and thinking if I would see Jacky, he launched off the gate and ran into the wheels of my bike. Although I was quite disturbed I called his name. The first time he missed it, but the second he stopped, looked straight into my eyes, and recognized me! What I saw was a real exhilaration. He did everything that he used to do when he greeted me after school or every time if he hadn't seen me for a while. He jumped, ran in circles, took my hands with his jaws, licked me, all with uncontrolled sounds of happiness. And that was the last time that I left him. The last that I saw him too. It was to sad to be repeated.
Sacky was an even more incredible dog. Even though you could hardly guess her breed like Jacky's, she was surprisingly smart. But, she was eager to learn, while Jacky was an independent, almost obstinate dog. A reason for that could be that she was no more than a three week old pup when my mother found her lost on a street. Jacky was a mature dog who chose his owners by himself. However, just after we met, Sacky caught my attention by instantly bringing back a small thrown ball. She learned very fast all ordinary, useful things while living in a house with a yard. Jacky was never allowed into the house, but he hadn't have any interest in that. Sacky was quite a lady. If the door was closed, she would call me to let her out, and also she would knock to let her in. While Jacky had hunted for the wheels, Sacky was a much better hunter for mice and rats than any of the neighbor's cats. She would share with me every one of her successes in hunting (which admittedly, was not necessary). Oh, if only Jacky had done that with the cars! I can't remember I ever played with Jacky, but Sacky loved to play. She even had her toys. With one of them, she trained me to join in with her - it was a small blue hedgehog with a whistle. Her catching a ball became developed to the extreme of doing that with her front paws. She even new how to sing! She had learned that while I was tuning my guitar with a whistle. You should have seen the expression on her face while she was trying to mimic the sounds. It was an expression of a person absorbed in the effort. Every time that she spent sleeping, I watched her face and I knew she was dreaming. Then I could always see the face of Jacky in his carton box - they both had personality. But, contrary to Jacky, she was never in a rage. She was friendly to all people and all of them loved her. She never hated cars, not even when one had hit her and injured her leg. But her fate was similar. I had to leave her as I moved to a different city. Once more she proved how incredible she was. It happened after a year, when I moved back to my town. One morning I found her in the shed with twelve new born pups. She had escaped from my friend where I had left her miles away, came to give birth, and after a short time she left.
I knew then that she had matured for she had made her first decision, as Jacky had done it long before. I knew too, that I will never have a dog again if I have to leave them."
And that was apparently supposed to be a comparison exercise...
Till next time
Your RB
Monday, October 17, 2011
"Bluesers" by Rebel Bran
MAKE SURE YOU TURN OFF THE PLAYER ON THE RIGHT!
This is my contribution to the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. The footage I recorded on Oct. 15. 2011 at the Occupy Vancouver protest. Take your chains off now!
Bluesers
From the deepest the sounds are flowing
I've got a song in the sparkle of my eye
It all kind of reminds of the blues
Black bluesers, awakening hopes
Black women, scars and pain,
People owning people
Blacks were saved by singing the blues...
A dozen blacks before chariots
How much of blood and the sweating downs
For the sake of the skies to be happy
Times are not much different now
It's how you say it, how much you pay it
The sky above is as godless as sin
Painful lives for all down below...
In the twilight faces seem same
Crazy horses are pulling into the sea
Nightmare nights are awaking fear
Don't wanna lose my face like that
It's time again to play the blues
Hold your hands together
It's time to reawaken the hopes
Bluzeri
Iz dubine mi naviru zvuci
Jedna pesma iz oka mi zra~i
Sve po malo je nalik na bluz
Crne bluzere bele de~ake
Crne `ene seku vene
Beli klinci progone ih
Bele crni ubija bluz
Ko~ije bele vuku ~etri ruke
Koliko znoja da se nebo ne ljuti
Ovo je neko sasvim drugo vreme
Ovde se ne zna ko te pljuje I krade
@ene }ute mu{ki rade
A odozgo smeje se zlo
One dole ubija bol
U polutami su ista sva lica
Ludi konji me vuku u more
No}ne more me bude u znoju
Ne}u tek tako ovde gubiti lik
Ko }e sada di}i ruke
Ko }e smeti da odsvira bluz
Bez tog glasa pobedi}e zli
Iz dubine mi naviru zvuci
Jedna pesma iz oka mi zra~i
Sve po malo je nalik na bluz
Crne bluzere bele de~ake
by Rebel Bran
This is my contribution to the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. The footage I recorded on Oct. 15. 2011 at the Occupy Vancouver protest. Take your chains off now!
Bluesers
From the deepest the sounds are flowing
I've got a song in the sparkle of my eye
It all kind of reminds of the blues
Black bluesers, awakening hopes
Black women, scars and pain,
People owning people
Blacks were saved by singing the blues...
A dozen blacks before chariots
How much of blood and the sweating downs
For the sake of the skies to be happy
Times are not much different now
It's how you say it, how much you pay it
The sky above is as godless as sin
Painful lives for all down below...
In the twilight faces seem same
Crazy horses are pulling into the sea
Nightmare nights are awaking fear
Don't wanna lose my face like that
It's time again to play the blues
Hold your hands together
It's time to reawaken the hopes
Bluzeri
Iz dubine mi naviru zvuci
Jedna pesma iz oka mi zra~i
Sve po malo je nalik na bluz
Crne bluzere bele de~ake
Crne `ene seku vene
Beli klinci progone ih
Bele crni ubija bluz
Ko~ije bele vuku ~etri ruke
Koliko znoja da se nebo ne ljuti
Ovo je neko sasvim drugo vreme
Ovde se ne zna ko te pljuje I krade
@ene }ute mu{ki rade
A odozgo smeje se zlo
One dole ubija bol
U polutami su ista sva lica
Ludi konji me vuku u more
No}ne more me bude u znoju
Ne}u tek tako ovde gubiti lik
Ko }e sada di}i ruke
Ko }e smeti da odsvira bluz
Bez tog glasa pobedi}e zli
Iz dubine mi naviru zvuci
Jedna pesma iz oka mi zra~i
Sve po malo je nalik na bluz
Crne bluzere bele de~ake
by Rebel Bran
Sunday, October 2, 2011
GOSPO cover by Rebel Bran - rehearsal
MAKE SURE YOU TURN OFF THE PLAYER ON THE RIGHT!
ISKLJUCI PLAYER NA DESNOJ STRANI!
Gospo is one of my all time favorite songs so I rewrote the lyrics in English with some changes in meaning, and still exprimenting with the arrangements. Originally it's written by Nesa Galija, one of the legends of Serbian rock and roll. The percussions are played on my iPhone with Loop Mash.Here is my version of the lyrics:
Gospo
Gospo tonightI'm singing for you...Because I feel your presence everywhereEventhough you hope I don'tEventhough you still pretendYou and INever existed...That's why tonightI'm turning into sound...That's why tonightI so want to sing sing singTo tie myself around your handsTo barricade all those kissesTo silence all those wordsSaid to someone elseSomewhereFar awaySo when you look at each otherYou remember the sound...Look at each otherRemember the sound..
rewritten by Rebel Bran
Translation to Serbian:
Gospo
Gospo veceras pevam za tebeZato sto osecam tvoje prisustvo svudaIako to ne zelisIako se i dalje pretvarasDa ti i ja nikadNismo postojaliZato se vecerasPretvaram u zvuk...I zato vecerasHocu da pevamDa se uvezem oko tvojih rukuDa barikadiram sve te poljupceDa ucutkam sve te reciIzgovorene nekom drugomDalekoI kad god se pogledateDa cujete taj zvuk...Pogledajte seSeticete se zvuka...
by Rebel Bran
Original lyrics by Nesa Galija
Gospo
Gospo vecerassamo vama pevam...Jer poslednji je putDa vidim ovo sunceDa vidim ove ljudeSto nikadPostojali nisu...I zato vecerasPretvoricu se u zvuk...I zato sadaHteo bih da pevamDa dodirnem te rukeDa dodirnem taj pogledDa dodirnem te reciKoje lete nekud dalekoI kad pogledi se sretnuI uspomene na tren oziveSetite se reciMojih zelja i snova...Nesa Galija
Buy "You and I 20 years later" on iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/beautiluf-wodrl/id361313...Buy Serbian version of the album on iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/ti-i-ja-dvadeset-godina-...Buy instrumentations album on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-and-i-instrumentatio...
ISKLJUCI PLAYER NA DESNOJ STRANI!
Gospo is one of my all time favorite songs so I rewrote the lyrics in English with some changes in meaning, and still exprimenting with the arrangements. Originally it's written by Nesa Galija, one of the legends of Serbian rock and roll. The percussions are played on my iPhone with Loop Mash.Here is my version of the lyrics:
Gospo
Gospo tonightI'm singing for you...Because I feel your presence everywhereEventhough you hope I don'tEventhough you still pretendYou and INever existed...That's why tonightI'm turning into sound...That's why tonightI so want to sing sing singTo tie myself around your handsTo barricade all those kissesTo silence all those wordsSaid to someone elseSomewhereFar awaySo when you look at each otherYou remember the sound...Look at each otherRemember the sound..
rewritten by Rebel Bran
Translation to Serbian:
Gospo
Gospo veceras pevam za tebeZato sto osecam tvoje prisustvo svudaIako to ne zelisIako se i dalje pretvarasDa ti i ja nikadNismo postojaliZato se vecerasPretvaram u zvuk...I zato vecerasHocu da pevamDa se uvezem oko tvojih rukuDa barikadiram sve te poljupceDa ucutkam sve te reciIzgovorene nekom drugomDalekoI kad god se pogledateDa cujete taj zvuk...Pogledajte seSeticete se zvuka...
by Rebel Bran
Original lyrics by Nesa Galija
Gospo
Gospo vecerassamo vama pevam...Jer poslednji je putDa vidim ovo sunceDa vidim ove ljudeSto nikadPostojali nisu...I zato vecerasPretvoricu se u zvuk...I zato sadaHteo bih da pevamDa dodirnem te rukeDa dodirnem taj pogledDa dodirnem te reciKoje lete nekud dalekoI kad pogledi se sretnuI uspomene na tren oziveSetite se reciMojih zelja i snova...Nesa Galija
Buy "You and I 20 years later" on iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/beautiluf-wodrl/id361313...Buy Serbian version of the album on iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/ti-i-ja-dvadeset-godina-...Buy instrumentations album on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-and-i-instrumentatio...
I Led Je Krenuo (The Ice is drifting down the river) rehearsal
MAKE SURE YOU TURN OFF THE PLAYER ON THE RIGHT!
ISKLJUCI PLAYER NA DESNOJ STRANI!
Buy "You and I 20 years later" on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/beautiluf-wodrl/id361313...
Buy Serbian version of the album on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/ti-i-ja-dvadeset-godina-...
Buy instrumentations album on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-and-i-instrumentatio...
ISKLJUCI PLAYER NA DESNOJ STRANI!
I was just fooling around with my new electric guitar and effects POD, and at the same time practicing so this is what came up. This is an old song from Biljana Petrovic from her album "Rock and Roll Dama" made in 1978... One of my favorites of course... I hope some people will remember it..
Here are the original lyrics:
I led je krenuo (by Biljana Petrovic)
I led, led je krenuo niz reku
a ptice jos nisu stigle
Jos uvek suze mi teku
I seta u dusi vlada
I led, led je krenuo niz reku
A proleca jos nema
Nema ni sunca na nebu
Jos se magle nisu digle
Proleca nece ni biti
Dok se ne vratis meni
Ni sunca ni cveca ni ptica nema
jer ih sve cuvas ti.....
Here is my lose translation in English:
The ice is drifting down the river
The ice is drifitng down the river
The birds have not arrived yet
I still have tears in my eyes
And melancholy is hiding in my soul
The ice is drifting down the river
The spring is not arriving yet
There is no sun on the sky
The fog is still not rising
I know the spring will not arrive
unless you come back to me
because the Sun, the flowers, and the birds
They all reside with you now...
ZOOM Handy Video Recorder
Here are the original lyrics:
I led je krenuo (by Biljana Petrovic)
I led, led je krenuo niz reku
a ptice jos nisu stigle
Jos uvek suze mi teku
I seta u dusi vlada
I led, led je krenuo niz reku
A proleca jos nema
Nema ni sunca na nebu
Jos se magle nisu digle
Proleca nece ni biti
Dok se ne vratis meni
Ni sunca ni cveca ni ptica nema
jer ih sve cuvas ti.....
Here is my lose translation in English:
The ice is drifting down the river
The ice is drifitng down the river
The birds have not arrived yet
I still have tears in my eyes
And melancholy is hiding in my soul
The ice is drifting down the river
The spring is not arriving yet
There is no sun on the sky
The fog is still not rising
I know the spring will not arrive
unless you come back to me
because the Sun, the flowers, and the birds
They all reside with you now...
ZOOM Handy Video Recorder
Buy "You and I 20 years later" on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/beautiluf-wodrl/id361313...
Buy Serbian version of the album on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/ti-i-ja-dvadeset-godina-...
Buy instrumentations album on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-and-i-instrumentatio...
Monday, August 8, 2011
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