Sunday 28 March 2021

PLUMERIA



I want to be loved ... needed ... 
Isn't that what everyone dreams of





P L UE R I A
volume up, 720p











optimized for night vision



a jim lamarche remix

from the album TWO LIVES
assembled in logic audio and final cut

featuring the roland system 8


choreographed & performed by nastja bremec & mikal rynia a film by giuseppe ippolito



source music: w/callan marchetti














see the ONE LIFE album/page here >>>
http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/

see the new TWO LIVES album/page here >>>
see the new THREE LIVES album/page here >>>


read more of Jim's blog posts here 

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project credits/contributors/links listed below
listen to the youtube album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)


special thanks to GRADO LABS in Brooklyn NY
for understanding how headphones
should be made





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Wednesday 10 March 2021

NORDLAND


it's this dream I keep having
dark drones

I get up, make hash tags of what I've just seen/heard
drop them into text-edit ... save
return to bed and envision them
slipping back into my slumber at 4am
smile, snow, wind ... the familiar echo
from a distant rail

maybe tomorrow I can plant them in youtube
and watch it grow

there's no knowing
what will happen




N O R D L A N D
volume up, 720p












optimized for night vision



growing up, I had 2 dreams over & over again
tornados and trains
volumes

not sure why the thing with trains
a fascination that I didn't want to admit to
but am for the very first time

trains smell amazing
sound amazing
when I later rode on them I always loved it
peaceful, quiet ... reflective
the passing landscapes

people rolling along, from a departure to a destination
on a short path - going somewhere

important


the reason I love this one so much
is because it was effortless

fresh











a jim lamarche remix

from the album THREE LIVES
assembled in logic audio and final cut

featuring the roland system 8


source music: w/colby sixx


train footage by bababouy



courtesy nordland railway
norway










see the ONE LIFE album/page here >>>
http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/

see the new TWO LIVES album/page here >>>
see the new THREE LIVES album/page here >>>


read more of Jim's blog posts here 



project credits/contributors listed below
listen to the youtube album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)


special thanks to GRADO LABS in Brooklyn NY
for understanding how headphones
should be created





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Sunday 28 February 2021

MIGRANT 2



there's a hint of desperation in the air
not that I'd want to disturb anything



M I G R A N T
volume up, 720p














a jim lamarche remix
from the album ONE LIFE
assembled in logic audio and final cut


featuring the roland system 8


source music: shah



see the ONE LIFE album/page here >>>
http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/



see the new TWO LIVES album/page here >>>


see the new THREE LIVES album/page here >>>












read more of Jim's blog posts here 




project credits/contributors listed below
listen to the youtube album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)








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Wednesday 17 February 2021

RENDEZVOUS with destiny



crickets
I'll meet you at the same place
at the same time

just don't tell anyone




R E N D E Z V O U S
with destiny









a jim lamarche remix
from the album ONE LIFE
assembled in logic audio, photoshop and final cut

featuring the roland system 8






read more of Jim's blog posts here 
listen to the album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
 














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Tuesday 19 January 2021

OLD FRIENDS



four and forty blackbirds, singing daydreams

volume up, 720p













old friends
the story behind the song


home - homeland
throw your worthless coins into my case



The title track from the album that was never released commercially.  Old Friends (the song) was recorded after I moved to Toronto in January 1980 after a 2 year hiatus from the studio. I was 23.  Acoustic ballads had no appeal to record companies back then, so it wasn't submitted as a possibility for my first album (later on) but I always liked it. No synths/samplers, computers or drum machines back in those days - just my guitars and now a recording studio at my disposal.  I barely slept in the 16 weeks that I was on that government grant.

I got into Kensington Sound, Toronto as an intern of sorts, through a program called OCAP which allowed me a short window to do something in the field in which I was educated.  Best part, is that I was given keys and security clearance, so I went in at night and spent several weeks playing with ideas on my own and this was the first song I recorded.


 

 







One thing that's really cool about being in a studio at 4 am, during yet another cold, late Canadian winter storm in Toronto recording voices when everyone else is asleep, stumbling home at 6 (sun rising) - for a noon callback - beyond that?  ... is that one comes up with ideas that would never have appeared if others were present - making it all more intimate. 

The high voices were recorded at half speed (15ips) on the 24 track analog recorder and then I put them through a Marshall Time Modulator (the vibrato effect), after bumping the speed back to 30ips.  This song was remastered in 2010 with Wave plug-ins and pulling it up recently, inspired to put some pictures to it in October 2015 - 35 years later.  

My best work has always been done in a relatively short period of time.  I wrote this song in a couple of hours before recording it that night in 6 hours (Feb 1980) and mixed it the following night in 2 hours.  This clip was assembled here in Final Cut on October 06, 2015 in 4 hours.  

A 12 hour project front to back.

Turns out I was hired on at Kensington Sound that April, where I continued as an engineer until that June before moving on to another studio ... Captain Audio in Yorkville, freelancing Eastern Sound then Amber Studios on Queen West.  













jimlamarche.ca




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Friday 15 January 2021

Visionary



change your heart - look around you


"the only language men ever speak perfectly
is the one they learn to speak in babyhood
when no one can teach them anything"

Maria Montessori



I S I O N A R Y








algebra?  why?
there's gotta be a reason
to learn this shit
because this whole 'reward' vs 'punishment' crap
just isn't working and

I'm not a numbers guy


chaos and confusion envelopes us early on
and we are filled with 'ideas' that throw us off course
ensconced in the world's insipid ideologies
handed down first by our parents
then our teachers/schools 
employers and so on
and on we go 











quarter century later
gravitating to the big city
because that's where we need to be
to be "in the loop"
a place where we can BE
someone 


today's special
flavour of the week
employee of the month
pushing forward because
that's what you're supposed
to do


it's no wonder why 
we need to 'medicate' 
in a jar


ah - all those precious memories


back to the days when young students - boys mostly
were strapped for misbehaving (boner, I mean bonus)
for their unwillingness to 
be compliant













I need your lovin' ... like the sunshine


in an abstract absence of empathy and humility
deliriously distracted denizens

 harassing those who are independent thinkers
for being unwilling to learn 
how to play the game
properly

it is a simple message
play by the rules and you'll be rewarded
question them and you'll be punished
plain and simple











truth is

we learn to 'adapt' to our surroundings
at an early age - reprimanded for rebelling
when in fact challenging the system 
is what all great thinkers did/do
to this day

only all too often many (most) of us are convinced 
early on that what we ultimately want
is something not possible

fear is instilled, then 
the waiting game begins

waiting for something better to come along
and release us from the cage
only it never does

accepting our fate, our chosen destiny
chosen by others - quietly coming to terms
with the crappy hand of cards we've been dealt because

that's just what you do
go ahead, have your way with me

I surrender



change your heart - look around you



I'm in heaven - I mean
ok, maybe I'll get lucky some day
maybe God will come down and give me a lap-dance
but only if I stick to the plan
and never question
the truth 

creature comforts
in the pleasure dome
glued to our sacred sacraments
in HD on our soiled screens

waiting
 











it's just a theory
that makes a lot more sense
to me 




I S I O N A R Y




as an artist/composer looking back
my favourite musical compositions are always
those created and conceived (and recorded) 
in a very short time-frame (minutes/hours)

thinking about it too much
just made it more elusive, distant
it's like it just arrives 
out of nowhere
 

with a simple invitation 














visionaries 
are those who see light in the darkness and quickly harness it
instead of ignoring the signs and signals

embracing them
turning nothing into something


change your heart
it will astound you 


if you care for your children
keep their environment uncluttered
free of useless gadgets and distractions
keep your conversation honest and straight-forward
free of control and manipulation
free of hidden agendas
free of fear
breathe












keeping one's decisions fair and generous
free of punishment and shame

and (most importantly) - free of blame

because fundamentally
we are all guilty 

of nothing





dedicated to Maria Montessori (1870-1952) 







Wednesday 2 December 2020

HEALER



"be faithful in small things
because it is in them - that your strength lies"

Mother Teresa



H E A L E R
  






 

it's an assumption


that fundamentally, we're all equal - embedded in the constitution
here in Canada especially - then there's "karma" 
then there's reality - the judgements - the walls of shame 
welcome to the fear factory - centuries of criminal behavior
 

conditionally condoned

adverse conditions creating chaos - abort alpha one charlie delta fox 
I'm going down - mayday - mayday - mayday
"requesting an emergency rescue evac - unknown co-ordinates 
on fire - crash and burn scenario subject seduction - with respect
just get your ass into the situation - now sir"

  I need a healer








"a man is but the product of his thoughts 
what he thinks, he becomes"

Mahatma Gandhi 


going down in flames
little chance of recovery
fading voices - shadowy shape shifters
downward spiral - blunt force - smoke - fire -
reverberation - condemnation into redemption

she lies next to me in silence - shields down - surrender 
darkened room - in port - docked - respite repair
only it's a haze - a dream - years ago with her
is this real

in our bedroom - early on

reaching over and touching my wounded shoulder during intimacy
when time stood still - before anything mattered - this
 a genuine gesture that feels good - caring
in war crimes - realizing time is short
in this moment - stillness

 
 



"you - are a healer", a simple acknowledgement 
spoken quietly in the presence of grace and humility
empathy - compassion - deliverance - she receives the message in form
no expectation - only loving, accepting resolve - nothing matters
only what is right here - right now ... you are everything
and you are nothing

"shhh - close your eyes now - sleep dear"


that caress along my receding hair line
that soft kiss on my cheek - drifting
into slumber  - ah
home 










"the wound ... is the place where the light enters you"

Rumi


no attachment - no shame - no pretension - no fallout - no "discussion"
no need to pretend and/or hide behind anything 
no cruel constructions  - no walls of blame - no borderlines
it's simple, I think - it's all about "listening" (not speaking)  
the truth ultimately unfolds in receiving information
taking it in gently










when she walks into a room  
my heart goes bing - bang - boom - "mommy"!
waking from a dream at 5am - heart pounding - so real OMG 
so right there - I could touch her - shivering shaking
I feel cold


we all are conditioned to give and take according to the plan
braised on high heat from the very beginning - barbecued chicken 
 deliciously sauced and served with a side of our choice 

 





for some it's religion - for others it's faith 
for others it's a simple good nights sleep
awakening into resolution and refreshment  
for me it's all of the above
I am thank-full - yes god - the affirmation
the adoration returning

thank you











H E A L E R




 
it doesn't matter who I am - or what I stand for
it's not about my conquests or my fears, regrets
accomplishments - mistakes
none of that

it's about my intention
in willingness to let go of everything
lose the baggage
ah

right here - right now












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