“Dream big,” I remember my mother telling me. “Dream big like the stars.”
It was 4AM and I lay awake thinking of my future. Today was the day I’d begin training for my new job. Of course I felt excited and although I did not feel nervous, I did feel a bit of unexplained pressure. Normally, whenever I start something new I try to do as much preparation as possible so that I know my way around the ship, as they say.
As I lay there watching the morning light make its way onto the backside of my curtains, illuminating the whole drapery like the delicate bio-luminescence of the sea, I felt the heaviness of my eyelids.
When I finally awoke it was 8AM. I was not late, but I would not be as early to training as I had wanted. I got out of bed and prepared myself for the day. As I exited my front door and made my way to my transport vehicle I felt the sunshine warm me as it invigorated my senses.
Along the way, I daydreamed of my future. Would I become a solitary figure in the pursuit of happiness for future generations to come, or would I start living my life with each passing breath?
When I arrived, I was told to report to “Building A” in order to begin my training. It was the first step toward my new future, one that I was in control of and I felt proud.
Summary of themes:
An observer disturbs the balance. A holographic understanding of the world takes shape.
When we feel the warmth of the Sun, we feel the Sun’s life-giving force. We feel life.
Which is it, then? Does the Sun simply give life, or is it alive?
Where is our character headed in this opening Chapter? Stay tuned to find out.
It starts like the descending walk of an Egyptian Pharaoh, and subsequent journey across the desert.
For “A Dream,” and “Beyond” in these elements you’ll discover possibly more than you could have imagined.
The eventual giddiness of “Babylon” gives way to an intense and sophisticated cerebral soup with smiles and groove.
Enter the buzzing and drawn out chorus of percussion, with crashing cymbals, and highlights of woodwinds and brass.
Track Two: “Beyond A Dream” kicks off in a similar fashion as “Babylon,” but soon finds a groove of its own. This is a different pace and place now that reminds me of a more modern time.
Shifting colors, interpretations, a montage of industrial rhythms and sounds.
Announcements, computer technology, city transit and other forms of industry give rise to the jungle.
Scat soon becomes the breathe of the land and a looming question of “Why?” seems to persist.
Announcements by the birds, by the beat, by African, European, American gibberish.
Expectations to let go, thoughts drop and flutter, saying “whatever” as they fly on by.
They buzz and proclaim as they fade away…
“Montreux Overture” continues the fluttering that now feels like more of a threat.
This is a new start to motion, lurching forward, go! Leave!
The bees and bugs, and sun and elephants ready to defend their jungle as they shout.
Experimental rhythms are out for blood and want to give it all.
Fireworks, death, sirens, cars honking, an elephant trumpet signals aggression and distress.
Stop: As the wind blows by, we sing and fly away to the stillness of Earth at a magnificent height, or maybe not… as Side 1 of “Beyond A Dream” comes to an end.
What will be stopped? What killing or birth has commenced? This moving piece of music proclaims and yet ceases…
“The End of the Beginning” starts with a presentation of themes. A golden piano whizzing with new ideas and life.
Elements, scales, shadows… if this piano had teeth, like a chattering skull it may be singing the choruses of a thousand voices.
Steely and climbing, we ascend the towers of scaffolding that designate our modern lives.
Where do we go from here? A harrowing herd passes and we smile…
New expressions and pleasure, abstractions and wind chimes… let us sing! Dance! Go!
The fault lines of sorrow and misery bring a reprise to themes… groove.
The bass, soul, rhythm, shakers, and groove… they all perform to be heard and felt.
Rattle on and show us! Demonstrate the elements of life, with shake and expels of ‘forgotten memories’ that in this case we just can shake.
Forge, in love, and bouncing elation the road ahead that plows and herds and stampedes at times to bring a shouting of announcements to the world. A Pharaoh rides on…
Elements do return, and they make their presence, as they are part of the jungle. They re-emerge for they are part of life, born and contrasting in their very presence.
Pathways of stillness give rise to movement as they flutter and slide and nod and tip the hat to riders of deceit who are on the fringe of foul trades and other beats.
But the ambience of guitar and strings brings a standard to the mix.
Tiresome and annoyed, we sometimes laugh through the elements in view of our personal anguish. Laughter is some of the best medicine we have…
Bells ring true and fade away like the alarms of a studying clock for when the assignment has become past due and there’s no other coming-to-terms that is necessary other than what you are capable of in this moment.
These thoughts can lead to action and a progression forward. Like the groove, “Casino Latino” blends well to bring a closure to the former calls of sirens and melee of the jungle. We will not forget it even in bliss.
Modern and ancient, like referees shouting calls during a game, we hear a world of proclamations, of action.
Overall, this record has spoken to me in so many distinct, and yet non-distinct, ways. Meaning, there is a language of instruments that can be interpreted and felt, and that can give rise to many imaginative things. I really enjoy this record and I’m happy to have come across it, and for your review and reading pleasure.
The beat goes on, and indistinct shouting continues to jar and stir us in and out of the worlds we inhabit. For me, this supports the groove and mindfulness toward it.
Pharaoh Sanders & Norman Connors – Beyond A Dream – Recorded Live at Montreux Jazz Fest 1978.
The first song hits you like a mellow 70s groove with legs. Trey’s guitar sounds like a trumpet in a Smokey Jazz Club. He’s drowning in a list of things we can all share. Thoughts – Feelings – all of the heavy ones.
“Ghosts of the Forest” kicks off a stutter step tip-toe like dance with soothing metallic harmonies of self-reflection.
That guitar though, it’s sexy like the sunset and heavy like an abyss.
Song Two continues the Wurlitzer-like rotating FX with lyrics of “Drift While You’re Sleeping.”
There’s something about the ascending scales later on that remind you of how special those Choral FX truly are.
At first I heard the Bass as Heavy and the Guitars in a Watery Grave, and I realize now that’s the planting of the seed that our dreams can bring…
If “Ghosts of the Forest” enumerate a list of grievances toward life, then “Drift While You’re Sleeping” is life.
Listen to a chorus of trees that have root growth and tell the story of their existence.
We are all one and love is the answer is a nice resting place to soak it all in.
“Drift While You’re Sleeping” continues as an epic journey in its own right seamlessly moving from groove-to-groove, and stage-to-stage in our collective living evolution.
Enjoy this wonderful album! I always listen twice, and man the second time feels good. Is that because of the edible I ate earlier? Sometimes we have to get out of our own way.
B SIDE
“Friend” reminds me of loss and misunderstanding. I feel exhausted by emotion and I’m tired of trying to prove myself.
It’s one of those grooves you just wanna have with your besties. You take it down a notch so you can dig in and then kick it into high gear all while communicating clearly and openly. Being authentic sometimes has less to do with a sense of self than it does with a tired soul trying to keep up with a modern life.
The band gives it nice resting ground to sink. This mellow bottom, and longing, a drowning and bursting with big guitar eventually sinks like a rock. Resting, there’s acceptance.
“About To Run” kicks off defiantly with a rising groove. It’s like a confession for being alive. Trapped regrets eventually give rise to explosive expression. So we resolve to act.
This heavy groove reminds me of a beast who acts out of beastly action. It does not think twice because it does not need to think twice. It knows what it wants and what it needs. “The ghost is always there.”
Where have I gone to? I’m “Halfway Home” and I’m really feeling these song transitions. I love an album that both rocks, and rolls onward like a story we can all relate to. Even if you can’t relate, you feel it. You feel something. There’s upbeat relief, with intensity, and rolling free. You know where you’re going, even if it’s hard.
There’s something that draws you in, and spits you out, but you go anyway. You want to deal with the source of things, and have a glimpse of the sun’s raw power. It’s refreshing, daunting, but you have backup. You’ve already seen and felt the worse parts of life, and you will conquer what’s left in order to be free.
Bent, but not broken.
C SIDE
My first thoughts are that this is a great road trip album.
I can see the “Long Lines” pass me by.
Calmly, I observe in my celestial craft. The voices express a range of emotions, scarred and uplifting.
A hammer, and sun, are the constructions of my mechanical view. There’s beauty in touch, and feeling.
So I am waiting… ready…
“Ruby Waves” is as Trey as you want Trey to always be. That drumbeat, specific lyrics, and mellow groove paint a truthful picture of life and death as if to say, they are the same thing.
Escape, truth, wonder, Fuck it! Go for it!
Dimensions are only barriers of space and time, and they can be transcended…
“It’s such a brief time we get to be here.”
“What was I so worried about?”
D SIDE
Out at sea, we drift so naturally…
A starry night, and watery magic…
It doesn’t get much better than this… there’s love, and trance…
A primordial abyss that you’re dancing atop, if that’s possible…
You are the abyss…
“Beneath a Sea of Stars” takes you on quite a journey…
If A, B & C set the stage, then now you are ‘live’ and rea-D-y to just be…
“And we’re free of time…”
The song gives plenty of space to groove and syncopate… and drift away…
The primordial ooze is oozing, and bubbling… it’d ominous if it weren’t so natural…
Suddenly, it has sprung free and is there to greet us in the form of morning birds and “phantasm.”
Views from a mountaintop bring activity, a mellow waking.
The ghosts are out to greet me…
They slide into the sea, guided by forces, oozing.
Hints of the ghosts give rise to an anthropomorphic dance. This is what we know. It’s “Blue! all around!”
It’s blueeeeeeee!
This is what we do!
The album exclaims by punching-in and aiming skyward.
Astral echoes of familiar resolve. Expect some nice organ on the coda to accompany you home.
And just like that, it’s gone, with an explosion to form your new home, here and now.
When I first arrived at Fingerprints Music on Thursday, it was the perfect opportunity.
I had already purchased items online that I was there to pick up, so naturally we browsed some more…
I didn’t know what I was looking for when I eventually made my way to the right side of the store where hip hop, soul, punk and music of the world was written on the name cards separating thousands of vinyl to choose from.
It didn’t take me long to discover what I was looking for:
The Roots of Chicha – Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru
Wow, so much yes!
I also didn’t know it until after I joyously showed Melissa my discovery, that she was actually looking for a record of Peruvian Music.
Our search was complete after 20 mins and a brown bag of vinyl to smile about.
When we arrived home, we started drinking some white wine with dinner and dropped that needle:
Side A let’s you know right away that it’s time to dance, so we danced.
Las Cumbias Eres Reál
If Side A were Downtown, maybe Side B is Uptown. Who knows really, it’s all about your imagination.
It’s upbeat, psychedelic, and sacalo!
I promise you that you will smell the food just as much as you will taste the smoke rising from the vibrant cumbias.
Eventually you come to find that it’s past 4am from a night on the town. Blurred lines and colored vibes mark the dreamy landscape that you have come to find.
That 1am strut y bailar now feels like the morning sun because you’ve danced all night and you’re ready to curse the name of your last broken hearted late night booty call.
Side C seems a bit wobbly, indeed the record refuses to lock in place. The groove is definitely all there, and the vibe is everywhere. Maybe you’re still drunk as well.
Wobbly Cumbias
If disc 1 was on land, then we are no longer there.
There’s a wah wah and a guapa to tell you more…
All in all, I give this record special privileges in my collection to play my heart for the passion that I know exists. In a world of misfortunes, this music belongs both among the stars and in our everyday life.
We can bring the cosmic realm all the way down to the ground and shake the night away knowing there’s a world worth dancing for.
An album of loud purple sounds. Someone popped their eggnog on a fruitcicle and created a new dessert.
When you go looking for an album of magnificence in groove and the possibility of a meow style, you pick downtown for the bass line and uptown for the tempo.
All the guitars work together like a saddle fits on a horse. Everybody finds their way.
Of course the drums do all the talking when they say n”sp “sp “sp “tat “tat and that bass is walking like it don’t care none except right here.
When people say things about me, I’m the baddest mountain. Like a thunder rolled in and said “hey!” Where all my dancers at?
Track One starts out clean and keeps riding till it’s over, no stops, just a belly up slouching cruise with a clear wind carrying the salty coastal air.
Track Two begins calm, but then finds an off ramp and gets subdued when it seems to find a clearing toward the beach.
Track Three is like a reflection of your grandmother’s memoirs that jot down everything from cookies to coastal swims. Beach days are fun, and everyone gets along just fine.
Track Four is a little more calm except when it tends to escalate for a minute as if to say, “hey, I’m here.”
Track Five continues onward like a boat on an anchor, swaying in the sea. The world can’t help but to bring rain. It’s just life.
Track Six reminds us of our mothers and fathers of the world. Those who lift us up.
Track Seven reads like “a Day in the Life,” and sings like “Bitches Brew.”
Track Eight tells us when to be happy and it’s all the time. “Could you be loved?”
Track Nine has more to say. And it’s that “we want more wine, and whiskey, and a good night’s sleep as much as possible. Someone needs to remind us of this more often, and that’s what this song is all about. Funk layered with harmonies and horns and a laid back approach to life in general. Just finding connection and being willing to embrace it for what it is and to do good wherever possible.
Track Ten someone told me to write them a song and here it is. I’m here for you.
Track Eleven slow grooves and a soft voice with some percussive style, congas and hand drums. Where a groove gets locked in. We are here.
Track Twelve bring rain and birds. In no particular order, someone lights a fire in the sky. With no warning, a siren calls and tempts.
Track Thirteen there is always morning to freshen the mood. The warm sun brings a calm. It feels good to soak it in and feel whole. Cosmic guitars bring a groovy vibe.
Track Fourteen we live in a musical space. Sound is our friend. We know it when we heart it. Soothing, vibey, a tip of the hat. A step in my walk. It’s all the same. Just groove with it.
Howdy Friends, Family, Seekers of Truth, and all you Dreamers out there,
“Live One” is live now, just live in the now, love one another, and stay a “Live One.”
Listen on your favorite streaming app, and check out the music video I made from my trip to Iceland.
“Live One,” is a new single from our coming album, “Life on Mars” that was writtenon a journey through Iceland.
“Life on Mars” represents our collective ability to create a better world filled with Love and Empathy, asking the question, “If we were to go to Mars, what would we want to do differently?”
Riley Hodges – Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar, Hammond B3 Tim Bullock – Bass Guitar Eric Hirschhorn – Saxophone Antoine Arvizu – Producer, Drums, Engineer
FULL LYRICS for “Live One”
I’ve been waiting for a sign that I should’ve seen 10 days ago. Staring at a blue sky swirling into red again. Like a vibrational high, I contemplate that I’m not fading. Just purify your mind. We’ll tear apart a magnet, baby. The rolling winds bring life when they whisper bursts of nothingness. I wonder if it’s known that we can be the nothingness. Like a thousand year stone and they call upon the night, “A Live One! A Live One!”
Capture moments that are still and wish we were forever now. The mother of this world uttering divine to men. If One is a gift to the many, God is manifest in contemplating. Within this or that are those that seek naught in the shackles breaking. Stillness in your mind, and it feels just like a loving kiss. Pouring rain in this life will bring returns of genesis. What’s it like to be a stone that’s shot into magma bursting out? I’ve been waiting for a sign and they call upon the night, “A Live One! A Live One!”
Riley Hodges is a musician from Long Beach, CA, and is the lead singer and songwriter for the Cosmic Cowboys. The music has roots in Americana with each song distinctly all its own.
“Street Walker” is the opening track of “Life on Mars” that recites the exclaims of pedestrian life through bouncy beats, clean guitar riffs and a padded saxophone, while “Maybelline,” a dreamer wanting to sleep among the stars, follows a laid-back funk-rhythm that is supported by uplifting vocals and a Hammond B3.
Riley grew up in his families bar business in Long Beach, CA and credits his parents for introducing him to good music. His mom had the hippest collection of music among his friends, and Riley’s uncle Roland, lead singer and keyboardist from the Elm Street Band, would play backyard parties at their house and events in the neighborhood while Riley was growing up. Riley began piano lessons at a young age, eventually switching to drums for a few years, then as a teenager picked up a guitar and learned to sing. Fast forward to adulthood, Riley operates Shannon’s bars, restaurant, and entertainment venue with his family, and as those businesses have grown, Riley intends to focus more on writing, recording, and playing live music. Over the past several years, Riley has written and recorded 20 original songs with growing commercial success. Listeners describe his music as catchy, upbeat, thoughtful and enjoyable.
Before the Cosmic Cowboys, Riley met and formed Taste of Red with his friends, John Capito and Tim Bullock, and they were fortunate to play their biggest venue to date at The Observatory in Orange County, CA. Fast forward several years later and John is now the lead guitar player for the Cosmic Cowboys, and their next biggest performance is scheduled for March 14, 2020 where the Cosmic Cowboys are ready to play to a large crowd of festival attendees for St. Pat’s Party on Pine hosted by Shannon’s Corner in Long Beach, CA.
Thanks again for reading! We appreciate your support, and we hope you enjoy the release of “Live One.”
P.s. If you haven’t seen our Kickstarter teaser, check it out here and consider making a pledge when we launch our Kickstarter on 3.20.20 for a cause that stands for Love and Empathy! Our goal is to raise $10,0000 so we can release “Life on Mars” on “vinyllll, vinyllll, vinylll!” in the Fall of 2020. With a little courage you too can experience this inspired vision through a beautifully produced Americana music album by hardworking humans just like you! Together, we can change the world through positive vibrations 🙂
Perspective In Sound 