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(Untitled Artwork by Fred Bonneau)

« Polygraph » is intended as a portrait of human relationships turning to the sour, hinting at the necessity of constant genuineness. The composition lasts a little over 10 minutes and is composed of the following four sections :

1. Exposition
2. Confrontation
3. Consideration
4. Vindication

I have a particular fondness for that piece of music. One fine evening many years ago, the TV was on to Robert Lepage’s movie « Le Polygraphe » as I stumbled upon the main motif while tryi

("Steamroller" by dam)

The closing movement of « Juggernaut » is entitled, simply, « Epilogue. »

Inspired by ELP's « Abaddon's Bolero » from their « Trilogy » album, this instrumental piece is based on a single theme that is played in harmony by all the instrumentalists over various but similar chord progressions.

The section starts with bass line and triangle, soon followed by the main theme on guitar, and then the various instruments progressively add their voice to the ensemble. The music cres

("Label from a bottle of O·c·t·a·T·o·n·i·c" by Christopher Stewart, using a picture of William Henry Fox Talbot by Antoine Claudet)

The eighth and final movement of « Octoccata » is entitled « Multilethalead » and starts on a ostinato-based progression that slowly morphs into a relentless string of offbeat melodies harmonized by an increasing number of voices, building up to a climactic reprise of the « Lethal Lead » theme introduced in the fourth movement.

The « Multi » part of the section's ti

("Fugue" by Wassily Kandinsky)

The central theme of « In Our Space » is the idea of building, of perhaps finding or reaching, a space where one is free to simply be themselves and do as they feel they should.

At the personal level, this corresponds to finding true purpose and staying in alignment with it, remaining centered at all times in that ideal sacred space, or pure land.

The second part of « In Our Space » is an instrumental entitled « A Space Where We Can Be » which comprises two movement

("Ratha Yatra Festival in Puri, India" by James Fergusson)

The third part of « Juggernaut, » entitled « Procession, » evokes the arrival of the juggernaut before it unleashes into a frenzy of steamrolling.

The title and music of this section are both inspired by the origin of the word. From Wikipedia :

One of the most famous of Indian temples is the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Orissa, which has the Ratha Yatra ("chariot procession"), an annual procession of chariots carrying the murtis (statues) of

("Nixie eight" by L. Marie)

How on Earth can a musical movement be named « Progigoriation » you ask ? Well, obviously, because it's the prog rock variation of another similar movement entitled « Igorchestral » I emphatically reply. And so it is that the music of this sixth movement of « Octoccata » is closely related to that of the aforementioned second movement, with the noticeable difference that it is orchestrated for a 5-piece rock band comprising of drums, bass, guitar, organ, and synth.

If

("Surface Tension" by darkmatter)

In « Surface, » the sixth chapter of « The Dam, » the protagonist/narrator is gradually returning to activity after having transformed into who he feels like being, and will ultimately reach the surface where he will properly begin his new existence.

In the storyline, this step marks the end of a long process of metamorphosis wherein one has endured many transformations and shed that which belongs to their former way of being. Once released from the demanding tr

("The Miraculous Draft of Fishes" - Author Unknown - photography by TTaylor)

"Asking For A Miracle" is a short instrumental piece arranged for acoustic instruments, and written in a time of dire need.

While working on it, I recalled a tarot reading I gave to the fiancée of my sole nephew, sometime after she had lost her first unborn baby. Although she never voiced her question, I felt that she was hoping to try to give birth again. The cards clearly told that the possibility was there despite what

("The path to enlightenment" by rohit gowaikar)

"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)

After Simon tells his roshi the story of the man who waited at the door of the Law, he begs him to explain the dark parable. The teacher replies that he will explain it, if Simon follows him into the zendo. So the young American fol

(Blue Morpho Butterfly by Martin Johnson Heade)

The third part of “The Idler” is entitled “Upward.”

The idea behind the movement is quite simple : once the necessity of evolution has been recognized and accepted, there’s only one way to go and its up.

To convey the feeling of somebody who is reinventing themselves, the music reintroduces some of the themes already presented earlier in the suite, but gives them new forms or turns them completely inside out.

There are no vocals in his section. Here's

("Climbing Plant" by Popperipopp)

“Creeper” is directly inspired by the following aphorism from The Dhammapada :

The streams flow everywhere; the creeper, having sprung up, becomes established. When you see that creeper sprout, sever its root by intense insight. – (XXIV. Craving, #7)

and accompanying translator’s note :

The “creeper” is insidious suggestion, rooted in ignorance and craving, developing into bondage, aggression, and folly. To sever it the moment it sprouts is what the Tao Te Ching ref

("Huike Thinking" by Shi Ke)

"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)

The second section of the suite is entitled "Plight" and presents the situation in which Simon Moon, a young American man studying Zen, finds himself after reading "Before The Law," a mystifying parable which can be found near the end of the Czech au

("Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji Meditation Hall" by Michael Dougan)

"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)

The 4th part is entitled "Pedagogue" and tells the story of the roshi's response to his student's plight.

Now I see
Dear Simon why you looked so weary

Don't worry
I will explain the allegory
And from its bind you will be

("Informaëlstrom" by poligraf)

1000 Radios is a two-part piece which explores the relationship between an individual and their reality, a subject and their objective world.

The second part, "Informaëlstrom," aims to depict this reality gone awry, a maelstrom of information as it were, and the struggle of the individual endeavouring to escape the chaos and finally break through the confusion to revel in understanding and effortlessness.

The piece is an instrumental, but I thought I'd write some rel

("Upward" - detail from an old kindergarten painting)

The Idler was born of a combination of concepts discovered while exploring various domains of knowledge during the second half of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s.

« The idler who does not arise when it is time to arise, who is full of sloth though young and strong, who is lazy and weak in thought and mind, does not find the path to insight. » – The Dhammapada

I was developing an interest in Buddhism, and from the works of Jung, in the c

("Tibetan Sand Mandala" by Mary Mueller)

The central theme of « In Our Space » is the idea of building, of perhaps finding or reaching, a space where one is free to simply be themselves and do as they feel they should.

At the personal level, this corresponds to finding true purpose and staying in alignment with it, remaining centered at all times in that ideal sacred space, or pure land.

Originally, the scope was limited to that level only, and the word space was referring to an individual’s mind s

"Reinfused" is basically a rehash of the material presented in "Lifeforce," but with an emphasis on shifting time, forward movement, and dynamism, to suggest the removal of obstacles from the path of a process which is then finally allowed to follow its course toward completion.

The piece is an instrumental. Here is the related poetry :

Tell me when are these times that I have dreams about
Are they mere memories of better days gone by
Unsubstantial fancies fated to fade away
Or horizons waiting to b

("In Search Of Lost Time" by bogenfreund)

« Lifeforce » is the story of a personal catastrophe, an individual end of the world, beginning from a state of inspiration and hyperactivity, through doubt, destabilization, failure, consternation, collapse, and then on to relativisation, assessment, the return of hope, and renewal.

The story is told in non-linear time, beginning just after the collapse, and its various stages are presented as objects of an introspection which will lead to appraisal and

("Artwork on the Anschutz Medical Campus" by Rinaldodsouza)

"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)

The conclusion of the suite is a short section wherein I present my interpretation of the parable. The music is basically a reprise of the introduction, with a very simple acoustic guitar and vocals arrangement, so as to

("Aurora Borealis" by Frederic Edwin Church)

I am a child
Of the Sky and the Stars
Loving and sweet as Venus
And fierce as Mars

I'm lucky as Jupiter
Each brand new day I
Bathe in a meteor shower
Under the Milky Way

Brothers and Sisters high
In a round of light
We paint the aurorae
On the canvas of the night

I am a child
Of the Sun and the Moon
I sustain the gull in flight
And soothe the crying loon

Porcupine petting - And
Rhinos meal at noon - Then it's
Off to the desert 'til the evening
Shift to shape the dunes