Elongation

I thought I was done with making Obscura and planned to upload it last week, but then a few new ideas for music caught up with me and of course, it had to be during exam time. My brain won't let me study, but yeah, I'm plugging away at my tunes after a rather bleak November.

Does this ever happen to anyone? The one day you need your brain for something else, and it shifts to more creative things? 

I really need to study molecular biology...

Eclosion

Sometimes, thoughts and feelings can sit there in my mind for months. They rot and they decompose, and morph into other things, give their energies away so something new can coalesce. Most of the time it doesn't and I peel my skin off and sit waiting for the new one to harden.

But all things, I guess, must eventually go through eclosion. 

spirare listens: a peek at my playlist

So, I haven't entirely forgotten this blog. I just didn't have much motivation to write. The state of my drafts folder on this blog is quite pitiful - I've been working on the same damn post - which is still not complete - for weeks! University started miserably, and it wasn't until I gave a molecular biology test that went pretty well -I despise this subject actually- that things began to look more positive. The sunshine feels warmer, and I'm thinking of actually penning down those short stories rattling in my head. And socializing, of course. I feel like going out and actually talking to people. The saddest thing about my cellphone gallery these days is that since uni started, its been filled with blurry pictures of cats instead of people. Being an introvert in a new place really, really sucks. I spend a lot of time listening to music and staring at nothing. Which leads me to the point of this post - the music I have classified as 'generally epicness'. Epic for the moment, at least.

Jinora's light

 
It's definitely some of the most beautiful music ever.... I feel if I should ever hike up a mountain, I should play this. It's part of the soundtrack to The Legend of Korra. It's not officially out yet, but this was posted on composer Jeremy Zuckerman's soundcloud.

Joga - Björk

I don't remember when I heard this song.... but I'm glad I did. I ended up digging around and listening to the entire album it is from,  Homogenic. The song features a classical string arrangement over volcanic eruptions - I mean volcanic sounding beats. Not only is the song incredible, I love the video too. I love the camera angles, the way we are being guided over Bjork's supine body - eyes closed and clad in and enormous parka, wow - to rocky shores, ice-capped peaks, a meandering river in a lush green landscape and finally spirals over the splitting rocky ground and into Bjork's 'heart' where the island resides. 

Breath of Life - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

I wasn't a lord of the rings fan before, but a few months ago I watched all three movies in rapid succession and ended up liking them very much, and consequently listened to its beautiful soundtrack. The soundtrack is complex - so many themes in many variations! The Shire theme, the fellowship's theme, a theme for that wretched Ring, for Lothlorien, for Arwen and Aragorn, for the orcs, for Rivendell, so on and so forth. This track from the soundtrack for The Two Towers stood out for me. The gorgeously ethereal vocals by Sheila Chandra lead us in the track, light and as a feather and fade out as the music gets faster, rising up to Aragorn's theme. 

Pagan Poetry - Bjork

(Go here if the song doesn't play.)

Ok, so Bjork made it to this list for the second time... I couldn't help myself. Pagan Poetry is from her album Vespertine. When I plodded my way through her discography and came upon Vespertine, it was the winter of 2012. Somewhere on the internet, I read a random comment that this album was perfect for winter. And by the time spring rolled around, I definitely agreed. I listened to Vespertine, for the first time in my life, in the tracklist order. Vespertine reminded me of many things. Ice crystals, sunshine on a meadow, leaves with frosty tips, howling winds, dark caves with echoes, hot springs... I could go on. The lovely harp played by Zeena Parkins is like a spiderweb weaving around all these things. Add in the 'microbeats', music boxes and the other instruments, and you got Vespertine! The highlight of Pagan Poetry is the stunning bassline... it seems to pull at your neurons. The lyrics are enigmatic yet you understand, that they are about intimacy. At the end, as she cries, "And he makes me want to hand myself over" you can't help but shiver a little. I recommend listening to it in the dark.Or better yet, listen to it when there's a power outage and fade away.

Pandora - Cocteau twins

(Go here if the song won't play)

The song features dreamy, floaty (illegible) vocals by Liz Fraser as the music gently swirls around. When you hear this song you wonder how ever could it be reproduced live? Well.... here's how...

and here's another live version from 1984:

I can't explain how atmospheric this song (or the whole album, Treasure) is for me. It fits remarkably in several situations and moods - whether you're feeling blue, daydreaming or staring off into space. It's feelings made into music. How do you describe a feeling?

-spirare

Slow down

Hiya guys

So I wanted to say that since classes at university have started, I've been busy and things have slowed down a bit. No worries though, I hope to keep trucking on as usual. 

Have a good weekend!

-spirare

spirare listens: a peek at my playlist

Welcome back, peeps.

Today I'm gonna give you guys a sample of my music playlist from about 5 years ago, when I was trudging my way through f.sc (pre-med) and suffering through nearly every minute of it. I despised the schedule that left me little time to sleep and for my hobbies. I'll admit I wasn't the intense studying type but after two years of a very demanding schedule my creative juices seemed to have gone stagnant. I listened to a lot of Garbage, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paramore, Emilie Autumn, the Rasmus and Sugababes, as well as a smattering of completely random classical music and film scores.

So, let's start with Garbage:

1. Push it - Garbage (Album: Version 2.0)

This is the noise that keeps me awake
my head explodes and my body aches

The lyrics are memorable, sung in Shirley Manson's distinctive earthy voice. The music is like a vortex - it sucks you and in and then gasps and whirls and spits you out.

2. Shalott - Emilie Autumn (from the album 'Opheliac')

...I'm half-sick of shadows...

Emilie Autumn's appearance and snarling, growling vocals might put many people off, but this song is one of my favourites. I am in love with the opening chords (played on a harpsichord) among the sound of gulls crying and the slamming of doors. Emilie has that slight rough edge to her voice that grates on the ears a bit, but it's unnoticeable as the song draws to a close. The song is fast-paced and there's a sense of urgency, as if one must tell a story and leap off to an adventure. The lyrics are based on the poem, 'The lady of Shalott' by Lord Tennyson. The cello and violin wreathe their merry way over and around the harpsichord arrangement. 

3.The Call - Regina Spektor

This gorgeous song is from the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It plays nearly at the end, as the Pevensies return to their own world. The bittersweet mood of this song makes me ache for happy times, for old friends, for things out of reach.

4. Precious Things - Tori Amos

This song is dark and moody with a brilliant piano build up. The lyrics get odder and odder (to me). But it's Tori Amos. I forgive her, since the chorus is so good. I'm still trying to figure out the second verse though. I couldn't find a non-youtube studio version, so you'll have to do with this live version. The quality's a bit iffy, but it can't be helped. It's a very good live version though. 

5.  Sail Away - The Rasmus

I remember hearing this song one day on some random german music channel. Since that day, it's been one of my favourites. I love Lauri's husky vocals here. This is a song for a rainy day.

So, have you ever listened to Garbage or any of the above mentioned music acts? What songs do you like?

-spirare

spirare listens: a peek at my playlist

Lahore is pretty serene today, after all the rain and the andhis and dust. Especially the dust. I swear I  dug up a truckload of it as I cleaned up my bookshelf. Then there was a ton of old kiddy books of mine I had to transfer to areas of the house with a lower, um, population density. All that running up and down the stairs tired me out, man. And it reminded me of so many things I was meant to do before classes start.

So as I was saying, Lahore is serene and so am I. Today I'm in the mood to sit back with a cup of doodh patti wali chai and blog about what music I'm listening to currently.  Maybe I'll even make this a weekly section. It might motivate me to blog more, ha.

1. Absence - Asfandyar Khan

This a lovely, lovely track. It starts out so gentle and ripples inwards, outwards like waves of water stroking your brain. The music moves inch by inch until it creeps into every crevice of your brain. The mood seems sweetly melancholic, it whispers of nostalgia and longing. At least to me.

2. Teardrop by Massive Attack - Covered by Newton Faulkner

While the original version had soft, rather mysteriously enunciated vocals, this version is more, shall we say, gritty. Newton Faulkner melodiously growls the words, and its a pleasure to hear him sing the lyrics. I love this song's original version, but this one is very, very good.

3. Life - Ludovico Einaudi

When ever I hear this track, I get a sense of deja vu. I cannot, for the life of me remember where I've heard it before. It sounds like something heard years ago but I discovered it a few months ago and was blown away. The real fun with such classical tracks is guessing the instruments used. It starts off so beautifully with what I think is a harp and a glockenspiel, then is joined by a tinkling piano melody and builds up with a violin arrangement that weaves around the piano chords and truly takes off at the 2:44 mark and then gradually fades back into the glockenspiel. We come full circle. This is a track that makes you wish that you grew up in the middle of a forest with a clattering brook running through it. Since most of us didn't have that luxury, all I'll say is this track suggests: go outside.

4. Worlds Apart - Seven Lions ft. Kerli 

I love this track so much. I have been the humming the chorus to myself ever since I heard it. Kerli's vocals are taut and ethereal, floating over shimmering synths and tight percussion. And when the beat drops - oh man. There's also a really nice vocals only mix by Kerli of this song, but you get it if you sign up here.

5. Astro - Dynoman

I already reviewed Travels to Janaicah here (rather crudely I might say), but I really wanted to include this track on my list. I think it's an interesting track - I find myself rewinding to hear the beginning again and again. It's all bouncy layered beats and stuttering vocals, and immerses the listener in a chilled out but pensive mood. It's music for actively daydreaming away about, say, rock climbing, making a sandcastle or urban exploration.Yeah. A background for serious, thoughtful stuff. 

Any interesting music in your playlist? Comment and tell me about it!

-spirare

expansion

I decided to upload dust:threads:sunbeams at Bandcamp. Here it is, with a couple of bonus extras!

    

The Zoologist Chronicles: The Diary of Morpheus

So, guys, welcome back to the Zoologist Chronicles! Which as you would remember I started since I study zoology and have always had an interest in animals, besides music. I also would like to mention I'll be starting my Masters in Zoology this month, with a specialization in entomology. That's the study of arthropods which includes bugs and spiders and all that. And yeah, spiders are not insects. More on that later.

This post is about a beautiful lime butterfly called Morpheus.

He started out as an egg laid on a tiny lemon-less lemon tree in my house, but I found him as a caterpillar and decided to keep him.

The 3rd instar stage

He ate a lot of lemon leaves and spent time exploring his jar home. After two more molting sessions, he became a green thing. (I know, that sounds so like a zoology student.)

After he ate a lot more, he became like this. Almost like he was ready to explode.

I became more excited since I knew he was gonna pupate soon (and I wouldn't have to wake up so early to bring him fresh leaves. More time to sleep in, yeah!).

When a caterpillar is ready to pupate, it starts to climb around to find a nice patch for hanging around and spins a silk cradle of sorts for itself. The silk is released from spinnerettes near its mouth. My caterpillar managed to find a place to attach but the chrysalis fell down. I placed it in a paper cone to keep it upright. It came in handy for the newly eclosed butterfly to rest as it dried its wings. One of the most amazing things was to watch the chrysalis transition from a somewhat crumpled green thing to something that looked like a folded butterfly wrapped in a transparent green membrane. Wow. I missed the butterfly 'hatching' or eclosing, but I got to hold it until it dried off its wings and flew away. 

Day 1 as a chrysalis

About day 5 as a chrysalis

Day 9 (I think). Almost right before eclosion

drying off wings

Since then, I've tried raising more butterflies - three more lime butterflies to be exact. Two of them I left on the tree outside and met a nasty death due to parasitoid wasps when they pupated. It was kinda heartbreaking, honestly. The empty chrysalis swung from the little lemon tree for a long time. 

The fourth attempt was a success though. Here is the unnamed little guy.

I would encourage everyone to raise butterflies as long as they are a species native to Pakistan. All you need for them is a plastic container that can be easily cleaned and covered, and a fresh supply of the leaves for the caterpillar. The caterpillars eat the leaves of the plants they hatch on. You'll know its the one if the leaves are all chewed and eaten. It's a beautiful feeling to watch the emerged butterfly fly away. Something inside me usually wants to keep it, but then it won't be able to benefit the environment. 

So, here we go. The tale of Morpheus, may not be very interesting to humans, but look at life from the butterfly's point of view. It fights to be born so hard. I like to think it is born twice - first from an egg and then from a chrysalis. 

The Shut-Eye Kind

Hi all
So I'm finishing up on Obscura, and there was this track that didn't want to fit in at all. I decided to upload it earlier on Soundcloud. It's inspired by a conversation I had with Rija Yousaf on one of her blog posts "music like you". While you're there, check out the rest of her posts. She's a really good writer, and you might just learn something about life.

So, do you:
a( Like it? 
b) Feel 'meh' about it? 
c) Want to shove it in the Earth's core and never hear it again? 

Do tell me. I'd like some constructive criticism!

-spirare

Chop and paste

Some months ago I made a video by stitching together random sock footage for my old track Plain Winds just for fun. It's a rough sort of video but I thought I'd share it here anyway. Clips used in the video were from this website.

          
             Plain Winds - spirare from spirare on Vimeo.

Tear drop

Anyone ever hear this beautiful song called "Teardrop" by Massive Attack? Although I am not an active listener of Massive Attack, this song caught my eye when my sister was on a House M.D. watching spree (it's the opening theme). The vocals are by Elizabeth  Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. She has a lovely, floaty dreamlike voice, and I guarantee you'll find yourself humming along. I've had this song stuck in my head for so long now. The lyrics, "...fearless on my breath.." particularly. The video is strange, yet it seems to really go with the song. Here are the lyrics.

  

                          

Teardrop - Massive Attack (Subtitulada) from José Luis on Vimeo.

spirare reviews: Travels to Janaicah

I don't remember when I first heard of Dynoman/ Haamid Rahim. It might have been a couple of years ago, as I tried dipping my calloused toes in the world of music-making. It's a complicated place, and I feel like a lot of things fly over my head and pass me by. I don't know what I am doing and I barely interact with other people. But I always remember to listen to the music he churns out. It might have been because he two years ago, he left a really amazing comment on one of my old track Stranger on Soundcloud:

so much beauty in this track, its very subtle. Amazing job, please do keep up the great work. I have said this on a lot of tracks but there is a lot of amazing talent we hone in pakistan. great contribution to the scene!

I scream inside whenever I remember this. Who doesn't want this kind of critique on their work? 

I've listened and enjoyed his previous album Naubahar. But this one, named Travels to Janaicah: Cheebay's Imagination, made me want to sit down and pen a review. I'm not sure why; I think the reason is I can relate to the whole idea of imaginary worlds. I've spent half my life living in my imagination, and to be honest, I show few signs of leaving it soon. I think that's why the concept of Dynoman's Travels to Janaicah is so appealing to me. The little word document with it says: 

Travels to Janaicah*~

The story of Cheebay, an 8 year old boy, who gets sucked into his imagination AKA Janaicah. Immerse yourselves in the sounds of Cheebay’s imagination and grow with him. Let your imagination flow. 

Janaicah. What a cool name.

I wasn't sure what kind of mood to expect. My secret imaginary country had cellos and a choir and maybe at one point, a whole orchestra playing in its background. It was moody and dark. I lead armies and fought wars and sadly, let the cities fall apart. What would Janaicah be like, I wondered.

I clicked play, and the music was like a switch had been flipped and all of a sudden all I could think of was a beach. And waves. And sunshine. Things beep and clank and bump, pebbles and marbles bounce off each other. Here and there, sampled vocals stutter as synths twist steadily around the drums and bass. If you listen to the album in a single playlist without gaps, you'll see how seamlessly the tracks transition from one to another. The tracks have a similar mood; light and sort of airy, but never careless. They all seem to follow the same formula: clever beats and synths layered over each other, the tablas and marbles and pebbles tumbling over the edges. It's fun, it's relaxed, but should I say, restrained? Everything is structured and contained; it won't spill over the edges or grate against your eardrums. It matches the lovely artwork made by Asma Javeri perfectly, the impressionist waves rushing past your feet. 

I really like this album. It's something to immerse yourself in truly. It's good to have something light for a change, something to play as you lay down in the sunlight and think. I give it a 4/5.

Highlights:
Astro, Walnut Warriors, Yeden. The bass in GEESE GEESE. 

Available here.

Obscura

I'm almost finished with Obscura. 

Here's the artwork I made. Don't stare at it too long - your eyes might start hurting like mine did while I was struggling with it. I think it's a pretty good representation of what Obscura is. Kinda grey and moody at parts, while a little lighter in others. 

Something New?

I think I mentioned before that I'm working on something called obscura. It's slowly, very slowly taking shape.


On the other hand....


                                       

YES. I'll be spending plenty of time with this lovely piece of work by Slowspin.

Do you ever have something you really like so much, but no amount of fixing can make it better? I'm stuck at a most frustrating piece of music. I see the potential but what is in my head just doesn't want to be.

The Zoologist Chronicles: Blades, Forceps and Squirrels

Well, since I'm a wannabe zoologist and all, I thought I should talk a little about my, er, zoological exploits sometimes. It's no secret in my home that I love critters of all types (I'm scared of dogs, and I wouldn't like to cuddle with lizards either...) but man, when you study anything biological, one heinous thing forced in your life is dissection. 

My dissection kit (like this one) is a lovely hand-me-down case of killer tools, previously owned by my elder sister. One of my last practical exams was a horrible frog-torturing affair -look up how to pith a frog if you want nightmares- that made me swear I won't touch it again. I don't want to do any kind of animal-killing ever again, but still I have to wonder what my options would be if it is included in future courses. One of my greatest regrets is not being brave enough to say no to my teacher.

Moving on to less grisly subjects. Then there was the time I took a course on animal diversity. The highlight of this course, of course, was an amazing trip to Ayubia. Three days away from home, which was undergoing extensive renovation. Three days away from the routines of college. Three days away from my family!! What adventures we would have! The purpose of this trip was to visit a lecture at the Ayubia National Park (I recommend going there, it's a beautiful, very forest-y place) and to see two particular species of squirrel - small Kashmiri gray squirrel and the large red flying squirrel. Since these species are nocturnal, it meant walking around an extremely creepy jungle at night. When leopards haunt the darkness. And our teacher would occasionally ask us to turn off our torches! 

I remember, on the second night of our stay we went to look for the red flying squirrel, things were particularly spooky. No one was talking very loud, and we moved in a single column towards this empty church (not my picture) in the middle of the forest, which was looked after an old man and his family. A lot of girls muttered later that it was haunted, and strangely a lot of the photographs I took inside the church during the daytime had orbs in them. Could be just dust, yeah. Could be. All that time away from home must have addled my brains a little. *coughs* Still, the freakiest thing that happened was not supernatural at all. It was a small thing - all of us quietly chattering our way through the path, when all of a sudden we heard two growls rumble out of the darkness. Since I was walking alone in the middle somewhere, quiet close to the trees, my first instinct was to quickly edge away and lump with the others and remember, that one girl had clutched my arm only a few moments ago and whispered to me, "Kiran!!! What do we do if a leopard comes? What do we do?!!!"

What to do, indeed?

Nothing spectacular, really. We just flashed our torches around even more, and reached the clearing around the church were we managed to see the beautiful red flying squirrel (Petaurista petaurista). A little info: they are nocturnal, they have these big eyes that reflect light, they have a skin stretched between their limbs called a patagium, which helps them glide like a paper plane. And they are quite dark-red and fuzzy. You can learn more about it here. I wasn't able to find any non-youtube videos of it, but here is one that shows the red and white squirrel gliding.

However, on our way back to the bus, I happened to shine my torch to a clump of bushes on my left. And was met with the sight of two large shiny, unmoving circles which resembled a big cat's eyes very very much. 

Needless to say, I didn't try to investigate and instead sped up to reach the mercifully brightly lit bus. A friend of mine said she saw the eyes too when we had heard the growling.

So, the next time you plan to go hiking in the woods, remember: respect nature, and don't provoke it. Animals prefer to observe rather than attack. Unless they are injured and cannot catch their normal prey they don't go after humans.

Next time on the Zoology chronicles: The Diary of Morpheus

- spirare

Garden in the Summer

Well, we don't really have a garden. Just a little space with a collection of plants in pots (about 80% are aloe vera, 10% motia, the rest are varieties that are in between dying and drying out). And my two money plants, which I've had since forever and have grown amazingly from the little branches my mother filched for me from our cranky neighbour's garden. I've grown up caressing their leaves and pulling out weeds from the roses and chasing the skinks (this crazy thing, if I am correct) which like to hide under the pots sometimes. On sunny days, I would make an open tent for myself by hanging a blanket across the laundry lines. I have a tumultuous love-hate relationship with warmth. I'd like to wrap it around me like a blanket. Imagine how great it would be to have a blanket of warm water to snuggle in during the winter. Provided you don't get wet, of course.

Anyway, our garden has waxed and waned, died and regrown and fruited over the years. Currently, it is flourishing. A little neem tree, a bush of tulsi, some raat ki rani, the aloe vera and lemon tree. And my money plants, always constant. In a way, I think these plants are like me. Some have died and come back, there are new shoots and varieties, and then there's the faithful, familiar elements, in which I can curl and rest before trudging out into the world. Maybe that's why I am the person in the family who prefers to stay outside the most and tend to the plants. We are drawn to things that reflect us.

-spirare

Silence and no sound

Hi folks,

I feel like I've been gone quite a while from this dusty space. Since I finished my bachelors degree (in Zoology, in case anyone is curious), things have slowed down a lot, and I have divided my ample time between chores, knitting, looking after my lime butterfly chrysalis, random baking and perusing the newspapers for admission notices. So this is it - my in between space. And I feel I am supposed to build myself up again.

When I was young, I had the wildest imagination and I spent a lot of my time playing make-believe. It was a magical time - when I could see the beasts and the misty swamp, puzzle my way through the secret tunnels under castles and find the hostage, feeling the worn stone beneath my feet. As I grew older some sort of shroud fell away, and I killed off my characters and laid waste to the land I had inhabited. Yikes.

Now today, I cannot imagine anything away with the same vividness. It's like trying on a too-small shirt and looking in the mirror, only to see a distorted reflection of myself. And thus I come to the conclusion: we shed so many skins as we grow up. It hurts a lot later, when we realize what we sloughed off, but there's no use thinking about what-ifs and has-beens.

I've been working on some new music lately, and only now am I starting to frame a concept around it. I've decided to call this one Obscura for now. I consider it an ode to my former self. I really want to upload it soon.

In the meantime, is anyone out there? How are you?

City of Ghosts

Hello folks,

Until yesterday, I didn't have the time or energy or motivation to touch music-making again. That's pretty much because of my affair with my thesis *sigh*. What I've learned in the past few months can be accurately summed up in the following sentences:

1. They said thesis writing really hurts.

2. They weren't wrong about the aforementioned fact.

3. I never knew I would be reduced to using Ms Excel

4. They said thesis writing really hurts

5. Statistical analysis is a nightmare.

6. Your butt needs to grow a cushion so you can sit for hours at an end and work on computer.

7. Courses about thesis writing.... rarely teach you much about thesis writing.

8. Teachers love it when you cram a dozen unexplainable things in your research.

9. Defending your thesis requires much courage.

10. Some supervisors are plain evil.

Stiiiillll, all's well that ends well, and I defended my thesis on Monday successfully!

Anyway, here's something new I worked on. I was messing around with a guitar sound, but it wasn't working out. Then I remembered that I had some new virtual synthesizers (do I know what I'm talking about here?? Not much, ha!) lying around in my hard drive. So, I decided to experiment with Sophia and ended up with this random track. I am really happy with it, to be honest. It came together quite quickly. I only wish I could've made it longer, but I sort of ran out of steam. 

Love it, hate it, want to kill it with fire? Tell me!

Discoveries!

I'm currently listening to "Nightfall's Reverie" by Slowspin.... and why why why didn't I discover her earlier??! Mind = Blown. Her music is just so ... dreamy and hypnotic. And lyrics? Simple and so pretty, like random musings spun into music for us lower mortals, with lightly plucked acoustic guitar forming a spiderweb of sorts for the words to hang around and swing in the breeze. This is a rather lame description, I know. But I can't help it! She sort of reminds me of once a tree, I think.... and Ellie Goulding? I'm not sure.. but slowspin's music is a real treat to listen to.

The tracks I loved most so far, in no particular order:

• grey
• these words
• yours
• aslant (from nightfall's reverie)
• night spins (from nightfall's reverie)

Now, I'm gonna go work on a track or two. Good music sure gets my synapses firing!

-spirare

New Stuff

Hello world!

I uploaded a new thing at my soundcloud account. Go check it out!

Tracks:

1. Prologue: It's a Mystery
2. Cosmos
3. Butterfly Torn
4. Rock and Flow
5. Epilogue: Rabbit Dreams, Mountains and Sleep Paralysis

Hibernation

So, hi people.

I haven't been doing much these days, except for procrastinating a lot, not studying for a math test and forgetting about all my assignments due next week. I hadn't been able to make any music either, cause I got a new phone and I've been playing around with my new toy. Alas, that joy didn't last very long as I began to slip into a fog of boredom with everything. Oh, man. I was bored with everything, and I couldn't find much to tickle my poor neurons to wake up and fire a little more. The only thing I was able to do was nurse my anger towards one of my teachers, sludge through friday with the only comforting thought that I had only one 8am class, and would be home sooner than usual. And a blissful weekend, two days of not facing the world. All decorated with little bouts of obsessive knitting. 

So, what does spirare do when she can't focus on anything and all she touches crumbles into dust?

She hibernates.

And now I guess I can say, after a week of drowning in ennui, I can go back to my unbalanced schedule of work and play. HA YOU LOSE, BRAIN FOG!

-spirare

PS - Why all the randomly underlined words, you may ask? I thought I'd shake things up a little in this post. This post contains a secret hidden link to a hidden song. Like most links, it is underlined. Have fun looking for it! Beware of the decoy links!  

Construction Work

So, anyone who's been reading this blog might notice that I've been changing the themes and layouts and colours and fonts around. Bear with me, guys. This is because:

• I'm having too much fun messing around.
• The dark colours were kinda depressing.
• The green background was nice at first but then... just ugh.
• I can't really decide what colours I like.
• I couldn't think of anything else to do during my vacation.

I'm almost there, though. Almost.

-spirare

Introducing..... 'Downloads'!

Ah, so I thought I'd upload this thing I called 'Labyrinth's Call' (no idea where this lameness came from) which basically is all of the tracks I uploaded on Soundcloud - with one or two new ones - tweaked slightly and packaged nicely into an album-like thing. Complete with an album cover. Credits will be added later. These tracks are the ones I made from the years 2010 to 2012., which I then gift-wrapped during last May and have been sitting in a corner ever since. Call this an unofficial release and a new year's present of sorts :) 

Labyrinth's Call

Track Listing

1. Plain Winds
2. Stranger
3. Sleeper
4. Suffocation
5. Beautiful Minds
6. Carnival
7. Innocence
8. Gravity
9. Moving Doors
10. Ghosts
11. Music Box  

There you go guys... 11 tracks full of God-knows-what. You be the judge. 

-spirare

The Scent of Newness

Hi guys! 

I'm going to add a new section to this blog. Because I'm unimaginative, it's going to be called 'Downloads'. I'm gonna fill it with, you know, stuff, and uh, its gonna be downloadable. 

Uh...

Oh, and happy new year! I'll probably upload something "special" in honour of the new year. Later. 

-spirare