So ends the centre piece of Shade and Flake. The tribe have experienced the struggles of winter and the despondency of hardship through prolonged darkness - however with the approaching thaw, their spirits are lifted through the beauty of "Flake" The Bardic Brigadier now reminds them of the supportive kinship through which they have succeeded in surviving the winter. In this track, he is "The Knot Breaker"... "Our knots shall breaken be, by the medicines of laughter
And melted by the warmth of gentles’ love"... As the track closes, he lulls them into a healing sleep, in preparation for the return of the sun.
This is the sister track to "Prologue - Knot Maker" which occurs at the end of the centre-piece "Shade and Flake".
ABOUT SHADE AND FLAKE
In 2006 I made a white top hat and a black top hat. In the night I woke up, put the hats on in front of the mirror, and out came the two poems “Shade’s Theme” and “Flake’s Theme”. I proceeded to make two costumes, write music for them using my loop machine, and started performing the two pieces in open mics. The poem “The Crystal Joy” followed in 2007 (performed at The Bath Story Telling Circle), but it wasn’t until 2009 that the concept E.P. took shape, and not until 2011 that the prologue and epilogue poems were written and recorded.
The opening piece contains the lines:
From out two hats the brothers crept
to duel upon the life of knots entwined.
So know we well, how through the darkness pass
the tormented writhings of our minds.
and the final piece contains the lines:
You who would the knots of night to make untie
In error do you toil alone.
Our knots shall breaken be, by the medicines of laughter
And melted by the warmth of gentles’ love
Copyright Ash Mandrake 2011
These are reflections from personal experience of struggling through depression, and how the way through it may be simpler than one might imagine at the time.
lyrics
And Now all here, around the flames,
Shall I thank you.
For your ears, your eyes, your minds, your hearts;
I thank you.
Our song is at an end, but I ask you for one thought your ears to bend:
You who would the knots of night to make untie,
In error do you toil alone -
Our knots shall breaken be, by the medicines of laughter
And melted by the warmth of gentle's love.
Leave your troubles with the spirits of the night,
And a peace upon you be...
Sleep
Sleep
Sleep now...
Sleep
credits
from Footprints From A Tribal Id 2012,
track released August 5, 2012
Mendhi Singh (Tabla) and Breda Horgan (Bodhrn).
Vocals: Ash Mandrake
Lyrics/Poetry: Ash Mandrake
Paul Nocher for the loan of a recording system and Mic
Weyes Blood expands on this year's acclaimed album ”Titanic Rising” with a handful of alternate takes, recorded alongside Ariel Rechtshaid. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 23, 2019
Natalie Mering's latest is woozy, hallucinatory folk that swirls and swoons, working with shadow and light, hope and loss. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 10, 2016
This San Francisco singer-songwriter mixes jazz, trip-hop, and experimental pop for a heady brew that's social change-minded. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 16, 2019
One-man project Vlimmer exists in the borderlands between post-punk and industrial/EBM, creating danceable darkness. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 8, 2022