tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9507521524369899282024-03-14T01:17:56.466+01:00Epic Tales of Cynicism ManagementCynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-53414857827684163282021-05-15T10:09:00.003+02:002021-05-15T10:09:58.582+02:00BLOG MOVED<center><b
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-41922434376468356052017-04-03T15:45:00.000+02:002017-04-03T15:45:06.243+02:00The "SUR" retrospective<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I've recently exhumed the musical archives of the two bands I worked with back in the 1990s, <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> and <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> (described in more detail <a href="http://boripraper.eu/archives/714" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://boripraper.eu/archives/722" target="_blank">here</a>, respectively), I decided to also come up with a short "retrospective" of the band we founded at the beginning of the 2000s, <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a>.<br>
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The group <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a> started to take shape at the end of 2001, when Stojan Kralj and I were writing music for the dance theatre performance <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/lust" target="_blank">Lust</a> by Sebastjan Starič:</span></div>
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<center>
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=225807011/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/lust">Lust by Juice Connection</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Together with lyricist, dramatist, theatre actor and former <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> vocalist Marko Djukić we got an idea for a more "poppy", "trip-hoppy" project with (preferably) a female vocalist. The idea gradually came to life. As it soon turned out that the collaboration between lyricist Djukić and the first vocalist, Urška Samec, would unavoidably be severely impeded due to insurmountable creative differences, Neža Trobec joined the band and we started tinkering away. Initially, SUR was exclusively a studio project with a few full members and several guest musicians. The material was recorded in our home studio, and in May 2004 we self-published our first (and quite successful, relatively speaking) album, entitled "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/na-jug" target="_blank">Na jug</a>" (Southbound):</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3543103707/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/na-jug">Na jug by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In 2005 we started working on our second album, "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/druga-stran" target="_blank">Druga stran</a>" (The Other Side), which was released in July 2007: </span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3240638127/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/druga-stran">Druga stran by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Both of these albums also saw the light of day in a "tangible" form, as CDs.<br>
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In 2009 we released a digital EP called "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/kadar-mesto-spi-ep" target="_blank">Kadar mesto spi</a>" (When the City Sleeps), after we'd managed to pull off a successful prank: thanks to a bizarre twist of events, the track "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/track/prav-ti" target="_blank">Prav ti</a>" from this album appeared at the 2008 Slovenian Eurovision Song Contest – quite unsuccessfully, of course, in terms of votes... But qualifying for this type of contest with a song written in a relatively complex time signature (verse in 6/8 and chorus in 2 x 10/8 + 8/8 + 2 x 6/8) must be a special achievement in itself. The track was obviously an experiment in the "peculiar pop song format" that we found extremely entertaining, and, to our surprise, the shenanigan worked unusually well:</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2938854706/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/kadar-mesto-spi-ep">Kadar mesto spi (EP) by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After our first album had been released, we adapted most of the material for live performances and performed at quite a few concerts. Ultimately we also released a collection of live material, played in <a href="http://www.dic.si/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=108&Itemid=794" target="_blank">Kreatorij DIC</a> in Ljubljana in 2005. Most of the tracks on this album, called "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/alive-in-2005" target="_blank">aLiVE in 2005</a>", are live versions of the material released on the 2004 album "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/na-jug" target="_blank">Na jug</a>". Jure Praper's instrumental composition "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/track/eqsqueezeme-live" target="_blank">Eqsqueezeme</a>" has never been released anywhere else, and this is its only recording in existence. The studio version of the <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/track/ples-vampirjev-live" target="_blank">live track "Ples vampirjev"</a> later appeared on the 2007 "physical" release "<a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/druga-stran" target="_blank">Druga stran</a>". At that time the band lineup was as follows: Neža Trobec - vocals; Monika Fritz - backing vocals; Jure Praper - guitar; Gregor Karer - bass guitar; Martin Smerdel - keyboards; Andrej Hrvatin - percussion; and myself on drums:</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=582847908/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1273044191/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/alive-in-2005">aLiVE in 2005 by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Live performances have not become our main focus, though, mostly due to impossible logistics involved in rehearsals (the band members were from all over Slovenia), as well as because of everyone's neverending work on other projects. Thus most of our efforts remained confined to the studio, where we also kept writing original soundtracks for audiovisual works. During its active period, SUR signed soundtracks for fourteen theatre performances (2002 - Sebastjan Starič: Lust; 2003 - Borut Bučinel: Who Draws Me; 2003 - Branko Potočan: On Our Own Land; 2003 - Nick Pickard & Gareth Boylan: Monolads; 2004 - Boris Kobal: The House of Bernarda Alba; 2004 - Sebastjan Starič: Pepperoncino; 2005 - Tomaž Štrucl: Che Guevara; 2006 - Dušan Teropšič: Dimwits; 2008 - Jure Rudolf: Where Do You Live?; 2008 - Dušan Teropšič: An Event in the City; 2008 - Borut Bučinel: Lullaby of Death; 2010 - Dušan Teropšič: The Upsidedown World; 2010 - Borut Bučinel: Shining; 2012 - Matjaž Šmalc, Aja Zamolo & Sam Sebastian: Sharlatanus Maximus), a short film (2003 - Marko Horvat: Happiness on Sale) and a computer game. Between 2008 and 2012, the SUR collective published a collection of digital releases, featuring all of its original soundtracks for theatre performances:</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3738384373/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-vol-1">Soundtracks Vol.1 by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<center>
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3975673973/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-vol-2">Soundtracks Vol.2 by SUR</a></iframe></center>
<br>
<center>
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=463599672/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-vol-3">Soundtracks Vol.3 by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<center>
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3268640999/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-vol-4">Soundtracks Vol.4 by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<center>
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3787535553/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-vol-5">Soundtracks Vol.5 by SUR</a></iframe></center>
<br>
<center>
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2935292922/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;"><a href="http://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/sharlatanus-maximus-original-soundtrack">Sharlatanus Maximus (original soundtrack) by SUR</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Slovenian press imaginatively characterised the music of SUR as "ambiental-rock-jazz-electronica". This may even be mostly true of our first album, though we preferred to call ourselves "alternative ambient anarchistic hippie progressive psychedelic metal-munching jazzy trip hoppy funky beer drinkers and spritzer aficionadoes". The full-time members of the last stable live lineup of SUR were: Neža Trobec Teropšič – vocals, Monika Fritz – backing vocals and lyrics, Jure Praper – guitar, Aljaž Tulimirović – guitar, Samo Pečar – bass, and myself – drums and additional lyrics.<br>
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The guest musicians and contributors on the first two albums and frequent collaborators in the other projects of the SUR collective included: Marko Djukić – lyrics and vocals, Rok Predin (lyrics, vocals, acoustic guitar), Dušan Rebolj (lyrics, vocals, acoustic guitar), Matevž Šalehar – Hamo (vocals), Vasko Atanasovski (saxophone, flute), Stojan Kralj (bass, fretless bass, guitar), Andrej Hrvatin (percussion), Janez Vouk (trumpet), Marko Zorec (guitar), Jelena Ždrale (violin, viola), Nino de Gleria (cello) and Tomaž Štrucl (vocals and beer-fuelled battle plans).<br>
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After our last concert in Slovenj Gradec in July 2007, SUR as a live band was disbanded, as Monika and I had relocated from Ljubljana to the Slovenian coast, and keeping such an "inter-regional" band fully operational had become impossible. In late 2008 Monika and I founded our current band <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a>; while <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a> as a creative group that wrote original soundtracks for audiovisual works kept working until 2012. By that time this aspect of my work had been taken over by my "instrumental music & soundtracks alter ego", <a href="https://raykosmick.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ray Kosmick (and His Porn Groove Crew)</a>.<br>
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The name SUR may mean many things, most evidently "south" in Spanish, though we liked to tell people it was actually an acronym for "samostalna ugostiteljska radnja" – "independent catering service"... Which also remains the name of the studio where I keep pondering my "masterpieces" to this day.</span></div>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-10986746564142191532017-03-29T14:43:00.000+02:002017-04-03T13:28:45.921+02:00"Juice Connection" archives released on Bandcamp<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I've recently had loads of fun rummaging through the ancient <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> material (cassette tape recordings of my first band from the 1990s), which I've then uploaded to <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> so that all of us former band members could drift down the memory lane a bit. I also took the time to write a brief biography of that band and posted it <a href="http://boripraper.eu/archives/714" target="_blank">here</a>. As the whole undertaking has stirred up a lot of pleasant memories as well as a few enthusiastic responses, I kept digging and also uploaded all of the <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> soundtracks, recorded between 1998 and 2002, to Bandcamp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> was the main creative outlet for me for a while, after the unfortunate if completely prosaic demise of <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a>. The yarn of <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> started out back in 1998 when my former <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> bandmate, Marko Djukić, invited me to write and record music for a theatre performance he would be appearing in. As it was clear to me that I lacked the necessary knowledge as well as equipment to pull this off successfully by myself, I approached a fellow musician Stojan Kralj with the idea. He agreed and became my trusted mentor and associate, most intensely so during the next few years. We formed the <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> music production team with only us as its full-time members, and went on to produce – between 1998 and 2002 – original soundtracks for twelve full-length theatre performances, a couple of shorter theatre pieces and a TV show about contemporary dance theatre. Later the extended <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> lineup (with myself on drums, Kralj on bass and guitar, plus Aljaž Tulimirović on guitar, Samo Pečar on the <i>second</i> bass and Andrej Hrvatin on percussion) also prepared an extensive setlist of live material and performed at a couple of live gigs. Unfortunately those adorably peculiar sonic excursions have never been particularly "commercially successful" (go figure), nor have they been documented – it would have been a real treat if any recordings of <i>that</i> musical experimentation, sound terrorism and downright jokery existed, but of course we haven't recorded anything. No – I don't know what we were thinking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Be that as it may, while working on various theatre performances, Juice Connection has collaborated with a diverse assortment of guest musicians, depending on what was required for a certain project. Here are the twelve original soundtrack albums that have been compiled almost ten years ago, and now – nineteen years after the creation of the first soundtrack – republished on <a href="https://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>:</span></div>
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<b>1998: Sebastjan Starič: THE TUNNEL</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=841768726/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-tunnel">The Tunnel by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 1998, for the full-length physical theatre performance "The Tunnel" by the director and choreographer Sebastjan Starič. This is the first project of the Juice Connection team. Much of the material for this performance was recorded live. Almost exactly half of it was composed in advance, while the other half consists of impromptu jam sessions. A sequencer and quite a bit of electronics were already used for this soundtrack - back then still hardware samplers and synthesizers.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming, bass, guitar, vocals; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums, vocals; Zmago Turica: violin on 02, 13; Marko Zorec: guitar on 03; Janez Vouk: trumpet on 04, 05, 12, 15; Branko Rožman: accordion on 08; Miran Stergulec: guitar on 11, 12, 14, 16; vocals on 17; Andreja Pak: piano on 13; Rok Predin: vocals on 17 <br>IMPROMPTU JAM SESSIONS: Kralj (keyboards) / Praper (keyboards) on 01; Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums) / Zorec (guitar) on 03; Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums) on 06; Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums) / Stergulec (guitar) on 11, 12, 14, 16 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>1999: Branko Potočan: AS LAST YEAR'S SNOW</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1786168035/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/as-last-years-snow">As Last Year's Snow by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 1999, for the full-length physical theatre performance "As Last Year's Snow" by the director and choreographer Branko Potočan. This is the second project of the Juice Connection team. Much of the material for this performance was recorded live, although a lot of electronic instruments were also used - still mostly hardware samplers and synthesisers back then. The basic material was often recorded at jam sessions, while additional elements were added afterwards, as the material was processed and edited.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Stojan Kralj & Aljaž Tulimirović - track 08. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>LYRICS: Branko Potočan on 04; Sebastjan Starič on 12 <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: bass, guitar, keyboards, programming, various toys; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums, percussion / various toys; Sebastjan Starič: vocals on 04, 12; Aljaž Tulimirović: guitar on 08; Branko Rožman: accordion on 06; Andrej Hrvatin: percussion on 06 <br>IMPROMPTU JAM SESSIONS: Kralj (guitar, various toys) / Praper (drums, percussion, various toys) on 04; Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums) / Rožman (accordion) / Hrvatin (percussion) on 06 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>1999: Sebastjan Starič: OH IT'S SPRING AGAIN</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3912626267/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/oh-its-spring-again">Oh It's Spring Again by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 1999, for the full-length physical theatre performance "Oh It's Spring Again" by the director and choreographer Sebastjan Starič. This is the third project of the Juice Connection team. The material for this performance was roughly half electronic and half live recordings. Work became much easier with better software, especially software samplers. Like before, material was often recorded at live sessions, after which additional elements were added and the material was edited.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Andrej Hrvatin - track 05. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Andrej Hrvatin - track 05. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming, guitar, mandolin; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums; Zmago Turica: violin on 04, 07; Andrej Hrvatin: percussion on 05; Miran Stergulec: guitar on 09 <br>IMPROMPTU JAM SESSIONS: Stergulec (guitar) / Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums/percussion) on 09 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2000: Dušan Teropšič: THE FLIES</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3529720762/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-flies">The Flies by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2000, for the full-length physical theatre performance "The Flies" by the director and choreographer Dušan Teropšič. This is the fourth project of the Juice Connection team. The music for The Flies was mostly electronic and experimental, and some of the sound effects were recorded in the field. Since the soundtrack for the actual performance was a bit shorter than usual and because some of the less interesting sound effects were removed from this release, this album also includes several bonus tracks, consisting of the material recorded around that time, which was not used in any of the finalised performances - what the team called the "outtakes".
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming, bass, guitar; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2000: Branko Potočan: THE DOORS</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1541101384/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-doors-extended-edition-ost">The Doors (extended edition OST) by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2000, for the full-length physical theatre performance "The Doors" by the director and choreographer Branko Potočan. The fifth project of the Juice Connection team. Most of the music for The Doors was electronic with live elements, recorded at jam sessions. A part of the soundtrack was performed live on stage by Andrej Hrvatin (percussion) and Borut Praper (drums). Unfortunately, no recordings of the material, performed live on stage, exist. All of the tracks on this album were written and recorded for The Doors; however, the final version of the soundtrack for the actual performance did not include all of them.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper. Co-authors at impromptu jam sessions: see below for details <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming, bass, fretless bass, guitar; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums; Barbara Šantl: vocals and lyrics on 03; Katja Turica: vocals on 04; Aljaž Tulimirović: guitar on 05, 09, 13; Sebastjan Starič: vocals on 05; Zmago Turica: violin on 10, 15; Andrej Hrvatin: percussion on 11, 15, 16; Janez Vouk: trumpet on 14; Miran Stergulec: guitar on 18 <br>IMPROMPTU JAM SESSIONS: Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums) / Tulimirović (guitar) on 09; Kralj (bass) / Praper (drums) / Tulimirović (guitar) on 13 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2000: Sebastjan Starič: THE RECYCLED</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3260959405/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-recycled">The Recycled by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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This album actually contains soundtracks for two full-length theatre performances: "The Recycled" (2000) and "Planet DIC" (2001) by the theatre group POZITIV, directed and choreographed by Sebastjan Starič and produced/mentored by Drago Pintarič. The collection also includes a couple of tracks written and recorded at the theatre music workshops in Izola, mentored by Stojan Kralj and Borut Praper at that time, which were not used in either The Recycled or Planet DIC. The Recycled was a joint project of Borut Bernik - Torulsson and Juice Connection, while Planet DIC was written and recorded by Juice Connection.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Borut Bernik - track 02, and Aljaž Tulimirović & Borut Praper & Samo Pečar - tracks 03 and 08 <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Borut Bernik - track 02, and Aljaž Tulimirović & Borut Praper & Samo Pečar - tracks 03 and 08 <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming, bass, fretless bass, guitar; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums, darbouka; Tomaž Nedoh: soprano sax on 01, 03, 08; Borut Bernik - Torulsson: keyboards, programming on 02; Aljaž Tulimirović: guitar on 03, 08; Samo Pečar: bass on 03, 08; Andrej Hrvatin: percussion on 03, 08 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Borut Bernik - track 02, and Borut Bernik & Borut Praper - track 01, 04</div>
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<b>2001: Sebastjan Starič: CALL ME CRAZY</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1456812831/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/call-me-crazy">Call Me Crazy by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2001, for the full-length physical theatre performance "Call Me Crazy" by the director and choreographer Sebastjan Starič. Most of the music for Call Me Crazy was electronic / experimental, except for a couple of live instrumental tracks. Some sound effects were recorded in the field and later processed in the studio.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: guitar, keyboards, programming; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming; Janez Vouk: trumpet on 03; Andrej Hrvatin: clarinet on 11 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2001: Dušan Teropšič: THE SWAMP</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3148900940/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-swamp">The Swamp by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2001, for the full-length physical theatre performance "The Swamp" by the director and choreographer Dušan Teropšič. This performance was inspired by the ballet Swan Lake by P.I. Tchaikovsky, and certain tracks on this soundtrack were also based on some of the most famous music from that ballet (tracks 1, 6, 8 and 11). Most of the music for The Swamp was electronic, except for certain live elements and a single live improvised instrumental track, where drums & guitar were recorded at an impromptu jam session, while bass and keyboards were added later.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: guitar, bass, keyboards, programming; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming, drums; Janez Vouk: trumpet on 09, 10; Marko Zorec: guitar on 09; Andrej Hrvatin: percussion on 10 <br>IMPROMPTU JAM SESSIONS: Kralj (guitar) / Praper (drums) on 12 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2001: Tanika Šajatovič: SUPERSEXY</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3016095405/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/supersexy">Supersexy by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2001, for the full-length theatre performance "Supersexy" by the writer and director Tanika Šajatovič. Most of the music for Supersexy was electronic, except for some live elements.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: bass, keyboards, programming; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming; Janez Vouk: trumpet on 08; Andrej Hrvatin: percussion on 08 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2001: Branko Potočan: PERKMANDELJC - THE VANISHING SPIRIT</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1476608992/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-vanishing-spirit">The Vanishing Spirit by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2001, for the full-length physical theatre performance "Perkmandeljc - The Vanishing Spirit" by the choreographer and director Branko Potočan. Perkmandeljc - The Vanishing Spirit was a performance inspired by the life of miners in a small industrial community where the director used to live. The concept of the soundtrack was that it should be reminiscent of a small brass band of suspicious pedigree, therefore most of the music for this performance was performed by brass and woodwind instruments. The soundtrack also includes a few electronic / programmed tracks and atmospheres.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper, except Andreja Dajčman - track 08 (arranged by Borut Praper) <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming; Miha Vavti: sax; Janez Vouk: trumpet; Matjaž Rebolj: oboe; Zdenko Korenjak: clarinet; Iztok Kološa: tuba <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2002: Nick Pickard: WALKING ON EGGSHELLS</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2053192436/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/walking-on-eggshells">Walking On Eggshells by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2002, for the full-length theatre performance "Walking on Eggshells" by the director Nick Pickard, written by Michael Pigott. Walking on Eggshells was an intriguing collaboration with the Australian director Nick Pickard. The performance placed a lot of emphasis on dialogues, so the soundtrack featured many atmospheres, experimental sound design pieces and sound effects as well as several melodic tracks. Many sounds were recorded in the field (in the basement where this performance was first staged) and used for the soundtrack, either raw or heavily processed. The director wanted to include some hints of folk song themes in the performance, so a small choir performing folk songs from the Koroška region was recorded, and then heavily processed in the studio. These pieces were entitled "Zee Koroshka Sessions".
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: keyboards, programming; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming; Matjaž Rebolj: oboe on 02; Zmago Turica: violin on 03; Otokar Praper: vocals on 04, 07, 13, 14; Peter Praper: vocals on 04, 07, 13, 14; Jože Praper: vocals on 04, 07, 13, 14; Zdenka Praper: vocals on 04, 07, 13, 14; Marjan Popič - Ožbej: vocals on 04, 07, 13, 14; Zdenko Korenjak: clarinet on 08; Miha Vavti: sax on 12 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<b>2002: Sebastjan Starič: LUST</b> <iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=225807011/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 550px;" width="300"><a href="http://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/lust">Lust by Juice Connection</a></iframe>
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The original soundtrack, written and recorded in 2002, for the full-length dance theatre performance "Lust" by the director and choreographer Sebastjan Starič. Lust was the last project of the Juice Connection team. The first versions of the tracks Lahko te čutim (here entitled I Can Feel You and sung by Urška Samec), Ne premorem besed (here entitled Speechless and sung by Mojca Žerjal), Zarja (here entitled BooM) and Nosi me (here entitled Revolve) were written and recorded for this performance towards the end of 2001. While working on these tracks, the idea for the project <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a> started taking shape, which is why the soundtrack for this performance is regarded as a joint project of <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> and <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a>. The "evolved" versions of these four tracks, sung by Neža Trobec Teropšič, were later published on the first album by <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a>, entitled <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/na-jug" target="_blank">Na jug</a> and released on a physical CD in 2004. After this performance, Stojan kept working on his own projects, while Borut and the lyricist Marko Djukić concentrated on their newly-founded group, which went on to write and record music for 13 theatre performances, a variety of other audiovisual works, as well as release its two "tangible" albums - <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/na-jug" target="_blank">Na jug</a> (2004) and <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/album/druga-stran" target="_blank">Druga stran</a> (2007). The former members of the Juice Connection team still collaborate on a regular basis and contribute to each other's projects.
<br>MUSIC: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>ARRANGEMENTS: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper <br>MUSICIANS: Stojan Kralj: bass, keyboards, programming; Borut Praper: keyboards, programming; Marko Djukić: lyrics on 01, 02, 08, 10; Urška Samec: vocals on 01, 02, 08; Andreja Žel: accordion on 04, 07; Mojca Žerjal: vocals on 10; Janez Vouk: trumpet on 13 <br>PRODUCED BY: Stojan Kralj & Borut Praper</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After the last Juice Connection project, I concentrated on the band <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a> that I founded together with the lyricist, dramatist and theatre actor Marko Djukić, while Stojan worked on other things. However, Kralj and I have continued working together on various projects to date.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Stojan Kralj and I – the core of the Juice Connection team – have never limited ourselves in terms of what style we would or would not dabble into. While writing music for all the diverse performances we have worked on, we have proved time and again that we can be extremely versatile – sometimes to the point of ending up with exceedingly schizophrenic albums. One has to keep in mind, though, that it is hard to imagine what the music is for and why it is what it is if you don't actually see the performance. However, we have also strongly believed in collaboration and kept involving other musicians in each of our individual efforts, because that seemed to produce the best and sometimes most surprising results, if done properly. Thus we have recorded a vast variety of tracks ranging from jazz to metal, from ethno to pop, from trip hop to swing, from experimental, avant-garde, atmospheric and ambient pieces to drum & bass, industrial, and even orchestral music and brass band arrangements.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Because of the extremely short development times for most performances, lack of technical and financial resources, and therefore quite a lot of creative as well as technical improvisation involved in each project, the production quality of the resulting work of the Juice Connection team may vary somewhat, especially by today's standards, while the tracks recorded at impromptu jam sessions may often be less than perfect in terms of technical execution, of course. Nevertheless, these recordings are documents of certain times and circumstances and should be perceived as such. Ultimately we got things done: all the performances were staged successfully, we've certainly had lots of fun working on them, and that's what it all boils down to in the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On the tenth anniversary of the first soundtrack we had ever recorded, Kralj and I decided to sift through the material and share it all on <a href="https://www.jamendo.com/artist/338660/juice-connection/albums" target="_blank">Jamendo</a>, in order for it to be documented and perhaps used again by someone who may find it useful. Now, almost twenty years after <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/album/the-tunnel" target="_blank">The Tunnel</a>, it was high time to release this on <a href="https://juiceconnection.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> as well, and post the whole collection as well as a short biography in one place, so that the various facts and names of great musicians who have contributed to all of this don't get forgotten.</span></div>
<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-944879025175438612017-03-09T21:26:00.001+01:002017-03-10T16:12:54.893+01:00"Ground Zero" archives released on Bandcamp<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This has been long overdue, but I finally got around to actually doing it: I salvaged the <a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> archives from dusty, moth-eaten old compact cassette tapes that I'd had lying around in a drawer somewhere for aeons, tinkered around with audio forensics for a bit, and uploaded the resulting noise to Bandcamp. Here are the results...</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3813851838/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/album/live-tuk">Live @ Štuk by Ground Zero</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> was the first band I played drums in. By a sort of youthful inertia, it was formed in 1993 by a bunch of us kids who hung around the stage at what was then my secondary school. The initial lineup consisted of Aljaž Tulimirović, Aleš Kovačec and myself (none of whom went to that particular school), while the fourth founding member, my classmate Mitja Jurančič who was supposed to sing, immediately – at the first or second rehearsals – discovered that he couldn't actually carry a tune, probably to the eternal gratitude of the band's few future listeners. I'm not being mean: if Jurančič ever reads this, he'll be the first to agree. Frankly, none of us – with the possible exception of Tulimirović, who was relatively good on guitar even then – could play very well at that time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The band underwent the first permutations: Aleš Kovačec on bass was soon replaced by Boštjan Zorc, Aljaž picked up the vocal mike apart from the guitar, and with me on drums we soon made for a classic "power trio". For about half a year or so we mostly played Jimi Hendrix covers as well as some other blues and rock tracks at high school parties and biker gatherings. When you are that young, you learn fast, and not much time passed until we were tired of vintage rock covers. Zorc was eventually replaced by Sebastijan Roškarič on bass and we started coming up with our own ideas. It soon turned out that we desperately needed a "dedicated" vocalist, and I was very fortunate to run into Marko Djukić as a freshman at the university about a year after the band's formation. With Marko Djukić on vocals we focused almost exclusively on our own material, abusing covers only as fillers or a kind of jokery, and Djukić also stepped in as the band's resident lyricist. As Djukić and I both studied English, using any other language for lyrics was never even a question.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1982027978/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-litija">Live in Litija by Ground Zero</a></iframe></span></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The first recording that still exists and has now been "exhumed" dates back to 1995. The other three existing recordings – two from live concerts and a short DIY demo – were done in 1996. During that time we changed the bass player again: Roškarič gave way to Samo Pečar. Later, in the beginning of 1997 (or maybe at the end of 1996), if I remember correctly, we had some disagreements with Djukić, especially as it was difficult for him to attend our never-ending rehearsals and rock 'n' roll revelry far from his home every weekend. Besides, ravenous for new knowledge and eager to complicate our lives, Tulimirović, Pečar and I gradually strayed far into the realm of alter-prog-fusion-psychedelia, rendering the ground rather unfertile for vocalists, so we and Djukić parted ways, though on good terms. Of course, as barely anyone but ourselves was exactly crazy about our setlist that ultimately consisted of ten to fifteen-minute instrumentals riddled with incomprehensible, utterly undanceable odd-time meters and other intentional listener pitfalls like malicious breaks, malevolent random-sounding phrases played in unison, syncopated rhythms, atonal compositions and beat displacement, plus ample room designated for random improvisation and on-the-spot "freeform composition", the band gradually evaporated, without much clamour, sometime in the course of 1997 or 1998, as the band members started pursuing other outlets for their unbridled creativity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Marko Djukić dedicated himself to theatre, and thanks to him I started writing original soundtracks for theatre performances together with another long-term "associate" of mine, Stojan Kralj. Producing music for audio-visual works is also how I eventually got into the rather arcane music production business more seriously, and I also kept drumming in quite a few other bands. Boštjan Zorc went back to playing guitar (his primary instrument), and he has since been in several bands. He is now a great guitarist and owner of a well-known guitar workshop. Sebastjan Roškarič headed into the realm of magic: he is now an accomplished illusionist. Samo Pečar has become a professional bass player and has contributed to too many bands to list. Aljaž Tulimirović has gone on to form a few bands of his own as well as take part in a number of other projects. Both Tulimirović and Pečar participated in <a href="https://www.jamendo.com/artist/338660/juice-connection/albums" target="_blank">Juice Connection</a> (1998–2002, the music production crew formed by Kralj and myself) as well as played in the live line-ups of both bands I founded later: <a href="https://surproject.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">SUR</a> as well as, for a while, <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a>.</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2407697420/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=e99708/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/album/1996-demo-tape">1996 Demo Tape by Ground Zero</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I've already mentioned, the <a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ground Zero</a> archives were salvaged from mangled old compact cassette tapes. To make matters even more frustrating, most of the material was originally recorded directly from the mixer during rather "unpredictable" concerts of dubious quality, so forget about top-notch production by today's standards: the recordings did undergo significant digital audio restoration, as far as I could manage it... But without a functional artificial intelligence with a knack for audio forensics, magically transforming this material into anything great-sounding will remain impossible. Nevertheless, all of the former band members agreed it would be a good idea to "immortalise" these fine audio documents by digitising them before they vanished forever. Not that they will have any mass appeal, of course – but they will certainly let us, the former members, take a few trips down the memory lane.</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2661775437/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=2ebd35/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://ground0.bandcamp.com/album/live-rock-n-roll-tavern">Live @ Rock 'n' Roll Tavern by Ground Zero</a></iframe></center>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-79034405276552617702017-03-08T13:07:00.003+01:002017-03-08T13:08:54.358+01:00"Pendulum Pet" released on Jamendo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zKKvrN6T1is/VeGCtdTvRaI/AAAAAAAAAME/Jhee-X6CUxE04HnkUwCYf3p-dwYPDiWwQCPcB/s1600/00---Cover---1000px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zKKvrN6T1is/VeGCtdTvRaI/AAAAAAAAAME/Jhee-X6CUxE04HnkUwCYf3p-dwYPDiWwQCPcB/s200/00---Cover---1000px.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For reasons I will not go into right now, <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a> has been quiet for a while. The work on the band's third full-length album (as well as my third novel, which is supposed to accompany it) IS proceeding, though not exactly as initially planned, so I cannot yet predict with any certainty when either will be done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the meantime, we have released the <b><a href="https://www.jamendo.com/album/166658/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">Pendulum Pet album on Jamendo</a></b>, where you can grab it as a FREE download under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license.</span></div>
<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-38611106457097325162016-07-04T08:51:00.000+02:002016-07-04T10:38:14.094+02:00Cynicism Management on sale until 17 July<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My first novel, the sci-fi / satire <a href="http://getbook.at/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a>, will be on sale on Amazon until 1<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7</span> July. During this time you'll be able to get it for only <b>99 cents</b>. For more information about the novel – or to grab a free direct download of the original soundtrack for it – <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/cynicism-management" target="_blank">head here</a>.</span></div>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-36637892951369513382016-05-28T10:27:00.001+02:002016-05-28T10:30:39.232+02:00Pendulum Pet FREE on 28 and 29 May<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My second novel, <b>Pendulum Pet</b>, is <b>FREE</b> on <b><a href="http://getbook.at/pendulumpet" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b> on Saturday, 28 May, and Sunday, 29 May, as a part of KDP Select. During this limited time you can grab it without risking any of your capital assets for something you don't like. In fact, even if you're never going to read it, you'd be doing me a favour if you downloaded a copy, because all downloads contribute to the book's stats and visibility on Amazon. <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">Head to this page</a> for more information about the book.</span>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-69719703151109923602016-03-14T07:30:00.005+01:002016-03-14T08:23:43.055+01:00"Short and to the Point" EP released<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The soundtrack for the upcoming theatre performance <i>"Kratko in jedrnato"</i> (Short and to the Point), directed and co-written by <b>Marko Djukić</b>, has just been released as a 15-minute EP, entitled "<b><a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/short-and-to-the-point" target="_blank">Short and to the Point</a></b>". You can download it on <a href="https://raykosmick.bandcamp.com/album/short-and-to-the-point-ep" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> (free / name your price) or <b><a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/short-and-to-the-point" target="_blank">grab a free download here</a></b>.</span></div>
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<center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 522px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2434168835/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=de270f/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="http://raykosmick.bandcamp.com/album/short-and-to-the-point-ep">Short and to the Point (EP) by Ray Kosmick and his Porn Groove Crew</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All tracks on <b>Short and to the Point</b> were composed, arranged, recorded & produced by Borut Praper (a.k.a. <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ray-kosmick" target="_blank">Ray Kosmick</a>). All instruments performed by Borut Praper. Produced, mixed and mastered by Ray Kosmick in <a href="http://studio.sur.si/" target="_blank">S.U.R. Studio</a>, Berlin, in 2016. The cover artwork is a screenshot from the film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans by F.W. Murnau (1927).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Theatre performance credits:</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Starring: Branka Hočevar, Helena Bevc, Renata Jančar, Neli Mlinar, Tamara Kragulj, Aja Kobe k.g., Roman Tišler, Urh Props, Maks Kovič, Žiga Rappl, Gal Mavretič </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Set design & costumes: Katja Sladič Rudolf </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Assistant set & costume designers: Tina Baš, Tjaša Doblekar, Tessa Adamič </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hair stylist: Nina Vozel
Light design: Aljoša Vizlar </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Technicians: Jure P. Končar, Matej Bračun </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Performance produced by the TOMBAS society in cooperation with the Litija Cultural Centre</span></div>
<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-13795786288153429222016-03-08T07:13:00.000+01:002016-03-08T09:24:37.175+01:00"Pendulum Pet" (the novel) released!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H6MkUFuQupg/Vt5s8rj8_HI/AAAAAAAAAQU/EGYogFqA4RE/s1600/PPet-COVER-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H6MkUFuQupg/Vt5s8rj8_HI/AAAAAAAAAQU/EGYogFqA4RE/s1600/PPet-COVER-200x300.jpg" title="Pendulum Pet" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am overjoyed to report that my second novel, <b>Pendulum Pet</b>, has just been released on <b><a href="http://getbook.at/pendulumpet" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>! It's currently enrolled in <b>Amazon KDP Select</b>, so it'll remain exclusive to Amazon for the foreseeable future. I might change my mind and release it elsewhere at some point, but for now let's see how this arrangement works out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I would hereby like to thank my precious "beta readers": <b>Monika Fritz</b>, <b><a href="https://rickharsch.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Rick Harsch</a></b>, <b>Vesna Žagar</b>, <b>Barbara Drobnak</b>, <b>Jure Rudolf</b>, <b>Sunčan Stone</b> and <b>Marko Djukić</b> for their invaluable insight, assistance in the never-ending whack-a-typo hunt, as well as their involvement in advanced mental fart eradication. Furthermore, hats off to <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/matej.peklar.5" target="_blank">Matej Peklar</a></b>, top-notch illustrator and my best friend back in primary school (in another millennium, in a now deceased country), for his witty cover design. Yay, we've got a thoroughly grumpy pooch on the cover! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">Over here</a></b> you can listen to the <b><a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">complete soundtrack</a></b> for this novel and download it <b>for free</b>.
I can only hope Pendulum Pet manages to find a few readers whose sense of humour is convoluted enough to enjoy it. By the way, the price on Amazon is $3.99.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>ABOUT THE BOOK</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>PENDULUM PET</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(Cynicism Management Series Book 2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Satire / comic fantasy / sci-fi</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pendulum Pet is a romp through the vicissitudes of a gregarious advanced culture with too much time, information and technology on its hands. Paranoia is placed and misplaced, the devious succeed through manipulations of those who gaze in wonder at the mundane like chimps on acid, or fail when the truly bizarre and unthinkable inadvertently stand in their way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Civilizations clash, as they will, when Metaore, a transnational mining corporation headed by CEO Budd Dimples, purchases a field behind Boris and Beeba’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Tavern, a cult concert venue and meeting place of an eclectic collection of feckless artists, in order to undertake a remarkable experiment: drilling a geopunctural borehole to heal the Earth. Budd has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and taken a sudden turn toward esoteric wisdom, much encouraged by his healer and sex therapist Ashtara Wolf. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bogomyr Yadvig, one of the more outré of the regulars, lives in a tent nearby with Rex the tavern hound – his idea of communing with Greek Cynics in preparation for an upcoming performance piece. He has cause to lose sleep and accumulate suspicion that the corporation has nefarious unstated ends in mind, particularly when he has his Roswell moment, if that is indeed what it is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The corporate endeavour comes to a sudden halt when their drill runs into an impenetrable barrier, leading to mutually unfortunate and potentially combustible discoveries, along with stunning truths about parallel evolution and devolution. Yes, the world of the techno-information age has gone mad and survival may very well depend on the whims of a pendulum pet.
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Please note that this novel is adult, poignant satire. As such it contains explicit language, sex scenes, politically incorrect depictions, and may be offensive to the more irritable readers. Even though the work is part of a series, the story is self-contained and can be read independently of the other Cynicism Management Series novels.</i></span></div>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-10670276615736540592016-02-08T11:37:00.001+01:002016-02-08T12:01:05.218+01:00February Update<div style="text-align: justify;">
<img align="left" alt="Cynicism Management - cover" height="200" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/42255763f0f5a22cade07ef32/images/238d2438-3f93-42c5-96a2-82d94b080d22.jpg" style="-moz--moz--moz--moz-width: 135px; border: 1px solid; height: 200px; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px;" width="135" /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">First of all, <b>until the end of February</b> the second edition of my first novel, <a href="http://getbook.at/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a>, will be on sale in most digital stores (e.g. <b><a href="http://getbook.at/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1071407188" target="_blank">Apple</a> | <a href="http://www.inktera.com/store/title/5397ef1e-2e1c-4b4c-b241-e145d82c1ffa" target="_blank">Inktera</a> | <a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/cynicism-management-1" target="_blank">Kobo</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cynicism-management-bori-praper/1116157956;jsessionid=CA4A45582A10339848336FBD6AC6B5C1.prodny_store02-atgap01?ean=2940152835236" target="_blank">B & N</a></b>). During this time you'll be able to get it for only <b>99 cents</b>. For more information about the novel – or to grab a free direct download of the extensive original soundtrack for it – <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/cynicism-management" target="_blank">head here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By the way, a few people asked about this: yes, of course the book is DRM free. DRM protection annoys the hell out of me, and I definitely don't hold it against anyone if they make "unauthorised" copies of the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img align="right" height="200" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/42255763f0f5a22cade07ef32/images/3c806400-ffd0-4e3b-94f0-389dcbcb80a5.jpg" style="border: 1px solid; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 15px; width: 133px;" width="133" />Secondly, the graphics and illustration wizard <a href="https://www.facebook.com/matej.peklar.5" target="_blank">Matej Peklar</a> has just finished the cover for my second novel, <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet">Pendulum Pet</a> (<i>Cynicism</i><i> Management Series, Book 2</i>), which is to be released <b>in March</b>. The final draft is done, and I'm about to start formatting the text for e-readers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the meantime, <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">head to this page</a> to find out more about the upcoming novel and listen to the complete, quite extensive original soundtrack for it (you can either stream it or download it free of charge).</span>
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Finally, I'm happy to report that my new <a href="http://www.boripraper.eu/" target="_blank">author homepage</a> is now finished and you're most welcome to check it out. Apart from my usual ramblings about books and music it also offers <b>direct free downloads</b> of most of my albums, recorded in the recent years (I'll be adding more from my "back catalogue" over time). The download packages - available to all my "new release mailing list" subscribers - contain tracks in 320kbps mp3 format as well as artwork for each of the albums. This means that you can now download the complete <a href="http://boripraper.eu/music" target="_blank">Cynicism Management and Ray Kosmick discography</a> directly from my site - free of charge.</span>
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I'm currently working on my third novel and the accompanying music album, both of which will be entitled <b>Dog Days</b>. The book is at about 20 % of rough draft, and I've just started composing the <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">songs </span>and recording the first tracks, so no demos yet...</span>
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This about wraps up everything I have to report this month. Next time I'll hopefully be able to announce the release of my new novel.</span></div>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-88919250118402176642016-01-27T11:52:00.002+01:002016-01-27T12:42:58.234+01:00"Pendulum Pet" cover - sketch<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My favourite graphics and illustration wizard, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/matej.peklar.5" target="_blank">Matej Peklar</a>, has just come up with the first, rough sketch of the cover for my upcoming novel, <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">Pendulum Pet</a>. I love it – the "pendulum" dog, hanging from a leash, is as cranky as I have imagined him to be.</span><br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/R-9WFpKZ9Me3Hn7VPAEUGwkkiQCjNVpIx2yPBoziBribWXlGIA9zaBiQ1DD05ZBL7QvNDz6RhMJtE6x3aITr4cer3iZjo-EUDXvCbEw7tOQg7QcRToEMZvU" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The-Dog-Sketch300" border="0" class="size-full wp-image-282 alignright" src="http://boripraper.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/The-Dog-Sketch300.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />I am currently polishing the final version of the manuscript, trying desperately to hunt down and eradicate any remaining typos, blunders, slips of the pen, clumsy formulations, inconsistencies and plain old brain farts; and then I have yet to format the manuscript for e-readers before publishing it in March, if everything goes according to plan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />In the meantime, <a href="http://boripraper.eu/portfolio/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">head to this page</a> to find out more about the upcoming novel and listen to the complete, quite extensive original soundtrack for it (stream it or download it free of charge).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My new "author homepage" is now up and running at <a href="http://www.boripraper.eu/" target="_blank">www.boripraper.eu</a>. It focuses on the literary side of my work, but also offers direct free downloads of most of my music from the recent years (I'll probably be adding more from my "back catalogue" over time). These packages contain tracks in 320kbps mp3 format as well as artwork for each of the albums and are available to all subscribers for my "<a href="http://eepurl.com/bK2B8D" target="_blank">new release mailing list</a>". Under the "<a href="http://boripraper.eu/books" target="_blank">Novels & Soundtracks</a>" tab you can see more details about my books as well as download the complete soundtracks for both of them (collections of <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a> and <a href="https://raykosmick.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Ray Kosmick</a> tracks, featured in the novels).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Meanwhile, the second edition of my first novel, <a href="http://getbook.at/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a>, has also been released on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1071407188" target="_blank">Apple</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940152835236" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="http://www.inktera.com/store/title/5397ef1e-2e1c-4b4c-b241-e145d82c1ffa" target="_blank">Inktera</a>, <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=9781524236700" target="_blank">Kobo</a>, and <a href="http://www.scribd.com/book/294292057" target="_blank">Scribd</a> (apart from <a href="http://getbook.at/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Amazon</a>).</span></div><br>
Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-42739858939529295702015-12-30T13:54:00.000+01:002016-01-09T19:37:15.313+01:002nd Edition of "Cynicism Managment" novel published<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The second edition of my first novel, <b>Cynicism Management</b>, is now available on <b><a href="http://getbook.at/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b> (the link should automatically take you to your local Amazon store) for $2.99 / £1.99.</span></div>
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<a href="http://studio.sur.si/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CYN-cover-999px.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-513"><img alt="Cynicism Managment - Cover" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-513" src="http://studio.sur.si/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CYN-cover-999px-200x300.jpg" height="300" width="200" /></a></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">HOWEVER! Be warned that this price can vary greatly between the countries you're buying the book from, Slovenia being one of the most unfortunate ones. In Slovenia the $2.99 book will cost you $6.09. For example, these are the prices I've been able to confirm (when browsed in different countries, on Amazon US) after some research via VPN servers and/or with the assistance of friends living abroad:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- USA: $2.99 (my price at Amazon US)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Germany: $3.29 (most likely my price of €2.99 at Amazon DE, with currency conversion from €)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- UK: $2.96 (my price at Amazon UK, with currency conversion from £)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Switzerland: $ 3.26</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>- Latvia: $ 6.04</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>- Lithuania: $ 6.04</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Czech Republic: $ 2.99</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Romania: $ 3.71</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>- Slovenia: $ 6.09</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Portugal: $ 3.68</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Spain: $ 3.26</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- Sweden: $ 3.74</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I tried clearing up the issue with Amazon, but for three days of fruitless back-and-forth they kept evading and muddling the issue with diversionary tactics and nebulous quasi-information before finally sending the following statement (after I demanded explicitly that they send me a clear breakdown of how exactly they calculated the Slovenian price):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>"The availability and pricing of titles in global Kindle Stores may vary by home country or region, because of taxes and other operating costs. However, it is our operational policy that we don't disclose the breakdown to our publishers/authors. Unfortunately, we're unable to provide why we can't disclose these information to publishers/authors either."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In other words, they won't tell me why they charge the extra $3.10 in case of Slovenia, and they also can't tell me why they won't tell me that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I know of no taxes and reasonable "operating costs" (of sending a digital file to a Kindle and charging a credit card) that could result in an increase of price in excess of 100 %. However, the last sentence of the final response was probably volunteered by a rather disgruntled Amazon support staff member, and the actual interpretation from "bamboozlese" would probably be – I'm reasonably sure – that Amazon applies some ridiculous arbitrary surcharge in case of certain countries... And they obviously don't want to advertise this fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Be that as it may, the book will soon be published as epub in various other e-bookstores as well, hopefully without this astounding surcharge.</span></div>
<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-15919216532363585582015-11-23T11:36:00.004+01:002015-11-23T11:38:04.845+01:00Complete Pendulum Pet playlist<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is the complete playlist for <b>Pendulum Pet</b>, the new album by <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/cynmanagement" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a></b>. It can also be downloaded from our <b><a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/pendulum-pet" target="_blank">Bandcamp page</a></b> (name your price) or purchased in most digital stores.</span></div>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-40290267307093279592015-11-19T13:36:00.003+01:002015-11-23T11:39:08.420+01:00Entry for the ADAM Audio soundtrack competition<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is my entry for the ADAM Audio soundtrack competition. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I certainly wouldn’t mind winning a pair of new monitors, although chances for that are virtually zero - judging from the vast number of high-quality contributions... :)</span></div>
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/233758925&color=000000&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></center>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-19520346391852707402015-10-12T16:23:00.004+02:002015-10-12T16:30:50.287+02:00Pendulum Pet released!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm happy to report that the new <a href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" target="_blank"><b>Cynicism Management</b></a> album, entitled <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/pendulum-pet" target="_blank"><b>Pendulum Pet</b></a>, has just been released! For now it's on our <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><b>Bandcamp</b></a> page, with the digital release in a heap of online stores scheduled for 11 November. It's been a long and arduous run since the last full-length release (<a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/tit" target="_blank"><b>Tit</b></a> back in 2011), and a puny <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/opus-0-single" target="_blank"><b>single</b></a> and flimsy <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-chasers-ep" target="_blank"><b>EP</b></a> don't really count, as far as I'm concerned. So I certainly hope it takes us substantially less than another four years to come up with the third one, which we fully intend to record some day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Without further ado, here it is. On <a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><b>Bandcamp</b></a> you can download it for free, or, alternatively, you might even decide to wire us a few bucks for it, it's up to you.</span></div>
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<iframe height="150" seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3475520750/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;" width="300"><a href="http://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/pendulum-pet">Pendulum Pet by Cynicism Management</a></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><a href="https://cynmanagement.bandcamp.com/album/pendulum-pet">PENDULUM PET</a></b> by <b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management">CYNICISM MANAGEMENT</a></b></span></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">All tracks written and arranged by Borut Praper. Lyrics by Borut Praper except Digging Deep by Borut Praper & Monika Fritz. Vocals co-arranged and performed by Monika Fritz. All instruments played by Borut Praper except guitar solos for Don’t Let Me In, Bats Left the Belfry and Keep It Simple by Jure Praper. Recorded, produced and mixed by Borut Praper in Studio S.U.R., Berlin. Mastered by Torulsson @ <a href="http://www.808mastering.com/">808 Mastering.com</a>. </span></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Loads of thanks: Jan Baruca, Stojan Kralj, Jan Urbanc, Aljoša Mislej, Andrej Babič and Rok Predin for listening to the material at the mixing stage and providing crucial feedback. Sunčan Stone for reading the lyrics. Borut Bernik - Torulsson for providing technical advice and polishing the vocal sound. Nika Hölcl for taking our mug shots and making us look nice(r). </span></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
P + C 2015 CYNICISM MANAGEMENT</span></center><br>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-49231687733454846572015-10-08T15:00:00.004+02:002015-10-08T15:02:52.983+02:00I Found Them Twitching<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Track 10 of "Pendulum Pet":</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I FOUND THEM TWITCHING<br />
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It's seeping through my body<br />
It's oozing through my brain<br />
I can't unsee the blight and<br />
It's driving me insane<br />
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No way to close my eyes and<br />
Too late to turn away<br />
The time from here on out will<br />
Keep feeding my dismay<br />
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'Cause I found them twitching oh no<br />
'Cause I found them twitching oh no no<br />
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Attempts to disremember<br />
And hopes to disregard<br />
Just fuel the searing blaze<br />
And feed on the corpses charred</span></i></center>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-74378366749457920532015-10-07T12:31:00.002+02:002015-10-07T12:33:11.215+02:00Mastering of "Pendulum Pet" done!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm happy to report that the mastering of <b>Pendulum Pet</b>, the upcoming full-length album by the alternative / prog rock band <a href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" target="_blank"><b>Cynicism Management</b></a>, has just been finished. I'd like to thank Borut "Torul" Bernik @ <a href="http://www.808mastering.com/" target="_blank"><b>808mastering.com</b></a> for a superb job. I'm absolutely positive that the collection of eleven new tracks, clocking in at just over an hour, will make for the best Cynicism Management release to date.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So here is "Quickening", the last track on the album - an instrumental coda or "outro":</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">More tracks coming soon.</span><br />
<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-65805318563055395352015-08-30T10:13:00.003+02:002015-11-20T09:06:55.965+01:00Pendulum Pet Teaser Excerpts<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here are some (pre-master demo) "teaser" clips from the upcoming <a href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" target="_blank"><b>Cynicism Management</b></a> album Pendulum Pet. The release is planned for October.</span></div>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-62207752574411779252015-08-29T12:00:00.005+02:002015-10-12T16:29:47.830+02:00Graphics for "Pendulum Pet" done<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Just finished the graphics for the upcoming Pendulum Pet album by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" target="_blank"><b>Cynicism Management</b></a>:</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DfHjbbN_ZBs/VeGCtQoHjuI/AAAAAAAAAL8/afFB65Pc_-w/s1600/01---Keep-It-Simple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DfHjbbN_ZBs/VeGCtQoHjuI/AAAAAAAAAL8/afFB65Pc_-w/s320/01---Keep-It-Simple.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-7213990688174084952015-08-26T13:57:00.000+02:002015-08-26T13:57:36.426+02:00"Pendulum Pet" mixed<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The mixing of the new full-length <b><a data-mce-href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a></b> album, entitled <b>Pendulum Pet</b>, is finished, and the tracks are off to mastering. The release is planned for October.</span></div><br>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-29675267239163017072015-08-16T15:53:00.000+02:002015-08-16T16:00:08.731+02:00Finished recording "Pendulum Pet"<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We've just finished recording the vocals for the new full-length <b><a data-mce-href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" href="https://soundcloud.com/cynicism-management" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a></b> album, entitled <b>Pendulum Pet</b>. The final and polished mixes should be ready in a couple of weeks, and then the material will be off to mastering. The release, consisting of a total of eleven tracks, is planned for October. </span></div>
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Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-78076238566947941222015-05-28T11:11:00.006+02:002015-05-28T11:26:10.479+02:00First draft of "Pendulum Pet" complete<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm overjoyed to report that yesterday I finally wrote "THE END" at the very bottom of the first draft of "Pendulum Pet", my second novel (after my debut, entitled <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cynicism-Management-Bori-Praper-ebook/dp/B00DSRSQ58" target="_blank">Cynicism Management</a></b>). I concluded the novel with a short epilogue after a surprising writing spree which happened to me (of its own volition, it seemed) on Tuesday, when I managed to sit outside all they long, typing away until I had the entire 6000 words that now make up the very finale of the novel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On the balcony, where I kept freezing my posterior off in this quasi-spring in Berlin, having my way with my wife's satanic laptop, I enjoyed the company of an inflated yellow bastard named Hans, our neighbour's currently still nameless donkey, and some figurine that the neighbour had found in a Müllhaufen somewhere (which would be a German word for "a pile of garbage", and I find it - the word, I mean - particularly funny for some reason). As a reward for coming up with 5000 - 6000 words in a single writing session I got a nasty whiplash in my right shoulder.<br />
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Once again music will be composed for the novel as well. In fact that's already been done, but we have yet to finish recording the vocals and then go through all the post-production torture. The same goes for the novel: I have to re-read it now and polish it a bit before sending it to a few pals who have volunteered as "alpha testers". Should anyone else wish to receive the pre-publication manuscript and provide feedback (either the upcoming first revision or the second revision, which should be ready sometime in the autumn, probably), feel free to drop me a note.</span></div>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-33899614822732630272015-03-31T12:29:00.002+02:002015-04-03T11:01:42.854+02:00Aperçus by Ray Kosmick released<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Aperçus</b>, a full-length instrumental soundtrack album by <b>Borut Praper</b>, a.k.a. <b>Ray Kosmick</b>, has just been released. Most of the tracks on this album were written for the <a href="https://eu.survarium.com/eu-en/contest/survarium-music-contest" target="_new"><b>Survarium Music Contest</b></a>, opened by <b><a href="http://vostokgames.com/en" target="_blank">Vostok Games</a></b>, which called on the game community to produce music for the massive multiplayer shooter <b><a href="http://survarium.com/en" target="_blank">Survarium</a></b>. The competition was in two categories: covers of the game's <b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/survarium/survarium-main-theme" target="_blank">main theme</a></b>, composed by <b>Vladimir Savin -</b> <a href="https://soundcloud.com/dargalon" target="_new"><b>Dargalon</b></a> (first prize); and new original tracks for the game (multiple second prizes). The winners were selected by the developer and will be included in the game soundtrack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ray Kosmick's original track "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/ray-kosmick/nightfall-2" target="_new"><b>Nightfall 2</b></a>" received one of the second prizes; while his <b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ray-kosmick/main-theme-cover" target="_new">cover of the Survarium Main Theme</a></b> received the first prize and was the main winner of the competition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">All tracks on <strong>Aperçus</strong> written, arranged and recorded by <strong>Borut Praper</strong> (a.k.a. Ray Kosmick), except for <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ray-kosmick/red-river" target="_new"><strong>Red River</strong></a> (an "online" collaboration between Borut Praper and the Slovak composer/producer <strong>Alex Turčáni - <a href="https://soundcloud.com/alyctro" target="_new">Alyctro</a></strong> and another entry for the Survarium Music Contest) and<a href="https://soundcloud.com/survarium/survarium-main-theme" target="_new"> <strong>Survarium Main Theme</strong></a> (original theme composed by<strong> Vladimir Savin -</strong> <a href="https://soundcloud.com/dargalon" target="_new"><strong>Dargalon</strong></a>). The album also includes a few recent works (<strong>Fractures</strong>, <strong>Backyard Barry</strong> and <strong>Fractures Rend</strong>) which have not taken part in the aforementioned competition. All of the noise (except for Red River) made by Ray Kosmick, be it organic, synthetic, electric, acoustic, or any combination thereof. Produced, mixed and mastered by Ray Kosmick in <a href="http://studio.sur.si/" target="_new"><strong>S.U.R. Studio</strong></a>, Berlin, in 2014 & 2015. The cover artwork is a screenshot from the film Nosferatu by F.W. Murnau (1922).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>CONTRIBUTORS:</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><a href="http://studio.sur.si/" target="_new">Borut Praper</a></b> - music, arrangement, production, mix, mastering; drums, keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion, programming</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Survarium Main Theme:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">composed by <b>Vladimir Savin - <a href="https://soundcloud.com/dargalon" target="_new">Dargalon</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Red River:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Alex Turčáni (<a href="https://soundcloud.com/alyctro" target="_new">Alyctro</a>)</b>: original idea, music, production; guitar, bass</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Borut Praper (<a href="https://soundcloud.com/ray-kosmick" target="_new">Ray Kosmick</a></b>): arrangement, production, mix, mastering; drums, keyboards, additional music, bass & guitar</span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3611870304/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e32c14/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 617px; width: 328px;"><a href="http://raykosmick.bandcamp.com/album/aper-us">Aperçus by Ray Kosmick and his Porn Groove Crew</a></iframe></center>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-950752152436989928.post-6931444040929614122015-03-15T14:54:00.002+01:002015-03-18T13:49:08.548+01:00Final tracks for the Aperçus album<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here are the final two tracks for the <b>Aperçus</b> album by <b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ray-kosmick" target="_blank">Ray Kosmick</a></b> (to be released later this month). Actually it's one track, but <b>Fractures Rend</b> is a slightly reworked excerpt of a longer composition, entitled <b>Fractures.</b> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This was done because the shorter "cut" wraps up this rather diverse (loose?) collection of tracks nicely, while the complete <b>Fractures </b>will serve as the opening track.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/195973738&color=00458a&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></center>
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/195972713&color=dad00c&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></center>
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<br />Cynicism Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15358791196529608591noreply@blogger.com0