The third album by The Prodigal Sounds is called "Circles". It is being prepared in installments.

 

The first installment is "Volume 3", consisting of the "Annulus Suite". This has now been released on BandCamp! Go Listen!

CD Booklet:

You can find a copy here: Annulus Booket (PDF)

Reviews:

Cakewalk By Bandlab Forum:

 

"[I hear] Pat Metheny, Dave Grusin. Just wonderful all around."

- Jack.C

 

"I am totally amazed at your talent and this production. That was the best 45 minutes I've spent listening to music, in years. Beautiful tone on the classical guitar as well."

- Mark Skinner

 

"This production just shines."

- Lynn Wilson

 

"I can hear some Floyd; Yes; and other influences in there, but it is your own, too."

- Kurt.S

Annulus Suite:

The Annulus Suite contains 5 movements:

 

1. Departure (4:33)

2. Arrival (1:51)

3. Totality (10:16 am) (2:41)

4. Circles (Achievement Unlocked) (4:36)

5. Departure (reprise) (3:06)

 

Lyrics:

First Contact: Departure

 

We meet up in Portland, planned for several years

Waiting by the OMSI logo, counting concrete squares

At the curb I see the Tesla, and I meet his charming wife

How little he has changed despite the years and different life

 

My tripod in the trunk, and my camera by my side

We head due West, and stop to shop provisions for the ride

The Sun is bright unfiltered light, with two days yet to go

Making time, and catching up, with traffic getting slow

 

West on 18, South on 101

Following the road out to the sea

Through the village, to the coastal inn

and the lattitude of first totality

 

We find the exit, and park just up the slope

Second-story balcony, a lonely telescope

Walk out to the office, and the ocean breeze is cold

As he hands back the paperwork, I see a flash of gold

 

With time to play the tourist, a walk to spend the day

I capture them in silhouette at the pier in Siletz Bay

Pirate cakes, and Tidal Raves, the kiln at Mossy Creek

Sun sets through a wine glass sea where Light and Shadow meet

 

Monday morning, a wreath of coastal fog

We pack the car and search for clearer skies

Covallis-Newport highway, East of Eddy Creek

Above the mist, the cars are lining either side

 

 

Second Contact: Arrival

 

Slow down, look around to park - there's a space

Time to get the tripod out, this is the place.

 

Restless crowd. Faces of excitement all around

On the bank above, they're walking single file, to higher ground

 

Sepia; as penumbral light surrounds the hill

The perfect photograph will need tranquility, and skill

 

It begins with diamond rings - see the shadow fall...

(quantized flicker twilight making wayang of us all)

 

 

Totality: 10:16 am, Shadowfall

 

In '83 strangers came from overseas

to my home, a fishing town called Tuban.

 

Nearly noon; yellow light and dusky blue

Under the bed, we hid in fear, as Kahu ate the Sun.

 

Later that day, a bule man was kind to me,

and showed me how his camera saved what I could not see.

 

Totality, now in twenty seventeen

Unafraid, I think I hear a distant gamelan

 

The crowd is getting louder, and time can not be stopped.

The LCD before me, I breathe, and take the shot

 

 

Third Contact: Achievement Unlocked (Circles)

 

Circles within circles...

 

 

Fourth Contact: Departure (reprise)

 

We journey Eastward, deeper into smoke

Earth is viewing Heaven through an opalescent cloak

Water and Caldera are the Iris and the Lens

Crater Lake is background in a portrait of my friends

 

Klamath Lake at sunset, we drive into the night

A lullaby of sound from road and tires

In just a few days, I've a trans-Pacific flight

Back to my family, across the Ring of Fire

 

Inspiration

1. A trip we took to Oregon to view the Great American Eclipse of 2017.

2. http://www.krysstal.com/ec1983.html

Production Notes and Credits:

Written, performed, engineered, and produced by Colin Nicholls

Recorded in a spare room in Marin County, California

Tracked, mixed, and mastered with the awesome free DAW Cakewalk By Bandlab.

We endorse the use of MeldaProduction VSTs

Mastered to an average loudness of -14 LUFS.

 

Fender Telecaster, Ovation Balladeer, Yamaha Spanish guitar

Ibanez Roadster Fretless Bass

Modartt Pianoteq; FrozenPlain Mirage; Klevgrand Pipa;

Korg M1; Roland VK-8; Novation PEAK

XLN Addictive Drums 2; Roland SPD-20; Shaker, Tamborine, Handclaps

 

Thanks to Lisa and Mitchell for the inspiration

Photos (c) 2017 by Mitchell Rodda, used with permission

 

Design by Colin Nicholls

Copyright (c) Colin Nicholls 2021

 

PSCDA23