Am I Fading Fast Or Flashing Like Lightning?

by Vibrations Of The Sun

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1.	It's Good To Have Fun 03:05	lyrics	buy track
It’s Good to Have Fun It’s good to have fun Almost better than being free It’s good to have fun Subdivide the day for me Every hour a field of bamboo I have to fight my way through Genius of the Untried Hours of sleep Hours and hours and hours of just being me Hours of sleep Hours and hours and hours of just being me
2.	Restore Me (To My Original Form) 02:47	lyrics	buy track
Restore Me (To My Original Form) Yes, I was there - But out of place in the torments of spring Looked death in the face - I swear it was the easiest thing Restore me to my original form Restore me to my original form When I was 17 and everything was clear I forget my love makes no sound But the ghost of a chance you’ll hear me moving around It’s the most difficult thing, the most difficult thing Restore me to my original form Restore me to my original form When I was 17 and everything was clear
3.	It All Made Sense 03:01	lyrics	buy track
It All Made Sense I’m in a state of some surprise These green-grey eyes defy defence Sunday afternoons are heaven-sent They mean something more: Our reward and recompense If in the night: a stifled cry Don’t let me sleep right though the tangled present tense Remind me of the day So distant and intense We were ready for each other and it all made sense
4.	No More Wishful Thinking 03:35	lyrics	buy track
No More Wishful Thinking Is it good for me is it good for you The way we satisfy the will of the other If it bubbles up, baby let it bubble up And we’ll double up and tag team the others I know it sounds easy to say I’ll never leave you What good would it do me to be on my own I’ll carry on drinking with my universe shrinking No more wishful thinking Is it better now or was it better then Am I fading fast or flashing like lightning? I could find a way, medicine or hideaway Some sweet and sour day when it won’t be so frightening I know it sounds easy to say I’ll never leave you What good would it do me to be on my own I’ll carry on drinking with my universe shrinking No more, no more wishful thinking
5.	Vow Of Silence 01:42	lyrics	buy track
Vow Of Silence I took a vow of silence to nature and its laws I’m breaking it now to let you know it’s raining indoors Living with the spiders and the parrots in the trees Folks don’t come around no more, rocks roll away from me A sudden attack of the CBAs Under the bed with the 2-inch tapes Nothing to be done with my old face Charlton on the beach in Apes
6.	Don't Wake Up 04:31	lyrics	buy track
Don’t Wake Up Some things you can’t forget Sleeping like a lost plush animal Only once did I shift, as if I was lifting myself to a new level The sounds and signals counted off the long, long minutes to hours Taking it slowly Seeing where I might end up But how was I to know you would let me go? Don’t wake up The signals counted out the minutes into days On and on I slept in a sentence of one phrase And in my lazy way I understood What good would waking do? Get up to the other world or be relegated with you? Don’t wake up
7.	Green Dress 02:47	lyrics	buy track
Green Dress Gerry don’t make me sing “Suspicious Minds” Don’t let me humiliate myself The verses are straightforward, but that middle 8! The drag queens will laugh at me and call me names Gerry I don’t think I suit that dress Something simpler might be my style In green, with tiny flowers to match my eyes Gerry don’t lip-synch to my song I’m stood here like someone who wants to be eaten alive They’ll ask me if they’ve seen me at The Bell: I’ll have to say they have But Gerry I don’t think I suit that dress Something simpler might be my style In green, with tiny flowers to match my eyes
8.	The Who Of What We Know 03:16	lyrics	buy track
The Who Of What We Know Wait, oh wait, we must adjust The who of what we know Don’t have so many friends to spare Thin on the ground: Rare So wait, oh wait Pause a while A heart is hard to break, including mine Hardened by disappointment and time So wait, wait friends we must adjust and make amends The who of what we know
9.	Death Orchestra 02:37	lyrics	buy track
Death Orchestra Hear me scraping on my black violin Squonking on my blood Bassoon Cellos tuned to zero blip and bolt and rattle sting The orchestra of death goes out of tune Horsehair bows that gravel and grit Quadruple basses wobble and split Chocolate saxophone melt in the sun Here come the singers out-running the gun with their throats as sore as crows Yes their throats as sore as crows Hear me scraping on my black violin Squonking on my blood Bassoon Guitars tuned to zero blip and bolt and rattle strings The orchestra of death goes out of tune
10.	Fetish For Alarm 03:16	lyrics	buy track
Fetish For Alarm When I wrote it how was I to know Which way they’d make the wind blow? I can’t believe they let me go In the freezing rain and the falling snow A writer has no gun Space bar CAPS LOCK Borrowed words and a fetish for alarm The manuscript has gone astray Confession seem the only way So I’ll admit I wrote the book It’s in the wall if you care to look A writer has no gun Space bar CAPS LOCK Borrowed words and a fetish for alarm
11.	The Horse's Beautiful Eye 02:53	lyrics	buy track
The Horse’s Beautiful Eye The horse’s beautiful eye Sees something in the sky Aeroplane up high Dropping propaganda on the passers-by Intent on being good, on doing good For every bad there is a worse And yes for every prayer there is a curse This is my story, chapter and verse In the horse’s beautiful eye The horse’s beautiful eye
12.	Fuses 03:37	lyrics	buy track
Fuses I won’t be though this way again Hide in caves, I hate the rain Early man I’m still untamed I got griefs and I got pain I got worries all the time Skeletons and valentines Though I’m dizzy and intense Got no common sense The shadows show me in a crazy light Blow out the candles they’re far too bright I still love electric light Blow all the fuses and say goodnight I exhaust myself in you Let me show you what to do Strength and weakness help me live Something’s got to give The shadows show me in a crazy light Blow out the candles they’re far too bright I still love electric light Blow all the fuses and say goodnight

about

The second LP from underground song wizards Vibrations Of The Sun is now ready for release in April 2024, and is a move further into the joyfully pessimistic would of Paul Frederick’s post-entombment readjustment to a chaotic world, encased in Christopher Cordoba’s determinedly idiosyncratic and sometimes other-worldly soundscapes.
Difficult words, placed in strange places.

As ever, "Am I Fading Fast Or Flashing Like Lightning?" is a unique sounding record which demonstrates the duo's re-dedication to song-craft after both had suffered family bereavement after the debut VOTS LP in 2022.The album could alternatively be called "Life is Precious, Here Comes Existential Worry" such are the lyrical themes.

"We really connected with this record to overcome what we were both dealing with. After recording several LPs, over many years, we have never been happier with the results.
"Am I Fading Fast Or Flashing Like Lightning" is evolution of two skilled artists coming together, trusting their intuition to create a singular statement.

The title is taken from a lyric in "No More Wishful Thinking" which develops from a spiritual verse into a cool Everly Brothers chorus. A radio hit in the making in a more just universe.
"Green Dress" describes an anxiety inducing peer pressure situation set to a Lambchop soundtrack.
Listen closely and you can hear elements of Talk Talk in "Its Good To Have Fun" and Beach Boys chord progressions in "The Horse's Beautiful Eye". "Death Orchestra" is a convincing take on a spooked Waits/Brecht approach. "It All Made Sense, a love song, of sorts, that musically has hints of the early 70s vocal albums of Brian Eno.
"Don't Wake Up" has a gentle, dream-like, motorik vibe reminiscent of Cluster to words that suggest someone close is slipping away slowly in to the next world.
Witness the "Come Together" stealth of "The Who of What We Know" where Fred implores the listener to "wait and pause a while".
The retro-futurist soul of "Fetish For Alarm" sounds like nothing JA or VOTS have done before and shows a band that can be both inclusive and exclusive. A song for all the brave writers out there. "Restore Me (to my original form)" is classic film noir and even features a section with a Bernard Herrmannesque string arrangement.
Final song "Fuses" features a soaring chorus, melancholy Satie piano and blistering guitar break delivered by Cordoba.

The whole record is filtered through Frederick and Cordoba's unique lens which has been established over the last 30 years of writing together. Cordoba has often stated the he considers Frederick to be the finest lyricist currently still working in the form of popular song. "Am I Fading Fast Or Am I Flashing Like Lightning?" bears this out and Fred's voice here has never sounded better in his 40 year career.

The process has been the same as for the recording of the first VOTS LP: not meeting in person, trading ideas electronically (telepathically?), offering, refining, confirming. Cordoba conjured up a steady flow of music (up to nearly 100 song ideas/sketches) to inspire words/melodies, he then waited patiently for the magic to happen. Whilst waiting Cordoba used his Beach Ready project to continue to create, with the acclaimed "Archipelago" album being the result.
Paul F constructed the lyrical response and worked with James Watson in his North London sonic shed to record the vocals. Cordoba produced and mixed the combined results in Hammersmith. David Watson, James's younger brother, helped Cordoba finish Fuses with a mix and expert backing vocals. The process was completed by Tony Cousins mastering at Metropolis.

"Am I Fading Fast Or Flashing Like Lightning?"is a life-affirming record that talks extensively about the eventuality of us all passing through this world into another. The joy and pain of it all wrapped up in one 37 minute, spirited masterpiece. "Blow all the fuses and say goodnight"

credits

released April 2, 2024

Vibrations of The Sun

Paul Frederick and Christopher Cordoba with:

It All Made Sense: James Watson Bass
No More Wishful Thinking: James Watson Bass
Vow of Silence: James Watson Bass, Mat Hempell Piano
Green Dress: James Watson Bass, Brandon Paluzzi Drums
The Who of What We Know: James Watson Bass
Death Orchestra: James Watson Bass
Fetish For Alarm: Mat Hempell Synth
The Horse's Beautiful Eye: James Watson Bass
Fuses: James Watson Bass, David Watson Backing Vocal and Mix

Produced by Christopher Cordoba

Vocal Recording by James Watson
Mastered by Tony Cousins at Metropolis, with thanks to Matt Polly
Front cover: Mathias Brych
Design: Sam Fovargue

P and C Supple Pipe Records 2024

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about

Vibrations Of The Sun London, UK

Vibrations Of The Sun is the new project from Christopher Cordoba and Paul Frederick of avant-pop group Jack Adaptor, A swift and sudden left turn to find the sounds from the sun. Recorded in isolation from the world and from each other. A second LP is due for release in 2024. ... more

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