Liminal Moments: Fall Time

Prelude:
00:00 Grasping at the fleeting light radiating from Summer
Chapter 1:
12:49 The mourning of the Summer, like a lost lover. contemplative denial , wasting away...
15:45 gloriously narcotized under the cover of musty sheets that had been in storage since Spring
21:50 Resigned to Winter, snow is contemplated, you clean your room
23:55 you uncover a box of tucked away art, created during some time you can't rightly recall, you spend a few hours looking through it
25:26 you dig out your collaging supplies and start ripping up magazines and all the strange rubbish collected over the past year. Reconfiguring it, lending it a meaning to keep it from being thrown away
29:08 you create art for what seems to be a week straight

Chapter 2
31:00 You are within the hold of mania. having too many things to do to prepare for Winter..
32:17 ...and too many apprehensions about doing them...
32:30 ... you do not go outside for an indeterminate amount of time
33:55 You have taken to looking out your window furtively.
34:41 Some days there's rain and it tramples the leaves into colorful mats along the streets
35:09 this causes the storm drains to back up, and sewage dumps straight into Lake Erie, or so you've heard
35:35 This makes you feel sad and impotent
37:45 It's all just, too big
40:45 You are dreaming that all the trees along your street, their leaves are changing
41:13 transmuting from green to all the fiery granduer of Autumn and settling into a TV static
41:31 from which emerges art of an indefinable style, but you recognize it as all your own
41:40 it's beauty, it's resonance, makes you ache, it is yours yet not yours, beyond your grasp
42:06 and with that thought a wind picks up along a gentle downpour. it batters the leaves from off of the limbs and litters them among the growing street muck
42:25 you wake up with the distinct impression that the basement is flooding
43:20 beyond that, you remember nothing of the dream
Chapter 3
43:26 the intervening days tread on as they always do
43:41 the desire to create art is mostly gone, and you look upon your newest creations with a mixture of pride and puzzlement.
43:50 like, was that really your work?
44:05 conversely, the desire to leave your room is growing, you are growing tired of it
44:15 you go on social media to find things to do but end up reading articles, and then getting in a comment war with someone you shared a residence hall in college with, and even though you know you that you were in the right, and fighting a good fight, you still feel like an asshole and utterly sullied on the notion of being around people
44:20 this cycle repeats wayyyyy too many times, and you become increasingly frustrated and protracted.
44:32 You attempt to make yourself feel better by eating a family sized bag of candy corn and bingewatching Louis. This doesn't end up working as well as it had in the past.
44:45 8 months of preemptive cabin fever begins clawing it's way into your brain, your lungs.
44:46 Your breathing is hitching. Your window sill is full of dead plants
44:47 You must breathe something new, but are still too addled from self neglect to know how. you pace
46:26 You want to go outside, but what is there to do? what is your purpose?
46:58 these thoughts make you feel boxed in, trapped, and listless...

Chapter 4
47:51 you find a musty packed away hoodie, and resolve to go outside
48:27 you speed downstairs, trying to achieve some kind of escape velocity from the distractional pull of your thoughts and your surroundings
49:43 On your front porch anxiety morphs into elation breath by breath. The air is brisk and rewarding
50:26 you begin to remember
51:26 you begin to remember how to breathe
51:34 you just breathe, letting your thoughts be what they are, until they fall
51:40 they glide along the air and litter themselves along the gutters
52:01 packed down in resonant colors, each a piece of art, indifferent and shifting in meaning as the weather roughs them into degradation
52:15 you come back to yourself, and are aware that you've been standing stock still on your porch for a solid amount of time. You laugh to yourself a little bit.
53:44 the air is clearing out your sinuses and you become aware that you kind of reek
53:55 you sniff your armpit with a bit of overzealousness, 'yep, I need to fucking shower'. You literally say this out loud, to no one. you can't help but laugh heartily at that
54:33 You go inside to remedy that in a state that is bordering on giddiness
54:56 while sudsing up “Oh, You Pretty Things!” comes into your head, and of course you sing it with all due gusto
55:13 as you're leaving the bathroom, you hear that one of your housemates is now playing the Hunky Dory album as they cook. Mission Accomplished?
56:00 you dry off and hastily throw on some clothes, intent on leaving with haste
56:12 as you're heading out, your housemate intercepts you, wanting you to taste their stir-fry. You oblige
56:20 it is delicious, and you end up sharing a meal with them and a few other housemates who'd wandered out of their rooms for food
56:58 conversation seems to revolve about how everyone has been cooping up in their rooms lately,
57:30 you share your current experiences with a pang of unease, but everyone present shares a similair experience
58:35 the weight of the past few weeks begins to feel really small
59:45 you clean your dishes and begin to head out, when a housemate hollers that there's a thing happening at a dance studio tonight and that you should pop in, there'll be house music. You say you don't know if you're into dancing, but might check it out.

Chapter 5
1:01:02 you gear up on the front porch and give your recently neglected bike a cursory tuneup
1:03:24 You get on your bike and pedal lakeward into the Sun
1:03:33 the going is tough. Your pedaling doesn't seem to equate to your forward motion. You start to to break out in a tingly sweat, and you relish the opportunity to coast along any slight decline.
1:04:01 you are dreading the pedestrian bridge leading over the freeway into Lasalle Park, but your legs have adequately limbered by the time you reach it, and you make easy work of it
1:04:10 you coast along the water's edge, rapt in the beauty of the sunset, every cell of your body rejoicing in that magic hour light
1:04:30 the leafless trees are cast in stunning sillhouette and you are reminded of a person you are quite fond of who enjoys drawing these
1:04:36 you make a few circuits around the park as the light fades
1:04:50 you hear a hubbub emanating from Canalside, and you decide to check it out
1:05:30 there's security at the entrance to Canalside, and you remember the last time you went they made you pour out your water bottles. You decide to keep biking
1:06:02 you navigate the snarl of motor traffic, thanking yourself every moment for investing in front and back bike lights, and cut up Main street.
1:06:43 you are normally loathe to bike on sidewalks, but they are rather expansive here, and downtown is totally dead, even though it's a Friday night. You rejoice in swerving through the desolate plazas.

Chapter 6
1:07:46 You end up at that house night at a DIY, donation driven dance studio on the outskirts of downtown
1:09:23 you are awestruck by the dancers. their freedom and command upon the dancefloor is humbling
1:11:42 there are not many people there, so you feel a little less anonymous than you'd like to
1:13:54 you breathe to calm yourself, and find contentment in watching the dancers get down righteously
1:15:55 you love this song! You haven't heard it in ages. And that piano line conjures an image of Cyberstorm from 'Vibrations'. You laugh at that and then find yourself dancing, as if by accident
1:19:08 you are dancing without caution as the studio fills with more people
1:20:02 total freedom in movement
1:20:50 no one cares how you dance, everyone's dancing is ludicrous
1:21:32 total freedom in movement
1:22:03 you feel a tap on your shoulder
1:22:10 it's your housemate, along with a few friends who you haven't seen in what feels like ages
1:24:16 you feel an overwhelming gratitude as you all proceed to dance ludicrously together
1:24:30 “THIS SONG! MY GOD THIS SONG!” You holler as the place goes off. No one cares or would understand, and that's okay
1:26:09 this song just gives you all the feels, and to finally hear it out? There's just too much love to even grasp at
1:26:16 is this real? Is any of it ever real?
1:29:20 You step outside the house, the bass still rumbling within it's walls, breathing in the air
1:29:40 the airs cool edge feels good against your skin, and for this moment...
1:30:53 well, for this moment you are thankful for that cold air, gratitude for the world and for yourself, and for all the fleeting phases you cycle through

So, it's been about a year since I originally recorded this, and, though this sounds extremely narcicistic, it's one of my very favorite sets of music. Some of my very favorite songs, some of my proudest moments of mixing, and with a clear narrative focus. Speaking of that narrative...
I actually wrote companion chapter headings in the style of a 2nd person narrative focusing on themes of depression, mania, seasonal affective disorder, etc, that would progress with the music. These were intended to show up alongside the tracklist as the set progressed, but they don't seem to be working (which is a shame, cause mixcloud could really become an interesting narrative space if this creative tool was shown some love).
SO, I'm hoping that my commenting here causes some of you fine folks to stop by and spend some more time with this mix, and to follow the narrative which I'll be publishing soon in the comment section here. Cheers from Buffalo

Excellent set, Low Key! Really nice sound construction and journey. I liked the track selection and programming as well.

WOW, what a journey, what a fantastic story telling ! very eclectic very skilled mix! absolutely loved it ! GREAT WORK, my friend! From Munich With Love, Cheffls :)))
Ps: unfortunately your description showed up only partly as the playlist now on mc appears too small :((

Luffly musics, tyty=)

Appreciated, would love to see more.