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Becoming One

by Birzer Bandana

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    Download contains a PDF Booklet with Lyrics and commentary
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      £4 GBP  or more

     

1.
Awash 05:26
Awash in light, bathed but comforted Head. . . deadly, deadly, deadly heat Burns the skin and the retinas Irradiated skies baptize the earth Alone Cleansed, half alive Lost Lost Awareness comes slowly Lost awareness, lost understanding Awareness comes slowly Lost awareness, lost understanding A life A weariness How many days? How many years? The Reaper has reaped The flesh is weak
2.
The Dance 06:38
It floats, it flutters It shimmers It dances An illusion? An unseen breeze animates it, A ghost in the heat The colors, the quavering, the quaking It floats, it flutters It shimmers It dances An illusion? With hesitation, he moves toward it Removing his hood, he bends down His scarred hand moves toward the translucence More than floating More than fluttering More than shimmering More than illusion. . . . No, it dances. It dances as only the dead can.
3.
Three, Three Into one It becomes whole Three into one It becomes whole Glass moves, images clarify A Word, a life, A million lives A million words Colors shift, forms form, Shades shade Colors color From three to one Becoming whole Three to one A whole His scarred hand touches three to one No longer lost He sees Found, he feels Found, he feels He's Found, he feels He's Found, he feels He's Found, he feels
4.
The pain of a million souls The pain of a million ills The pain The scars, the burning fire Desiccated, irradiated, purgugated Why must he be the one? Might there be others? Would he wish this on another?
5.
Scenes 06:26
Six around a table The words decrease The uncomfortable silence Broken only by the violence the violence the violence . . . Now, four around a table Alone, afraid, isolated Alone, afraid, isolated Thirty plus one in a room Rules, authority, conformity Try not to stand out To stand out is exile Try not to stand out To stand out is isolation Try not to stand out To stand out is exile Alone, afraid, Alone, afraid isolated. . . but fully human but fully human Boxes All neat and in rows Rows, rows, perpendicular rows All the same Conformity Conformity for the sake of avarice To be is to be human To be is to be human Not one of a million But one in a million Not one of a million But one in a million Try not to stand out To stand out is exile To stand out is exile
6.
The pain Of a million souls The pain Of a million errors “Am I Alone Do I want To be Alone The pain Of a million souls The pain Of a million errors “Am I Alone Do I want To be Alone The scars the burning and the fire Would I wish this on anyone?”
7.
Incarnate 07:18
As he touches the dancing pages The man becomes the book, the book the man As he touches the dancing pages The man becomes the book, the book the man The life, the story. . . incarnate The life, the story. . . incarnate Incarnate pain Incarnate error Incarnate freedom The flesh becomes the word The image is the whole Alone, free, unique, free The errors, hell The fire, purgation The man is free

about

When Dave asked me to write lyrics for a forthcoming album, I was beyond thrilled.
Having been a prog rock fan since my earliest memories of childhood, I’ve always wanted to be an intimate part of the act of creation. Sadly, though I have wide-ranging as well as specific tastes in music, I know next to nothing about composition or performance. I do, however, have lots of ideas and words floating around that odd organ known as the human brain.
The first idea that came into my mind came from one of my favorite novels, Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. This provided
the opening scene, but everything that followed came from my own love of vast, deserted, and broken landscapes and Mark Hollis-esque minimalistic and imagist lyrics. “Becoming One,” then, is a bit post-apocalyptic sci-fi, a bit psychological and theological, and a whole lot of cathartic.
Dave masterfully took these poor words and made them something epic. Proggy and epic. But, then again, all prog is epic and all epic is prog. We hope you enjoy our first collaboration—Brad (and Dave), March 18,
2017.

credits

released March 19, 2017

All instruments played by Dave Bandana
—except
Olga Kent - violin on “Awash” and “The Dance”
Mick Bennett - guitar on “3 To 1”

Dave - vocals, bass, guitars, drums, drum programming, synths, piano, organ, and mellotron.

Produced, engineered and mastered by Dave Bandana at Villa Clavell studios Lanzarote

Written by Dave Bandana (music) and Brad Birzer (concept and lyrics); Birzer Bandana, ©2017.

Drawing by Lyn Phillips; colouring and graphics by Kim Varner-Fulmer

A review from Thaddeus Wert

There’s a new band on the prog block: Birzer Bandana, which is Progarchy’s own Brad Birzer (lyrics) and Salander’s Dave Bandana (music and performance). According to Brad’s liner notes, his lyrics were jumpstarted by the science fiction classic A Canticle For Leibowitz, and the opening track, “Awash”, definitely conjures up images of a post-nuclear wasteland.

Awash in light, bathed and comforted
Head… deadly, deadly, deadly heat
Burns the skin and the retinas
Irradiated skies baptize the earth.

Bandana’s music is appropriately somber and evocative of someone trudging through desert sands. Olga Kent’s beautiful violin lends an exotic air.

Things pick up a bit in the second song, “Dance”. I love Bandana’s double-tracked vocals here, and the combination of acoustic guitar, hand percussion (tabla?), Kent’s bewitching violin, and some classic-era prog organ make for a terrific track. Imagine late-period Beatles collaborating with Pink Floyd, and you get an idea of how this one sounds.


“3 To 1” features Mick Bennett on guitar, and it also has a distinct Floydian feel. Birzer’s lyrics are almost sacramental, in the same way Talk Talk’s music is from Spirit of Eden:

From Three, Three Into one
It becomes whole
Three into one
It becomes whole

“Wretched, Part I” is my favorite of the album. I’m a sucker for well-constructed space music, and the first four minutes conjure up a bleak, austere landscape through massed synthesizers. Think of Vangelis’ work on Blade Runner and Antarctica, you’ll have a sense of the power of this track. The lyrics complement the soundscape perfectly:

The scars, the burning fire
Desiccated, irradiated, purgated
Why must he be the one?

“Scenes” is the most straight-forward rock song of the album, and it’s very catchy. The ghosts of late-70s’ discos show up to bop and hop while Bandana sings of the pressure to conform:

Boxes
All neat and in rows
Rows, rows, perpendicular rows
All the same Conformity
Conformity for the sake of avarice

“Wretched” makes another appearance in “Wretched, Part II”, and it is a nice little ELP-style jam with swirling synths and driving rhythm.

The album closes with the upbeat “Incarnate”. A bouncy piano riff is the foundation for a thoroughly enjoyable tune. However, there are hidden depths to this deceptively catchy ditty, as Bandana’s intertwining vocal harmonies sing of

Incarnate pain
Incarnate error
Incarnate freedom
The flesh becomes the word
The image is the whole

The final three minutes of this song are a perfect way to end the album, as Bandana plays a guitar solo that builds and builds as it ascends. It doesn’t lack a single note nor waste a superfluous one; it reminds me of Vaughan Williams’ small masterpiece, The Lark Ascending.

When all is said and done, Becoming One is a very solid and enjoyable offering from Birzer Bandana. I love the instrumental nods to ’70s prog, while staying firmly in the 21st century. Birzer’s lyrics are dark and dystopian, but throughout there are glimmers of hope, and album ends on an inspiringly uplifting note. I hope this is the first of many projects from Birzer Bandana – the prog world is much richer for their presence.

You can stream Becoming One at the Birzer Bandana BandCamp page. You can even name your own price to purchase a digital download!

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Birzer Bandana Hillsdale, Michigan

Birzer Bandana are two prog lovers from opposite sides of the Atlantic who have never met. One creates concepts and lyrical prose. The other creates music. A joining of the two.

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