Strange Currencies Beginnings

Travelling full throttle into exciting times.

PP Johnson and I are working on and writing songs. We will be demoing while recruiting the final line up. New projects keep the fulfillment and variety. One gets ask what this band’s sound gonna be? Well under the umbrella of Rock. But not like the last bands I’ve been in. The freedom and ability to be creative, experiment, indulge is a fine thing.

As the new Strange Currencies official website and social media evolves. We will put up videos, blogs etc.

We are working on Unusual Haunts:

Compare once the band version is done.

and the instrumental

Vocals ripsaw into the essence of vibrations. With the stunning raw vocals and passion of PP Johnson. Blues/Rock/Funk drumming of Claudine West (Multi-Instrumentalist extraordinaire) Songwriting talents that produce things from the dark, the light and in between. Strange Currencies are the band that you always wanted to be in.. Sweetness follows..

Strange Currencies official website

https://strangecu.wordpress.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/strangecu/

Twitter https://twitter.com/strangecu

@strangecu

~ Claudine

Making Zaga Momma’s On Banjo

Sunday. The day for creating, cooking, fcuking and doing this. It’s been around or about 7 years since I should have written and recorded an ‘official song’ .. The relationship, love kind. Must be the Spirulina I’m taking waking my cockles up! For Ange my wife, lover, best friend. Here you go..Ange inspires daily and always has.

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It began like this:

Lyrics:

She’s got a teapot bladder

Seeing Jacobs ladder

The love I have

Is the warmth of hand

Glowing shadow bugs

With this years bladder rugs

The love I have

Is the tough demands

 

Shaky norks boobie

Big zaga mommas

Beautiful blue eyes

Groovy summers

 

Ange is popular socially

Does a bap dance during holy molys

The love I have

Is the light I am

Kind and loving and good with the oven

She like cheese muffin and a sweet tap bum bum whooping

The love I have

Is the love I am

 

She’s a Tarot reader and gifted beaver

Not to mention a bloody stubborn bleeder

The love I have

Got me off the bad

Ange is the woman that I love love love most

The kindest soul and my past life tug boat

The love I have

Is all I asked

 

Then with Banjo, Acoustic Guitar, Piano and some vocals plopped on I made this.

ZAGA MOMMA’s (ANGE’S SONGS)

I’d also done some of this. Lots  of bad words!

I do love my Fender Stratocaster: Working on an as yet untitled song.

  

  

 An old one about the suicide of a friend.

 

Now it’s winner winner chicken dinner time!

 

~ Claudine

 

 

 

 

Serpentine Rivers (Boulevard of Burning)

New song. I performed acoustic guitar and added some improvised piano on this track. While working with loops.

Inspiration: Travel, escape, dreams, visions, unspoken thoughts. I started writing another book. This has some references from its first chapter. So began as a story. Then I watched Beautiful Mind and altered.. wrote, explored further. Sometimes the path winds beyond…

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Serpentine Rivers – Claudine West 2016-03-05

Stumble on the words

Use a magic marker

Avenue the view these mornings

In-between this world there’s embers

Fighting sunrise

 

Patchwork green and Serpentine Rivers

Lead east to the edge, to the rift

I drifted down

Volcanic avalanche (to the riverbed)

To the east

Serpentine Rivers

 

The traveller seeks silence

In the mind of a freedom journal

Drop the bomb

Creating a boulevard of burning

Burying the dancing matchstick men

That flickered in the lava

The mountain pass that ever last

The path that falls on jagged shadows

 

Patchwork green and Serpentine Rivers

Lead east to the edge, to the rift

I drifted down

Volcanic avalanche (to the riverbed)

To the east

Serpentine Rivers

 

It was the pinkest sky I ever saw

The birds turned tables and weather law

Turning round…

The streets this town, the streets this town

Left behind me…

New world orders had sailed beneath me

Phantoms shiver

© Claudine West 2016

http://www.claudinewestmusic.com

Twitter @claudsville75

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/claudinewestmusic/

 

enjoy 🙂 Claudine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noctis Labyrinthus : Instrumental

There is a lot of instrumental composition work going on at the moment.  As well as looking for some fellow multi-instrumentalists for a new project to take out live and in studio. Something I’ve been wanting to try for years.

I find the universe fascinating and found and article via Twitter Jarosite in the Noctis Labyrinthus Region of Mars via NASA.

NASA

So I bought the tiny M-Audio 32 ‘mini’ midi keyboard to link up to pro tools. It looked bigger on ‘Amazon!’ My large hands don’t feel the same as playing weighted keys on my electric piano. But… we work with what we have.

 

 

Listen

https://www.reverbnation.com/claudinewest

https://bogwoppit.bandcamp.com/

 

Limestone Century

New tune! Limestone Century is an essentially funky ‘Bog Woppit’ track from my 2016 forthcoming solo album. I adventure new paths using Pro Tools SE instead of Fostex multi trackers. I’ve put off using it for a while now as dislike reading instructions (So I watched Youtube videos to get me started) Back in my early 20’s I was the reel to reel tape user. Then to 4 track cassette tape. Moving into digital multi trackers. Always a musician and composer (I’m not a sound engineer and wiz at the tech) But I’m slowly learning. Pro tools crashes, pops. But on the whole I’ll persevere. It made music making very easy.  (I’ll save up for the ‘Full Monty’ after California next year) It does take the challenge out of my making it up as I go along. I can tolerate for this album I’m sure 😉

I bought the tiniest midi keyboard for my massive hands. More for recording synth parts for meditation music. The principled self that records everything live with real instruments still gets to do that in part. Fully in our Rock band ‘Subway Circus’  yes I’m having a bit of fun playing with loops and like.

Inhaling my himalayan salt pipe is helping lung recover after that darn nasty lurgy last month.

What’s it about?  I suppose a ‘header’ : Purification, making peace, music. 2016 started off poorly. It’s time to make things alright again.

Once upon a parallel line

The Quintessence of Frequency in an Idyllic Blue Sky

the Sound of the Hedonist:

 Levitate in the Limestone century 

The haven’t not decided 

The world collapsed inside

Retired and fired up upon too young 

Razor wires and battle cries 

Idyllic blue sky

Make your peace with makers 

And follow lycanthrope a

Panic button

The sound of a heaven rip

Divination walker of the mountains and the underpass 

You make your peace with fables 

You make your peace with your God 

© Claudine West 2016

Enjoy ~ Claudine

Post Viral Poorly Strums

So literally a week after my gig at The Alley Cafe. One was striken with one of the worst viruses I’ve ever had. Bad throat, cough and frothy lungs. It went on and on. Exhausted I fumbled through Xmas. January was a write off! 

But we did play a gig at the weekend: Blog here : http://subwaycircus.com/2016/01/30/kevfest-2016/ 

 It’s now February and I’m almost recovered. Subway Circus (Rock band I perform drums and some songwriting duties in) were also plagued by this incestuous filth. Delaying the recording of our debut Album. ‘Pilgrim Commuter’ which is rescheduled for February. 

I had a little warm up warble yesterday. 

At Close Range – Claudine West http://youtu.be/s6q4nsBsUcA
At last I’m back on with recording meditation music. All is well, all is good. Im full of wind :-0 
~ Claudine 

  

Wildkin & Unusual Haunts

Considering it was a late and indulgent one last night. Drumming then the  adrenaline rush, sweating gush has cleansed and energised my torso and beyond. After a soak in the tub the morning after and softer fingers. I cracked on with an acoustic workout. See videos below. Good things. Good work.

Read Lastest band blog : Subway Circus

Unusual Haunts 

Wildkin 

Moon guitar

~ Claudine

 

 

Exceptional Believers and the Mandolin

As the dark afternoons and days fill me with a certain sadness. Hibernation, although it would be easy to slip away. Is a procrastination.  But It is nesting and writing time. I’m in rehearsals for live solo work, as well as with Subway Circus http://subwaycircus.com/ being the resident drummer. So Jim Jams on as soon as the dark hits. Being true to oneself and playing the music I love is the sparkles in the flames of my life.

Here is Exceptional Believers:

IDAHOT Day Performance for Outburst Fundraiser

With lots of cackles from the audience. “Shushes” during Bingo! Laughter. Entertainment variety. Which if you didn’t go! You missed out on a good night! A great crowd raised over £400 for Nottingham Outburst 

(Outburst is a Youth Group for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or think that they might be. If this is you and you are aged 12 to 25 you would be more than welcome to join)

Here is a clip of my performance.

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Its an honour to be given opportunities to help other who like myself struggled with my sexuality.

Thanks to Pete Madon, Jamie Kettle-Madon.

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Unison for organising such a good even. Scarlett Tiarra was amazing. WATCH PERFORMANCE HERE ! 

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Vocalist Suzanne Lyn got the crowd going

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I always wake up on a high after gigs. Adrenalin, swear. The buzz! As the trickles of sweat ran down my face during a performance. My voice almost lost during the last song ‘The poppudom song’ and old classic. I forgave the nerves that cripple me before a performance. With good company and a bingo win. Which will treat us to my domestic bliss world with plants from the garden centre! Rock and Roll I know!  I think I’ve also learnt that eating chili scotch eggs beforehand from Gonalston Farm shop is not wise! Thank goodness for Zantac!

Molasses In The Spring With Olaf

Molasses In The Spring with Olaf 

Channelling, words, sentences, thoughts, reads of the week, experiences from the realms of parallels. Olaf is the friend. The friends that gives sweet memories of times in the sunshine. As the pink blossom falls. We travel; I found this music on an old Fostex digital recorder, while sorting deletions and fresh starts in composition. Remembering the lyrics and melodies weren’t there at the time. Today the wanted to come through.

Tokyo at Mohive

Chrono las over

Highway a night drive

Imploding supernova

 

Molasses in the spring with Olaf

Birds of paradise in the garden

 

Nephilim in darkness

Corroded movers

They shake new world orders

Roll it under

Make it thunder

Break the man in two

 

Machina took it out on toucan

The words and menopause

The losers in the blue room

Empty wards have active soul wanderers 

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