Simple Music for Simple Times, by Circular Reasoning

Simple Music for Simple Times

by Circular Reasoning

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1.	Simple Overture 02:53	info	buy track
2.	I Roll 06:56	lyrics	buy track
Sittin’ in a rundown uptown rail station Lookin’ for some fractured sidewalks to explore Thinkin’ ‘bout a more uplifting destination Maybe a part of town I’ve never seen before Gazin’ back on all I’ve seen and all I’ve heard The sights and sounds aren’t quite what I’d preferred Maybe I wouldn’t have it any other way ‘Cause all that bullshit is what brought me here today It rains, it pours, the storm I know It’s wet, they fret, but yet I roll Too much, as such I’ve got control Torn up, shut down, guess what, I roll Sittin’ on a park bench leering at the water Wonderin’ where it all went wrong and how and when When it comes to temptation I’ve got to applaud her It’s the same damn story time and time again The path ahead looks straight as an arrow But my footsteps take some twists and turns Maybe there’s really no obstructions It’s just by now you’d think I’d learned It rains, it pours, the storm I know It’s wet, they fret, but yet I roll Too much, as such I’ve got control Torn up, shut down, guess what, I roll
3.	Claim to Flame 10:08	lyrics	buy track
Livin’ on the western block of seventh Right across from the last corner store in town The lot behind sold for a fortune Another boxy high-rise just broke ground There lies a landscape in our pockets I called my agent to tell me the news She put a number on a pile of lumber It was an offer I couldn’t refuse And the neighborhood glows under coy, darkened skies This house is burning down tonight Crackling echoes and rafters carbonize A pile of boards and nails alight It’s hard to endure but soon it’ll pass A fleeting, searing flame bouquet Sweltering tar, a chimney outclassed This street’s a landfill anyway Those crimson bricks have lost their color This part of town ain’t what it used to be The parks are now for parking and the taxis are embarking The cityscape’s reshaping and it don’t need me Soon enough I’ll ride into the sunset To lands unplanned, vacation where carnations grow Got half a cigarette but it don’t get finished Just got a claim to flame before I go And the neighborhood glows under coy, darkened skies This house is burning down tonight Crackling echoes and rafters carbonize A pile of boards and nails alight It’s hard to endure but soon it’ll pass A fleeting, searing flame bouquet Sweltering tar, a chimney outclassed This street’s a landfill anyway
4.	Intermezzo I: Embers 00:42	info	buy track
5.	Intermezzo II: Clockwork 01:34	info	buy track
6.	Intermezzo III: Paper Airplanes, R & D 01:50	info	buy track
7.	Paper Airplanes, Pts. I & II 12:31	lyrics	buy track
Last night I took off from Arlanda Today I landed in L.A. Elevator music clouds the hours As we tear through skies of grey Birds wonder ‘bout their placid cousins So tense and noble every flight Shiny, unaware and vacant And without flappin’, what a plight When all the planes were made of paper Zephyrous phases ruled the sky No sonic booms or trails of vapor Just cyan blue a hundred miles high There is a street in western Rinkeby The paper boy still brings the times Downtrodden from a day of riding Smiles as he counts his Daims Surrounded by a sea of tarmac Over fences he can see Explore architectural forests Where lampposts leer between the trees When all the planes were made of paper Zephyrous phases ruled the sky No sonic booms or trails of vapor Just cyan blue a hundred miles high
8.	Intermezzo IV: Takeoff 01:56	info	buy track
9.	Paper Airplanes, Pt. III 05:55	info	buy track
10.	Intermezzo V: Meanwhile, in the Desert 01:42	info	buy track
11.	Simple Music for Simple Times 06:19	lyrics	buy track
Opened up my door this morning, the birds weren’t blue They were some motley array of shades and hues The clouds were whisperin’ as the sun screamed down Through my eyes refract the waves from all around And I can feel it in the air, the sweeping fabric starts to tear Not the worst but not the best, on this sphere I’m just a guest From conveyor belt sidewalks you can hear the boomin’ chimes Just the sound of simple music for simple times The lilac trees were swayin’, singin’ their songs Leaves sound like radio static if you listen too long Picked up the paper, same old news, they say The world’s spinnin’ a little faster than yesterday And I can feel it in the air, the sweeping fabric starts to tear Not the worst but not the best, on this sphere I’m just a guest Strollin’ without a care between paradigms To the tune of simple music for simple times
12.	Simple Epilogue 01:24	info	buy track

credits

released February 29, 2024

Composition: Mikko Nynäs (except track 7), James Vincent Sloan (track 7)

Vocals/Keyboards/ Alto Sax: Mikko Nynäs
Tenor Sax: Charlie Phillips
Trombone: Christian Read
Bari Sax: Noah Baseleon-Abbott
Trumpet: Jon Vance (tracks 1 & 8), Ken Weller (track 2)
Guitar: James Vincent Sloan
Bass: David Murray
Drums: Tai Taitano

Recorded by Josh Richins at 1 Shot Studio

Mixed by Mikko Nynäs (except tracks 2 & 7), James Vincent Sloan (tracks 2 & 7)

Mastered by Rachel Field at Resonant Mastering (except track 7), James Vincent Sloan (track 7)

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about

Circular Reasoning Seattle, Washington

Circular Reasoning is an unconventional retrofitting of R&B and funk from the fertile grounds of the Seattle music scene, overlaying psychedelic, jazzy abstractions over old-school stone grooves. Materialized in the U-District by arranger/keyboardist Mikko Nynäs, CR has been romping around the Seattle area since 2011, spewing novel sounds and unorthodox lyricism. ... more