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    Artwork by Dejah Leger

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    Artwork by Dejah Leger

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1.
Rebirth 03:34
This is driving through Cali on a beautiful day This is the reassurance that'll wash your worries away This is rebirth when the whole earth has gone spoil This is poetry that helps to calm my inner turmoil At first glance You may not give us a chance Then your feet start to tap And you start to dance Break out of that tiny box locked in your mind The confines That got you walking through these lost times The second hand vicious The minutes are malicious My brain was saturated Aggravated by traditions But what if I just don't fit in this shit The complex world we study years to grip I say no to junk mail To email To polls And paperwork that’s only there to muddy my goals It's life off the grid It's So often hid From 1 dash 7-2 Your newborn kid My key to life lately Man I had to simplify Don't bury me with amenities I'm gonna die Allergic to bills But assertively chill I like to workout I exercise my free will Hills I climb To get a view of the signs It's The beauty of creation Yes it's truly divine My inner peace shine if I finding my calm But if not You'll be alarmed Cause I'm dropping a bomb An explosion Of the truest devotion To constant evolution and perpetual motion I'm known to roam around the earth I could be your neighbor You may see me later I'll ask you for a favor And in return You've got a friend for the long haul I'm sending only positive vibes when I spot y'all The simple things in life My humble aspirations Man, you healthy & safe? Damn Congratulations!
2.
To open up the crypt of lost styles Had to throw a boulder cross Nile Change the weather frost now Teleport Moscow I arrive I'm alive With energy to Transmit Mend the earth where lands split Write a verse in Sanskrit My style Hostile Chivalrous Meticulous Envision this as docile But notice that the rhythm is Skull boring Waking up your brain snoring Frame goring Squeeze a cloud til rain's pouring Turn a desert plain orange This warrants riptides Torment Important Message coming via fax Better hide the battle axe Get your game face on Mud mask Napalm Come and hug an A-Bomb Feel the blast, Stay strong If you call Po Imma wrap myself up in the cosmos Not close to your location Witnessing the earth's rotation Made of gases See a star that's wearing glasses That's me You wanna talk about milenniums? I saw the last three Stand from ya Ban summer Disallowing seasons Betting odds or evens That's for breathing Where the Gods are eating Humble pie Even as they put the sun to sky Wonder why You think you're greater than A simple homo sapien... Adjacent men in suits They rally troops for loot They think your value's moot So you're a new recruit Does that compute? Or do you need another graph Hug a bomb Feel the blast Revel in the aftermath
3.
Aftermath 03:34
I was so disoriented after the blast I couldn't grasp Concepts They float past The aftermath is grey skies Where the fallout lies Radiation in my lungs So I radiate live Once upon a time, I had a bright idea About a cross I bear now it's not quite clear We've all got our own woes On the soles of regret With every step it gets worn But a part of you yet Unturned Unlaced Undone Wait! I feel a ray Could it be a beam of the sun That's hope That's light That's love That's right I rose to my feet It took me all of my might Now I'm standing I'm landing on the dawning of a new age With analog thoughts On a digital page If you see me embrace We're lost in the race Our fingers on the pulse of this life Let's keep pace The pace car Was a space car It drove according to whatever your tastes are I face far Futurevision Listening to the unknown The Audiographer Oddly vivid with one tone The paint brush lush ..Drunk with bright ideas The doubts then hushed Inhibition will fight fear And give birth to reflex The smooth instinctive The snare hits the Modus operandi for business It shatters the status quo best to let those matters go Focus and regroup Yeah my suit is anti matter bro Looking through the fallout & all the rubble I guess that it was time to see the modern world crumble I stumble half a block And feel the after shock So if you see me again, you'll know we have to talk Then embrace We're lost in the race Our fingers on the pulse of this life Let's keep pace
4.
You've now entered the zone of a true rolling stone A lost wanderer Every place I go I partially know With no great detail I just keep sailing away To see another spot Another day Every location Sparks a little sensation But never makes me feel whole Hence I've gotta go... The Musician with no muse Life with no rules I Travel, entertain, and amuse Then I heard a voice and saw a spiritual beauty That made these ever moving feet simply stop moving She danced with a grace And her beautiful face... Displayed the type of smile that made my journeys worthwhile Now I see clearly I need to have her near me Approach for a toast while my heart beat barely Estonia to Macedonia to Ancient Rome I think I just discovered my home CHORUS Translation I traveled, mother, I went to Tetovo to see Mirvet and to steal her eyes. I went to a wedding to play; I saw Mirvet, who danced beautifully, leading the dance line. My heart stopped beating. I married her and brought her home; I gaze at her eyes; I kiss her hand. VERSE 2 I'm coming to you through a frigid storm Through the crystallized particles where a blizzard's born It isn't warm And my spirits' torn though my actions are wholehearted The crossroads of martyrs may be where this all started She acknowledged me Then set my spirit aglow As she spoke in such an eloquent prose Written on the weathered pages blessed by ancients As majestic as pride tamed by patience on many occasions Prophetic equations explaining life's essence Can't describe this feeling I'm alive in her presence VERSE 3 I could see she could escape Into the realms, I roam She held her own She spoke in some epiphany tones Her presentations of revelations Were a throne She had built for me her man with the most precious of stones We painted with a vast brush Like every stroke was our last touch Eternity had slipped past us Concealed under sheets Woven of bliss Holding me close when she spoke to me this Words I can't share No, I won't dare For fear of the reaction when desire hits air Bright light ignites Scaring dark with a spark Moonlight unites with her lower back's arc This feminine figure With a silhouette story This unbeknown glory That unfolds before me Estonia to Macedonia, to Ancient Rome I know this woman's love is my home
5.
Burning Up 05:33
Since you’ve gone I’ve been pining for you, I long for you and grieve for you. I cannot find my peace without you, I cannot go on without your kisses. I’m burning up, I’m going insane without love, know this! Don’t let, don’t let this be the end for us. How can I love without your love when every part of me is a part of you? The nights are cold and empty as can be Since you, beloved, are no longer by my side
6.
7.
Hump Day 03:22
So we got a little budget now To make the record We had some options and we selected to live together Peter, Briget, and me Up in North Cali In a nice little crib Epicenter creativity Briget's a workaholic waking at the crack of dawn I'd see her in the morn And I'd greet her with a yawn Peter? Oh he's still sleeping from the gig last night The homie rocks in like 4 different bands Yeah, that's right And Who me? I could have gone out But I was skipping Being a hermit as usual I'm just living Hey! How should I start the day? Maybe some green eggs And some French toast To the utmost Why would I eat some green eggs? Well, Let's see It's my specialty So peep the recipe Use the medical Humboldt County Break it up and sprinkle in the frying pan soundly Add a little butter Let it simmer at low flame Mix it with the eggs I'm feeling like I've got 4 brains Peter wakes up And I can clearly see the code My mind is aglow Now I'm ready to go He fires up the studio The magic commence Please turn the music up in my phones Let me vent VERSE 2 C'mon everybody Now it's Wednesday night It's hump day For me and the band It's a fun day People bailing in the door Sousaphone sounding raw Lug in the equipment Put the amp on the floor When everybody's settled in Horns start to blow Y'all know I like my beer, so the brew starts to flow Today is a Chimay day Or maybe Racer 5 That'll get me live And then I hear the vibe Take a sip Then I started to rip A verse We rehearse cause we're staying equip With state of the art art In 4 or 5 jams We start to see that we may have an album on our hands The energy builds and then the house starts rocking But yo, keep it low before the neighbors come knocking Oops Not again! Very sorry my friend But remember we agreed that we can rock until 10
8.
We're out of limit now, enough is enough, you're sitting on billions of dollars But what about us? One government, one world motto, "In God we trust," But what about us? I write my rap quotes on bank notes And bank statements that don't make sense Around the time it's time for me to pay rent My patience is running out, the truth is coming out; Abusive clout, CEO's using large amounts We could never dream of for leisure It's like we're in a war without a heater A broken-up casino staring at the dealer Light ya sensimilla They rush to lock you up for puffin on the stress reliever And Obama wouldn't stop 'em neither Whooped McCain, let me explain I got lost playing your game They pumped a couple of slugs in my frame We're all tax payer slayers, turn the other cheek The regulators, trust-betrayers Reagan 'n Nixon never betrayed us Poorly portray us, program us just to sway us Farmers with favors, then use em just to dominate us And now you're bent on 700 billion just to save the children? Y'all motherfuckers bound to make a killin'! We're out of limit now, enough is enough, you're sitting on billions of dollars But what about us? No health-care, just enough change to ride the motherfucking bus But what about us? Our biggest mistake was giving you trust, you live in plus 'n you don't give a fuck about us One government, one world motto, "In God we trust," But what about us? Is this in our best interest to infest the world with stress? Just so you can trespass, I guess you answer yes As we linger at the precipice just to hear from dying, hear the crying That old couple with the hopes of retiring About to pop you with the iron, trying hard not to let go The goals he set from the get-go Lost the power in the price of petrol And now they patrol and so the story goes Definitely no memorials, tutorials On this don't exist, income taxes just a myth to make the bankers richer So they can sell you half the picture Then seize ya assets quicker than you can go acquire them We have the right to fire them, then say we're co-conspiring Through silence, through science, that's social And economic, you manufacture our consent to make a profit The paper's been powerless since they left the gold standard They're using currency to rule the whole planet We're out of limit now, enough is enough, you're sitting on billions of dollars But what about us? No health-care, just enough change to ride the motherfucking bus But what about us? Our biggest mistake was giving you trust, you live in plus 'n you don't give a fuck about us One government, one world motto, "In God we trust," But what about us?
9.
I'm deep inside a zone and I can't return I'm standing in the flame and I can't be burned The fire all around me extolled my flesh I'm blessed by the warmest caress and yes I do have strength and I'm fighting this fight The world closing in on me so I do write My pen can bend from now til then I can mix eras with a perfect blend And when you talk about it, it becomes new trend I travel round the world and I make new friend The energy from those conversations send A positive vibe that'll help you mend Create it on your own, and you make it your home No matter where you are, you know you're never alone We're right there with you on your darkest night Consider this melody your guiding light Verse 2 Where did it take you? Did you create too? I'm hoping you'll tell me that it leads to a breakthrough When those walls come down, we arrive Empowered and alive In a place, we can thrive Did you know your light shines so brightly? I know at first it can be a bit frightening Exciting nonetheless Cause the stress That used to haunt you seems to have gone to A place so far and distant It's almost as if this never existed Twisted how the status quo we know ain't designed to let our inner light glow Now, who does this benefit? Will we see the end of it? To keep our spirits untarnished and benevolent Follow your bliss and I'll leave you with this Nothing but love coming from Brass and Lif
10.
Breathe Deep 05:17

about

Brass Menažeri met Mr. Lif way back in December of 2010, when mad genius Devon Leger thought—unlike anyone else in the world—that Balkan brass would make a good backdrop for hip hop. So he invited us all to meet and collaborate in the Seattle Folk Festival. We sent a swath of largely fruitless emails, flew to Seattle, and had a single rehearsal in a puddly coffin factory, with a borrowed Crate bass guitar amp for Lif’s vocals. We didn’t get electrocuted, somehow, and thus we didn’t make use of the factory’s usual product. Instead we created a collaboration method based on live remixing the band, slicing and rearranging our repertoire on cue, muting and soloing sections of the band & looping sections willy nilly, like a DJ might if they held dictatorial control over ten people, instead of Ableton Live.

You weren’t there, but it was awesome.

We loved it & rocked it. We decided to make a record, raised money from friends & faithful strangers, recorded a lot of music, the band disbanded, some people loved and lost, others simply waited, we composed & recorded & edited & re-recorded (in three different countries) & cut & recut & recomposed (& decomposed a bit—happens to us all), and now only seven years later, you’re holding this thing in your I-wouldn’t-say-grubby-exactly hands, praise the laud.
We’re so eternally grateful to all those who believed in us and supported us throughout this long process; to all who donated to the project; to Waxsimile Records for putting us over the top; and to you for listening to the final result. We hope you enjoy this crazy fruit of our crazy labor & our crazy love. And while the world's winds whip up certain uncertainty, may we breathe deep & build Resilience together—our intertwined roots anchoring our supple-yet-shatterproof trunks, so that everyone's limbs might offer up their most beautiful particular fruit, to nourish us all, while we birth again the world.

—Peter Jaques, Athens 2017

credits

released November 3, 2017

Produced by Peter Jaques / Mr. Lif / Eric Oberthaler (eO)
Executive producers: Tim Boyle / Briget Boyle
Recorded by Scott McDowell at Hyde Street Studios, San Francisco; Dan Fries at Freeze Land
Studio, Berkeley; and by our own selves in our mobile labs in Kensington, Thessaloniki, Athens,
and Istanbul
Mixing & additional production by Peter Jaques / Gianmaria Conti / Eric Oberthaler
Mastered by Eric Oberthaler
Design by Dejah Leger
Photos by Anastasia Kuba & Ilianna Skoulaki

Mr. Lif, vocals

Brass Menažeri:
Peter Jaques: director, clarinet, trumpet
Briget Boyle: snare drum, vocals
Sheldon Brown: saxophone
Darren Johnston: trumpet
Larry Leight: baritone horn
Rachel MacFarlane: baritone horn
Eric Oberthaler (eO): trumpet
Michele Simon: tupan
Evan Stuart: sousaphone
Alexander Zendzian: baritone horn
Erika Parissi: additional vocals on tracks 2 + 7

Jeff Haynes, Virtua Stab Publishing (SESAC); Peter Jaques (BMI); Darren Johnston, (ASCAP); Eric Oberthaler (ASCAP)

Kickstarter executive producers: BayWolf Restaurant, Tim Boyle, Jefferson Breland, Wes del Cid, Jesse Ducker, Sam Genovese, Sissy Jaques, Justin Kramer, Devon Leger, Stephanie Love, Helen and Jon Stuart, Leah Vass, and Janice Weingrod.

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Mr. Lif & Brass Menažeri Oakland, California

In 2010, Hearth Music arranged the ground-breaking collaboration between Mr. Lif & Brass Menažeri for the 2010 Seattle Folk Festival. That work has inspired these artists to work together long-term. The fruits of their creative melding can be heard on their up and coming release. ... more

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