The 'We Live Lies' album explores the realms of rhythmic downtempo music, at the same time drawing its force from multiple electronic music genres, such as psy-ambient, IDM and glitch. A few spoken samplings can be noticed now and then, submerging the listener into the imaginary astral domain of sound.

This album is the perfect example of music that an be listened both with headphones, so that you can enjoy the small surgical details of sound, and on loud sound systems, because it has all the features of modern electronic music - starting from bass-driven passages and ending with precisely placed quiet atmospheric noises in the background.

Dynamic and cinematic, abstract and meditative - this work is the ideal soundtrack for a long walk, when you want to be alone with your thoughts and dreams.

These songs were all written between a 12 month span of time. It seemed like all the people around me who I cared about were suffering beyond what they could bear: divorce, infidelity, drug addiction. My only response was to decide there, in those moments, that I would never succumb to those things and confirm in my own heart a desire to never inflict those diseases onto my own family.

The path to achieving a dream can be a long, arduous journey. On it, you see remnants of those that have traveled before you. You see lost hope and altered courses.

Indie-folk artist, Greater Alexander, has seen all of that and more. He steadily walks that long road with a smile and a big heart. Love is his fuel and spreading it is his goal. Hailing from Southfield, Mich. (by way of New York and Athens, Greece), Greater Alexander is a tried and true singer/songwriter. Partaking in this rebirth of Michigan and its glorious folk music, his voice is instantly soothing as it floats across the finely plucked and gently strummed guitar that finds its home in his arms.

Greater Alexander nurtures his music from its birth on paper to the recording stage where he tracks his own vocal melodies over one another to create a full-fledged, lush sound. After having over 30 different jobs in his life, from barista to healthcare provider, Alexander knows that life has an equilibrium of good and bad. His music conveys that teeter-totter that everyone experiences.

Tracks like "Let it Be Me" captures that rollercoaster of emotions that love inevitably puts us on. While "Better Days" is a grateful promise that tomorrow will be filled with memories that will warm us in our silent times.

Greater Alexander's conquests include being named Detroit's Best Local Songwriter by Real Detroit Weekly. The praise does not stop there, indie music blog Middle Tennessee Music says "[the] exploration and discovery occur from the opening "Any Way Out Of It" to the closing "In The Stillness of Water". By the time the music stops, you feel as peaceful as a quiet pond tucked away in the rolling foothills." He has been the focus of the acclaimed Groove Box Studios video series. Nods to Moustaki's strength, Simon and Garfunkel's harmonization and Bon Iver's subtle falsetto are heard after first listen.

The singularly rich vein of folk music in Spain and Catalonia has survived into modern times far better than its counterpart in the British Isles. Many people in Spain today still know and sing the airs which their forebears sang in centuries past. Within this tradition is a substantial corpus of music dedicated to Christmas celebrations of one sort and another; these songs also reflect the essentially bucolic nature of the communities who first developed and sang them.

The lyrics enumerate offerings to the Christ child which include bread, sausage, nuts, olives, sweetmeats and all kinds of rural produce; the celebrants offer to perform their local dances, dress in colourful costumes, bring their animals to join the worship, and so forth. Naturally, the theme of the shepherds at the Nativity features prominently, and of course the biblical travails of Joseph, Mary and their infant son must have struck a familiar chord in the minds of a peasant community. The rugged geography of the Iberian peninsula has also contributed to regional traditions being maintained well into modern limes.

The Spanish term villancico is most usually translated as "carol", though it does not carry the Christmas connotations of the English word. In Catalonia nadala or in Camille villancico de Navidad would be the usual definition. Many other forms of villancico can be defined, though that is more often the province of musicologists rather than the progenitors of the music. The essentially naive nature of the music and lyrics lends itself eminently well to performance on historical instruments - lutes, viols, recorders, early flutes, etc.

The work of 19th century collectors such as Rodríguez Marín, Inzenga, Pedrell and their contemporaries has been hugely expanded both by Spanish and foreign authors in more recent times, giving us a rich tapestry of folk music upon which to draw. Virtually all the songs on this disc survive as single melodies with a variety of lyrics, occasionally with a second harmonising voice. The task of preparing them for Galliarda's performance has thus involved harmonisation and the creation of quasi improvised instrumental ritornelli; with folk music there is no urtext in the conventional sense. Subsequently, the recordings are intended as entertaining arrangements, not an attempt at authentic reconstruction.

In addition to the folk elements, the disc contains a gallimaufry of other pieces to complement the Iberian theme, - essentially a distillation from one of Galliarda's concert programmes. Dentro en el vergel (anon) and O Reyes Magos (Juan del Encina) are found in the Cancionero de Palacio (c.1505-20), a source which includes a number of seasonal Christmas pieces in a more courtly vein of the folk tradition. Teresica hermana, set for the vihuela by Valderrabano (Book VI, 1547) is originally a villancico by the Catalan composer Mateo Flecha. Hespañoleta is from organ tablature in Flores de Musica (1706-09), while the evergreen Canarios dance by Gaspar Sanz (1674) found new life in the 20th century in a fantasia/concerto by Joaquin Rodrigo. The Gallardas by Santiago de Murcia is from his Passacalles y Obras de guitarra of 1732.

From England we have plundered several sources which can supply a Spanish flavour to our proceedings: The Spanish pavan was widely popular in the 16th century and appears in a number of instrumental guises. Tobias Hume, the rumbustious advocate of the lyra viol who certainly encountered Spanish soldiers on his military adventures, gives us A Spanish Humour for ensemble and A Cavaleiro's Humour for bass viol. John and Henry Playford's "Dancing Master" (1651 et seq.) provides us with A New Spanish Entree & Saraband. The haunting atmosphere of Noel nouvelet, is sung here in the French version. The melody is just as well-known with Spanish, Catalan and Provençal lyrics. Claude Daquin's Dixieme Noel might seem an interloper on this disc, but in fact it uses the same basic tune as Claro abril resplandeció, itself an air better known in Catalonia as El desembre congelat or La Nit de Nadal (Christmas Night). Finally, the Balls de bastons is our own medley of traditional Catalan dances such as one might hear even today accompanying sardanas on a mellow evening in Barcelona.

Carrying on from the previous release, 'Electro Retro', this release strives to bring back the feel of the analogue hardware synthesizer from the late 70's, mixing in with more up to date beats and rhythms.

Each track contains lines from original analogue synthesizers, mixed in with their more modern contemporary counterparts. All the music contained on this EP has been made using hardware, no apps or laptops or software were used in its creation. The object of this EP is to bring back the feel of buying that original vinyl album, the tearing of the cellophane wrap to the static from the inner sleeve on the vinyl itself. Forward thinking backward, Ambient Teknology, Only a Tronic Selection EP. Enjoy.

A blend of styles, soulful song writing, top notch musicianship and crystalline production coupled with Chris Juergensen's dynamic guitar playing makes this album a must for any Fusion lover.

Review:
"Prospects is his first release, it is entirely instrumental, and dwells in the mellower moods of jazz, he plays in a similar manner as the likes of Metheny, Stern, Krantz, & Scofield. That is to say, that his tone on the guitar is very clean, distortion free, with a heavy focus on improvisation. His technique is very clean, and he shows a versatile chord vocalbulary as he comps his way through the oft changing progressions in his music."

"He has stated that this cd was recorded in studio, with a live feel, with minimal rehearsals, and hardly an overdub to be found. This is a surprising fact, to have created such a lush and expressive musical statement as this, seemingly would have required more than a couple rehearsals, yet the music sounds very refined, and the sound quality is very clear. He also made a note to tell me that this cd would represent his jazzier side of fusion, and he also has plans to create some rock influenced fusion cds in the near future, and in listening to his playing skills, I certainly look forward to hearing him doing that, as well as getting an opportunity to get a respectable amount of time in studio to complete it."

"Prospects is a very relaxing listen, great late night music to kick back to, and Chris' playing soothes your mind, setting up solo spots with articulated melodies, and just the right amount of ambiance from his band members. It should be noted that this type of fusion is not anything like the style made famous by such guitarists as - John McLaughlin, Scott Henderson or Al DiMeola, where speed, volume, and technical arrangements are the focal points, this music is more in line with what players like Wayne Krantz, John Scofield, or Mike Stern have been doing, very east coast sounding with a huge jazz influence."
-Prognosis