My debut EP

(I've Got) A Long Way to Go EP

Check it out here: Bandcamp Page

It features four songs: Everything She Knew, I'll Be, Happy (a brand new one), and Chained to the Ground (an alternate version of the instrumental I wrote in memory of Elliott Smith).

And also, cover art by Zina Nedelcheva:

And Everything She Knew artwork by my friend Hanna Fazekas

Ilko Birov - Everything She Knew

This is the version without the soaring backing vocals (I jest). A demo of sorts.

Click here, for this is the link to the song on my Soundcloud

I'm leaving home now
Don't know when I'll try to get back
I'm gonna roam now
Might find myself in a year or two

I gotta tell you, that I'm awfully fond of the way
You treat me night and day
I want to show you, that I'm better off on my own
Truly better off on my own

I met some friends here
Really hope they don't pull one on me
'Talk a lot about nature
And how most people should try and be free

I feel like crying, but I'm awfully fond of the way
That you treat me night and day
Just wanted to show you, that I'm better off on my own
Truly better off on my own

na-na naa

I got into some trouble, with the law
I wrote to you, but you still didn't call
So later, when they say I'm ready
I won't feel so adventurous at all

I promise, I promise, I promise

-------------------------------------------------------


(I like the "na-na naa" part best)

Enjoy!

Ilko Birov - Garbage Men

The song.

Garbage Dad
Garbage Son
Almost sundown,
work is done
Along the dumpsters,
one by one
Long forgotten dreams,
Boredom come. 


Like a lonely street.
Long forgotten dreams

Miyamoto Musashi's 21 maxims

“1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.”

― Miyamoto Musashi

Dr Uke

Massive guitar and uke chords database

Check it out, for it is quite nice.

On creative people

Sunshine in a Card

Hanna's Blog

An attic in my heart and mind

There's only one thing missing here, and it is a special thing.

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (2)

I never thought I would share a Miley Cyrus performance or song on my blog, but then again, who could have known she would sing this Dylan classic so well?

Check out this fantastic collection of Bob Dylan songs for Amnesty International: Amnesty USA


For a more laid-back, jazzy version of this song, check out Madeleine Peyroux's version.

I'm going out to Frisco to join a psychedelic band

Накъде си тръгнал с това цвете в ръка?

Ilko Birov - Simply More (Tremolo)

Sigh, see you tonight
Sigh

Ah, look through my window
Sunny snowflakes wait

You will come around and knock me off the ground
Sigh
I am feeling lost, never to be found
Sigh

The Song

2 minutes and 34 seconds of Kevin Shields

Ethereal

Ilko Birov - Hot Winter Day Rag

Today I came up with a nice ditty on the ukulele that would be my tribute to all the beautiful music I've listened to by the legendary Jelly Roll Morton.
My song also reminded me of video game music, which I am also very fond of.
I imagined a Donkey Kong sort of thing, or a One Piece game.
It's heavily snowing today, hard to get from one place to another, but I'm definitely somewhere else.
And I hope you enjoy my song, even though the recording sounds very bad.

So without further ado, here is my Hot Winter Day Rag

Click here, please.

Allez-hop!

Boris Vian and Jean Boullet

No Good

"It’s no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn’t even speak to each other if they met at a party."

—Nick Hornby High Fidelity

notebook entry 2: during Abe

among The Woman in the Dunes


"
              Got a one-way ticket to the blues, woo, woo. . .

If you want to sing it, sing it. These days people caught in the clutches of the one-way ticket never sing it like that. The soles of those who have only a one-way ticket are so thin that they scream when they step on a pebble. They have had their fill of walking. "The Round-Trip Ticket Blues" is what they want to sing. A one-way ticket is a disjointed life that misses the links between yesterday and today, today and tomorrow. Only the man who obstinately hangs on to a round-trip ticket can hum with real sorrow a song of a one-way ticket. For this very reason he grows desperate lest the return half of his ticket be lost or stolen; he buys stocks, signs up for life insurance, and talks out of different sides of his mouth to his union pals and his superiors. He hums "The One-Way Ticket Blues" with all his might and, choosing a channel at random, turns the television up to full volume in an attempt to drown out the peevish voices of those who have only a one-way ticket and who keep asking for help, voices that come up through the bathtub drain or the toilet hole. It would not be strange at all if "The Round-Trip Ticket Blues" were the song of mankind imprisoned.

"

I (heart) Ukulele

And I've uploaded the first improvisation on my new tenor model here.
Must work on my technique, but I hope you enjoy this.

Apples and Oranges

notebook entry 1: during Abe

Among The Woman in the Dunes



"
As she spoke the expanse of stars rapidly grew patchy and began to fade.
A tangled filmy cloud swirled around fitfully where the wall of sand met the sky.
  "You see, it's because the sand soaks up a lot of fog. When salty sand is full of fog, it gets hard like starch."
  "I can't believe it!"
  "Oh, yes, it's true. When the tide along the beach goes down, even big tanks can drive over the sand with no trouble."
  "Amazing!"
  "It's quite true. So that part that sticks out there gets bigger every night. On days when the wind comes from a bad direction, the sand comes down like today, on the umbrella. In the afternoon, when it's good and dry, it comes crashing down all at once. And it's the end if it falls in the wrong place... where the pillars are weak."
  Her topics of conversation were restricted. Yet once she entered her sphere she suddenly took on a new animation. This might also be the way to her heart. He was not particularly interested in what she had to say, but her words had a warmth in them that made him think of the body concealed beneath the coarse work trousers.
  Then, with all his strength, he repeatedly thrust the dented cutting edge of his shovel into the sand at his feet.

"

A couple on a cruise in 1929

The Day Wikipedia Started working again

Thursday, January 19, 2012
After the 24-hour blackout because of something that reminds me of
a "hello" greeting in Maa (the word is "supa"), one of my favourite places on
the Internet is up and running again. 

I can now indulge in my thirst for trivia again

Trivia(l) 1

Trivia(l) 2

Trivia(l) 3