Brandon Bryson – Wash Away
Your parents may have made you play sports as a kid. They might’ve told you that the effort was going to be worthwhile and that you would learn a bunch of important life lessons. Look at you now! You have nearly perfect health but need to consult six teammates, a manager, and a referee before you can make any decision. You’re a team player and uncomfortable whenever you’re on your own.
Don’t make your kids play team sports if you want them to develop a sense of individuality! Many people thrive when left alone to their devices. Most people think their best thoughts when they’re by themselves. And, some of the most competent musicians made their best work when they were not forced to share their creative space with others.
Brandon Bryson’s “Wash Away” is music created in seclusion and sounds like it. This isn’t music written by the committee. This isn’t music written as part of a democratic process. But that doesn’t mean that it sounds lifeless, either. Bryson, throughout this, is like a 90s grunge singer, homesick and dreaming of the rainy Seattle weather. He who goes alone is strong, as the ever-sociable Swedes might claim.
MoonLikeSun – One of Us is Outside
When it comes to popular music and trying to describe it, the word “retro” gets thrown out a lot. I’ll be the first to admit of being guilty of it. But what does “retro” convey for most people reading it? Almost without exception, music fans will think of the 1960s. Their imagination, most likely, will then be taken over by visions of people gathered around in circles, singing songs while dressed in colorful clothing.
The 1960s are a myth, of course. The history books tell us that it wasn’t all quite as good as we imagined. But they also reveal that things, especially when it came to the arts, were much better than they usually have a reason to be. The world is, nearly without exception, a terribly unfriendly place. Artists are the enemies of governments and regulators who are trying to make the world unfriendly. For a while, however, this didn’t matter.
MoonLikeSun’s “One of Us is Outside” is a slow walk back toward the magic of the 1960s, the hopefulness, the willingness to experiment, and even the acceptance of sadness as a sweet balm for the soul. MoonLikeSun doesn’t rush, doesn’t use fancy production tricks, and, overall, just sinks back into the past as a kind of gentle meditation. The 60s were good to us, and why shouldn’t we all try to live them again?
