hazy waters – game boy
The whole business with music and, indeed, the music business, is all built on an illusion. And it’s one that can easily be shattered. Modern music is meant to enchant you, to hypnotise you into not wanting to walk away.
But the minute that something happens and threatens that fantasy, everything falls apart. It’s the reason why, other than folk singers, you can’t have bands and artists singing in the Sun at high noon. hazy waters understand the importance of mystery, the mesmeric effect of modern music.
On the other hand, get a regular person lost in the stream of sounds, and they’ll find their whole existence reflected in these songs. Get them to truly pay attention to the sound, and you’re likely to get a lifelong devotee.
hazy waters’ “game boy” contains the kind of sound that is easy to get lost in, the kind of spell that is difficult to break. It’s a thick, hazy sound that seems channelled from a different world. Listen closer, and the lyrics reveal a powerful message about power dynamics and cruelty. But, of course, you’re listening closely. How can you pull yourself away from this kind of sound?
Blue Moondust – The Crash
There’s always something strange in a bedroom, some dork taking a break from their job, or some eccentric artist trying something different that ends up humbling the music industry and all the people paid to be a part of it.
Sure, they probably still tell young artists that the only way that they’re going to record a song that gets played on the radio is by investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in it. That should cover the expense with studio time, songwriters, musicians, promotion, and the works.
Blue Moondust would laugh into the cornflake bowl placed perilously near his vintage drum machine. So would everyone else who has managed to produce creative, soulful hits while using antiquated recording equipment and without having any kind of budget to rely on.
In a perfect world, Blue Moondust’s “The Crash” would become something of a novelty hit. Audiences would learn to sing those quirky backing lines whenever the artist rolls into town.
Still, even in this shabbily built universe, “The Crash” should have the power to charm. This story of friendly aliens delivered over an otherworldly sound produced using equipment cheaper than most people’s mobile phones is a real creative success. It’d make me feel embarrassed to own a glitzy studio and to charge top dollar for it.
