LUXXURY – Why?
Scientists and historians will keep having to study. But when they present their findings, we will likely learn that is is better to be a really great fan of music than an immensely talented musician. It’s certainly a great deal better when starting to create original tunes.
The incredibly skilful musicians, for the most part, are spoiled. They can play everything and play with everyone. As a consequence, they rarely develop further. You’ll still hear your favourite touring guitarist do the same solos they attempted in 1981.
And if that doesn’t get ‘em, they might start taking up crazy notions like wanting to play jazz-rock fusion. Why? Well, because very few other people have the ability to play. Sadly, very few people also have the desire to hear it.
LUXXURY has earned internet fame largely because of an earnest and inspiring way of looking at popular music and dissecting it. He’s a great fan! But that’s what allows LUXXURY to make great music. In this case, “Why?” is maddeningly fun disco music. Why challenging? Because the DJ serves this not only to party-goers, but to music geeks ready to soak up the hints, references, and nods to the greats. It’s fan music made for fans.
Robert Ascroft (feat. Ora Cogan) – Dorian Gray
Of course, different art forms overlap eventually overlap. Most of the really successful rock stars, from Elvis to Bowie or Dylan, were convinced that they could also make it as actors. And some of the visual artists, like Picasso or Warhol, worked as much on their acting when selling their works as they did on their paintings.
And as time went on, people’s attention spans demanded that they could no longer focus on just one type of artform at a time. You can’t demand anyone enter an art gallery without a complementing soundtrack. You won’t find commercial Hollywood movies that are not paired with pop songs. And, of course, songs that have no visuals attached to them will go nowhere.
Robert Ascroft likes to blend art forms, sure. But most of the heavy lifting will have to be done by you. Ascroft’s Oscar Wilde-referencing “Dorian Gray” is music meant to play in the theatre of your mind. It only makes sense. Robert Ascroft is, at the core of it, an artist who specialises in visuals. Here, the sparse arrangement and mournful sounds aren’t a map but a suggestion. What happens next? If you’ve listened closely, only you will know.
