Mark Crozer – You and Me on the Astral Plane
There are some who look at pop music, and art in general, for that matter, for guidance. They want to know what books they should read, how many steps to take each day, what to eat, and who to vote for in the upcoming elections.
But that just sounds like a fresh dose of reality being aggressively put in your face. And, a lot of other people, by contrast, want nothing of the real world when they are busy spending time with art, even pop songs.
Indeed, some pop songs, at their best, have always been an escape to a place of fantasy. For many, pop songs contain esoteric truths that promise one day to be revealed. Mark Crozer’s specifically for those kinds of dreamers.
Crozer, having acquired plenty of useful experience playing guitar for the legendary The Jesus and Mary Chain, takes a similar darkly melodic approach for “You and Me on the Astral Plane,” a morbid romance, a Romeo and Juliet tale from beyond the grave. It’s an apt title. This is not music that concerns itself with the banality of this world, and it’s made all the better for it.
Bossanova Frankenstein – The Cost To You
Look, I get it! Nobody can blame you for wanting to become successful and for applying many of the strategies that worked for others of your contemporaries. Yes, it’s only natural to think that those who do not smile upon your methods are merely jealous.
But if all that you’re going to do is befriend the kind of people who dress in fancy suits and drive nice cars, all that you’re going to achieve is financial success. Money can buy a lot of blankets to keep you warm at night, but money also paves the way to dullness.
You ought to promise yourself, instead, that you’ll try to meet as many weirdos and eccentrics as possible. They don’t wear suits unless they’re going to court, and their license has been revoked. Still, it’s people like the ones responsible for Bossanova Frankenstein who will always have the very best stories.
In fact, the post-breakup tune “The Cost To You” musically sounds like an amalgamation of all the strange, unpredictable characters that have ever stepped in front of a microphone and managed to woo audiences. Actually, Bossanova Frankenstein feels like daring alternative music, tunes made for outsiders by an outsider.
