Scott Fisher – Scars
If the day’s been going terribly for you and you haven’t been able to wash down that bitter taste that you’ve been feeling in your mouth with anything other than it, it’s highly likely that you just haven’t been able to find the right song. You see, the appropriate pop song doesn’t exactly solve great issues, but certainly makes you face them with a smile.
Still, pop musicians, even the most capable ones, tend to feel like these sorts of things are rather beneath them. Modern musicians tend to think that their mission is to shine a light on the greatest issues affecting mankind and to recommend a solution. That, however, is a strategy that typically helps nobody. Scott Fischer, on the other hand, would just like you to dance the way you used to.
And, to do that, Fischer employs the kind of sounds that people who faced even worse problems decades ago might have boogied to. “Scars” features an almost soul-disco groove, the warmest of vintage keyboard sounds and the rich orchestration that might make you think you’ve been dropped into a 1970s Top of the Pops episode. But it’s now we’re talking about, and it’s about time you face it all with a smile.
Ojahara – Shoot Shoot
Music moves on, as time does. And, while we’re guilty of blaming bands all the time for living in the past, or for imitating their predecessors, we ought to give them some grace. Has anything really happened since the 1960s that’s been any better? Is technology really helping pop music achieve new heights, or, at the very least, the same old heights?
I’m spending my Summer in Britain. To me, everything that I see is some mystical way of connecting me to the music made on this isle during the 1960s. I smile a lot. But I feel ashamed to do it. Few people have reasons to smile down here nowadays. The 1960s, for them, are just a bitter reminder of how optimistic everyone used to be. But isn’t the fact that they’ve exported this joy to mean anything?
It’s certainly the prime inspiration for American group Ojahara and the wonderful single “Shoot Shoot.” Sure, you’ve got the McCartney-esque melodies here and that colourful, gently psychedelic vibe all around it. Still, this is a single that stands out even among the mass of retro-inspired pop groups. It’s jolly, colourful, and sounds hopeful for the future. Why not continue to live in this world if you can a little longer?
