I was a self-absorbed man in my lair, making my x-rated
movies & listening to Mooninite’s tape called “Soda.” Lovely synthesizer jams. I like blissin’ out, and this tape is
sympathetic to that. I’m prowling around
my room at night, getting blessed by the spirit. I’m playing tapes in my twilight freedom,
dabbling in concoctions, dreaming of gelatinous waves, and this tape is my good
companion. It sounds even better on this
old Walkman, these miniature speakers blasting through my steam-filled
kitchen. The nice tunes plink &
chirp.
But the soda-can sound effects are like a shitty commercial
to me. The soda concept is a
mistake. It seems like a guy who had a
great tape of blissed out synth jams decided it wasn’t a legit album until he
had some ideas attached to it that turned it into a recognizable concept. So he chose to make his music a metaphor of
the many flavors of soda. This is a bummer,
because the treatment of the subject is not any more meaningful than the advertising
industry’s already ubiquitous treatment of the subject.
Now I’m cutting into garlic cloves and cherry peppers, the
steam is swirling in my lungs, and Mooninite is vibing strong with me
again. The tape has managed to be good
soundtrack music to sensuous, solitary moments in my day. The music loves me & wants to please
me. But making music as a metaphor of
soda is a shitty errand. I’d rather keep
this stuff thought-free & concept-free if that’s gonna be the concept. It’d be easy to revamp the package, cut out
the soda sounds, and keep a nice soundtrack for dreamers. You can get sumptuous & let the music mix
with your delusions of grandeur.
-- Kevin Oliver
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