Every once in a while, a song will enter your brain via your ear, set up camp, and stay there for a while. Usually, this is an annoying experience, an experience that leaves you feeling infected, as if the song is a flu that you can’t shake. The worst is when the offending piece of music is something you never liked in the first place, like “Love Shack” or “Mambo #5”.
“A Maze” by Freddie Joachim was playing on repeat inside my brain for pretty much the entire month of August, but not in an annoying way. It would start playing as I poured my morning coffee, and I’d be happy to know it was still there. I’d stir the sugar in time with its laid-back beat, open the front door and skillfully pick up the paper with my foot, do a little dance while brushing my teeth. It made my mornings feel way cooler than they normally are. Like I was the Golden Boy from those early-90s Golden Grahams commercials.
In other words, this song is the soundtrack for the beginning of a kick-ass day, and you probably won’t mind if it gets stuck in your head.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The drum sample is big without being overbearing.
2. The “B” section, which happens for the first time about 40 seconds in, is so perfect that I can’t even think of a suitable metaphor.
3. There’s lots of percussive elements; vibraphone, glockenspiel, even the organ sounds percussive. But it’s not headache-inducing. It’s pleasantly percussive, like a tap dance recital performed by teddy bears. Hmm. Maybe I should give up on descriptions for today.
Recommended listening activity:
Sliding around the kitchen in your socks.