Why is Moon Duo’s Mazes on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
An unusual musical locale that’s hard to nail down, but well worth the journey.
Some stats & info about Moon DUO – Mazes
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Pop Music, Alternative Pop, Psychedelic Rock, Dance Music, Indie Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Mazes released? 2011
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #954 out of 1,000
Moon Duo’s Mazes on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.
What does Moon Duo’s Mazes mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
Moon Duo and Mazes occupy an unusual musical locale that’s kind of hard to nail down – and if for no other reason Mazes is an appropriate album title.
But it’s well worth the journey. It’s a hipster indie rock, it’s psychedelic, it’s hook-filled and dance-y, and at a certain point you kick back, enjoy the ride and just get with the Moon Duo. “When You Cut” is probably my favorite… cut, and you tell me how many of the elements I described are involved on this one. All I know is that it kind of rocks in a very unique way – and almost has an Eagles of Death Metal vibe?
“In the Sun” treads into the same territory, though leans into psychedelic rock.
And “Scars” has a gentler, spacier feel. I really dig the organ on this track.
This album also sounds like
Moon Duo’s Ripley Johnson was also in Wooden Shjips, which is similar-ish to Moon Duo. “These Shadows” has that same fuzzy, indie feel while being a little more chilled out.
Personal stuff that’s somehow related to Moon Duo’s Mazes
I used to doodle a lot when I was a kid. Because I recognized very early on that I had almost no aptitude in terms of drawing – I’ve always been in jealous awe of those who can whip out a pen or pencil and sketch anything remotely artistic! – I’d get into drawing other stuff. Shapes and patterns, mostly, often involving vectors that, when completed with much effort (useful for burning off clock time during some of those interminable early to teenage schooling years) would, at the least, feel kind of satisfying.
But I’d also draw mazes from time to time, copying the idea surely from those Highlights magazines or some such that were ubiquitous during my childhood. I recall enjoying crafting little dead ends and big sweeping pathways to the end and such. And when they were complete I’d “officially” run through the maze myself, feeling some sense of odd satisfaction to successfully traverse my grand design in a single go.