Right now, as you read this sentence, thousands of young people are in their rooms making music. Some of that music will be good. Some of it won’t. But those genius minds out there that are making something amazing will today be able to do something that would have been nearly impossible only a decade ago. They can throw that song they made a few hours ago on the internet and instantly have an audience of thousands ready to listen.

When I first looked in on Ontario, Canada’s Peter Van Haaften a few months ago, he was a relative unknown, with a few hundred fans, and two simple, but brilliant, tracks on his Myspace page. These days, that fan number has increased by over 15,000 due to Mr. Van Haaften’s diligence, intriguing music, and the word of mouth-phenom that is the internet.

Peter Van Haaften is a crafty, bedroom-studio whiz kid who creates instrumental gems with a combination of vintage lofi equipment and modern electronics. His music is nicely layered and full of nuance. It spills out of your speakers like a musical narrative, providing the perfect back-drop for sledding down a hill in the middle of winter or walking through a park at the onset of spring time.

The tracks have a familiar feel, yet there is a unique “something” aspect in the music that grabs you and forces you to realize you’re living in the future, now.

Mr. Van Haaften and musicians like him all over the world, are creating an innovative but ironic movement by blending old school equipment, and new school technology to convey complete, artistic thoughts and ideas.

mh

2 Responses to “Canadian Lo-fi”

1. ali taylor Says:
   May 5th, 2006 at 6:18 am

   Yes Peter is truly a genius! Let it be know!
   I have yet to play one of his tracks to someone who is’t blown away by the depth and epic beauty of his music.
   I’m lucky to be working on a short video with Peter. We are really excited about it! It’s great to be creating for the sake of creating. We are thriving on it! Visit Peter on myspace or my page to find out more about it.
   http://www.myspace.com/petervanhaaften
   http://www.myspace.com/ali_taylor_78:mrgreen:
   ali taylor

2. Bigalke Says:
   May 24th, 2006 at 8:51 pm

   The kid is a goddamn genuis sir.

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