Ball of Wax 67 Songs: James Kelly Pitts – “T0ngu3”

The sound of an orchestra warming up and a smattering of applause provides the transition from the preceding track to James Kelly Pitts’s “T0ngu3.” Where Alejandro Magaña Aviña brought us a mini-movie soundtrack, James has given us a soundscape for some other, stranger experience. The 8-bit sounds and head-bobbing beat call to mind a goofy video game, with strange interjections of human voices and almost-human almost-voices adding another layer – perhaps interference from a neighbor’s cell phone, or a local TV station cutting into the signal from your Sega set? Before you can wrap your head around it all there’s a busy signal (do people even know what that is anymore?), the end sequence is playing, and you’re not quite sure if you won or not. At least you know you can always play again.