New Brian Wilson -- "No Pier Pressure"

The Beach Boys reunion album from a couple of years ago was much better than expected, so hopes were high when Brian announced he'd wrapped up his new album, featuring some "special guests" such as Kacey Musgraves and Zooey Deschanel. Uh, oh. Some fans took to the interwebs, complaining about an album they hadn't heard yet. Brian responded, saying essentially "I've earned the right after 50 years of music to make my own choices -- don't judge it until you hear it!"

I don't know how many of these songs were intended for the second post-reunion Beach Boys album (Mike Love pulled out, saying he'd promised to do the album and 1 tour only) -- Brian's supposedly also has some tracks for a more 'rock 'n roll' album, tributes to Paul McCartney, Elton John (?), etc.

So using social media, Brian posted excerpts from the song "The Right Time", and it was an excellent PR move because it's a great song, with those lush Beach Boy harmonies we love. There are a few more BBoy-sounding tracks on the album -- the ones featuring former Boys Al Jardine and David Marks -- but even with the duets, it's definitely a Brian solo album.

If the last Beach Boys song you heard was "California Girls" or even "Good Vibrations", you might be  confused by what passes for Brian Wilson material these days, but those of us who followed them in the '70s, slogged with them through the '80s, and kept our distance in the '90s and '00s can still follow the plot. I've heard the new album maybe 4 times, and so far, it doesn't seem to have the depth of "That's Why God Made the Radio", but it just may be more consistent.

"Whatever Happened", "Tell Me Why", and "The Last Song" share some of the themes of TWGMTR -- nostalgia for places no longer there, hope that there's still time ahead, but "On the Island", the song featuring Zooey and M. Ward ('She and Him') is just plain fun, a bossa-nova variation, and "Guess You Had to Be There" is also fun, with the slightest hint of pop-country. I missed it the first time through, but "Somewhere Quiet" adds lyrics to the instrumental "Summer Means New Love" from way back on the "Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!" album. All in all, a very pleasant album that I'm sure we'll be spinning in our CD player a lot this summer.

One more note about marketing: in addition to YouTube clips, there's also some multi-level purchase points. The regular CD has 13 tracks, the Deluxe addition adds 3 bonus tracks, and the exclusive to Target edition adds 2 more bonus tracks. The first batch of Deluxe bonus tracks are pretty good, the Target version includes those and remakes of "In the Back of My Mind" and "Love and Mercy". "In the Back" was awful when Dennis Wilson recorded it for "The Beach Boys Today", and Brian's new version is just as much of a struggle to listen to. "Love and Mercy" is okay (it's of much more recent vintage). Target's super-Deluxe version is the same price as Best Buy's regular-Deluxe version, so Target has the very slightest bang-for-your buck edge.

Bjork, Working Through the Pain

Well, holy crap, Bjork just upped the ante on the break-up album! I'm not making light of Bjork's personal tragedy, but, damn, the brutal soul-baring on display here just forces a nervous reaction.
I mentioned to my dear wife that all break-up albums must be compared to Joni Mitchell's "Blue". She disagreed, but if you want her side of the story, read her blog (oh yeah, there isn't one. First point to me.)

And "Blue" isn't really a "break-up album" -- maybe 3 songs are specifically about a broken relationship. But the songs that were are fierce in their nakedness.

And now we have Bjork's "Vulnicura", detailing the break-up of her marriage. Sounds just what you want to listen to on the commute, right?

I love me some Bjork, but the last 2 albums left me confused and uninterested. So this one, as bleak as it sounds, reasserts Bjork's musical mastery. The string arrangements are subtly evocative, the instrumental backing has all the force of a moving glacier, the lyrics are personal and yet universal,  and there are melodies again! Too bad she had to go through so much pain to get there.

Not Quite So Big Ol' Box of Wilco!

I'm white, male, of a certain age, so...yeah, I'm required by law to be a Wilco fan. And I am, I'm not fighting it, but I'm not a super fan. Example: there's a 2 CD best-of Wilco comp out, and I'd bet I only know half of the songs. The box posted above is even more obscure to me: 4 CDs of live tracks, demos and one-offs that surfaced on various EPs and bonus discs over the years. It's a bit of a conundrum to me that there are so many of these songs that I like better than the tracks that made up some of the official albums. The liner notes indicate that some tracks didn't play well with the other album tracks, but Jeff's never had a problem throwing a spanner in the works and just piling noise onto Americana (as I noted very much earlier, faithful reader.) But there are album tracks that just aren't that good (to my ancient ears) and I mentally beg Jeff to put the guitar down and take a break. And then THIS comes out, and this collection of cast-offs sounds so much better than some of the official tracks -- what's up?     

Jeff recorded a 'solo' album last year with his son on drums, and they're touring a bit in support.

I don't know, the 2 CD best-of, this 4 CD box -- it sure sounds to me like a "summing up", but maybe they're just taking a break for other projects. And there are tour dates this summer to celebrate 20 years of Wilco, so maybe they are just clearing the decks for the next 20 years.

Anyway, this box contains a lot of great music, and I think it might have the only officially-released-on-CD live version of "Impossible Germany" which has become (for me) Wilco's "Dark Star", the Grateful Dead song that Deadheads couldn't get enough of. Maybe it's because it was the first live version I heard, but for me, the version on the DVD "Ashes of American Flags" is still the one to beat.

And finally, props to the library for buying this so I could check it out!

Big Ol' Box o' Beatles

 

 

Streaming media gets bigger and bigger, and someone's always ready to pronounce the compact disc dead, so I gave in and bought the mono box when I had the chance. Thing is, as much as I loved the Beatles growing up, eventually I got burned out on them. Of that era, I still enjoy listening to the Beach Boys, but I kinda cooled on the Beatles for a while.

Well, I guess enough time has gone by, because it was fun to hear the old albums again, with the added bonus of the audible kick from the mono mixes. And these are the original British versions, not the truncated US versions, though it is weird to listen to "With the Beatles" (US: "Meet the Beatles") and not hear "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". (Those tracks and other British singles are rounded up on a special 2-CD compilation in the box.)

These were remastered in 2009, and remastered again last year for vinyl. There are a few subtle differences I hear -- "Fool on the Hill" is shorter, for instance, and the liner notes point out how the stereo mix is different from the mono mix, but for the most part these are the albums I remember growing up with. I mentioned once when I was book-talking to middle school students years ago, and how they all complained about waiting for the latest Harry Potter book. Ah yes, I said, I felt the same way waiting for the latest Beatles  album back in the day. (Whatever, Gramps!) I tried to explain that the anticipation was actually part of the fun -- when you can walk into a bookstore now (what's that again, Gramps?) and pick up every single HP book in paperback at one go, it's just not the same.

And we really did anxiously await each new Beatles album, each one the latest dispatch from the coolest band in the world.

Spring Cleaning

 

 

 

Got an early start to spring cleaning this year, as if I actually DO any spring cleaning. But this year I decided to lighten the load and clean out a closet or two. A few years ago, my wife and I were very close to chucking everything and moving into an apartment above a record store (which we were in negotiations to buy.) It didn't pan out, so finally I decided that all the books, magazines and ephemera I'd been saving for "the store" were no longer needed. Got rid of 3 boxes of magazines and two boxes of books, and they all went to a fellow collector. I think the fact that they went to a good home helped make the transition pain-free. And now I don't identify myself as a "collector" (not that I ever really did) -- AND when my wife and I eventually move, everything we own can fit inside a small U-Haul truck!   

Sex Pistols versus the Knack

 

 

When, in 1976, the Sex Pistols arrived via import singles in the United States, there were those of us who were convinced they were the shot in the arm that rock needed at the time, and others who thought they signaled the end of music (poor Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull never seemed to warm up to punk). For me, hearing the single "God Save the Queen" brought me back to when I was a teenager -- THIS is how music should sound, grab you by the throat and toss you around. It felt like I had a second start at adolescence; I wasn't about to get rid of my Genesis records, but darn if the energy of punk made me feel like a kid again.

So, no, I never thought that the Sex Pistols were The End of Music As We Know It. The fact that they even covered songs like "Roadrunner" indicated they perceived the value of music BP (Before Punk).

But I also worked at a record store when the Knack album came out, and to me, THEY were the ones who invoked the apocalypse, simply because they seemed so cynical. Sure, try to get "My Sharona" out of your head -- I'm not saying they weren't capable of writing a catchy tune. But the way they were marketed seemed like they were trying latch on the Beatles' early look. Not as a tribute, but just crass, cynical marketing, and if you want to destroy something, you first devalue it. The Sex Pistols certainly weren't expert musicians, but they did have passion, and while they likely didn't seem to value record companies, I always thought they DID see music as a valid way to express a point. The Knack on the other hand seemed more like outsiders pillaging and looting. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but still...think of the bands that you instinctively know are just hucksters trying shamelessly to get into your wallet. For me, the Knack epitomizes that attitude, and it's a far more destructive thing than a handful of spotty British kids saying rude things.

Brazill 66: Stepping into the same river twice

 

When I first heard Brazil 66 in, you guessed it, 1966, they seemed to my naïve ears to be very kitschy. Faux Brazilian versions of "Scarborough Fair" and "The Fool On the Hill" --are you kidding me??

 

So when the library bought the Greatest Hits, I checked it out just for laughs. Well I'm certainly glad I did. Guess what? I was SO wrong. Yes, a Brazilian version of "Scarborough Fair" IS loungey, but that's what so great about it, and I'm not being facetious. Why did I think in 1966 that songs by the Beatles or Paul Simon were holy writ, not to be tampered with? Turns out that Sergio Mendes had the bona fides back in the day, lots of Brazilian studio work and albums.

 

Funny thing is, in retrospect, I hear a lot of Stereolab in Brazil 66, and of course it's the other way around. Listening now, I find Mendes' arrangements to be clever -- and fun. Just goes to show that an old coot like me can still be humble enough to admit he was wrong, and glad of it.