In this post-box set era of SMiLE I have found that I have been able to take a more leisurely and definitive approach to fanmixing. This mix which I have had on the go for a while now (and is now complete) is an attempt at making a widescreen musical comedy very much in the vein of the cantina mix but also making use of what I would consider to be 'orphaned' sections of the song.

I've gone for stereo so that it would work nicely in headphones as well as on a stereo. I hope it gives a sense of the original ambition and scope of the track as I've always imagined it and a nice alternative to what is out there already. I have lost track of all the tricks and sources I used but it's mostly from the box set.

Please give it a spin as I think I have cracked it as far as my tastes go and I hope you guys dig it too. All feedback is welcome and remember to keep rollin' yer own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXk6mPPxKIs&feature=youtu.be

Wow, this is gosh darned terrific!!  Now I'll forever dream about a proper version of H&V (nothing added, even tho I dug what you did with it) that sounds this clean and wonderful.  Please make it!  And then give us all MP3s of it!!!   

"I wanted out, but they pulled me back in!"

Perhaps one day when I get a free couple of days I will dust down my tools and have another go.

I'll give you a free Radiant Radish t-shirt, since that's your name!!!

That's very kind of you and an amazing gift. Mine's a medium charcoal grey if you do them? I live in the UK is that gonna be a problem?

In this post-box set era of SMiLE I have found that I have been able to take a more leisurely and definitive approach to fanmixing. This mix which I have had on the go for a while now (and is now complete) is an attempt at making a widescreen musical comedy very much in the vein of the cantina mix but also making use of what I would consider to be 'orphaned' sections of the song.

I've gone for stereo so that it would work nicely in headphones as well as on a stereo. I hope it gives a sense of the original ambition and scope of the track as I've always imagined it and a nice alternative to what is out there already. I have lost track of all the tricks and sources I used but it's mostly from the box set.

Please give it a spin as I think I have cracked it as far as my tastes go and I hope you guys dig it too. All feedback is welcome and remember to keep rollin' yer own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXk6mPPxKIs&feature=youtu.be

Wow, this is gosh darned terrific!!  Now I'll forever dream about a proper version of H&V (nothing added, even tho I dug what you did with it) that sounds this clean and wonderful.  Please make it!  And then give us all MP3s of it!!!   

"I wanted out, but they pulled me back in!"

Perhaps one day when I get a free couple of days I will dust down my tools and have another go.

How could I forget the a Capella break! It's such a tricky job this fan mixing business!

I knew my little cheat would be spotted on this board!

The major liberty I have taken is by using the BWPS first verse backing track to give the mix the ability to segue into Mike's "in the cantina…" more smoothly and also give the sound a bit more clarity. That's the only time I used it .

I used the rather good remix of Great Shape and Barnyard that was posted back in 2011 but I have lost track of who made that excellent mix, so a big thank you to them!

With regards to the sequencing I have considered the momentum of the track over wrestling with a true narrative because to be honest I've always thought that the order was always pretty much up for grabs with the way Brian was working back then. Also I wanted to include all my favourite parts that don't seem developed enough as standalone tracks.

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you like it. This means I can have my evenings back and get back to listening to the music instead of analyzing and tinkering with it!

In this post-box set era of SMiLE I have found that I have been able to take a more leisurely and definitive approach to fanmixing. This mix which I have had on the go for a while now (and is now complete) is an attempt at making a widescreen musical comedy very much in the vein of the cantina mix but also making use of what I would consider to be 'orphaned' sections of the song.

I've gone for stereo so that it would work nicely in headphones as well as on a stereo. I hope it gives a sense of the original ambition and scope of the track as I've always imagined it and a nice alternative to what is out there already. I have lost track of all the tricks and sources I used but it's mostly from the box set.

Please give it a spin as I think I have cracked it as far as my tastes go and I hope you guys dig it too. All feedback is welcome and remember to keep rollin' yer own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXk6mPPxKIs&feature=youtu.be

Get a closer look at  that mock up image with this very large version:



Quite a cross section of design styles represented across the discs.

Very LARGE (1500 pixels wide) version of cover art! Rather nice.

s£$£t!! been sat pressing refresh on oron for an hour now - just keeps saying i have to wait for a download to be available - how the hell do I get it to download???

Choose the "Regular Download" option, then there should be a 60 second countdown.  After that, you need to type in the CAPTCHA text before the actual download link is created.

If you're still having trouble, let us know and I'm sure someone can help you out.  This version of Barnyard is easily the best synchronisation I've ever heard of the song (and I've heard quite a few!)  Great job!

Not quite sure what you mean, I can't get anywhere with that Oron site. Damn I can't wait to hear this as it sounds like what we were all hoping for ...

I kinda wished the organ had it's own track, I've wondered what Brian's vocal with the organ would've sounded like for ages.

You can get an isolated Brian vocal for the middle section - that is separate from his piano track from the demo version - with the organ on another track by extracting the 5.1 mix from the Endless Harmony dvd into each individual channel of the mix.

There is also a clean 'dry' Carl vocal to be had which I mixed into a more subdued less spatial mix removing Al's "a children's song" bit and thus emphasizing the lower register vocals in the coda for a more fitting (in my opinion), less bells and whistles version.

Got the set through on Monday and boy was my mind blown! The sessions themselves sound amazing as the quality is spot on … oh and gorgeous stereo too.

So now I can finally make the basic compilations that I've always wanted to do. With consistent high fidelity sound. First up was a fully sequenced instrumental version of the disc 1 track list using all the stereo master takes (apart from the verse of Heroes and Barnyard which is in mono) - THIS JUST SOUNDS SO BRAND NEW AND STUNNING I RECOMMEND THAT YOU TRY IT!

I've never dug the overly ambitious fan mixes and the too much shoe-horning of material when faced with the possibilities of CD. They always come off sounding a little crappy to me, so I pieced together a rather sober but very satisfying (for my tastes that is) 12 tracker as if on two sides of vinyl. There is one instrumental per side (Pet Sounds style) and it more importantly ends with Surf's Up. It's great and makes the whole album run as a more completed unit.

That brings me to the left overs - the Frankenstein Great Shape and Barnyard, plus I Wanna Be Around, Fire and Da Da - all of which have always seemed to me to be the tracks that in the cold light of day could have been given the elbow from the album proper. So I have created an imaginary mini EP (a bit like a sort of Magical Mystery Tour relation to Pepper's) The SMiLE Mini Suite that runs with the left overs as two sides of a 10 incher. Again a complete flight of fancy on my behalf.

I've made some nice artwork for them based on the Record Store Day sleeve and I'm calling them "The Roll Your Own Series". I'm very happy, now back to work.

Oh and here's the artwork:

Got the set through on Monday and boy was my mind blown! The sessions themselves sound amazing as the quality is spot on … oh and gorgeous stereo too.

So now I can finally make the basic compilations that I've always wanted to do. With consistent high fidelity sound. First up was a fully sequenced instrumental version of the disc 1 track list using all the stereo master takes (apart from the verse of Heroes and Barnyard which is in mono) - THIS JUST SOUNDS SO BRAND NEW AND STUNNING I RECOMMEND THAT YOU TRY IT!

I've never dug the overly ambitious fan mixes and the too much shoe-horning of material when faced with the possibilities of CD. They always come off sounding a little crappy to me, so I pieced together a rather sober but very satisfying (for my tastes that is) 12 tracker as if on two sides of vinyl. There is one instrumental per side (Pet Sounds style) and it more importantly ends with Surf's Up. It's great and makes the whole album run as a more completed unit.

That brings me to the left overs - the Frankenstein Great Shape and Barnyard, plus I Wanna Be Around, Fire and Da Da - all of which have always seemed to me to be the tracks that in the cold light of day could have been given the elbow from the album proper. So I have created an imaginary mini EP (a bit like a sort of Magical Mystery Tour relation to Pepper's) The SMiLE Mini Suite that runs with the left overs as two sides of a 10 incher. Again a complete flight of fancy on my behalf.

I've made some nice artwork for them based on the Record Store Day sleeve and I'm calling them "The Roll Your Own Series". I'm very happy, now back to work.

I can't believe some people are actually complaining that there shouldn't be bonus tracks on the "the album" disc. Just try pressing stop after GoodVibrations and imagine the arm of the record player locking into a groove ... oh and shut up complaining!

VDP stated in the UNCUT podcast from May 2011 that Heroes & Villains was the first song they wrote together for SMiLE. So make of that what you will.

Fake or not it seems this supposed leak has inadvertently settled everyones nerves surrounding the expectations of these two tracks, because of the following:

If you like what you hear then you can relax, if they are as AGD confirms not bona fide and a weaker effort than the real thing then even better.

Good karma is restored for the 3 week haul that is left.

As I understand it, it's REAL simple. As far as I have heard, the set is not available on promo discs; you can only listen to it on secure servers. AND, even there, the audio is watermarked in a way that is specific for and to each reviewer.

So, not only is there no disc to rip, but even if you're smart and can record the output of the secure streaming server live... the audio is watermarked in a way that will lead any leak... right back to you. No equivocation, no wriggle room - if you leaked it, they'd know it was you. And you apparently also have to agree to all sorts of legal stuff about not leaking it before you can hear it.

What would you do, even if you were lucky enough to be given access to this stuff? Leak it, and instantly call down the full weight of Capitol's legal department right on your head?

I know what I'd do. I wouldn't leak it! And I suspect all the lucky buggers that *have* been given access to this stuff feel the same way. Ergo - no leaks... yet.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Seems like it would be foolish to try to get around such measures.

I know this sounds a bit geeky, but once the box is out I would like to know the scoop on how Capitol managed to keep all audio under wraps (so far anyway) in the run-up to the release. It does seem like a big task these days to ensure no leakage but they seem to have managed it. Although if it does prove to be a successful method then maybe they won't want to spill the beans after all.

It sounds ok from what little can be made out but I don't understand why such short bursts of each track? If someone was risking putting these tracks up in the first place why not do the source some justice with a little more than 10 to 12 seconds of each track?

It certainly has the Brian Wilson vocal with the backing track, but a little obscured by the VDP narration to give it away completely. Very tantalizing!

Last picture (honest) and we can forget that films didactic misrepresentation.

Look we burned the tapes, did you get that we burned the tapes this scene proves it so don't get any ideas now!

Shall we say it's a little style over substance… oh and hilarious too!

When Brian becomes all Forrest Gump after those naughty drug people get their hands on him and since when did he take a toy spaceman figure into the Fire sessions?

I agree though that it looks very authentic.

Could almost be a still right out of Mad Men. I guess this is the only accurate scene in the SMiLE section of the An American Family TV movie.

I was told by Spin CD that the cost of the box would be around the £125 mark.

Seems kinda acceptable in comparison with the rather inflated Achtung Baby mofo box set of around £325.

I guess there's also quite a deficit to pay off with regards to all the income generated off the bootlegs over the years. I guess the high price tag helps re-balance the Capitol books a little.

They well and truly are mind readers as on the surface it looks exactly like the Smile box set of my dreams.

The geezer that runs Spin CDs in the UK, said that their contact had been to a meeting about TSS in the last couple of weeks (that's why they were poised to make an announcement about the price in their shop) and that he said it was one of the best box sets he had seen.

Now to raise some money to get the damn thing.

If you look closely at the shop it is a cutaway with a bit of depth to it, which concurs with some whisperings from back in July. I think you would have to de a rather sad, Photoshop happy trickster to go to such lengths to stir things up.

Where do we form a que to pillory this Cohen person?