anything by anyone

You know how everyone heralds Blue by Joni Mitchell as some sort of incredibly touching, down-in-the-dumps breakup album? That may be true but at various times when I've been listening to it while depressed (natcherly!), I've been put off by how a lot of the songs are just her going, "I sure am depressed about being single again. Time to go to France and hang out in cafes and clubs!" and I get kind of annoyed, haha. It must be so nice for her to have been able to escape like that while the rest of us just stay at home listening to her sing about it.

(I still think it's a great album, I Just kind that aspect of it sort of amusing. I wish I too could just pack up and go to Europe when I'm feeling blue, you know?)

Anyone who wanna mix The Beach Boys, present ya thumbs and fingers. You got razor cuts? You're qualified, son. Good looks.

Phil Ochs knew Van Dyke Parks, didn't he, and they were close friends too, weren't they? Could Van Dyke have had something to do with Mike appearing at that concert?

Although 1968-74 is not a period of time that people (in general, I mean!) are likely going to care about regarding The Beach Boys, I think it works to the material's advantage that it is solo Brian Wilson recordings. Everyone loves a troubled, reclusive genius making their art away from public consumption -- and during a creative peak no less! It's mystifying and legacy-building narrative just waiting to happen, and this article does that exactly right. Based on that perception of Brian Wilson, I think a release of this material would do really well; the stuff might even nearly sell itself. Plus, this is exactly the time period that many contemporary bands influenced by The Beach Boys or Brian Wilson point to when asked about that influence directly.

I am kind of surprised there are people here who refuse to acknowledge that The Beach Boys have been (routinely!) really fucking corny. Sometimes this is their own fault -- they just seem like corny dudes in general -- and sometimes it's not; the end result is the same however.

I think Brian Wilson has been and is more than capable of being a good lyricist. I actually think this aspect of his songwriting gets unfairly overlooked sometimes! He probably could not do Van Dyke Parks's complex, densely poetic lyrics... but that's fine since I don't think that's his inclination anyway. (And if you can, my man, I'm sorry to assume otherwise!) He's more than capable of matching any of his other collaborators, however, and I think he has a very good idea of how to express everyday sentiments in ways that are off-kilter and a little weird but not jarringly unfamiliar. I think that is some of why he gets compared to those considered to be a part of the "Great American Songbook": He takes seriously the ubiquitous and commonplace yet unlike, say, Porter or the Gershwins (and closer to Foster), Brian Wilson did not make poetic his feelings or observations -- they're very folk, in the sense of being unrefined. (Naturally, this dovetails very nicely with the musical emphasis on rock'n'roll, and is given an interesting twist with the glaringly sophisticated vocal arrangements.) This is why I think Brian Wilson is heralded, quite rightly, as a brilliant pop songwriter.

Love You is the group's second-best LP, after Pet Sounds. This is an uncontroversial fact!

He should've done "Be True To Your School". It went to #6 you know!

I want to hear Brian tear into "Rednecks"!

I hate The Beach Boys. I just post here ironically.

He's obviously not going to answer my stupidly long question about his transitioning from writing for keyboards to synthesizers but it would be awesome if he did! I should've made it shorter...

It's not surprising he didn't but Kendrick should've won.

I don't think it should be a competition about which wealthy person can get away with worse things, it's all equally repulsive to me. And I think at this point, especially for a teen idol figure like Bieber, this will affect his popularity. Plenty of other famous, rich people do similarly terrible or worse things and get adulation for it all the same. You're right though, this is at least not relevant to the discussion of his music. I just figured it was worth pointing out since I find it especially disgusting...

I'm not sure quite how unpopular an opinion this will be but I think The Beach Boys should have released more non-album singles and EPs. I suppose this was more of a British thing at the time (and probably still is) but I think it's a smart idea. I think with non-album singles and EPs, you're provided a bit more freedom to experiment with styles and sounds, and it wouldn't come at the cost of possibly having an entire album sell poorly. Perhaps if The Beach Boys had went this route more, they could have worked something out amongst each other to release more Wilson brothers, particularly Dennis, songs later on? Or you would see many more releases like Mt. Vernon and Fairway from Brian during a period when his creativity was in question (but is documented as being rather productive even if mostly unreleased and in the vaults).

I would get angry at him for what he did because he apparently got a DUI and seems pretty unaffected by this -- he's smiling in his mug shot, after all. His fans furthermore seem to think this is just fine as well, as they're supposedly trending on Twitter to exonerate him. That is pretty disgusting, that just because you're famous (and more to the point, wealthy) you should be able to get away with things that no one else is able to get away with. Plus, a DUI is a big fucking deal, doing that can and often does kill people...

Is it possible to be in love with someone's voice? I absolutely adore Sea Oleena, an artist from Montreal (via the Prairies I believe) who records her music entirely via GarageBand. She makes beautiful (and sometimes a bit warped) ethereal pop music and possesses a voice that captures the Romantic notion of beauty: hers is a voice which raises the everyday to the divine, and brings the divine down to earth. She gets compared a lot to Grouper -- another excellent ethereal pop musician -- and you can download her two EPs (for free or by donation) on her Bandcamp. She is in the midst of getting her third release completed as well, and her Tumblr has an un-mastered version of one of the tracks, "Paths", which will appear on Shallow. I think I've probably mentioned her before here but I will do it again since I really do think she deserves a wider audience. She is also currently on week three of a four-week residency at Portals (which is some sort of music blog) where she furnishes some reflections upon the world for consideration.

Listen to "Swimming Story", "Island Cottage" and "Little Army" from her first self-titled EP! Her second EP, Sleeplessness, has wonderful songs like "Southbound", "Untitled", "Milk", and the song which best captures her successfully bringing divinity earthbound, "Orion's Eyes".

All of OutKast's albums are great (except Idlewild but I don't count that as a proper studio album anyway...) but their first, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, released on LaFace/Arista in 1994, tends to get overshadowed these days by their more experimental, successful later albums. This is a shame because it's a fucking great debut that helped establish the South as an artistic force in hip-hop that could not be ignored (as it had more or less been previously): "Ain't No Thang", "Call Of Da Wild", "Player's Ball", "Crumblin' Erb"... I could go on but I'd end up listing the whole album, which you should listen to because it's solid from start to finish!

I am just shocked no one has said "All I Wanna Do"... or "All I Want To Do" for that matter!

I like Yoko's music more than I like anything by The Beatles, collectively or solo.

My girlfriend thinks The Beach Boys are awfully corny, and I can get that -- a lot of the time they are! I think some of it also has to do with the fact that their vocal harmonies are obviously in the doo-wop or "psychedelic barbershop quartet" style -- which bands who are influenced by The Beach Boys, like Grizzly Bear for example, do not use even if this influence is very obvious all the same. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by this group due to the sheer awfulness of some of the material they've released but I chalk that up to their corniness or simple bad decision-making, and as someone else in this thread said, any band who has been around as long as The Beach Boys will probably have a catalogue with similar peaks and valleys. (The difference, I think, is that at least to me, The Beach Boys were almost all peaks until 1977, which is more than I would say for most bands, then or now!) I'm not embarrassed to be a fan of this group in general, of course, and I've driven enough exes crazy with my interest in The Beach Boys as it is, haha. I mean, the one and same group released "Please Let Me Wonder", "Love To Say Dada", "Child Of Winter", "A Day In The Life Of A Tree", and so many other brilliant classics or curiosities. It's very easy, I think, to get absorbed into the fascinating insular world of The Beach Boys, and I think that creation is probably one of their greatest achievements and why they're a hard sell to people not already interested.

Guys, if I was high and coked out, I'd be pretty annoyed with some guy coming into my house to ask me inane questions about "Be True To Your School" too. Who the f*** wants to deal with that when they just took a fat bong rip and a hog rail? Well, obviously not Mr. Wilson, and I can't blame him at all. Talk about a buzz-kill.

Some things I bet y'all will like but haven't yet mentioned...

A Tribe Called Quest's first three albums are bondafide classics: "Push It Along", "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo", and "Bonita Applebum" (People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, 1991); "Excursions", "Check The Rhime", and "Scenario" (The Low End Theory, 1991); "Award Tour" ft. Trugoy The Dove, "Electric Relaxation", "Keep It Rollin'" ft. Large Professor (Midnight Marauders, 1993).

Digable Planets are also an excellent jazzy hip-hop group that have two great albums, 1993's Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space) and 1994's Blowout Comb. Their first album has a great track intelligently and sympathetically defending access to abortion, "La Femme Fetal", as well as a lot of head-nodding vibes like "Nickel Bags" and "Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)". Their second album is a bit more "out there" and not as "commercial" but is no less excellent (as "Black Ego" shows), and has some stellar features like Jeru The Damaja on "Graffiti".

It's definitely gotta be "Smart Girls", hands down. That song is the embodiment of every rock fan's stereotype of what they think rap music is but actually isn't. Quite rightly, it's a complete and total embarrassment.

... except that it remains resolutely unreleased.

I thought it was released as a promotional track to radio stations at some point to build hype for Sweet Insanity or something along those lines? But even if that is the case, I suppose it's not exactly an official, wide release.

You can be rather cordial while still being coked out, maybe even especially!