Any fans of Belle & Sebastian?

I've been listening to The Boy With The Arab Strap (album) for a couple of weeks now and it's quite pleasant. Great melodies and production.

How old is Darian Sahanaja? For me the guy was like 30! But, then...that was the impression I had in Beautiful Dreamer, which was in 2004. He must be from circa 1975

I've recently watched a video on youtube of Brian talking to some journalist or whoever backstage. The camera appeared to be hidden or something of the kind, so him and guy are seen from distance and the image is kinda blur. Anyway, Brian seemed MUCH more normal than I've seen in other interviews. Even his voice was okay and he was acting very comfortably. Shame I don't remember the name of the video, but that got me thinking that we can't really judge his current state from what we've seen of him in interviews or even shows. To me, aside from the neurological damage which I know nothing of, he's bored. He looks like someone who has a lot of thoughts in his head so every social obligation is annoying because it distracts him from his own personal world. It's like when you have a strong thought in your head, you're really working on it and have to make small talk with someone in the elevator. Being interviewed for 50 years must be incredibly boring. Rhapsody in Blue, Be My Baby, how my brothers and I would sing on our room, how I got the California Girl's bass line from Bach, etc, etc. Plus, there's also the fact that he does not like to perform. I think he just doesn't bother about fulfilling social protocols. For some people it's just harder than normal.

By the way, when the slurriness on his voice first appeared?

Maybe I was too harsh on Surf's Up because it has those moments of brilliance, although a track or two are really off to me. Anyway, I can't get into Holland and much less CATP. They aren't bad (especially Holland that does have some strong moments), but I can't help comparing the 70's material to the 60's ones...different times, I know (not just for the band, but musical context itself), but I just can't connect to those two albums. Well, maybe they will grown on me eventually.

What's the best place for me to buy a BB-related book? Mind you, I'm from Brazil, so the choice has to be right as there are no second buys  

I was thinking of buying Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson . Would it be a good purchase?

Anyway, I looked it up on Amazon but, damn!, I found that site too messy. Is it reliable, though? If not, what are my other options that would ship the book to South America at a reasonable price?

EDIT: Oh, well, I found Catch a Wave in a brazilian website that sells used books. It'd cost me about 22 dollars plus 2 for shipping. Sounds like a good deal. The same website has that Heroes and Villains book though. Which one is better for someone who is more interested in Brian Wilson particulary?

I've been reading about and listening to this album a lot recently, maybe because I've had never dig it they way most people have. Truth is, I had never given it a proper chance.

I don't understand how Sunflower can be called "too sweet", if for the first time or so we are presented with those nice rockers by Carl and Dennis. I agree, Slip On Through as an opener might not have been the best idea: I remember the feeling of "WTF?" when I first tried to list Sunflower and those weird notes came right up. I wasn't ready for it! Sunflower has the Add Some Music kind of vibe as well as that crazy upbeat feeling you get from Slip On Through, This Whole World, Got To Know The Woman and It's About Time. Even though 20/20 was a radical shift, this album seemed quite weird to me at first listen.

By reading the thread I became aware of the Tears In The Morning's dialetic. It's a well constructed song, but the way Bruce sings it...makes it cheesy as hell, as if it were some kind of lame country tune. Plus, the opening is a little too much to digest. Deidre is awesome, though.

As a Brian Wilson fanatic, I'm obviously disappointed with how little lead vocals he got during this era, but his voice is always present in the backing vocals and it adds so much! He really made Forever sound more beautiful than it already is. Although, I think he could have gotten the lead on At My Window and Our Sweet Love.

GTKTW and SOT have really grown on me; I find it incredibly funny how Brian "answers" Dennis' lines on GTKTW. Not to mention the "aaah-haha-haaa....baby, lemme tell your something". Awesome and it gave a whole new dimensoin to the BB's world.

I'll give it a 4 because, in spite of all the good things, this album lacks moments of real brilliance that characterizes the Beach Boys I had gotten used to. Maybe that was Brian's absence, I don't know, but Sunflower is still below Today, Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, Friends and Love You in my league. Plus, it kinda started the sequence of average albums that would last untill Love You

Thank you all, very much I'll surely stick around!

Hi & welcome to the SS board, Heteronym! I'm not familiar with Brazil (& other South American countries) but I'm sure it's a rather good land. As for registering to this forum, I think that's when I decided to be one of the Smiley Smile associates as well, i.e. after it dawned on me that I'm ready for posting my answers in threads. The rest is history, as they say.

Anyway, one more welcome from me! Enjoy the show! 

Sadly The Beach Boys are not popular in Brazil at all! However, I've already started to get some people into it all they are all loving it!

Welcome Heteronym! What's your favourite Pessoa poem?

A Pessoa fan! Hm, well, I don't know the title in english, but in portuguese it's called Cruzou Por Mim, Veio Ter Comigo, Numa Rua da Baixa. Just so you recognize it, it starts with apparently a bum asking Alvaro de Campos for money, to which he responds by giving everything he had to the guy and starts to wonder about he relates to bums in general. It ends with the sentence "sh*t! I'm lucid.". And, yes, Alvaro is my favorite heteronym  

Break Away should definetely be in the album, as it is another example of where the Beach Boys were at the time. Together with I Can Hear Music and Do It Again, it makes a nice hit sequence.

This and the fact that those Brian's leftover songs seem to have been "thrown" in to fill gaps make me don't rate this album as highly as the musical material itself would deserve. The songs are very good, but, as an album, I don't value it that much. The boys seemed to be pursuing their style, so 20/20 certainly has this "vibe" into it though.

Carl's vocal on I Can Hear Music must be the best I've ever heard from him. That "maybe that's why when we're all alone" line never fails to impress me.

I give it a 4, for having ended the golden era of the 60's (which I like much better than the 70's, in any way), but I don't play it too often and it can't be highlighted if put side by side with Brian's reign until Friends.

Hi!

I had been reading this board for quite a while now and it led me even further into my Beach Boys addiction. When I started to formulate answers to threads I was reading I decided it was time to register 

By the way, I'm a young fan, 17 years old, and from Brazil

As my first post in this board I'd like to say that Pet Sounds is the most incredible and beautiful thing that has ever come to my ears, and made me a firm believer in the following quote: Beauty will save the world.

There is no bad day with Pet Sounds. I wish it'd last forever (or maybe a rest every 3 hours for some Friends to jump in and make my life full)