For whatever reason, I haven't discovered many more artists of note from this decade during my regular musical travels. I guess I don't need more artists to appreciate the 1980s, and it's possible I've been focusing more on other decades for whatever reason, but it is a shame. It might not be inaccurate to say the 80s became my favorite time for music due to creating this thread. There's so much waiting to be found if you're willing to look for it.

Speaking of which, I've been listening to The Sound's album Jeopardy, which I just found:

Reminds me of a more straight-forward Wire.

I mostly like this album, but there's just something about it that holds it back. Maybe it's the beginning of "Lament."

but who even cares because FRACTURE

Somebody at PSF (I'm ashamed to say I can't recall who)
extolled the virtues of this album and it really is very good:

https://weyesblood.bandcamp.com/



http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22463-front-row-seat-to-earth/

That was me, John. She also has a new EP coming out on Friday.

Keepin' the Summer Alive was the first bad Beach Boys album I listened to, and I was pretty amazed at how low they could go. Granted, I've purposefully avoided Summer in Paradise for these last few years, but I can't imagine the songwriting is much worse than what KTSA has to offer, other than just being coated in obnoxious, smelly cheese. And the production on this album is flatter than champagne leftover from New Year's Eve. "Goin' On" is the only song worth keeping.

congrats, man

Of Montreal has a new EP coming out this week. Hopefully it's strong new material instead of more of the afterbirth that was the last album.

and how did that turn out for you

Maybe if it was a good guitar and I wanted a new one.

Swans - We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head

Such beautiful ugly music.

I choose "I'll Follow the Sun" because I can't remember how it goes.

I blame the internet for fostering all this previous-decade-focused navel gazing.

[Laughing Stock]

Their swansong, Laughing Stock, is well worth investigating too...

I have it. After spending more time with SoE, I'll give that one a listen, too.

"Every Little Thing" because they were still using the word "yeah" as a hook.

Is he moving into other Talk Talk records, or just the one?

I've been listening to Spirit of Eden. Pretty good record.

Duck and dodge?

No, just genuine concern.

I refuse to indulge in your delusional fantasies any longer.

I hope you're okay, Guitarfool. 

We saw "B.W." post a link to my profile page on the Brian Wilson forum. For what purpose? How relevant was that to anything?

It was pretty relevant. Someone mentioned reading you were a moderator at the Brian Wilson board but not being sure. Someone else asked if it was true. Here's the link, for anyone who would like to see: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,23778.msg576253.html#msg576253

Thanks for asking.

Then why was he PM'ing members about the forum before he was banned? Which I personally don't have an issue with (internet is big enough for more than one board, after all), but it doesn't jibe with what you just said. That said, you might not have known, or it may be a different forum.

The new board didn't exist before Andrew was banned. Simple as that. Even the group chat didn't exist before Andrew was banned. Whatever he was talking about, it wasn't the Pet Sounds forum. Of course, I haven't read these PMs, so it is not possible for me to give you a more nuanced answer than that. I told Doc about the forum Andersson had once created on the 27th of May. Drbeachboy first spoke to Andersson about the board on the 27th of May. Swedish Frog, using proboards resources, set to work and managed to open the board on the 28th of May. The entire, two-month conversation (that concerns more than the creation of the new board) still exists, and it provides ample evidence of these claims.

[me]

So again, Doc, just be honest and tell the truth about what's behind your new board, if it really is your board.

I hate to break up this tinfoil hat party, but I thought I would provide some facts to counteract the wild, baseless speculation that has run rampant on this topic. I know I've said my goodbyes, but enough is enough. The catalyst for the new board that you seem to believe is AGD or Mike Love or something along those lines? Yeah, well, that catalyst was me. It was me. Me. And I will be as frank as possible so there can be no alternate interpretations of this statement (we'll see how that goes), I am neither individual, nor am I influenced by either individual. During a moment in time near AGD's ban, I created a group chat of sorts for various members of Smiley Smile. AGD and Mike Love never received invitations to this group. I thought it would be nice to have a place where a bunch of members could reconnect outside of the board, and everyone seemed pleased to be a part of it. Of course, we all being past and present members of this board, conversation naturally touched upon the subject of Smiley Smile more than once, and it mainly consisted of dissatisfaction. I believe someone contacted Lee Dempsey about the new board he briefly spoke of, but when we asked we were told it was something he had not even begun to look into. We began talking amongst ourselves about creating our own forum, which is when drbeachboy stepped forward and took the reigns. I told the group about a small, tangential board Swedish Frog had once created for a group of friends, and drbeachboy and SF got in touch and quickly created what you now know as the Pet Sounds forum.

That's the entire story.

Let's answer a few other questions while we're at it:

1. "Why were members inviting people rather than the staff?"
The staff were inviting people. I sent a small number of them, and if anyone wishes to step forward and confirm this, then do so. To use your burger joint analogy, Guitarfool, have you ever heard of "word of mouth?" When people like what a burger joint has to offer, they tell their friends. People have made friendships on this board, and naturally they would like to continue those friendships, even if it's outside the context of Smiley Smile. And so, many members of the new forum invited others to join the new forum. Shocking stuff, right?

2. "Why did AGD promote PS on his Facebook?"
I have no clue. No one asked him to. That guy's, like, on every Beach Boys board. We all found out he shared the Pet Sounds forum because this very topic was created in the sandbox. I grimaced when I learned the new board had been made public, and I'm sure more than a few others did as well--not because we're hiding something, but because we wanted to avoid the very thing that is now happening in this thread. But, hey, it mostly turned out fine for us: a lot of people joined because he shared the link to our website. Thanks, Mr. Doe. And, yes, he was invited, and so were multiple other Beach Boy-related people. Even Ed Roach joined our new board.

3. "Why are banned people coming back that's gross"
They were banned from this website--not from the internet. If they want to earn themselves a ban at the new forum, they are more than welcome to. As has been an important point to establish, Smiley Smile business is not Pet Sounds business. This is why people were banned early on. The message needed to be made clear that the things that happened here were not to be carried over onto the new board. That goes for everyone. If all of OSD's posts hadn't been created to attack drbeachboy, he might not even have been banned yet. Same general principle goes for Andy Botwin. And neither are banned anymore. So come on back, OSD. Prove us wrong. Or just be a jerk and get banned again. It's up to you, man.

4. "Why did David Beard promote the new board?"
Well, probably because David Beard has not had the warmest reception here. And that's putting it mildly. I'm sure if he wanted to promote a site for bickering and insane conspiracy theories, this would be on top of his list. Way to go, you guys. As it stands, the Pet Sounds forum is focused on Beach boys news and info, so his words were more than sensible.

5. "Why did no one invite me?"
I have a long list of names I wanted to invite (as do others), but I never got around to talking to them all. That's my fault. The bottom line is this: you don't need to be invited to join the new board. Everyone is welcome, and you yourself (through your actions) will decide how long you'll stay.


But, yeah, I know. Look at me, being all realistic and stuff. I'm sure I'll basically be called a liar, and it will turn out that I'm a secret agent sent from Russia to lull you into a deep sleep so I can harvest your bodies for the fountain of youth that will keep Mike Love young. There's no dark story here, guys. You've just heard the whole thing. Whether or not you're going to choose to believe the truth when it is so brazenly put in front of your face, I can't control that. I was hoping that this could be put behind us when the new board was created, and we could go our separate ways. Y'know, maybe we could exchange a stunted salutation like we're neighbors who fight over plants reaching into each others yards. Please.

Until some major changes come to this board (assuming they do), I have decided to remain gone indefinitely. Whether this upsets or pleases you, I am sorry to inform you I just don't care anymore. I was so upset with different aspects of this place, but I'm letting go of all of it. This used to a wonderful place filled with wonderful people, but it has changed so drastically as to be unrecognizable (from my perspective). And that makes me sad--this place was so important to me for so long, and now it just gives me anxiety. Most of the people I liked have packed up and moved on with their lives, and I suppose it's time I do so as well.

What I said still stands: feel free to contact me by email (I made it visible on my profile), on the Hoffman board (same name), or even on the Pet Sounds forum (although I have resigned from my moderation duties this morning).


So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Joshua, a.k.a. Bubbly Waves

I'm leaving for a while, and I'm not sure how long I'll be absent. I actually decided to take a break about a week ago, but I've come back today specifically for Unreleased Backgrounds, who is both a wonderful artist and human being, and you should listen to his music. I posted my thoughts on his new album in the thread dedicated to his band.

Despite what tradition dictates, there is no exit rant to read in this thread--I just wanted to inform whoever cares about my presence here. Feel free to P.M. me for additional contact details or anything else you'd like to say or ask. Alternatively, you can find me on the Hoffman board under my regular name of Bubbly Waves. It's apparently where all the racist weirdos hang out*, so come on over. It should be a good time.

That's all, folks. I'll see you around.


*it's not

Okay, I've been listening to Test Their Mettle these past couple of days, and here's what I think.

I think "Élodie" is a wonderful song and a great one to open with: it establishes some recurring themes and shows off the band's propensity for cleverness early on. It's a bit like a less depressing update of "The French Girl." I can feel the enthusiastic hope and frustration in the lyrics as the story moves along and we get to know a bit about the characters, but maybe that's because I recently lived my own version of this song with a classmate named Emily... "Emily"... "Élodie"... hmm... Back to the song, I know David Gedge doesn't own clever, British songs about love, but that's what usually comes to mind, and the scoff towards the end reminds me of the groans or grunts he is apt to include. The arrangement building up as the narrator falls increasingly for Elodie is a nice touch, as well. Anyway, it's a good song, and it's one of my favorites on this album.

My two other favorites are "Music for Travel Agents" and "I Just Heard the News." The former is a lovely song about vacation, and, dare I say it, superior to the other recent song imploring you to "sail away with me." The chorus is great and clever, and I occasionally find myself singing it while doing other things. The trumpet is used to great effect in general on this album, but I love what it does here during this song. The solo is well done, and it sounds great backing up the chorus when it comes around the last time. The latter is, as should be expected, a clever love song. At the start, the song may seem trite, but that joyous chorus is irresistible. This song, not content to be boring, goes on to be brilliant. And that middle eight! These two songs are too short.

"Blessing in Disguise" was another one I enjoyed greatly. After a lifetime of swallowing cliches for comfort, an event causes the singer to reject these ideas and revel in his bitterness, subverting old cliches with lyrics like "every cloud has a silver razor blade." Another song, "Here Comes the Storm," has instrumentation that aptly creates the feel of grey clouds rolling in overhead. The chorus is beautiful. Lastly, "Everything's Sex" plays like a Buzzcock-ian blast of sexual frustration--a more compact "Orgasm Addict."

I think the weakest songs on the album are "Best Job in the World" and "Once We're Out of the Way." BJitW has a similar sound and feeling to other songs on this album, but I don't think it necessarily matches up to them. OWOotW is just a bizarre little song about mother nature reclaiming the tortured earth after everyone has perished.

I would hate to end on a negative note, so I won't. I really enjoy listening to this album, and it's completely worth the money I spent on it. My favorite moments from this album include the brass, the interplay between the male and female vocals, and your lyrics. As I've said before in this thread, I am a fan of yours, and I'll be sure to give some time to your previous album soon. I'm sure I'll genuinely enjoy listening to that one too.

As a side note, I love the impressionist art that adorns the packaging for both albums.

Thanks for sharing your music, Ian.

More case studies will follow.

I'd like to remind Rab of this statement.

months ago Klaas when he was a mod

Actually I'm not sure who they are, aside from Billy and guitarfool2002.

Speaking of which, when will replacements be found for Klass and/or Lowbacca?

To show the other side of this, here are 10 conspiracy theories that turned out to be true.

It's entirely based on what their religious leaders and those people's preferred politicians have said.

I love when politicians preface their views of climate change with "I'm not a scientist, but..."