My thumb is really off the pulse of modern artists. I don't know half the new artists that have any talent, because A. how the hell do you find them anyway? (and I'm pretty skilled at finding obscure, even homemade artists from any other decade) and B. 95% is absolute garbage. Call me close-minded, but I beg to differ. The only albums I'm looking forward to this year so far are Paul Simon's new one, because he cannot record bad music, and Radiohead's alleged release (hopefully). I haven't really heard of much else I'm concerned with, aside from box-sets of previously recorded music.

That's only going to continue, obviously. I think the reality of the previous few decades being the only ones that churned out pop star after pop star is that more and more people are going to care as they, decades later, die. The fact that rock specifically is also an art form that seems to be headed toward practical extinction (meaning big-picture, mainstream irrelevance, a la jazz) probably makes it worse, since there aren't obvious next-in-lines.

I think I'm gonna put this on my gravestone.

If you like Bach's Bottom, check out Like Flies On Sherbert. 'Tis my favorite of Chilton's post-Big Star era.

[Adult Child was recorded in 1966 through 1967 which was the same year Brian Wilson left The Beach Boys due to personal issues after the Pet Sounds project]

I read this and had an aneurysm:

"Adult/Child: Planned Release Date: Fall 1977

Reason It Was Shelved: Adult Child was recorded in 1966 through 1967 which was the same year Brian Wilson left The Beach Boys due to personal issues after the Pet Sounds project. Many of the songs can be found on bootlegs or have been leaked online but after it was rejected by Warner Bros. in 1977, it has never been officially released to the disappointment of many Beach Boy fans as it is chronicles Wilson's decline."



http://www.complex.com/music/2012/08/50-unreleased-albums-that-wed-kill-to-hear/brian-wilson-adult-child

I heard a song by Barns Courtney, "Fire", on the radio today. I really liked most of it aside from the stereotypical post-'00 power-poprock chorus, a non-surprisingly common element that ruins most contemporary music for me. Anyway the section that begins at approximately the 1:59 mark is mind-blowingly exceptional pop-craftsmanship. Probably the closest anyone's come to reaching the level of Brian Wilson on "Do You Like Worms?", which in my opinion is a very high point. I highly recommend a listen if you haven't heard it. So far he's only released a couple of singles and I'm hoping to GOD the album has more like that section than it does in that chorus, but we'll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnka7iod6C4

Anybody aware of anything else out there with similar elements of said section? Any damn era will do. It's really my ideal kinda music. (i.e, "Isn't It A Pity" outro by GH, "Still I'm Sad" by YB)

[Anyway the section that begins at approximately the 1:59 mark is mind-blowingly exceptional pop-craftsmanship]

I heard a song by Barns Courtney, "Fire", on the radio today. I really liked most of it aside from the stereotypical post-'00 power-poprock chorus, a non-surprisingly common element that ruins most contemporary music for me. Anyway the section that begins at approximately the 1:59 mark is mind-blowingly exceptional pop-craftsmanship. Probably the closest anyone's come to reaching the level of Brian Wilson on "Do You Like Worms?", which in my opinion is a very high point. I highly recommend a listen if you haven't heard it. So far he's only released a couple of singles and I'm hoping to GOD the album has more like that section than it does in that chorus, but we'll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnka7iod6C4

I want to add Lonerism because just listen to the production.

Surprised it took so long for this to get a mention. Seconded.

Edit: Funny I should say that... just noticed this thread's from 2012.

But if we're talking just what we're really digging right now that's quite up there:
(I won't name any from previous list)

1. Harry Nilsson
2. Van Dyke Parks (Discover America is brilliant)
3. Caravan
4. Derek & The Dominos
5. XTC
6. New York Dolls
7. Flamin' Groovies
8. Dino Valente
9. Flying Burrito Brothers
10. Judy Henske & Jerry Yester

Some additions to 1970:

57. I Hear You Calling - Bill Fay
58. Your Song - Elton John
59. Loose - The Stooges
60. War Pigs - Black Sabbath
61. Peace Frog - The Doors
62. Nature's Way - Spirit
63. I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing - Funkadelic
64. The Night Before - Lee Hazlewood
65. Lucky Man - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
66. Ride, Captain, Ride - Blues Image (thanks Sheriff)
67. I'm Your Captain - Grand Funk Railroad
68. Diamond Day - Vashti Bunyan
69. Starsailor - Tim Buckley
70. Pictures of a City - King Crimson
71. Sandoz In The Rain - Amon Duul II
72. Hello Hello - Caravan
73. Zandoo - Exuma
74. Garden - Groundhogs
75. Son Of Your Father - Elton John
76. Lola - The Kinks (to replace "Anytime" 'cause)
77. Dig A Pony - The Beatles
78. Sloth - Fairport Convention
79. Funk #49 - James Gang

I just went and briefly checked out the thread to see what the hell everyone is talking about but am still utterly outta the loop.

1. The Beach Boys
2. The Kinks
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Van Morrison
5. The Velvet Underground
6. The Who
7. The Beatles
8. Bob Dylan
9. Neil Young
10. The Byrds
10 1/2. Fleetwood Mac & Bruce Springsteen

The Dentists - Some People Are on the Pitch...

Inspiring...

1973

1. Call Me - Al Green
2. Blinded By The Light - Bruce Springsteen
3. Sail On Sailor - The Beach Boys
4. Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
6. Photograph - Ringo Starr
7. When The Morning Comes - Hall & Oates
8. OOH LA LA - Faces
9. Nitty Gritty - Doug Sahm
10. We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning - Gram Parsons
11. Bright Fire - Fleetwood Mac
12. Piano Man - Billy Joel
13. Apple Of My Eye - Badfinger
14. Journey - Duncan Browne
15. Can't You See - Marshall Tucker Band
16. Mystery Train - The Band
17. Jet - Paul McCartney & Wings
18. Give It To Me - The J. Geils Band
19. 20th Century Boy - T. Rex
20. Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra
21. Gimme Danger - The Stooges
22. Down Through The Night - Hawkwind
23. International Feel - Todd Rundgren
24. Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper
25. Baby's On Fire - Brian Eno (1/2 the places on the web say 73 1/2 say 74.. idk)
26. Trash - New York Dolls
27. All The Way From Memphis - Mott The Hoople
28. Cum On Feel The Noize - Slade
29. I'm The Slime - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
30. Trash A Go-Go - Funkadelic
31. Aladdin Sane - David Bowie
32. Girl From Germany - Sparks
33. Kuiama - Electric Light Orchestra
34. Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
35. In Every Dream Home A Heartache - Roxy Music
36. You Goin' Miss Your Candyman - Terry Callier
37. Solid Air - John Martyn
38. Paris 1919 - John Cale
39. There's A Rugged Road - Judee Sill
40. No Quarter - Led Zeppelin
41. Time - Pink Floyd
42. Ol' 55 - Tom Waits
43. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - Bruce Springsteen
44. I Shot The Sheriff - Bob Marley
45. Sweet Lady Genevieve - The Kinks
46. Angie - The Rolling Stones
47. Warm Love - Van Morrison
48. Mind Games - John Lennon
49. Journey Through The Past - Neil Young
50. I Like You - Donovan
51. Kodachrome - Paul Simon
52. Black Rose - Waylon Jennings
53. Wild Horses - Old & In The Way
54. Jesus Just Left Chicago - ZZ Top
55. In Time - Sly & The Family Stone
56. Living In The Material World - George Harrison
57. Tuesday's Gone - Lynyrd Skynyrd
58. Rosalie - Bob Seger
59. Love, Reign O'er Me - The Who
60. Show Biz Kids - Steely Dan
61. Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
62. Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her) - Blue Ash
63. Wake Up - Roy Wood
64. Future Days - Can

Yeah, I had never heard HGV anywhere near any of those tracks but it fit in surprisingly well.

Alright, I'll review as I listen:

1. Love the 'Brian Falls Into His Mic' ending of 'Intro'. In fact I use a composite of your ending in my mix.
2. I appreciate the insistence of 'Gee' as an intro to H&V. I haven't used it in most of my mixes but I miss it. Dig the 'Outro' too.
3. Inserting 'Wonderful' after DYLW is excitingly cohesive.
4. 'He Gives Speeches' through IIGS turns this stretch into an Abbey Road suite on a whole 'nother level. Dig.
5. The overdubbing on 'Song For Children' and 'Holidays' turns it into a long and ambient triumph.
6. 'Wind Chimes' following 'Holidays' sounds even more au naturel.
7. Think I'm gonna have to steal that Elements Suite as well.
8. 'George Fell Into His French Horn' edit is titillating, it cuts very smoothly into 'Surf's Up'.

I agree with you on 'Good Vibrations' not making the final cut. I imagine Capitol would have had a hand in insisting it be added, but I don't think he [Brian] planned for it to be on the album. I speculate his addition of the track to the modern versions of Smile is due to embracing the success and overall brilliance of the single, nostalgia for the song, or a chance to give the original lyrics a shot/shout-out. No real negative criticism of the mix. There's a lot of originality in it, a lot of touches I've never heard on other fan-mixes. So props for that. I really enjoyed it.

Downloading it now, will let you know what I think later on after work. I'm sure I'll be nothing less than floored if it's anything near the quality of your previous mixes.

I combined the best songs from Act 1 & Act 2 and it's a pretty decent tracklisting.
Still keeps fairly well to the concept of the piece.

1. Preservation (single)
2. Daylight
3. Sweet Lady Genevieve
4. There's A Change In The Weather
5. Where Are They Now?
6. Sitting In The Midday Sun
7. When A Solution Comes
8. Sheperds Of The Nation
9. Second-Hand Car Spiv
10. Mirror Of Love
11. Artificial Man
12. Salvation Road

Greatest Albums of 1971

1.   Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
2.   Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On
3.   David Bowie - Hunky Dory
4.   The Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head
5.   The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
6.   The Who - Who's Next
7.   Led Zeppelin - IV
8.   T. Rex - Electric Warrior
9.   Pink Floyd - Meddle
10.   Can - Tago Mago
11.   John Lennon - Imagine
12.   Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
13.   Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram
14.   Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
15.   Miles Davis - A Tribute To Jack Johnson
16.   Roy Harper - Stormcock
17.   The Beach Boys - Surf's Up
18.   Joni Mitchell - Blue
19.   Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate
20.   Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson
21.   The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies
22.   Faces - A Nod is As Good As a Wink To a Dead Horse...
23.   Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
24.   The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
25.   Amon Duul II - Tanz der Lemminge
26.   John Prine - S/T
27.   Todd Rundgren - Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
28.   Miles Davis - Live/Evil
29.   Little Feat - S/T
30.   Carole King - Tapestry
31.   The Doors - L.A. Woman
32.   Faces - Long Player
33.   Janis Joplin - Pearl
34.   Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
35.   Robert Wyatt - End of An Ear
36.   Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
37.   Gene Clark - White Light
38.   Soft Machine - Fourth
39.   The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
40.   Cat Stevens - Teaser and The Firecat
41.   David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
42.   Delaney & Bonnie - Motel Shot
43.   Stevie Wonder - Where I'm Coming From
44.   Alice Cooper - Love It To Death
45.   Aphrodite's Child - 666
46.   Jethro Tull - Aqualung
47.   Bill Withers - Just As I Am
48.   Badfinger - Straight Up
49.   Yes - The Yes Album
50.   Al Green - Gets Next To You

Greatest Albums of 1970

1.   The Velvet Underground - Loaded
2.   Randy Newman - 12 Songs
3.   Creedence Clearwater Revival Band - Cosmo's Factory
4.   Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead
5.   Van Morrison - Moondance
6.   Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
7.   Derek & The Dominoes - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
8.   George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
9.   Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
10.   The Stooges - Fun House
11.   Soft Machine - Third
12.   Neil Young - After The Goldrush
13.   The Beach Boys - Sunflower
14.   Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
15.   John Cale - Vintage Violence
16.   Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
17.   Grateful Dead - American Beauty
18.   The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman And The Money-go-round
19.   Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms
20.   David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
21.   Curtis Mayfield - Curtis
22.   The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack
23.   Black Sabbath - Paranoid
24.   Led Zeppelin - III
25.   John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - S/T
26.   The Beatles - Let It Be
27.   MC5 - Back In The U.S.A.
28.   Flamin' Groovies - Flamingo
29.   Badfinger - No Dice
30.   The Carpenters - Close To You
31.   Santana - Abraxas
32.   The Allman Brothers - Idlewild South
33.   The Who - Live at Leeds
34.   T. Rex - S/T
35.   Van Morrison – His Band and The Street Choir
36.   Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon
37.   Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day
38.   The Doors - Morrison Hotel
39.   Funkadelic - S/T
40.   Syd Barrett - Barrett
41.   Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
42.   Funkadelic - Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
43.   Tim Buckley - Starsailor
44.   Bill Fay - S/T
45.   Bob Dylan - New Morning
46.   Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
47.   James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
48.   Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu
49.   The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py
50.   Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off, Baby

Once again, keep in mind this hasn't been updated in 2 years. That aside, it would most likely be fairly similar, but tastes change; a few additions/subtractions would be inevitable. Hope these lists help you in your rabbit holes.

The Greatest Albums of 1969

1.   The Beatles - Abbey Road
2.   The Velvet Underground - S/T
3.   The Band - S/T
4.   The Kinks - Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
5.   The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
6.   The Stooges - S/T
7.   Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
8.   Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
9.   Creedence Clearwater Revival Band - Willie And The Poor Boys
10.   Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
11.   Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis
12.   The Who - Tommy
13.   King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King
14.   Led Zeppelin - S/T
15.   Pentangle - Basket of Light
16.   Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
17.   Fairport Convention - What We Did On Our Holidays
18.   Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking
19.   Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief
20.   Led Zeppelin - II
21.   Crosby, Stills & Nash - S/T
22.   The Flying Burrito Brothers - Gilded Palace of Sin
23.   Sir Douglas Quintet - Mendocino
24.   Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!
25.   Creedence Clearwater Revival Band - Green River
26.   MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
27.   Alexander "Skip" Spence - Oar
28.   Silver Apples - Contact
29.   Scott Walker - Scott 4
30.   Townes Van Zandt - S/T
31.   Scott Walker - Scott 3
32.   Bee Gees - Odessa
33.   Shirley & Dolly Collins - Anthems in Eden
34.   Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
35.   Soft Machine – Vol. 2
36.   Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
37.   Can - Monster Movie
38.   Nico - The Marble Index
39.   White Noise - An Electric Storm
40.   The Shaggs - Philosophy of the World
41.   The Temptations - Cloud Nine
42.   Donovan - Barabajagal
43.   Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
44.   Wendy & Bonnie - Genesis
45.   Townes Van Zandt - Our Mother The Mountain
46.   Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa
47.   Grateful Dead - Live/Dead
48.   Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
49.   Buffy Sainte-Marie - Illuminations
50.   Youngbloods - Elephant Mountain

Haha ~ a good laugh.. thanks.

Recently, I completed my most cohesive mix of Smile yet. It has no Good Vibrations in it, just like how Brian intended.

Side One: American Gothic Trip:

1. Our Prayer (2:42)
2. Heroes and Villains (Bicycle Rider Pt. 1) (5:37)
3. Do You Like Worms (Bicycle Rider Pt. 2) (3:27)
4. Wonderful (2:01)
5. The Wild West Suite
- He Gives Speeches (0:57)
- Out in The Barnyard (0:47)
- The Old Master Painter (1:04)
- I'm in Great Shape (0:20)
6. Cabin Essence (Home on The Range) (3:56)

Side Two: God, Laughter and The Elements:
7. A Song For Children (2:36)
8. On a Holiday (2:07)
9. Wind Chimes (2:34)
10. The Elements Suite:
- Fire (2:12)
- Air (1:10)
- My Vega-Tables (1:28)
- Water (1:11)
11. Child Is The Father of The Man (My Heart Leaps Up) (1:57)
12. Surf's Up (4:50)
(Hidden Track: You're Welcome) (1:08)

I'm going to require a link for that, Old Master Painter.

1. Surf's Up
2. Til I Die
3. Feel Flows
4. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
5. Take A Load Off Your Feet
6. Long Promised Road
7. Don't Go Near The Water
8. Disney Girls (1957)
9. Lookin' At Tomorrow
10. Riot In Cell Block #9

I like a lot of punk and post-punk, but I particularly like the very early proto-punk bands. Just not really modern-stylings of punk. As far as punk and post-punk, I dig Joy Division, Pere Ubu, Wire, The Buzzcocks, Rocket From The Tombs, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Raincoats, ya know the artsy-fartsy stuff.. I just didn't really like the way punk evolved, or most genres for that matter, over the decades. I'm a curmudgeon's curmudgeon.

Thanks to your help, I've been digging through a rabbit hole, a la Gary Paxton as well as Curt Boettcher. I stumbled upon an obscure gem and thought I'd share it as a token, that is if you haven't heard of it. Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest by Chris Lucey (aka Bobby Jameson). Regarded as a proto-Forever Changes by many collectors and critics. I'm digging it.