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Author Topic: New album info (as it rolls out...)  (Read 1051324 times)
the professor
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« Reply #3075 on: May 23, 2012, 01:19:29 PM »

Here's the review I did of "That's Why God Made The Radio" for a Minneapolis arts rag I write for called L'Etoile.

http://www.letoilemagazine.com/2012/05/23/we-will-rock-you-the-square-sounds-of-the-beach-boys/

Lemme know what y'all think, whether or not you agree and all that.

Great review Jon. Things like this, from a fan like yourself, is what really excites me about this album. I know that the final three songs on the album are a great "career capper" supposedly, but I hope they keep going on. If only from the iTunes clips, this does not sound like a band who sound tired and ready to hang it up. They seem to have a new lease on life, and I think they should ride this wave as far as it takes them.



What a generously intelligent, driven, and uncompromisingly penetrating review; so wonderful, Jon. You are doing your part to reveal the complex truths the BB deliver. You are right that "hip" is historically contingent and thus irrelevant to our engagement at any given moment of audience reception. I love all your insights. Deep thanks brother.
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monicker
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« Reply #3076 on: May 23, 2012, 01:38:30 PM »

Here's the review I did of "That's Why God Made The Radio" for a Minneapolis arts rag I write for called L'Etoile.

http://www.letoilemagazine.com/2012/05/23/we-will-rock-you-the-square-sounds-of-the-beach-boys/

Lemme know what y'all think, whether or not you agree and all that.

I don't like the implication that one who doesn't like the production is merely hung up on hipness. That's a really narrow view.
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Wirestone
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« Reply #3077 on: May 23, 2012, 01:50:55 PM »

Here's the review I did of "That's Why God Made The Radio" for a Minneapolis arts rag I write for called L'Etoile.

http://www.letoilemagazine.com/2012/05/23/we-will-rock-you-the-square-sounds-of-the-beach-boys/

Lemme know what y'all think, whether or not you agree and all that.

I don't like the implication that one who doesn't like the production is merely hung up on hipness. That's a really narrow view.

It's a view. Not necessarily a narrow one. Slick production has been a feature of Beach Boys albums since 1985, and Brian Wilson albums since 1988. To get hung up on it now -- while somehow simultaneously singing the praises of the aurally freeze-dried BW88 -- is the peculiar thing.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2012, 01:55:48 PM by Wirestone » Logged
runnersdialzero
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« Reply #3078 on: May 23, 2012, 02:08:40 PM »

There are different forms of slick, tho. BW88 bugs the sh*t out of me, TLOS is fine and tasteful enough overall (although not without some faults). From what I've heard thus far, the new album falls somewhere in between those.

Honestly, though, and I'm gonna get shot for this - there really haven't been any Beach Boys albums without fault in the production or mixing department to me *, minor as it may be in some cases. I can generally learn to live with most of them and eventually become less aware of them when listening. On some albums, it's way too distracting and it's not really easy to get over. Thus far, it seems as though this album may have that in a spot or two, but I doubt it'll be like BW88 where the entire album just sounds too hilarious and over the top to just enjoy for what it is.

(*!!!! I just realized, I don't have any issues at all with Smiley Smile sans the mix on "Heroes And Villains", but that was from an entirely different session. Further evidence that scrapping Smile was an act of retaining sanity, breaking all the music he'd written in the year prior down to their most basic and manageable elements and realizing the songs were still great.)
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« Reply #3079 on: May 23, 2012, 05:12:45 PM »

6/10 http://www.shout4music.com/albums-eps/the-beach-boys-thats-why-god-made-the-radio-

oddly no mention of the last songs
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runnersdialzero
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« Reply #3080 on: May 23, 2012, 06:20:54 PM »


Especially considering it's somewhat dismissive in saying the album is basically nothing but "straightforward set of nice surf-rock numbers, resplendent with close harmonies and lots of lyrics about cars and the ocean".
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« Reply #3081 on: May 23, 2012, 06:28:55 PM »

yeah i think we can expect reviews to be either accepting of the music or wanting it to be some big innovation
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Zach95
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« Reply #3082 on: May 23, 2012, 06:47:58 PM »


Especially considering it's somewhat dismissive in saying the album is basically nothing but "straightforward set of nice surf-rock numbers, resplendent with close harmonies and lots of lyrics about cars and the ocean".

Even the album artwork is wrong. The reviewer seemed sort of clueless.
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monicker
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« Reply #3083 on: May 23, 2012, 07:00:37 PM »

Here's the review I did of "That's Why God Made The Radio" for a Minneapolis arts rag I write for called L'Etoile.

http://www.letoilemagazine.com/2012/05/23/we-will-rock-you-the-square-sounds-of-the-beach-boys/

Lemme know what y'all think, whether or not you agree and all that.

I don't like the implication that one who doesn't like the production is merely hung up on hipness. That's a really narrow view.

It's a view. Not necessarily a narrow one. Slick production has been a feature of Beach Boys albums since 1985, and Brian Wilson albums since 1988. To get hung up on it now -- while somehow simultaneously singing the praises of the aurally freeze-dried BW88 -- is the peculiar thing.

You've strayed far from the point and are adding things to, it seems, help some argument you have, though what that is, i'm not sure. The reviewer in said review suggested that one who doesn't like the production is just preoccupied with it not being hip. And that is a narrow view because it completely dismisses other, legitimate reasons that people may and will have for simply not liking a certain kind of aesthetic/production value. It's this same binary thinking that keeps coming up.

EDIT: How about this? How about everyone on this board who has expressed not liking the production style of the new album, whose reason for not liking it is that it's not hip, step up and raise their hand?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2012, 07:04:20 PM by monicker » Logged

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« Reply #3084 on: May 23, 2012, 07:23:15 PM »

It is a reviewer's prerogative to be somewhat hyperbolic, and to speak to the particular audience that reads reviews on that type of website. The only mistake he made was asking for anyone's opinions here.
I'm not a fan of the sound of the record per se, and not because I think it isn't hip. But I still like reviews that take a stab at leaving no room for denial. That is a Paul Williams hallmark.
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Jonathan Blum
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« Reply #3085 on: May 23, 2012, 07:36:06 PM »

I'm not sure we're hearing real Beach Boys music, as nice as it might be.

Oh reality / It's not for me / And it makes me laugh.

I don't get the obsession with (air-quotes) "authenticity" here.  Especially when not being "real" is used as a reason to rule out large chunks of what the guy's really done.  And I find it very easy to believe that the stuff Brian is doing everywhere from TLOS to Gershwin to Disney is at least as real an expression of what he likes to do as the unpolished output of a (romanticized) drug-addled obese depressive is...

Cheers,
Jon Blum
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Jim V.
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« Reply #3086 on: May 23, 2012, 07:58:46 PM »

The only mistake he made was asking for anyone's opinions here.

Yeah, all you stupid losers! He should never have asked your opinion.  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #3087 on: May 23, 2012, 08:10:56 PM »

I'm not sure we're hearing real Beach Boys music, as nice as it might be.

Oh reality / It's not for me / And it makes me laugh.

I don't get the obsession with (air-quotes) "authenticity" here.  Especially when not being "real" is used as a reason to rule out large chunks of what the guy's really done.  And I find it very easy to believe that the stuff Brian is doing everywhere from TLOS to Gershwin to Disney is at least as real an expression of what he likes to do as the unpolished output of a (romanticized) drug-addled obese depressive is...

Thank you, Jon.
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I. Spaceman
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« Reply #3088 on: May 23, 2012, 09:08:55 PM »

The only mistake he made was asking for anyone's opinions here.

Yeah, all you stupid losers! He should never have asked your opinion.  Roll Eyes

Roll em till you're blind.
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« Reply #3089 on: May 23, 2012, 09:18:51 PM »

Here's the review I did of "That's Why God Made The Radio" for a Minneapolis arts rag I write for called L'Etoile.

http://www.letoilemagazine.com/2012/05/23/we-will-rock-you-the-square-sounds-of-the-beach-boys/

Lemme know what y'all think, whether or not you agree and all that.

good stuff, my one problem is when you imply that the sophistication of pet sounds/smile was something brian did "totally accidently".  Isn't it established that Brian was going for sophistication?

No no -- I said it *happened* accidentally. I even say as much re: brian shooting for hip, but the accident was that those albums arrived (or, in the case of Smile, didn't arrive!) in a world that totally welcomed sophisto chamber pop. Right time, right place, kind of.

Ok i think i understand what you're saying now.  But i still think there's some contradiction when you say brian was consciously trying to write hip music, then end the paragraph saying it was hip totally accidentally.  I know you're saying Brian (unhip) was trying to write hip, and what he came up with just happened to be hip/popular, but i think brian was more dialed in than you think.  For me, I think it makes more sense to say Brian was trying to do new things and it became super hip in parts of the world.  Because I think brian knew exactly what he was doing then.  still a sweet review, it pumps me up for the album man.  

though i must say, i almost enjoy your review on the RR about wanting more cheese more  Grin
« Last Edit: May 23, 2012, 09:30:00 PM by Runaways » Logged
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« Reply #3090 on: May 23, 2012, 09:25:23 PM »

The only mistake he made was asking for anyone's opinions here.

Yeah, all you stupid losers! He should never have asked your opinion.  Roll Eyes

just let the child play.
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« Reply #3091 on: May 23, 2012, 09:59:42 PM »

I'm not sure we're hearing real Beach Boys music, as nice as it might be.

Oh reality / It's not for me / And it makes me laugh.

I don't get the obsession with (air-quotes) "authenticity" here.  Especially when not being "real" is used as a reason to rule out large chunks of what the guy's really done.  And I find it very easy to believe that the stuff Brian is doing everywhere from TLOS to Gershwin to Disney is at least as real an expression of what he likes to do as the unpolished output of a (romanticized) drug-addled obese depressive is...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Without authenticity, we may as well accept a fine tribute album that sounds great as performed by a group of Beach Boys sound-alikes (and no, I am not implying this is what the new album is).

If you don't value authenticity in a Brian Wilson or Beach Boys album, I'm not sure what to tell you.

Personally, I would never view BW as a 'drug-addled obese depressive'.  What a load of $hit.  You're really misinterpreting my point.  I'm not talking about the 'cocaine sessions' or whatever, I'm talking about a genuine BW production.  Which I believe he is fully capable of but is either not surrounded by people supporting that or is completely uninterested or unwilling to do it.  Not sure what's really going on but the music speaks for itself and the passage of time will bring more clarity I'm sure.

And I think some people may be confusing 'music Brian likes' with an actual BW production.  I'm not talking about what he likes; I'm talking about what he's legitmately in charge of vs. what he's just going along with.  Having the final veto power to reject or approve something is like saying Brian mixed the album because he approved it.  Or he painted the cover image.  come on now !

I seriously don't know how anyone here can think Brian actually produced this new album.  If he did, why does it sound so much like a Joe Thomas production?  I mean, speaking of reality, what's going on here ?

I'm not down on the new album.  I just refuse to accept it for anything other than what it is.  I will buy it like the rest of you, and I will enjoy it I'm sure.  And I'm really looking forward to hearing the suite at the end, etc.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2012, 10:11:50 PM by DonnyL » Logged

Jonathan Blum
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« Reply #3092 on: May 24, 2012, 12:50:18 AM »

Without authenticity, we may as well accept a fine tribute album that sounds great as performed by a group of Beach Boys sound-alikes

If it sounds good, moves me, and hits my this-is-art button, I don't care if it's got "THIS IS A FAKE" scrawled on the flipside of the disc in felt-tip.

I'd go see a symphony orchestra play Mozart even if by definition that makes them a tribute band.  And if it turned out Mozart dashed the piece off just to get some pushy patron off his back without putting his own personal heart and soul into it, I'd still appreciate it if it sounded right.  That's authenticity.

Quote
Personally, I would never view BW as a 'drug-addled obese depressive'.  What a load of $hit.  You're really misinterpreting my point.

No, I'm making my point.  Which is that treating "Love You"-era Brian as the real Brian, and the one who does that wonderfully quirky take on "Heigh Ho" on the Disney album as a soulless shell, you're creating an artificially narrow definition of the "real" Brian.  One which focuses on the way he worked during the periods of time when he was most fried, but not with the overwhelming share of what he's done in his life.

Or to put it another way:  Brian "going along with people" is real Brian.  He's not just Stalin-in-the-studio, he's a guy who collaborates -- as Wirestone pointed out in the other thread, he does that whether that's with the Wrecking Crew, his own band, or the boys.  The DIY stuff is only a small part of who he is and how he works.

Regards,
Jon Blum
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atroxi
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« Reply #3093 on: May 24, 2012, 05:30:07 AM »

Physical copies of the CD are out there now, at least if you're Tim Chipping.

http://lockerz.com/s/211434885
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« Reply #3094 on: May 24, 2012, 05:38:19 AM »

sigh, i was really hoping for paper cases.  still looks nice
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« Reply #3095 on: May 24, 2012, 05:39:57 AM »

sigh, i was really hoping for paper cases.  still looks nice

Yeah, as was I, especially since TLOS and the Gershwin album were paper.
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« Reply #3096 on: May 24, 2012, 05:55:41 AM »

I totally agree Jon.

I've never understood this obsessivness regarding whether Brian is in control or not, whether he is cracking the whip in the studio, if what we listen to is a genuine authentic Brian Wilson production. As far as we know and are able to tell, he hasn't been in control since Smile. Every album, single, or recording has in some way been a shared effort - and you could argue that even the pre 67 stuff is as much shared by the personality of the co-writer and studio musicians (the same with Phil Spector). Even he fabled Love You was a co job. He was forced into writing and recording those songs by Dr Landy, so how anyone can say that is the "real" Brian is baffling. This kind of double guessing is not needed. Appreciate Brian for what he is and not what he isn't.

Today Brian needs help in writing songs, writiing lyrics, recording, arranging, producing etc. He can't do it on his own. And neither should we expect him to do so. He has done enough already. He'd done enough by the time he was 25 years old. I have no doubt that today left to his own devices, he would come up with jack sh*t. This kind of wet dream of Brian being left alone in a studio of full of keyboards creating masterpieces is a crock of sh*t. Of course he would play the keyboard, possibily write some of the most amazing melodies imaginable. But would he finish them without some help, or some kind of goal or reason to complete them. No he wouldn't. He is no longer 22 or 23 when the world was his for the taking. Unfortunately the world has passed him by. And i think in many ways that suits him fine. He cracked under the pressure of trying to keep up. It became easier for him to live without that pressure - and maybe that brought about it's own problems (coke, staying in bed, Danny Hutton etc) but that is a different issue.

The fact of the matter is that Brian has written and produced some of the most amazing, soulful, honest, beautiful music ever done by anyone, and in my opinion continues to do so. He has given us so much. So much that for some of us, his life and his work is as much ours as it is his. But he hasn't been alone in doing this. Gary Usher, Tony Asher, Van Dyke Parks, Tandyn Almer, Mike Love, Andy Paley, Dr Landy, Joe Thomas and many others have all been needed by Brian to help him realise his dreams. His work has been dependent on their support. Without them, the friends, associates, relations, managers etc, we wouldn't be here talking about whether the real Brian is still out there. Without them the real Brian would still be in bed, or worse.

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EgoHanger1966
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« Reply #3097 on: May 24, 2012, 06:14:07 AM »

sigh, i was really hoping for paper cases.  still looks nice

Yeah, as was I, especially since TLOS and the Gershwin album were paper.
I have TLOS as a jewel case - it's an import.
That guy appears to be from Europe, so there's still a chance it could be in a digipack.
I prefer the jewel case, honestly....
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« Reply #3098 on: May 24, 2012, 06:29:31 AM »

sigh, i was really hoping for paper cases.  still looks nice

Yeah, as was I, especially since TLOS and the Gershwin album were paper.
I have TLOS as a jewel case - it's an import.
That guy appears to be from Europe, so there's still a chance it could be in a digipack.
I prefer the jewel case, honestly....

he's a BBC writer.  He tweeted about the last songs being a miracle. 
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« Reply #3099 on: May 24, 2012, 07:41:45 AM »

 
Quote
The reviewer in said review suggested that one who doesn't like the production is just preoccupied with it not being hip.

You could not have more thoroughly missed the point I was trying to make. Hint: that's not even close. I'm glad it got your panties up in a bundle, but go back and read again with your hackles *down* this time and see if you get it.

Again: not. even. close.
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