LOS ANGELES—George Himmelsbaugh, 32, was informed Tuesday that he was incorrect in enjoying a thing he had been deriving pleasure from for many years. Authorities in the field informed Himmelsbaugh that, although he believes his appreciation of the thing to be a matter of subjective personal taste, any positive feelings or satisfaction taken from this are by definition erroneous. Furthermore, sources reported, Himmelsbaugh does not in fact enjoy the thing, but has merely been convinced that he does by the influence of others who also claim to enjoy the thing but who must be insane or developmentally disabled if they actually do. Himmelsbaugh has responded to the information by endeavoring to enjoy the correct things in the future.
I fully recognize that I sound like this occasionally. I've been known to get worked up quite easily regarding things I love and don't. But in my defense, I wish more people would show a little more excitement and passion for things in general. I'm getting tired of the la-la-la "it's all good" mentality. Make an effort, for Pete's sake.
That being said, the new Brian Wilson is still horrible. And this version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" has consistently blown me away since 1977.
13 comments:
I think the new Alabama Shakes album is pretty good! They've grown, changed it up a bit, put out an album that sounds like they're trying, and it registers with me. Sure, I expect the hype landslide, but don't hold them accountable. If I was in a band now, I think I'd accept that as part of the deal -- that sort of hype seems to be part-and-parcel of anything worthwhile in music now. It's more a "hype" issue than a "music" issue for me, i.e., the ill effects of social media and the internet on how music is marketed now. Maybe the people doing this are so aware of the massive amounts of radio static on the internet that they feel the need to bolster their opinion with terms like "great" and "awesome"?
The new Brian Wilson album is the easy-listening equivalent of Metal Machine Music for me. Want to make me vacate a room in a hurry? Put this album on!
Hey, I had to identify bowls of soup to prove I'm not a robot! This Captcha thing is getting weird.
Very funny in an "Oh God, that's me" kind of way.
And as for you, Sal, if you were one of those "everything's good" kind of guys, neither I nor anyone else would bother coming here. Don't change!
My only exposure to the Alabama Shakes first album was a video posted here on Burning Wood. I liked the idea of the band, but I thought the arrangement and song was thin. Not enough going on.
Last week I heard an interview with them on WNYC, and they played some of the new album, which surprised and intrigued me.
When I had the opportunity to, er, acquire it I didn't hesitate. I burned a copy for the car when I knew I was going somewhere far enough to hear the whole thing. Loud. I liked it enough to let it play through twice.
What it reminds me most of is the recent collaboration between Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples. That comparison is a good thing to me, but is probably causing Sal to bristle.
The song that has really knocked me out is "Dune" (Track 3).
I hear late Beatles.
Try to imagine John Lennon singing a la "Come Together". All the riffs and stops hit it right out of the ballpark for me.
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/dunes.mp3
I played this song 5 times in a row and gave the album 4 good listens until I got distracted by finally getting around to the mono mix of "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn".
If you've only heard the stereo version, then you haven't really heard the album.
Apparently Syd was involved with this version and each song was mixed as completed. On the other hand Norman Smith, who really didn't like working with Syd, did the stereo version in one day without any of the bands input.
Syd probably never heard it, and would have been appalled. The mono version is punchier, and has a lot of extras edited out by Mr Smith. I'll never play his mix again.
It's a (psychedelic) masterpiece.
Funny, I really didn't want to beat the Alabama Shakes dead horse. I just thought the title would be appropriate in light of past discussions.
But since we are here---I wasn't offended by the new record. I just got bored. "Dunes" is a good tune. But then by the fourth and fifth tunes "Future People" and "Gimme All Your Love" it started to sound like style over substance. Britney's Prince-like falsetto on three songs in a row was too affected. It got old very fast.
So -- really -- apart from the "IT'S A NEW BRIAN WILSON RECORD AND EVERYBODY SHOULD LOVE IT AS MUCH AS PET SOUNDS ZOMG!!!" reviews...
I listened to it. It was pleasant. If there was autotune, I completely missed it. There were a couple of duds, but I think it's one of the more consistent BW records since he started recording again (and certainly on par with the Beach Boys album from last year...)
Why the hate? What am I missing?
Oh and Alabama Shakes?
I've tried.
I just don't get it...it doesn't float my boat.
Shriner, if any other pop star put "No Pier Pressure" out it would be trashed to all hell. Cheesy production, lyrics that a 3rd grader would write, drum machines, disco beats, tons of reverb to hide the fact that the man hasn't sung well in 40 years...the songs all sound like outtakes from the "Tootsie" soundtrack.
Alabama Shakes- The album indeed lags during the late middle, but finishes in a big way.
Shriner, I remember how blah most of the mid/late 70s and all of the 80s Beach Boys albums were. I think "workmanlike" is about the highest compliment I could pay most of them.
I honestly went back and listened to 15 Big Ones, an album I recall routinely seeing in the bargain bins at Wooworth's for $0.99. Great cover of "Rock and Roll Music" ... and the rest just sort of OK in that generic Beach Boys way.
When I tried the new BW on Spotify, aside from "Right Time" I couldn't get through one track completely. Much like Sal, I thought of things like "Theme from Three's Company" in terms of musical equivalents. I think you're right in that it's not much worse than the last Beach Boys album. I suspect if you took the best from each, you could put out one album that gave L.A. (Light Album) a real run for its money.
This may be an inopportune time to say this, but I'm a robot with artificial intelligence that's been cheating the CAPTCHA function on this website. Even robots don't like the new Brian Wilson album.
I'll have to give No Pier Pressure another spin.
I have such low expectations for a BW album that maybe it met them without issue.
I rarely post comments, but I just want to say that in general..801 is one of the most overlooked and talented bands from the 80's and 90's. And I agree that their version of TKN's is just fabulous.
801 live.... baby's on fire, phil on guitar..thanks for jolting me out of somnolence
I've been swamped at work, so just stumbled across this. 801's TNK is phenomenal -- I searched the import bins back in the day for 801 Live, and years later searched for a digital version for my iPod. Great stuff.
Post a Comment