Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Important Musical Roundup

Today was a busy day for me, musically. I discovered two new tidbits out in the world for consumption.

Brian Wilson is releasing the first Brian Wilson produced Brian Wilson album next week (he hasn't had a solo producer credit on a studio album in many a decade). Brian's official website has posted a four song album preview. Of the four songs, the production is very high quality, as is the song writing. Love the open harmony of "How Can We Still Be Dancin'", though I could do without Elton John's vocals. I'm also on the fence about the song "The Waltz", cowritten by Van Dyke Parks. VDP music usually takes a few spins before it sits correctly.

Of special note are "Soul Searchin'", with a beyond the grave vocal by Carl Wilson (oh what could have been were he still alive) and "Gettin' In Over My Head" which has some of Brian's more complex instrumentation of his solo career.

One can't listen to these tracks without giving proper due to the Wondermints for their spot on performances and perfectly tuned pop ears.

The second discovery today is a video for The Real Tuesday Weld's "The Ugly and the Beautiful" (requires Windows Media Player, or a media player with WMV capabilities). Not quite as infectious as "Bathtime in Clerkenwell", the video is a Lynchian nightmare of oddities and grotesque imagery. But in a good way. The song is one of my favorites from I, Lucifer. It's a lovely torch song about the power of love. If only Huey Lewis were so smart.

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