Uncanny

AQUARIUM DRUNKARD

GQ "Pet Sounds, Graceland, and baroque popsters like Van Dyke Parks are the touch-points—creating a warm (but tentative) record for timorous times. The Beach Boys looked upwards in their uncertainty—most famously, God only knew what they'd do without you—but for Department of Eagles, the gaze is pointed firmly down to their shoes."

UC PATRIOT The headline of this article misspells Brian as Bryan.

NY TIMES "[Daniel] Rossen and [Fred] Nicolaus [of the band Department of Eagles] are enthusiastic fans of Brian Wilson’s bootlegged late-1960s recordings for the album 'Smile' and of songwriters steeped in Hollywood pop lore like Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson."

CONTROL INDUSTRY

I've noticed a spate of recent articles about the growing interest in vinyl records amongst music buyers. The number of these articles suggests either that some journalists are lazy and just copy what their colleagues have already done or there's actually a new trend. Decide for yourself. Here's links to some of these articles:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
GUARDIAN
WALL STREET JOURNAL 1
WALL STREET JOURNAL 2
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS 1
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS 2
STAR TELEGRAM
NORWICH BULLETIN
METRO NEWS
UNIVERSITY CHRONICLE
SIGN ON SAN DIEGO
THE REPORTER

THE FANZINE An interesting article by top-notch music writer Andy Beta.

"Over thirty years on, POB has aged rather well. Though at times it could sound like a Glenn Fry solo album (and might make us re-appraise such a beast) with its mix of machismo and gruff-earnestness, its AOR (album/adult-oriented rock) is just skewed enough so as to sound like a Wilco album, too. Drummer Wilson dabbles in almost everything: Steinway grand, Rhodes, Hohner clavinet, Moog, Hammond. Again, contradictory notions course through it."

POP MATTERS "At this point it became a decision of ordering the actual CD online or just the MP3s. At the time of making this decision, the cheapest I was able to find the physical release online for is $16.99 plus tax. But on iTunes I could download Disco Romance for less than half of that. From a monetary point of view, the choice is rather simple. Downloading the MP3s is the far better decision. And conveniently enough, I could then enjoy the music right away instead of having to wait a week to receive the CD by mail."

"But as a collector, it would feel like something was not right. What’s missing is actually being able to hold the CD in my hand. Collectors of stamps or baseball cards could have their entire collections scanned so that they could look at them on the computer, but I’m sure most collectors of those items would find that thought absurd. They would much rather have them out on display to look at and show people. So why would music collectors find this any different? There is an intangible joy about being able to hold the object in your hand. By doing this, it feels like it’s yours to keep and to own."

If you ever want to drop us a line about Beach Boys/Brian Wilson news, gossip, trivia, etc. you can send your missive here:

uncannybeachboys@yahoo.com

Also, if I owe you a trade, please check this LINK.

Cool, ya dig?

Advance copies of the recent re-issue of Dennis Wilson’s “Pacific Ocean Blue” came with a packet of press materials. These materials included photocopies of vintage magazine articles that were first published around the time of the original release of “Pacific Ocean Blue.” One such article, written by Carol Rose, is titled “Dennis Files Solo.” As the article begins with the note, “continued from page 39,” this appears to be part of a larger article. However, the earlier section was not provided with the press materials I received. There’s also no indication of the source or exact date of the article. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting read. Especially interesting are the things E Street Band member Max Weinberg had to say about Dennis Wilson and the Beach Boys. Below is an edited version of Rose’s discussion with Weinberg:

“I’ve seen over 30 Beach Boys concerts. The first was the spring of ’64 at the West Orange Armory. Dennis projected such power. He plays the drums and hits this groove and for me it always made the corners of my mouth turn up in a smile. He really kept the band together and provided that energy. He projected this strength behind the drums of knowing where to hit each measure to pick the groove right out and put it in his pocket. There’s a certain groove you pick that makes the music flow, and when you have it it’s in your pocket. It’s the feeling behind the rhythm. He knows where it is. And to me, the hardest thing to strive for is that feeling, behind the groove.”

“There are a lot of sides to Dennis. When he’s happening, he’s really happening. He plays magnificently on every record they ever did- tastefully, simply and really beautifully, slapping the back-beat. The back-beat is what you dance to. It’s what you feel. It’s called a back-beat because it’s not on one; it’s behind the first beat. The accent is on the two and the four. Brian Wilson’s production techniques were heavily influenced by Phil Spector who put a heavy back-beat on four. There’s a loud explosion of the snare drum on four, and Dennis executes this beautifully.”

“He knows what notes not to play. That is very important. This is the heart of rock and roll. It can really get cluttered up with fancy drumming. Dennis is what I strove for, to make that projection, to make the drummer noticeable. I’m really into performing. There’s a whole generation now getting into the Beach Boys who have never heard of them before. They really shaped my identity. They were big when being big really meant something. There’s a reason they’ve been around 15 years. Dennis was really a focal point of the band, an image. He still is. He was happening onstage and drummers became very important. On ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ the drum parts are really so interesting. The Beach Boys have a strong, slow shuffle groove. It became very apparent when Brian played the bas the other night. When you can get a feeling across in two and a half minutes, that’s when you’re really saying something to someone.”

CLAUS.COM

VARIETY "Southern California as a muse was relatively unheard of prior to Wilson's region-defining work in the Beach Boys. For all the definitions Wilson has provided, from 'Surfin' Safari' to 'Surf's Up,' 'That Lucky Old Sun' -- written with old pal Van Dyke Parks and his keyboardist Scott Bennett -- stands as his most thorough definition of what it is to be an Angeleno. But considering its position as a musical epicenter, Southern California has lost its luster for the natives. In song these days, L.A. is almost always presented in a nostalgic light, with reminders that while this city of reinvention has had its golden moments right now we're not living in one. Jackson Browne and J.D. Souther, two of SoCal's finest chroniclers in the '70s, say as much on their new albums, as does Wilson."