Made In California by the Beach Boys
Wow.
New paragraph: this Beach Boys box is something to behold. Set up like a high school yearbook with large glossy photographs, interviews, articles and fake advertisements, Made In California is a thing of beauty. We flip to the last page and we see six cds filled to the max with hits, album cuts, rarities, outtakes and live versions. The set commemorates 50 years of Beach Boysdom from Brian's "Surfin'" demo right up to their 2012 single "That's Why God Made the Radio".
Made In California has enough newly unearthed material for completests, music scholars and other varying degrees of nerd. It is also consistent in high standards so it doesn't feel too overwhelming for someone who is just discovering that this group isn't a band that only sings about surfing and cars. You need not have to comb through sub-par tracks.
Obviously, the genius Brian Wilson is at the forefront of the productions here. We truly realize how special the body of work he had produced and see the heights of creative genius and musical innovation. Wilson can safely be put alongside Gershwin, Copland and Ellington in the Hall of Great American Composers (this building does not exist). His baby brothers shine as well; Dennis, the drummer/rebellious middle child, is represented with a multitude of brilliant heart-aching ballads (mostly unreleased until now) and Carl, the finest singer of the lot, is clearly the soul of the Beach Boys. The latter comment becomes evident as you make your way through the recordings... trust me on this.
If you're familiar with their catalog, look out these newly issued gems "Sail Plane Song", "Sound of Free", "California Feelin'", "You're Still A Mystery" and "Where Is She?". For those unfamiliar to the Beach Boys, how I envy you to be able to experience hearing this wonderful music for the first time.
Hombre by Elmore Leonard
In this hardboiled Western, Elmore Leonard writes a short, gritty tale where a group travels via stagecoach through the Arizona desert. Our trusty narrator, who is conversational with the reader and serves as a moral compass, is under the employ of the stagecoach/horses owner. Bickering begins at the outset and when the stagecoach comes under attack by a group of outlaws, these early differences of opinion result in chaos. A mysterious Apache, John Russell, is their only hope in making it out of the desert alive.
The Columbia Studio Recordings 1964-1970 by Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel never felt like a singles band to me. Sure, there's the massive, mega-hits: "Mrs. Robinson", "The Sound of Silence", "The Boxer", "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "Cecelia", etc., but Paul Simon's songwriting abilities were never simply tunnel visioned to the radio dial. All five of Paul & Artie's studio albums are classics that are meant to be heard front to back and then back to front again. With the Columbia Studio Recordings boxed set, we can hear every song, every angelic harmony, every sweet acoustic guitar move and every perfect arrangement.
Six or seven years is not a whole lot time in the grand scheme of things, but Simon & Garfunkel made it count with their prolific run as Columbia Records recording artists.
The Golem and the Jinni by
Helene Wecker
Mythical creatures from Jewish and Arab folklore come alive in 19th century New York City when a Golem (a clay creature made only to serve another) and a Jinni (a fiercely independent being made of fire) trapped in human form find themselves living in adjacent neighborhoods.
The book begins with two separate plot lines... The Golem, though a fully formed woman, comes to life in the hull of a ship headed towards America and soon finds herself masterless in a world that she doesn't understand. The Jinni on the other hand, awakes on the floor of a tinsmith shop in little Syria after a thousand years trapped in a bottle. As the novel continues the stories of the characters become entwined and, in a beautiful example of storytelling, all of the pieces of Wecker’s mythical world fall into place, leaving the reader satisfied yet sad to reach the end.
This genre bending novel has elements of historical fiction and fantasy. Wecker has clearly done a lot of research and paints a vivid picture of New York’s little Syria and Bowery neighborhoods during the turn of the century. Lovers of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and The Night Circus will enjoy the rich detail and intricate plot line.
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Soundtrack by Liam Hayes
Recently I was discussing Roman Coppola's A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, a film that a mere 27% of Rotten Tomatoes voters enjoyed (thus proving my hypothesis that 73% of the population is completely nuts). In any event, I closed out my mini-review mentioning Liam Hayes's "brilliant score". Well, ask and ye shall receive! Forbes now owns the soundtrack. Thanks, Genie!
Coppola learned of Liam Hayes through his cast member/cousin, Jason Schwartzman. Hayes, a Chicago resident, has been releasing soulful/ 1970's-ish style/indie-rockish music since the early 1990's. The songs are hooky with a sometimes classic, "Philadelphia sound" arrangement. On top, his voice could be likened to the tenor of a Mr. John Lennon.
The affinity for 70's sounds (pianos, tasteful synthesizers, horns) work perfectly with Charles Swan's groovy universe; a marriage made in heaven. Many of the songs were pulled from Hayes's back catalog as a solo artist and also from his tenure in the group Plush. "A Glimpse Inside", almost the film's theme, was written especially for the picture and here we can listen for Hayes's tremendous vocal range. Another highlight is "So Much Music", an anthem discussing the undying spirit of a musician. Hopefully Hayes is good on this sentiment because he's a truly talented artist.
The Third Eye Centre by Belle & Sebastian
The Scottish pop group Belle & Sebastian are rather prolific. Along with releasing several albums over the course of their nearly two decade career, the band has also put out several ep's (i.e. short albums) and non-album track singles. The compilation The Third Eye Centre gathers up interesting ep tracks and b-sides spanning 2003 to 2010.
In this collection, we see the wide range of influence and also the musical versatility Belle & Sebastian possesses. They bounce from perfect pop song to ballad to Bossa Nova to disco to country & western and then back to perfect pop song again.
Singer/songwriters Stuart Murdoch, Stevie Jackson and Sarah Martin provide backstory forall of the tracks in the beautiful attached booklet with this small boxed set. It's
baffling that songs such as "Last Trip", "Long Black Scarf" or "Blues
Eyes of a Millionaire" were cast aside and not included on the band's
albums from the 2000's. The Third Eye Centre is a really fun, diverse collection that has also enough consistency to make it work as a proper album.
