BRIAN WILSON'S FIRST ROUND PICK

Here's some super slick pop shit (in a good way), well informed and all that jazz. Ten cuts of Wondermints over at the Vinyl Villain, with little blurbs about each one by someone way more studied than I am. 

This stuff may be too light for you. Try listening to "Tracy Hide" when you're exhausted. Or drunk. Or stoned. Or any other time you just feel like surrendering and letting your mind go blank.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

The Wondermints - Tracy Hide mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Arnaldo Said mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Eight more cuts at The Vinyl Villain

STILL ON THAT TANGENT

Goddamn.  I try to mix it up, really I do.  Ordinarily I'd follow up a post about Brian Wilson with something completely different.  But, because that sort of mood hadn't yet fully subsided, I went to look one last time for the (until today) elusive Wondermints.  (Obviously, I found some.)  Members of the Wondermints have been working with Brian Wilson for the past several years.  The last time they released something under the Wondermints name was six or seven years ago.  But before that, they put out some good pop records, very much under the spell of the Wilsonian vibe.  They're sound disciples of Wilson's.  And, here's the big one, they are largely to thank for Brian Wilson's musical health.  They not only keep him active, with their seemingly on-call availability, but they help steer him away from bad ideas (because, let's face it, there have Brian Wilson stinkers), and were involved in getting Smile reconstructed as accurately as possible (more on that here).  But, before that, they sporadically recorded and made some pop music so fine, I couldn't quite figure out what quality that they had, that others lacked.  You know what I think it is?  It's because they're geeks.  Geeks that happen to be very musically gifted.  They probably won't ever be full-on pop stars, as in huge, because, when it all comes down to it, they are music geeks first.  That's what I like about them.  

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Wondermints - Arnaldo Said mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Tracy Hide mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Don't Go Breaking My Heart mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Sweetness mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - If I Were You mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - In a Haze mp3 at Electricity
Video:
The Wondermints - Shine On Me at YouTube
Brian Wilson with assorted Wondermints - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (2002) at YouTube
Visit:
Darian Sahanaja interview at Aquarium Drunkard Details about his role in the reconstruction of Smile
Darian Sahanaja at Wikipedia
The Wondermints at Wikipedia
Smile - LP entry at Wikipedia
Related:
Other Beach Boys related posts here

BY THE WAY, I HATE MIKE LOVE

If any of you are Beach Boy fiends, than you probably already know that the aborted Smile album, recorded from '66-'67, has been reconstructed, and released in multiple versions this past week. Yessir, step right up, from a two CD set, to a box set with 45s, LPs, CDs, a poster, book, and assorted geekaphilia. (There's also an ultra-useless, ultra-deluxe version that comes with a surfboard that'll set you back about $6K). All the blogs are drooling over it, but I couldn't find a one that include anything other than streaming samples. So, I figured I'd post a few Wondermints things up here because they've worked with Brian Wilson quite a bit in the past decade, notably as his touring band. Wondermint Darian Sahanaja worked particularly close with Wilson on his full album rerecording of Smile a few years ago (2004), and was brought in again as to help with the reconstruction of the original album from salvaged tapes and acetates. To the degree that Wilson has called on Sahanaja in recent years, it would seem that he is heir apparent to the orchestral pop throne.

Sahanaja with Brian Wilson

Here's just a couple Wondermints tracks I could run down, along with a link to their first 45, which is probably only of interest to Wondermints freaks that must have everything (their sound and studio mastery not quite fully developed).

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Wondermints - Tracy Hide mp3 at Crooks and Liars
The Wondermints - Sweetness mp3 at Electicity
Pain in the ass download:
The Wondermints - Proto-Pretty b/w Silly Place (via Rapidshare) at Willfully Obscure
Video:
The Wondermints - Shine On Me at YouTube
Brian Wilson with assorted Wondermints - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (2002) at YouTube
Visit:
Darian Sahanaja interview at Aquarium Drunkard Details about his role in the reconstruction of Smile
Darian Sahanaja at Wikipedia
The Wondermints at Wikipedia
Smile - LP entry at Wikipedia
Related:
Other Beach Boys related posts here