Columnated Ruins Domino … or, let’s cry over “lost” art

I admit it. I am in love with Brian Wilson.

OK, albeit the way he looked in 1966 …

There’s really no reason to be blogging about Brian Wilson right now, except that I went and dug up my copy of Pet Sounds after seeing Dewey Cox for about the 5th time (the husband and I *adore* Dewey Cox — mostly b/c of John C. Reilly). The “Black Sheep” segment is an obvious parody of Brian Wilson (“That goat’s sang on the record more than us!”) during the SMiLE sessions and I became determined to find the Beach Boys documentary that details that particular period. So, one Beach Boys biopic, one Beach Boys documentary, two Brian Wilson documentaries, three bittorrent downloads of original 1967 SMiLE sessions, a copy of the 2004 SMiLE and the DVD of the live SMiLE performance later … I am totally hooked. And no, there’s really not much actual footage of Brian in the studio at that time … though we definitely plan on parodying Brian in bed in the “Beach Boys – An American Band” documentary. (No, he wasn’t too cute by then … )

I’ve had Pet Sounds for about 10 years now, liked it, didn’t love it. There’s such an undercurrent of melancholy to that album, it always made me feel down. But, now, upon subsequent relistens, it truly is some of the most beautiful music ever made. And, SMiLE is, in my opinion (and who else’s are you getting here), the superior project — for “Surf’s Up” alone. I actually bought a bootleg of SMiLE in Athens about 10 years ago as well and didn’t like it and ended up selling it on eBay, perhaps? I didn’t go on eBay back then, though, so I’m not sure what happened to it. I just remember thinking it was too silly. Worms? Vegetables? Someone falling into a french horn? Alas, you can thank the mystique and the copious bootlegs of SMiLE for birthing such bands as the Wondermints and the entire Elephant 6 collective (Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control, etc.) (Some of the E6 bands I love, mainly those two, and Neutral Milk Hotel … but most of the rest of them make me want to claw my eyes out, FYI … I love pretty, beautiful music … but there’s only so much TWEE I can stomach.)

But yes, music is one of my first loves and, really, my religion in a lot of ways … and I’m falling back in love with it all over again thanks to all the quality time with my iPod I’m getting all day, and the inability to listen to audiobooks since I’m looking at words.

After listening to SMiLE, oh, I dunno, 2 or 3 times a day for a solid week, I decided to compare it to Smiley Smile (& Wild Honey), to hear what was pieced together from the ruins of SMiLE. And Oh. My. God. Smiley Smile is HORRIBLE. So awful. It’s like, someone paints a beautiful masterwork, SMiLE being the musical equivalent of, I dunno, “Starry Night” … and your family comes home, laughs at it, takes a dump on it, shreds it to pieces, and then hangs it on the wall.

I would have crawled in the bed for almost 20 years too!!!

Brian (backed by the stellar Wondermints, who I’ve loved since their 1st album and I wish they’d put out a new record already!!!) is performing a few U.S. dates this summer, but none of them are anywhere close to me … if I stumble into some plane fare, though, I may make the trek.

On THAT note … the Zombies “are discussing the possibility of repeating the Shepherd’s Bush concerts and performing Odessey and Oracle at just a handful of venues in the States with all the original surviving members of The Zombies included …”

WOW … I am quivering all over like I’m about to lose my virginity all over again. You’d better believe I’m buying a plane ticket to wherever THIS is going on. Just like we flew to NYC to see Rockfour!