well, i just gave "smile" a listen.

[iron mitchell]

hmm... i dunno. i'm definitely a little disappointed, but i sorta expected that considering i've been listening to (and worshipping) "smiley smile" on a very regular basis since i bought it in high school. i guess this one just sounds so unnecessarily overproduced and almost plastic, compared to the old recordings, because of it (along with some of the underwhelming vocal performances).
i still like it a lot. there are some definite improvements... "windchimes", "mrs o'leary's cow", and several other tracks are perfect. no complaints at all about them, but my main problem lies in the fact that "heroes and villians" and "good vibrations" were already perfect. they should have just kept the old versions.
everyone should definitely check this out. it's not quite as incredible as we dreamed it'd be, but it's a hell of a lot better than just about everything else, regardless.

[iron mitchell]

uh, no edit posts?

anyways, i just thought of how retarded it sounds to complain about anything involving brian wilson being "overproduced", so i just wanted to say that i guess it's more the new, shiny equipment's fault. i just want it to sound old, dammit. and some of the performances do still sound pretty generic to me. "surf's up" is not one of those, however... fucking rules!

[Dole]

I think its an amazing album. I have never enjoyed listening to a record for the first time as much as I did this.
I knew Good Vibrations couldnt top the original, but its still a credible version. The way it all seques together is just amazing, and to hear some of the finished songs (such as Holiday) blew me away. I wasn't disappointed in the least.
Surfs Up is indeed bloody good, a LOT better than I thought it would be, his vocals arent as good on the end section but musically its beautiful.
And it may sound really well produced Mitchell, but he did aal the vocals through an old tube desk like the Beach Boys used, and recorded all the instruments as live, in the actual studio where he did a lot fo the good vibrations and heroes and villains sessions.

[iron mitchell]

yeah, i think i would've liked this more if i hadn't just gotten ahold of the new "ariel pink's haunted graffiti 2" album (with which i've committed heresy already by listening to at least five times in the past few days, as opposed to the one time i've spun "smile"!). hehe!
no, i don't know what it is. it doesn't sound almost like an "easy listening" version of some of the old songs to you, at times?
i've got a long drive ahead of myself today, so i'll give it another listen in the car. maybe my shitty speakers will make it sound a little better...
also, get the ariel pink album "the doldrums" or be embarrassed and lame.

[Dole]

It was never going to have an absolutely authentic 'sixties' sound, but I think the versions are pretty damn faithful to the original sessions (examples: the drums on H&V, the drums on Holiday, all the instrumentation on Barnyard ...). I guess in a sense the material is 'easy listening' -it was never going to be a 'pop' or 'rock' album, in the same way as Pet Sounds doesnt fit either of those descriptions...give it a few listens on a decent stereo, mitchell see what you think.
'Easy listening' is a plus in my book I'm afraid, not a minus!

Hey you should try and bridge the gap between easy listening and all the crazy noise/circuit beding stuff you are into...now that I would like to hear...

BTW: i tried to find stuff by quad muth with no luck...there was one site with mp3s, but they didnt work...I dont have the net at home so I cant soulseek or anything...any suggestions?

[iron mitchell]

oh, i know it wasn't going to have an authentic sixties sound. i'm just going by what my ears tell me.
i have no interest in easy listening.
it's funny you say that i should go the route of easy listening, because just about everything i've recorded in the past month has been extremely delicate and pretty. i'm still using homemade shit, loads of effects, and all but i've been doing lots of treated acoustic guitar, treated voice, treated piano, etc.
i'm about to head out to a friend's house for the rest of the day, but i'll try to remember to post mp3's for my new stuff and quad muth and link you to 'em. if i forget and haven't done it before too long just remind me. i'm kinda scatterbrained.

[Dole]

Cheers lad.

NO interest in easy listening?? You surprise me Mitchell, even you must need a break from rapewhistles and angle grinders every once in a while..

[iron mitchell]

yeah, sometimes... i actually listen to a lot more quiet stuff than you'd imagine... but that's when i listen to talk talk or guns 'n roses... not lawrence welk!

[Royal Tenenbaum]

Just get an accurate bootleg of the Beach Boys version. Without the harmonies it's just not as good, despite the songs being wonderful still.

[Dole]

But there aren't any harmonies on the songs that were never finished. Get both, the 66 & 04 versions thats my advice

[iron mitchell]

dole,
i uploaded one of my newer, more melodic tracks. it's not really one of my favorites, but it's one of only ones i've released and officially deemed "finished". anyone else that wants to check it out is definitely welcome, though i'd appeciate it if you let me know what you think. don't be afraid to say you hate it. i'm very used to it and i don't mind at all.

http://www.alamagator.com/10.mp3

it's a catheter stretch track and it's untitled. it's the last song on my new cdr "mercury swamp".

[KevinTheOmnivore]

I saw Wilson here in Madison last night. The performance was amazing, and the fact that this chubby old man in front of you tied all of these pop melodies together is sort of unreal. He kind of sits there like a pseudo-conductor, but you can tell that he knows and anticipates every beat, every speed change, all of it.

It was nice, cuz they put on a great show, and you can tell he's finally happy and performing collectively for probably the first time in his life.

[Dole]

Glad you enjoyed it Kevin, the concert I saw over here a while back was fucking amazing.


I downloaded your track Mitchell...not sure what to say really, I don't know anything about 'noise' per se. Sounds quite imaginative at any rate. Thats one of the more melodic ones??

[iron mitchell]

yeah, definitely one of the easiest listening tracks i have. like most of my stuff, i admit that it's not that great to listen to casually on bad speakers, but deep listening with a good stereo grants loads of enjoyment, particularly if you're really stoned.