Sunshine Pop, Psych Pop, and Pet Sounds

 

I've been on a bit of a warm weather, sunshine and psych pop bent recently.  Of the things that has "floated my boat" recently:

1.  The Beach Boys The Pet Sounds Sessions--If I had to choose one album to take on a desert island, it would certainly be Pet Sounds.  That album means everything to me, and has since I was a kid.  Just recently I decided to pick up The Pet Sounds Sessions, released in 1996, and have been absolutely blown away by the disc 3 of the box set.  Disc 3 is vocals only, a cappella versions of Pet Sounds in its entirety.  The album blows me away even more after repeatedly listening on my headphones to strictly the harmonic vocals of The Beach Boys, pure as day and absolutely brilliant.

2.  Curt Boettcher--I dug the singer-songwriter and his compositions with The Association, and I'm also rediscovering his band The Millennium, and realizing what a brilliant album Begin is.  I bought Begin a few years ago, but never really delved into it until the past month.

Curt also formed a band named Sagittarius and recorded an album in 1968 (same year as The Millennium Begin was released) called Present Tense, which I just recently purchased so I can't form a great opinion of it yet, but I have enjoyed what I heard thus far.

3.  Lastly, I've rediscovered Olivia Tremor Control, and have been listening to their two albums, Dusk at Cubist Castle, and Black Foliage recently.  They were an amazing band from the late 90's from the Elephant 6 Collective, and were one of my favorite bands during that era.  It's fun rediscovering albums that I haven't heard in over ten years--I feel like I'm approaching the band with fresh ears again and they still sound wonderful to me.