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. 

Up All Nite (With The Nite-Liters)

I've always loved listening to instrumental funk and soul over the years.  From the obvious bands like The Meters and Booker T & The MGs, to Funk, Inc., and The Bar-Kays, all those bands each have a few impressive albums in their catalog.  I would have to put The Nite-Liters A-Nal-Y-Sis album up there as one of my favorite instrumental funk albums.  Their cover of Donny Hathway's "Valdez in the Country" has always been one of my favorite funk songs.  It's a real groover...

 And of course, "Damn" is one of my favorite Nite-Liters songs as well...

The Nite-Liters only released five studio albums total as a band from the early to mid-70's (not counting albums by the band The New Birth, which many of its bandmates were members...but that's a whole other story).  K-Jee is a great album from The Nite-Liters as well, but I highly recommend checking out A-Nal-Y-Sis first if you're interested in a little instrumental funk. 

Are You "Hep"?

I really lucked out last week and bought a ton of used Reggae cd's that just recently came into my favorite record store in Seattle.  I was especially excited to pick up a bunch of Heptones on cd, namely the most excited about picking up On Top, one of my favorite Reggae albums of all-time.  

I was also psyched to find the later-period, Lee Scratch Perry produced Heptones album Party Time, which is really solid as well.  Really, you can't go wrong with any Heptones album, period.  One of the top vocal Reggae groups of all-time and always a staple of my summer jams. 

Freddie McGregor: Bobby Bobylon

If I had to choose a one desert island reggae album to listen to the rest of my life, I would choose Freddie McGregor's Bobby Bobylon album.  Recorded and released in 1979 off the famed Studio One label with Producer C.S. Dodd, Bobby Bobylon is a timeless classic from beginning to end.  Rich and soulful, it is without a doubt McGregor's best album, my favorite reggae album (though there are many other contenders) and the album I always turn to when I want to really feel good.    

Gone Away

Sorry, I've been "Gone Away" for over a month.  Work has taken up a lot of my time, and with that on top of being busy with my two kids, sometimes the blog gets neglected for awhile.  Speaking of "Gone Away", that Curtis Mayfield tune gets me every time.  Written by Mayfield for The Impressions album This is My Country, it's such a heart-breakingly great tune.  Roberta Flack's version off of the excellent Chapter Two album is an excellent version as well.  Both versions of "Gone Away" are repeaters for me. 

Master Rocker

I'm not necessarily a HUGE fan of pianist Bernard Wright's 1981 solo debut 'Nard, but there are a few tracks that hit on all the Dave Grusin/smooth jazz cylinders, most notably "Master Rocker".  If I was a DJ playing out, I would play the crap out of the track "Master Rocker".  Instead, I play it at home on the headphones and get my pleasure that way.  "Master Rocker" has got it all-nice drumming, great touches on the electric piano/keyboard, nice use of horns, it's all tastefully executed.  While there some definite misses on 'Nard, the tracks the hit, like "Master Rocker", make this album worth checking out.

Love Me Forever

The track, "Love Me Forever", off of Carlton and the Shoes album of the same time, is one of those perfect soulful, rocksteady tracks from the late 60's that I can listen to repeatedly and never tire of it.  I've been continuing to listen to a lot of dub and reggae music from the 60's through 80's in the past month (the uncharacteristically warm 70's and 80 degree weather in Seattle during this time of the year will do that for ya!), and will probably be featuring some more music from that genre in the coming month.  In the meantime, listen to "Love Me Forever"--such a beautiful melody, and I love the horn line that leads into the vocals.  Perfect!