Michael Anton’s fine essay on the Beach Boys, California culture, and the SMiLE Sessions album is now available on the Claremont Review of Books website. On the merits of SMiLE , compare and contrast his take with my Songbook essay, The SMiLE that Wasn’t . He doesn’t quite admit that . . . . Continue Reading »
Sounds of Silence, as few other songs can, gives one a genuine scare regarding modern life. It is like pages out of Spengler, or Rousseau, condensed to a poetic moment. How does it do this? I’m sure much could be explained by the ominous melody, and the way the cherubic voices are contrasted . . . . Continue Reading »
I could try to be big in the eyes of the world, what matters to me is what I could be to just one girl . . . Ah . . . the calming beauty of Pet Sounds , where to my ears, the undercurrent of melancholy is more than compensated for by the main pull of gentle encouragement, even if it does end on the . . . . Continue Reading »
Speaking of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is somewhat cliché when it comes to rock criticism. Its awesome harmonic sonorities in terms of the then latest of pop/rock music of the day, as well as the studio technique on the multi-track recorder, is indeed unparalleled. Pet Sounds is what Pink Floyd . . . . Continue Reading »
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