Something Old...
69 year old Brian Wilson, maybe eligible for his bus pass and in the eyes of many he is an obsessive perfectionist with serious mental disorder that derailed much of his career, however, in my eyes he is a genius. Best known as the Beach Boys main songwriter, the multi instrumentalist famed for his producing and harmonizing falsetto vocals this month announced his plans for retirement after announcing this years Bestival will be his last EVER UK live performance.
A very brief history of his career is necessary to explain his genius. It all started when the beach boys 1st gig in 1961 only 3 weeks after Wilson was given an amp and an electric bass by his dad. Shortly after this he penned some of the greatest pop songs in history including ‘Fun,Fun,Fun’, ‘I Get Around’, ‘California Girls’ and the Chuck Berry inspired ‘Surfin’ USA’ after signing with Capitol Records in 62.
In 67 during the ‘Smile’ sessions Wilson had a major nervous breakdown which caused the albums cancelation, some speculate it being brought on after Paul MCCartney played him the Beatles ‘A Day in the life’ when he visited LA...which is understandable, I’d rather deep fry my ears than go near McCartney’s solo work!
Subsequently, 'Smile' wasnt completed until 2004 after being psychologically overwhelmed by the cancellation he spent the majority of the following years in his bedroom sleeping, taking drugs and overeating. During this time, his voice deteriorated as a result of chain smoking, drug ingestion and neglect.
Psychologist Dr. Landy put Wilson on a radical program to 'cure' his health, which involved him being fired from the Beach Boys, isolating him from his family in Hawaii and putting him onto a rigorous diet and health regimen, coupled with extreme counseling sessions it brought Wilson back to reality.
Under a strict level of authoritarian control, Landy regimented his every movement in his life including musical direction. This misconduct would eventually lead to the loss of his psychologist license and a restraining order from Wilson. It wasn’t until years later when Wilson was diagnosed Biopolar schizoaffective, which supposedly caused him to hear voices in his head.
A great example of his true genius comes from the track Wilson held back from the album ‘Pet Sounds’ as he felt that it was not sufficiently complete. The aforementioned, ‘Good Vibrations’ set a new standard for musicians, and what could be achieved in the studio, recorded in multiple sessions over six months in numerous studios...
Coming full circle, in celebration of the musical genius he performed a rare version on Jools Holland’s ‘Later’ last week, seemingly back to full health, kick back, relax and forget the summer sunshine has stalled for a bit...
Something New...
Rising star, Manchester born folk hip hop singer/songwriter Gideon Conn has been on the circuit for a fair few years now having played last year’s Glastonbury festival thru to a gig at my hometown of Chester last Friday.
Not only a musician, he is also a pioneer of Napolean Dynamite-esque 'geek chic’ movement and not only has his own clothing range in collaboration with ‘YES NO MAYBE’ but he also sells his artwork thru his myspace.
*Random Fact of the week*
Gideon provides the voice of the frog for the 2011 Sky TV’s ad campaign.
After receiving plenty of play on XFM and by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, Gideon's awesomely innovative sound means he is definitely one to watch. Having signed to Skinny Dog Records, which is owned by members of I am Kloot and Elbow he released his amazing debut single ‘I want you around’ from his debut album ‘New Bop Sounds’, enjoy...
Something Borrowed...
Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, better known as soul singer and rapper Aloe Blacc began his career in 95 as an MC for indie rap duo Emanon. He didn’t begin his solo career until 2003 but didn’t hit the big time until last year with the release of his 2nd album ‘Good Things’ which features one of the most annoying, but yet somehow catchy songs of the year ‘I Need a Dollar’.
On his recent promo visit to the UK he performed a fantastically different cover of Jay Z’s ’99 Problems’ for Radio 1’s live lounge, enjoy...
Something Blue...
Moscow born, Regina Spektor is an mega talented pianist and singer songwriter associated with the ‘anti-folk’ scene. She grew up in a Russian Jewish family having learnt to play piano from her dad’s Queen and Moody Blues cassettes that he traded with friends in the Soviet Union before they emigrated in 89 to New York due to the ethnic and political discrimination.
Influenced by the rock, folk punk and even hip hop world she draws influence not only from her strong Hebrew and Russian background but other influences can be heard having studied all over the world including Israel, Italy, Austria and randomly, Tottenham.
Her songs are not generally auto-biographical but usual scenarios and characters drawn from a vivid imitation utilising her broad vocal range to its full extent. She explores a wide variety of different and somewhat unorthodox vocal techniques, such as verses composed using beat-box in the middle of ballads and makes use of unusual musical techniques such as using a drum stick to tap rhythms on the body of her piano.
A great example of her genius is the vocal talent of the ‘glottal stop’ mixed with accent gymnastics from New York to East London which is prominent in her single ‘Fidelity’ taken from ‘Begin to Hope’. It was this track when I was introduced to her by a great mate of mine Stuey B a fair few years ago and I have been in love with her ever since. If your new to her work but like this make sure you check out more of her work like ‘On the Radio’ and ‘Us’ amongst others...
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