CUSTOM: The Village Green Preservation Society

The Village Green Preservation Society

The Kinks

I've always felt that VGPS was a concept album that was never really indulged in due to Davies' unsureness about the ambitiousness of the project. There were also a lot of really good outtakes that fit the themes of the album perfectly that finally saw the light of day with the 3-CD release VGPS. So, I decided to turn this simple record into a sprawling double album that fleshes out the Village Green much more effectively. The first half (or, really, 3/4s) details life in the Village Green of the past, with characters like Johnny Thunder, Monica, Polly, Wonderboy, and the misanthropes in "Sitting by the Riverside" and "Misty Water", among others. We end with Big Sky, which looks to the future for better days. The last part of the album focuses on the present disillusionment with life, and the nostalgia for days gone by, with songs like "Do You Remember Walter?", "Where Did my Spring Go?", "Days", and, of course, ending with "Village Green". I never understood why the album wasn't originally bookended by the two Village Green songs, but I think it flows much better. While the album is much longer, just over an hour, in my opinion all the music is well worth it, and I found myself listening to all the tracks anyway, but in the disorganized fashion of album/bonus tracks. All of the tracks segue into each other as well. 

"Village Green" fuses the orchestral overdubs instrumental with the alternate sans-orchestra take, as well as the released version, creating a far stronger sound, fuller vocals, and just a bit of phasing which I feel fits well. There is also a reprise of "VGPS" at the end just before the album ends, creating a cyclical feel.

Comments appreciated, enjoy!

Pictures of things as they used to be

CUSTOM: America

America

The Beach Boys

America is actually an amalgam of recordings made by The Beach Boys from 1970-1974. I noticed many of the songs they made during this prolific and impressive period had a strong thematic connection. This was not the first time The Beach Boys had recorded songs with an American theme, but it was the first time we see a different picture of America: gone is the surfing and the girls on the beach, here we see a heavy, forlorn look at the country, as the band reexamines the concept of America with new experiences since the early sixties. 

This albums uses many tracks from Holland, but also uses outtakes and a track from Surf's Up. Sound effects have been added and crossfades to create a true progressive feel. I'm very proud of how this turned out, sort of a look into what a truly progressive and conceptual album would have looked like from the band.

"Sail on Sailor" opens with the intro from "Fourth of July", the album's closer, creating a cyclical feeling. On this album, "Sail on Sailor" tells the story of the earliest explorers, who would travel farther than any one ever had to conquer and establish new lands. This segues into...
"Trader", a song that really is about imperialism, tells of the early settlers and their conquest of the native populations. 

"Big Sur" shows us a lighter side of America's birth, as the settlers come to know and enjoy the land. Here the bootleg version is used, as I like it much better than the released version.

"Beaks of Eagles/California" finish off the California Cycle found on Holland. 

"Barnyard Blues" is an unreleased Dennis track, that tells of the beginnings of a disenchantment and disrespect for the land, as the simple farmers wish to leave and create cities and industry. 

"Steamboat" represents the arrival of industry, and the accelerated spread of the population across the continent. The song is slow and heavy, which represents both the boat and the increased burden of technology on the land.

"Out in The Country" is an unreleased Al Jardine track, showing the remorse felt at having left the simple life, and a desire to return to it.

"Lookin' at Tomorrow" represents the Great Depression, and the death of the American dream to many people. And where desperation is, war is never far off...

"Battle Hymn of the Republic is an unreleased idea of Brian's. A lot of people hate this track and while I agree it's not exactly Surf's Up, it fits incredibly well in the story and the almost silliness the song is treated with seems to fit the idea of war many people have. 

"Carry Me Home" is another unreleased Dennis song, and shows a soldier on the battlefield, having been gravely wounded. The long, complicated, and often sad history of America ends here.

"Fourth of July" is yet another unreleased Dennis song, and acts as an epilogue of sorts to close the album. A heavy examination of our country, where it is, and where it is going seems a fitting closer, ending with the same water sound effects that we hear before "Sail on Sailor". The album comes off as a bit of a downer, but the story is a powerful one and the music, though at times sad, is wonderful.

Enjoy, comments appreciated!

Often Frightened, Unenlightened

CUSTOM: Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles

MMT is by far my favorite Beatles album, but I felt the divide between the intense psych-feel of some of the songs and the more baroque pop of others were at odds with each other, so I set out to make MMT a fully "psychedelicised" album. I traded out "Your Mother Should Know", "All You Need is Love", "Hello Goodbye", "Penny Lane" and "Baby You're a Rich Man" for "A Day in the Life", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", "Across the Universe" "Only a Northern Song", "It's All Too Much" and "Lovely Rita". In addition, I linked every track with segments of the extended "Flying" mellotron sounds. The whole piece flows and sounds much more psychedelic.

"Flying" is a hybrid of the released version and the "RM" version with extra sounds and an alternate ending.

"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" has been layered with effects and stereo panning.

"I am the Walrus" takes the LOVE stereo mix and adds some effects.

"Across the Universe" is an hybrid of the Let it Be version and the Hums Wildlife version.

I'll be uploading the companion "Sgt. Pepper" soon, in the mean time enjoy and comment!

No one I think is in my tree

CUSTOM: Smiley Smile

Smiley Smile  

The Beach Boys

Smiley Smile is one of my favorite Beach Boys albums, and while I love it's home-made charm, the album leaves me wanting more, it's so short and sparse. I also simlutaneously wanted the album to be more SMiLE-like (in length and specific songs/order) and less SMiLE-like (without any audio that is already on most SMiLE mixes or sounds out of place due to instrumentation).
So, I decided to add some SMiLE-outtakes that sounded Smiley smile-like to me to give the setlist a more SMiLE-like feel and also lengthen the album. I also moved "Gettin' Hungry" over to Wild Honey (more on that later) as I felt it fit much better on that album than on Smiley Smile.
"Our Prayer" is an early, overdub-less, far-from-perfect take from one of the sessions on the SMiLE box set, complete with Brian commentary.
"Heroes and Villains" is the live "Aloha from Hawaii" version, with crowd noise edited down and a few overdubs added to give it a cleaner sound. I think this works much better than the original H&V presented on the album, which sounds far too "wall of sound" to fit with Smiley Smile and is nearly identical to the version most SMiLE mixes have.
"Whistle In" is very similar to "Do You Like Worms?", which always goes after H&V on my mixes, so that is where Whistle In goes here. This is just the Smiley Smile stereo remaster
"Cabinessence" is, before anyone thinks I found something amazing, something I created, overlaying the organ from the first take of the water chant on Unsurpassed Masters with the isolated Cabinessence vocals from the Smile box set. For me this was more of just a fun side project that certainly fits sonically and I feel is a good representation of what Cabinessence may have sounded like had it been given the Smiley Smile treatment, but it may of course be simply removed.
"Wonderful" has an added instrumental intro, taken from the beautiful take on Unurpassed Masters, and the SS stereo remaster.
"She's Going Bald" stands in for "He Gives Speeches"; I don't usually include that song in my SMiLE mixes, but I felt the song went well here. This is the SS stereo remaster.
"Workshop" was a song I had never really thought about, but it fit the sound of Smiley-Smile very well, and adds another SMiLE song. This version uses an alternate isolated take of the organ part from Unsurpassed Masters with sparse "workshop session" sounds and vocals from the Smile box.
"Good Vibrations" is the studio take from "Aloha from Hawaii", as the original again was incredibly sonically out-of-place on the album, This take uses the classic baldwin organ and has the dreamy light vocals so prevalent on SS.
"Wind Chimes" begins the pseudo "The Elements Suite", using the SS stereo remaster.
"Vega-Tables" is the earth portion, as seems to be common consensus. This version takes out the original fade ("I know that You...") which is identical to most SMiLE mixes, and replaces it with isolated bass and piano and (I believe) Marilyn Rovell's brief vocals she recorded at some point, all from Unsurpassed Masters. It also adds all the vocals from "Mama Says" on Wild Honey in the same place the chant comes in on the SMiLE version.
"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" represents the fire portion, Brian calling it a candle to "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"'s massive flame. To make the track more similar to "MOC", I added a take of "Organ Waltz" (an early version of the "MOC" intro) from the Smile box to the beginning of this, as it fit well and added to the song's strangeness.
"All Day" is the unused piano portion from an early SMiLE session take of what would become "Love to Say Dada" and represents the water portion, along with Little Pad. I added isolated vocals from "Mission Pak" and the water chant from the Smile box and Unsurpassed Masters respectively.
"Little Pad" also represents the water portion and ends the Elements suite. This is the SS stereo remaster.
"With Me Tonight" is the penultimate track as I feel it is a lovely semi-closer to the album and doesn't really have a SMiLE equivalent. This is the SS stereo remaster.
"Surf's Up" is the 1967 Brian solo piano version and closes the album, as it does on my Smile mixes. I added the vocal snippet "I believe in Miracles" as background vocals when I noticed how bizarrely well they fit , along with some other isolated vocals throughout.

Comments appreciated. Enjoy!

By the sea that's where I'll build a pad