the monday roundup
featuring The Beach Boys, Margo Price, Leon Bridges, and more!
In the year 2000, all I wanted were my own CDs. There were a couple of shared, family CDs in my house, but I wanted my own collection. So, when my birthday rolled around and there was a CD-shaped package among my gifts, I was elated. To my horror, however, the CD within was The Great Hits: Vol. 1 by The Beach Boys. Hopefully, I hid my disappointment, because this was not the CD of my dreams. Well, jokes on me, because I quickly fell in love with The Beach Boys.
The Beach Boys released some of the flat out best pop of the 20th century. So, as much as I wanted to dislike this random CD, I was powerless to the music. I’m grateful for that CD’s impact on my musical taste and for serving as an introduction to Pet Sounds, an unimpeachable album full of transcendent harmonies [the “vocals only” versions of these tracks are insane].
All this to say, I was incredibly saddened when Brian Wilson - co-founder, lead singer, songwriter, and producer of The Beach Boys - died last week. He was a complicated person, but that was, for better or worse, part of his formula. Summed up perfectly in his obituary on NPR, “his greatest musical works made room for the deep melancholy he experienced while evoking an almost otherworldly beauty, the sunset smear of a soul longing for peace.” Maybe he’s finally found it.
I’ve been listening to a lot of my favorite Beach Boys music this last week as well as new releases from MARINA [I love this album!],
, Margo Price, Leon Bridges, Hannah Jadagu, and more!
🫶🏻