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Written
by Raymond Burris, posted by blog admin
YYY’s
A Tribute to The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds sets a new standard for releases of
this stripe. Tribute albums aren’t nearly as common as they once were and it is
difficult to recall a single instance of a musical performer who debuted with
one. Austin Carson, otherwise known as YYY, isn’t your typical performer
however. Minneapolis based Carson has an all-encompassing musical vision that
irrepressibly imposes itself on the iconic album’s fourteen songs and he
further augments the effort by putting a cadre of local indie musicians and
singers to work in guest star roles throughout the release. The production is
very good and, despite the predominance of electronic textures in these
reinterpretations, Carson calls upon a wide variety of instruments to help realize
this album. One cannot accuse Carson of aiming low with his object of
veneration. YYY tackles, with this release, one of the most imposing
reputations in pop music and succeeds spectacularly invoking its grandeur in a
different voice for a new generation.
There’s
an overall mix to the album of YYY following the template laid down by the
original song and appending his own inventions within that structure, but there
are likewise moments scattered across this release where he literally
refashions Brian Wilson’s ideas towards different ends and imbues them with a
distinctly different musical character. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?”, the album
opener, reveals another side to his approach – his wont for dissembling the
album’s standards like this song. Anyone familiar with the original will find
much to admire here, especially his singing and construction of the harmony
parts, but there’s much here that goes far beyond Wilson’s vision for the
music. He makes liberal use of guest performers on the album so the songs where
YYY takes the lead and doesn’t make use of others talents are particularly
notable. “That’s Not Me” has an immensely charismatic vocal and one of the
aforementioned arrangements that does a nifty balancing act between retaining
faithfulness to Wilson and Asher’s original while still remolding the song
towards YYY’s own ends. The only other song on the album where YYY chooses to
go it alone is the wildly inventive take on “Let’s Go Away for a While”.
None
of the above should be construed to mean his presence isn’t strong in the
remaining songs. It’s omnipresent, but unstintingly willing and ready to accommodate
other’s talents. He finds particularly sympathetic collaborators in Al Church,
Matthew Jon, and vocalist Devata Daun. Church’s contributions to “Sloop John B”
help YYY capture every bit of the wide-eyed soulfulness we hear in the original
while still translating it into Carson’s unique musical language. His guitar
contributions to the finale “Good Vibrations” are, along with the vocal
arrangement, key to the success of that performance. Matthew Jon assisted YYY
with the superb mix powering the album as a whole, but his musical talents are
felt most strongly in the album’s version of the outright pop standard “God
Only Knows”. No amount of familiarity with this song will prepare you for how
well Jon and Carson acquit themselves with this. Devata Daun proves to be a
world class partner on YYY’s interpretation of “I Just Wasn’t Made for These
Times” and highlights one of the album’s poorly hidden strengths – the presence
of female vocalists. It gives a fresh coat of paint to already sparkling works
of vibrant color. A Tribute to The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is everything that an
album like that should be and more – it makes a clear personal and artistic
statement about its driving force.
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