Northern Light: Sweet Sunny Day
Glacier Records [CD]; 
Released 1998

Independent label Glacier Records( www.glacierdisc.com) is the home of Northern Light, (consisting of three bass players, three guitarists, two percussionists, one keyboardist, one horn player and six vocalists) who capture a sweet slice of Beach Boys harmonies and songwriting sensibilities on this, their debut album.  Although most of the songs are original compositions, the band has a real knack for what made Brian Wilson & Co. tick, with nods to their California progenitors on every track, from the "Don't Worry Baby" vibe found on the opening track "Number 30" (which is about a boy's infatuation with a girl basketball player); to their cover of "Hushabye" which is interpolated with "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" in a nice 1950s pastiche.  The title track, "Sweet Sunny Day", is excellent, with a driving hook on the chorus that reeled me right in, and a gentle Carl Wilson-vibe permeates "(I Like To) Drive In My Car", and the albums' other cover, "The Mountain's High" has a rocking Everly Brothers groove to it.  "Sunshine Days" is pure Beach Boys, and could easily have been lifted from one of their latter-day albums, with excellent chiming guitar breaks and some very sweet falsetto singing distinguishing it.  The next track, "Rumbles II" is the kind of chunky, four-chord instrumental which the Beach Boys themselves might have tackled on their early albums, but with some effective tempo changes thrown in to keep it interesting.  "Van Gogh" has smooth, expressive harmonies reminiscent of the 5th Dimension; "My Heroines" is a somewhat clumsy tribute to women pilots of World War II, which is redeemed by the excellent melody and prominent vocals by Karen Paurus, and the final track, "Sumemrtime Honey Retreat" borrows some chorus licks from the Beach Boys' "Wild Honey" and is a fabulous closing track.  The entire album is excellently produced, and quite frankly sounds like the Beach Boys would've if Brian, Carl, and Dennis had been born in Minneapolis instead of Hawthorne.  Good stuff - hotfoot it over to glacierdisc.com to pick it up.

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Alan Boyd: Channel Surfing
Boyd Production Group 20041 [CD];
Released 2004

1. Down South (In San Diego) 2. Channel Surfing 3. Be Her Friend 4. Everybody's Waiting 5. Miss America 1926 6. Don't Be Afraid Of the Dark 7. Beach Boys Britain 8. I Can't Wait To Fall Asleep Tonight 9. Meanwhile 10. For A Summer Night 11. The Earthquake 12. Busy Doin' Something 13. Medley: Too Damn Cold/Hawaiian Rhapsody 14. Hollywood the Unusual 15. You're The Beautiful 16. Down South (California) 17. Bonus track

REVIEW:  Alan Boyd, best known to Beach Boys fans as the director of the fine documentary Endless Harmony, is also a hugely talented musician and, with his all-encompassing love of The Beach Boys' music, has released this fun album which is filled with canny pastiches of the early Beach Boys sound, from the sing-along choruses of "Down South" (found here in two incarnations) to the Pet Sounds-like "Be Her Friend" to the interestingly stitched-together creation "Everybody's Waiting" (which incorporates sound clips from Dennis Wilson doing a spoken introduction of the Beach Boys to quoting his own songs.)  Alan has a remarkable flexibility in his voice, occasionally sounding like Carl, or Mike, or Brian; and his ability to recreate harmonic and instrumental clones of the Hawthorne Five.  But there's some interesting original diversions as well, with the instrumental archaeology of "Miss America 1926" and the dreamy "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark."  Alan also doesn't shy away from literal name-dropping in his songs, which tends to be distracting, as on the opening track, where he names several of the Beach Boys in the lyrics, or even more obviously in "Beach Boys Britain" which appears to have been composed for a EU fan convention.  Cute song, but it's a strange choice to include on an album, considering it's specific purpose.  Still, this is one of the best-produced, Beach Boys-centric albums I've ever heard, with several of the songs sounding like they could've been pulled from the Beach Boys own vaults, especially the dynamic "I Can't Wait To Fall Asleep Tonight" which sounds like 1971-era BBs.  "Meanwhile" has the same confessional vibe of Brian Wilson's "In My Room" or "Busy Doin' Nothing" (which receives a positive-spin homage here on Alan's "Busy Doin' Somthing.") and there's an intruiguing Tiki vibe on "Hawaiian Rhapsody."  I also loved the silent-movie piano riff found on the instrumental "Hollywood the Unusual" and the eerie Carl Wilson voicings on "You're The Beautiful."   The album closes with a lighter arrangement of "Down South (California)" and a hidden bonus track which is a goofy little surprise.  You can find this album online at CDBaby or by visiting Alan's home page.

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Northern Light: 49th Parallel
Glacier Records GCDX02 [CD]; 
Released 2005

1 Beauty (Is in the Eyes) 2 Lakeshore Ballroom 3 American Fantasy 4 Think Snow 5 Lake Harriet Chorale 6 Neighborhoods 7 49th Parallel 8 Minnesota 9 Runnin' 10 Foosball Man 11 Mystical Reunion 12 Snow Prayer

REVIEW:  Northern Light's second CD, released seven years after their first, is even better than their debut, with stronger songwriting, more organic production, and gorgeous vocals which still hew closely to their obvious Beach Boys-by-way-of Minnesota roots.  The opening track, "Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder" is a knockout, with cascading piano lines, harmonica, and killer hooks on the chorus immediately pulling me in.  This is great stuff.  It's followed by the fun, driving "Lakeshore Ballroom" punctuated with handclaps and another killer hook that's thick with Beach Boys harmonies, and to hear it devolve into a cacophonic mess at the end seems perfect, with a sweet, child-like instrumental tag closing it out.  Next is the acapella harmony opening of "American Fantasy" which leads into a love letter to their home state, Minnesota - exactly the kind of song Brian Wilson might have written for his beloved California.  The next song, "Think Snow" is a gentle paean to wintertime, with sweet, juicy harmonies backing up the lovely lead vocal.  I have to acknowledge songwriter David Sandler, who is the author of most of the songs here (he shares credit on three songs with Spence Peterson), and who I now unabashedly worship.  A spoken word "Lake Harriet Chorale" leads into "Neighborhoods" - a rosy look at one's childhood neighborhood, which is again thick with complex harmonies and a lead vocal which can sound uncannily like Brian Wilson, with a Mike Love soundalike providing the bass line.  "49th Parallel" is another great song which promotes life "on the 49th parallel" and has a startlingly rich orchestral arrangment to accompany the memorable melody; it finishes with an interesting tag which darkens in a tangle of swirling violins.  The song segues into fan favorite "Minnesota", which is a fantastic, hook-filled pop song which melds John Denver-style sentimentality with powerful choral backing vocals.  The next song, "Runnin'" leads off with a surprising riff on The Beach Boys "Honkin' Down The Highway" with ticking percussion and vocal graduating into a piano driven mid-tempo rocker.  The next song "Foosball Man" is a hilarious tribute to Foosball addiction, with another great Beach Boys-inspired chorus breaking into ecstatic acapella harmony chants.  "Mystical Reunion" has a lovely oboe(?) line and an epic, Phil Spector-like production, all sweetened by a melody I can easily imagine Carl Wilson sinking his teeth into.  This remarkable album closes with the gorgeous, swirling hymn-like "Snow Prayer", a wordless pocket symphony that puts the perfect finishing touch on this album. 

Carnie Wilson: A Mother's Gift - Lullabies From The Heart
Big3 Records 367872 [CD]; Released May 2, 2006

1. Over the Rainbow [Arlen, Harburg]  2:51 2. Love Me Tender  [Matson, Presley]  3:01 3. Lola Sofia [Daniels, Edwards]  2:35 4. When You Dream [Bonfiglio, Wilson]  2:28 5. You Are So Beautiful [Fisher, Preston]  2:38 6. Heaven [Smith, Sun, Wilson]  3:45 7. A Mother's Prayer [Jones, Kugell, Pennock]  4:13 8. With the Sun [Knutson, Wilson]  3:17 9. Wings of Dreams [Kasset, Nagourney]  4:00 10. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [Traditional]  0:28 11. Forever [Jacobson, Wilson]  3:35 12. What a Wonderful World [Thiele, Weiss]  3:02

REVIEW:  I've never been a big fan of Carnie Wilson's continual love affair with the spotlight - her tabloid-grabbing lifestyle and career choices have simply made me avoid her music, and after the twin bombs of The Wilsons (with sister Wendy) and her own stillborn solo debut For The First Time (which was sidelined by The Wilson Phillips reunion and as of this writing has not been released), I was wary of this disc, but I was very pleasantly surprised.  A Mother's Gift is a heartfelt, lovely paean to motherhood, and with exquisite taste and sweetness, delivers just the right tone of gentleness and love that many fans should find appealing. It's most closely akin to Kenny Loggins' multi-platinum Return To Pooh Corner with its beguiling mix of re-imagined pop classics ("Love Me Tender," "What A Wonderful World"), classic lullabies ("Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" "Over The Rainbow") a sprinkling of originals ("With The Sun", "When You Dream") and even a couple of nods to her late uncle, Dennis Wilson ("Forever", "You Are So Beautiful").  And for Beach Boys fans, there's also the incredibly moving duet with her father Brian Wilson, on the aforementioned "You Are So Beautiful" which is one of the most sympathetic duets Brian has ever recorded, and the sentiment between he and Carnie is perfect.  Although Carnie's voice has never been a really remarkable instrument - it lacks both range and depth, but for the simple sentiments contained on A Mother's Gift, it feels just right, transformed into a soft purr which is perfect for setting a soft, sleepy mood for the little ones.

The Explorers Club: Freedom Wind
Dead Oceans [CD];
Released May 20, 2008

Or listen and purchase MP3 from Amazon.com

REVIEW:  It's been a long, dry spell since I've heard any artist who consistently and competently manages to capture the magic of The Beach Boys in modern-day music. But now, like rain descending on a scorched desert, here comes The Explorer's Club, and their album Freedom Wind, which is everything I could've wished for in a Beach Boys album, tribute or otherwise. The band, which consists of Jason Brewer, Jimmy Faust, Dave Ellis, Wally Reddington, Stefan Rogenmoser, and Neil Thomas, tap into the zeitgeist of Brian Wilson and Co. so completely, so coolly, that with just a little tweak of the imagination, it's not hard to imagine the second coming of The Beach Boys while listening. It's not just that the band strives so hard to capture the sound of the sixties in their production touches, it's how successfully they grasp the feeling of the times - the innocence and decadence - startlingly shown in the juxtapositions of "Honey, I Don't Know Why" with its turbulent growl nicely offsetting the sweet, Wilson-esque "Don't Forget The Sun" which is so sweet and easy that you'd swear it's a lost track off The Beach Boys' *Friends*. Or the very cool, stripped down harmonic acrobatics of "Lost My Head," which sounds as if it came from the trippy Smiley Smile sessions. In fact, half of the fun, and the joy of listening to Freedom Wind is pinpointing exactly which album The Explorer's Club is emulating, and they do it so well - "Do You Love Me" has the dry, synthesized whine found on Love You before morphing into something sweeter and hookier on the chorus; or the Pet Sounds instrumental "Summer Air" which glides by so serenely and perfectly that it's become one of my favorite tracks on the album. This is a band who "gets" Brian Wilson in the same way the Wondermints do - triple threats who can write, sing and play original music just like The Beach Boys would've in their prime; and that's saying a whole bunch. I've just fallen in love with these guys - a superb, near-perfect album.  Also available as part of their first digital download single is a bonus track, "Carry On", which sounds like something Dennis Wilson might have penned for his Pacific Ocean Blue.