I did buy one record, though, and not because I really wanted it, more because I would have kicked myself later if I had passed on it. It's a one-sided clear-vinyl 10-inch containing one song. That one song is a dance remix by Freeform Five (of whom I had never heard) of "Our Prayer", the opening track on SMiLE. The record was $11, which is way too much money, but...
If you're not a record hound then you won't understand this, but if you are you'll know exactly what I mean: it was just too weird to not buy. I mean come on, man! Re-read that description! Whose idea was this? Why was it made? Has Wilson ever even heard it?
If you've never heard the original "Our Prayer", it's just one minute of wordless a capella harmonies, five (?) voices singing aah-aah-aah through a complex series of chord changes. It's both beautiful and eerie.
The remix sounds exactly like I thought it would sound. It's not bad, it's not great, it's basically wordless a capella harmonies over beats. Am I blown away? No. Am I disappointed? Not really. I'm too old and jaded to expect anything earth-shattering. I just wanted to hear it. No, that's not it. I just didn't want to not hear it.
Buy it... on vinyl.
From my deck to you: Brian Wilson – "Our Prayer (Freeform Reform)"
NOTE: By the way, if this track exists on any CD it's not one I know about. If anyone else knows, post a comment and I'll put up a retail link for it.
1 comment:
Our Prayer is not only one of my favorite Beach Boys songs, it's one of my favorite short pieces of music. The two best things about it, to me, are the overall haunting quality of the sound, and the changes in the harmonies. This remix effectively dashes both those parts by cutting up the continuity of the vocal melody and adding sort of sunshiney parts around it. Oh well, I probably would have picked this up as well, out of curiosity.
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