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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 24, 2022 16:25:30 GMT
It's not been mentioned, but She and Him started their Melt Away tour on June 13. Here's the setlist from that night (per Setlist.fm, and it's the only set from that tour that's been posted so far). One would think that On the Island, you know the song where She & Him actually appear on a Brian Wilson album, would've cracked the setlist, but what do I know? Good to My Baby Wouldn't It Be Nice Deirdre Melt Away 'Til I Die Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) Don't Worry Baby Darlin' Kiss Me BabyI Thought I Saw Your Face Today Change Is Hard Gonna Get Along Without You Now Turn to White Magic Trick This Is Not a Test I Could've Been Your Girl I've Got Your Number, Son I Was Made for You In the Sun You Really Got a Hold on Me Do It AgainWhy Do You Let Me Stay Here? Sweet Darlin' I was scrolling down the setlist and thought, yeah, that makes sense to include a run of She & Him songs in the middle of the show. There's probably a large amount of fans at that concert who are as big She & Him fans as Brian Wilson fans. But, I was surprised they didn't close with a home stretch of BB/BW songs, other than just "Do It Again".
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Post by kds on Jun 24, 2022 16:36:03 GMT
It's not been mentioned, but She and Him started their Melt Away tour on June 13. Here's the setlist from that night (per Setlist.fm, and it's the only set from that tour that's been posted so far). One would think that On the Island, you know the song where She & Him actually appear on a Brian Wilson album, would've cracked the setlist, but what do I know? Good to My Baby Wouldn't It Be Nice Deirdre Melt Away 'Til I Die Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) Don't Worry Baby Darlin' Kiss Me BabyI Thought I Saw Your Face Today Change Is Hard Gonna Get Along Without You Now Turn to White Magic Trick This Is Not a Test I Could've Been Your Girl I've Got Your Number, Son I Was Made for You In the Sun You Really Got a Hold on Me Do It AgainWhy Do You Let Me Stay Here? Sweet Darlin' I was scrolling down the setlist and thought, yeah, that makes sense to include a run of She & Him songs in the middle of the show. There's probably a large amount of fans at that concert who are as big She & Him fans as Brian Wilson fans. But, I was surprised they didn't close with a home stretch of BB/BW songs, other than just "Do It Again". That is a little surprising, but I also don't really know anything about She and Him outside of their Christmas albums that I didn't much care for. So, like you said, maybe they have a fanbase who are more into their catalog than the BB/BW covers. I know Cheap Trick did a Beatles covers album before, but it would be really weird to not see them close with I Want You to Want Me or Surrender.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 24, 2022 16:48:51 GMT
I'm sure their serious fans prefer them to Brian Wilson (weird as that sounds). But I also would have anticipated they'd either sprinkle the BW songs throughout the show, or do some early and more later, as Sheriff John Stone suggested.
M Ward himself also has quite a solo catalogue, though, and I don't think they performed any of his songs, either--not even the ones that included Zooey (which at least a couple did) or the Brian Wilson covers (e.g. You Still Believe in Me, instrumental, or You're So Good to Me). Of their own She & Him material, I remember being impressed by the first album when it was released in the mid-late '00s. Not that I thought it was great, but just that I only knew Deschanel was an actor, not that she could write songs. And from that album, "Sweet Darlin" was a pretty damn good one (which I see is their closer). But otherwise frankly I think their songs are average.
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Post by kds on Jun 24, 2022 17:34:59 GMT
I'm sure their serious fans prefer them to Brian Wilson (weird as that sounds). But I also would have anticipated they'd either sprinkle the BW songs throughout the show, or do some early and more later, as Sheriff John Stone suggested.
M Ward himself also has quite a solo catalogue, though, and I don't think they performed any of his songs, either--not even the ones that included Zooey (which at least a couple did) or the Brian Wilson covers (e.g. You Still Believe in Me, instrumental, or You're So Good to Me). Of their own She & Him material, I remember being impressed by the first album when it was released in the mid-late '00s. Not that I thought it was great, but just that I only knew Deschanel was an actor, not that she could write songs. And from that album, "Sweet Darlin" was a pretty damn good one (which I see is their closer). But otherwise frankly I think their songs are average.
According to Setlist.fm, the song Magic Trick is an M. Ward song. I cannot confirm nor deny.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 27, 2022 13:26:28 GMT
Here is the majority of a recent show from the S&H BW tour.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jun 27, 2022 20:36:01 GMT
Here is the majority of a recent show from the S&H BW tour.
I would go for this show now instead of Brian's. More adventurous song choices, and I could easily sit and look at Zoey all day long. The show I would really like to see now, though, is Al's, but no chance he'll ever make to the boondocks called Seattle.
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Post by kds on Jul 6, 2022 12:47:57 GMT
I randomly heard this on Spotify yesterday, so I'm not certain when they actually released it, but here's the latest song from the She and Him BW album - Til I Die.
It's not too bad, but probably nothing I'd actively listen to or add to a playlist.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2022 15:45:46 GMT
Another new one, here is She & Him's take on "Don't Worry Baby." It's another dramatic reinvention, which makes sense considering the iconic and untouchable original. M Ward takes the verses on this one.
Their statement about it said: “‘Don’t Worry Baby’ is one of the greatest songs of all time,” Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward said in a joint statement. “As with all the other songs on our tribute record, we had no interest in copycatting the original production – our version began with stripping the song down to just vocals and a drop-tuned acoustic guitar and building from there. The inspiration for our version comes from a lot of different places but the biggest ones would be some of Chet Atkins guitar ideas, some drum ideas from Mick Fleetwood, and some synth inventions by Dave Smith (RIP).”
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Post by kds on Jul 15, 2022 13:52:14 GMT
I was prepared to hate this take on DWB. Surprisingly, I don't. I don't particularly love it either, but its not a bad version IMO.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 15, 2022 14:03:20 GMT
I was prepared to hate this take on DWB. Surprisingly, I don't. I don't particularly love it either, but its not a bad version IMO. That's pretty much how I feel about all of the songs I've heard from the album so far. There's no way I'm buying it, but I do respect that they are taking their own approach to the songs and not brutally murdering them.
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Post by kds on Jul 15, 2022 14:09:39 GMT
I was prepared to hate this take on DWB. Surprisingly, I don't. I don't particularly love it either, but its not a bad version IMO. That's pretty much how I feel about all of the songs I've heard from the album so far. There's no way I'm buying it, but I do respect that they are taking their own approach to the songs and not brutally murdering them. The only one I've heard so far that I really didn't like was Darlin'. The others have been pretty much like the Xmas songs I've listened to by S&H - fine, not great, not bad.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 18, 2022 11:25:34 GMT
Here is a review of the She & Him covers album. It's generally positive despite opening with this:
"A She & Him album full of nothing but Brian Wilson covers? The very idea sounds so twee, so arch, so Wes-Anderson-y that some people might gag on general principle. Certainly, if you’ve never warmed to Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s winsome, nostalgia-infused sound, nothing on Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson will change that."
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Post by kds on Jul 18, 2022 12:55:26 GMT
Here is a review of the She & Him covers album. It's generally positive despite opening with this:
"A She & Him album full of nothing but Brian Wilson covers? The very idea sounds so twee, so arch, so Wes-Anderson-y that some people might gag on general principle. Certainly, if you’ve never warmed to Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s winsome, nostalgia-infused sound, nothing on Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson will change that." Wow, I didn't make the connection, but the songs do sound like the soundtrack to a nonexistent Wes Anderson movie.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 22, 2022 14:15:13 GMT
Another review of the She & Him Wilson cover album, this one from AllMusic.com, which gave it 3.5 (out of 5) stars.
"M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel's first set of new music in six years, Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson, is a love letter to one of the duo's biggest influences. Since emerging in 2008, She & Him have quietly curated a catalog that nimbly toes the line between innovation and novelty. Unabashed lovers of all things vintage pop -- the pair's self-penned material is sonically congruent with their myriad holiday and cover songs -- the dewy-eyed Melt Away fits snugly into the She & Him canon. Commencing with a genial rendition of Wild Honey's "Darlin'," the 14-track set digs deep into the Wilson songbook, with only "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Don't Worry Baby," and "Do It Again" -- the latter of which features the head Beach Boy himself on lead vocal -- channeling oldies radio. Ward's dusty baritone lends itself well to breezy confections like "Kiss Me, Baby" and "Darlin'," but not so much to Wilson's more dulcet melodies. For those, he defers to Deschanel, whose rich, Spector-esque harmonies and emotive leads achieve a fluidity that Ward can only muster on the guitar. When the two persuasions collide ("Til I Die," "Don't Talk [Put Your Head on My Shoulder]," "Please Let Me Wonder"), it's like a softly swaying hula doll on a deuce coupe dashboard. Despite the occasional misstep, Ward and Deschanel's reverence for the source material is evident throughout -- both artists grew up in Southern California. Their renderings of "Don't Worry Baby" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" may be ramshackle, but much like the originals, they're delivered with unguarded joy and wide-eyed innocence."
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Post by kds on Jul 22, 2022 15:16:34 GMT
I'd just listened to the She and Him Melt Away album. Yet another instance where a Spotify account so comes in handy.
To quote a Beach Boys song...It's OK.
I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would to be honest. I will say, I'm not a fan of Him though. She is a pretty good singer, although I think Melt Away (the song) pushes her vocal limits slightly. To be fair, the original pushed Brian's at the time too, so in a way, it kinda works. But, Him, not so much, particularly his part on Kiss Me Baby, which might even give the most cynical Brianista a newfound appreciation for Mike Love's vocal abilities.
Mr. Wilson himself shows up on Do It Again. His vocals are actually a little jarring after hearing Zooey for much of the previous ten songs. His vocals somewhat lack enthusiasm, which I suppose works with the more minimalist arrangement, but without the instrumentation of The Wondermints, it puts the limitations of Brian's modern voice more in focus. (Still better than M. Ward though). For anyone counting, this is the fourth new version of Do It Again featuring a Beach Boy in the last decade.
All in all, the album features mostly pleasant (other than an oddball surf rock take on Heads I Win Tails You Lose) takes on classics we all know. But, I'd say this is strictly for fans of S&H, or ultra, mega Beach Boys completists.
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