Speaking of The NOW People, I'm no less than two years late with this. But hey, it's better NOW than never, eh? If you're at least half familiar with contemporary re-issues of what's these days being tagged as "'60s sunshine harmony pop", the name of Steve Stanley will certainly ring a bell ... ALOUD! Not unlike fellow pop-archivist Andrew Sandoval, doing so many researches throughout the years, he seems to have learned the craft pretty well himself. The debut album by his own band could easily be mistaken for another volume of a Soft Sounds-type of a comp, or even for an unearthed Boettcher-related long lost shoulda-been classic of the genre. My own faves are the jazzy trackarach 'A New Life For Us', the offbeat popsike pair of 'Find A Way' and 'My Luck Ran Out', and funnily enough, 'Old And Gray/A Little Brighter', an old-timey Vaudeville ditty, by way of The Charlatans (US). Add to all this an all-star line up of L.A.'s pop elite, that almost coincides with Brian Wilson's backing band (including all of the Wondermints in one way or another), and you'll get a pretty clear idea of what this is all about ... Oh, and I suppose by then the cover of Roger Nichols' 'Trust' will have sounded perfectly natural.

Garwood Pickjon
Serbia

Click here to read the review on the Daily-Rock site.

"Chroniques Medias"

Steven Stanley is gifted from various points of view. On the one hand, it is the multi-instrumentalist of Los Angeles, which is active also as producer and engineer. On the other hand, he is also extremely gifted as graphic designer. At the age of thirty-seven, Steven Stanley also made one name as the producer, designer and editor of booklets of reissues for artists such as Bergen White, The Cowsills, Merry-Go-Round, Paul Williams, Roger Nichols or Curt Boettcher.

On the CD of its training The Now People all the competences enter game. His passion for the music of the sixties, but also his high-pitched sense of elegance and style. With this album, Stanley wants to create something of lasting. And it reaches there. [RP]

UPDATE: This is writer Robert Pally's personal English translation:

Steven Stanley is talented in various ways. On one side is he
multi-instrumentalist, who also acts as an producer and engineer . On the
other side is Stanley a very experienced and skillfull graphic artist. That
is however not everything. The 37-year-old Steve Stanley made itself also a
name as a producer, coverdesigner and author of liner notes for re-releases of
artists such as Bergen White, The Cowsills, Merry-Go-Round, Paul Williams,
Roger Nichols oder Curt Boettcher and others. On the CD of his own
band, The Now People, come all these strength to full fruit. His preference
for music from the Sixties, especialy Softpop. In addition, his unfailing
feeling for elegance and style. With The Last Great 20th Century Love
Affair wants Stanley together with Nelson Bragg (Mockers, Brian Wilson)
and Probyn Gregory (Wondermints, Brian Wilson) create something with
substance, something that lasts. He suceeds doing this all the way through.

Click here to read the review on the Cabin Essence site.

Now (People) That's What I Call (Real) Music

Ok, time for my first album recommend on this blog. This is a recent release; indeed it is only available from the bands MySpace site until 19 September. The band is The Now People; the album is the Last Great 20th Century Love Affair and the time to get it is now. There is a pretty close Brian Wilson connection in that Probyn Gregory and Nelson Bragg, both regulars in Brian Wilson's touring band, are part of the group.

The group brands itself around the "Now" sound as an undefinable but definitive sound that is current, and for all ages. The sound is very much the late 60s Sunshine Pop sound that was influenced by Brian Wilson, and taken further by people such as Curt Boettcher and Rogers Nichols, with possibly a slight power pop edge. And indeed it is a sound that will evoke a lot of emotions in the listener- a sound sadly that isn't that "now" [rant begins] thanks to the general garbage that radio stations and record companies have force fed us and desensitized us from what is truly good and beautiful. [/end rant] Ultimately it comes down to the songs, which feature strong tunes and great arrangements. My personal favorites are Something Happened and My Luck Ran Out, but everything is pretty solid. Overall, a great album that affirms one faith that great music is still out there if one is prepared to search a bit.

THE NOW PEOPLE
The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair (Bird Song; CD)

Now here is a treat. I didn't know they still made albums like this! A beautiful, melodic, harmony drenched and, in parts, harpsichord driven album that brings back memories of Harpers Bizarre, The Association and mid period Beach Boys to name but three '60s icons. Featuring Steve Stanley (who wrote 11 of the 12 tracks) on lead guitar and vocals (YES the very same Steve Stanley who writes all those erudite sleeve notes for those wonderful Rev-Ola reissues) Probyn Gregory from Brian Wilson's band on horns and banjo, Alan Rubens on harpsichord and Nelson Braggs on drums, aided and abetted on various tracks by Nick Walusko and Darian Sahanaja from Brian Wilson's band and Mike Randle from the late Arthur Lee's band, this is an aural delight.

The tracks flow gently to give the album an overall airy good feelin' sound reminiscent of The Yellow Balloon and The Critters.. The songs are all of a high standard, and repeated listening brings fresh delights like the use of a Theramin on 'A New Life For Us' a gentle bossa nova which has that 70s A&M sound down to a tee, or the wonderful backing vocals on 'Something Happened'. A cover version of 'Trust' written by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams in 1968 has a wonderful string arrangement and the fact that it blends in seamlessly lets you know how strong the album is.

I cannot recommend this album highly enough it is a delight from start to finish. The sleeve notes end with the phrase "to be continued" and I can only hope that in this case unlike The Millenium it is true.

Pat Curran

Gone? I had to have been mistaken. Having a lysergically-advised history, (roughly 20 tabs consumed around the Summer of '87, my personal, teenage Summer of Love), I was convinced that I must be hallucinating. (This is an unlikely scenario, considering my last documented flashback occurred in 1988--my senior year--in Government class. I leaped out of my seat in the middle of a lecture, having thought I saw a rat crawling up my leg.)

In stunned disbelief that my car was a goner, I instinctively traipsed back into my apartment, grabbed my Spanish guitar, and strummed a few bars of the "Bookends Theme." (Bookends is my favorite Simon and Garfunkel LP, and I've gone through phases where I play it repeatedly.)

After a few minutes passed, I put my thrift store-obtained Takamine down and went outside again. I walked up and down the street, retracing the events of the previous evening and realized that my car was indeed stolen...

My initial physical reaction was laughter, which I did like a madman, newly escaped from an asylum. Who in their right mind would steal this post-Cold War-era heap of metal? Not that I haven't been grateful for its efficiency and reliability; it's gotten me from point "A" to point "B" for the last few years now. But in my yuppity neighborhood, this thief coulda run the gamut, dammit! With a choice of various models of Mercedes, Jaguars, Lexus's, as well as a host of high-end SUV's, why would this low-rent grinch want my modest minion mobile?

I called a few friends and nobody was home, or answering their phone. I knocked on the front doors of the two apartments directly in front of where the theft took place. I received no answer. So I called the Van Nuys Police Department and told them my story. They informed me that I needed to venture down to the station in person and file a stolen vehicle report.

So I took the short walk over to the northbound bus stop and rode the R.T.D. (or whatever they call it now) down to Van Nuys and Sylmar, to file the report. I immediately noticed that modern buses are much more slylish than the ones I remember riding in the eighties (maybe the last time I rode on one). There's a metallic sleekness to the interior design. Gone were the drab browns and beige fabrics that one could expect from the older vessels. The vibrant floral pattern of blue, green and violet hues seemed a bit too Whole Foods for an L.A. bus, but it didn't seem to matter. I rode on, speaking to my friend Bryan on my dying cell phone.

I arrived at the police station at around 17:00 P.S.T. My initial reaction upon entering the Van Nuys station was that it still had some Webb energy. Not that Dragnet was based out of that particular division, but it was still adorned with cobblestoned walls and fifties-era linoleum floors with Formica patterns, and an overall Frank Lloyd Wright-like architectural design. I found this all pleasantly distracting.

When I got in line, there were only a few people in front of me. There was the classic case of a female getting a restraining order against the requisite "psycho ex" who recently keyed her new boyfriend's car (how creative). Another guy, with a tear tattoo under his eye, was wondering if an arrest warrant he received in the mail was "real." An officer obliged by handcuffing him and taking him into custody.

I filed my stolen vehicle report with a slightly overweight white male officer. The procedure was uneventful; he informed me that my Cadillac wasn't impounded. (I'm overdue on renewing my registration because of a pesky smog problem that I've lazily neglected to fix.) He gave me a Xerox of some hand-written paperwork (true to form, these folks are still soooo analog!) and off I went.

Being very near an area where a old friend--who devolved into homelessness over a year ago--told me he "crashes," I wandered around the vicinity searching for him. (I will refer to him as "Zally," because he resembles the late Zal Yanovsky of the Lovin' Spoonful.)

"Zally's" been among the missing for several weeks now, having burned all bridges relating to his former (comparitively-sober) life. A friend of a friend saw "Zally" a couple of months ago and said, "I really don't think 'Zally' will survive past this year." In and out of rehab, "Zally" was recently denied a major government disability settlement that would have netted him thousands of dollars, and perhaps given him a chance to get back on his feet.

As I explored behind the police station, I noticed a concrete embankment where homeless folks can rest securely (or so I was once told by "Zally"). After speaking with a few derelicts there regarding the whereabouts of my heroin-addicted pal, I failed to obtain any leads.

So I took the bus back to my neighborhood, wondering if I would ever see my friend--or my car--again.

-Steve

Click here to see the link on Mr. Smolin's page.

The Music Never Stops Top Ten Albums of 2006

1. Ys--Joanna Newsom
2. Shadow of the Noose--50 Cent Haircut
3. Moody Girl--Circe Link
4. Menso--Fatigo
5. California Country--I See Hawks In L.A.
6. Jesus H. Christ--Jesus H. Christ
7. Puttanesca--Puttanesca
8. Listening Party--Math and Science
9. Window Rolled Down--Jeff Merchant
10. The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair--The Now People

Click here to see the link on Bullz-Eye's site!

Top 10 Albums I reviewed for Bullz-Eye

1. Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3: Ole! Tarantula (Yep Roc)
That Robyn Hitchcock is still capable of putting out pretty decent albums this far into his career is hardly a surprise, but the fact that 2006 found him releasing arguably his best album in two decades is still remarkable…much like the album itself.

2. Willie Nelson: Songbird (Lost Highway)
The Red-Headed Stranger teams with Ryan Adams and drops the gloss of his recent albums. Suddenly, it's like the Atlantic years all over again, which means it might not sell, but at least the critics are happy.

3. Doug Powell: Four Seasons (Paisley Pop)
Mr. Powell might argue with calling this collection of "oddities" (a.k.a. demos, unreleased songs, and hard-to-find tracks) a proper album, but damned if it doesn't hold together like one.

4. Don Dixon: The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room (125 Records)
An album's worth of folk-pop brilliance from one of the major players of the Southern jangle-pop scene of the '80s. Don's gone and gotten mature on his fans. Oh, well, it happens to the best of us.

5. Wisely: Parador (Not Lame)
Which is more depressing: that this album didn't inspire mass adoration of Willie Wisely, or that the label that released it has now ceased operation? It's a tough call, but either way, Parador is definitely one of the best pop – that's right, pop – albums of 2006.

6. James Hunter: People Gonna Talk (Rounder)
Thank you, Van Morrison, for espousing the name of James Hunter and, in the process, raising his profile enough to get him signed to Rounder. This is a phenomenal collection of blue-eyed soul, one that sounds like it was recorded in the early '60s and only recently unearthed. It's sweet, sweet stuff.

7. Arctic Monkeys: Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino)
Debut of the year? Sure, why not. Certainly, it's the debut of the year by a band virtually no one in the States knew anything about when 2005 ended. Oddsmakers in Vegas will have a field day as their music critic clients bet on whether or not the band has a second album in them that'll come anywhere near this one, but while you're listening to Whatever You Say I Am, you won't care if they do or not.

8. Roseanne Cash: Black Cadillac (Capitol)
Johnny's daughter (June's stepdaughter) works through her grief over the deaths of her parents and stepmother by producing a melancholy but ultimately uplifting album.

9. L.E.O.: Alpacas Orgling (Cheap Lullaby)
An indie-pop supergroup, featuring Bleu playing with various members of Jellyfish, the Candy Butchers, Chicago, the Black Crowes, Self, Papas Fritas, Hanson, the Cautions, and the Argument, pays tribute to the spirit of Jeff Lynne and ELO by lovingly ripping off everything he's ever done. And doing it damned well.

10. The Now People: The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair (Bird Song)
I only gave it three and a half stars when I reviewed it, but the more I spin this album, the more I fall in love with it; its charms, which are already pretty strong even after your first listen, only grow with future plays. It's truly a soft-pop masterpiece.