Music
Should You Buy Sgt. Pepper’s Again?
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Deluxe Edition – 2017
Capitol Records
Several anniversary editions of the 1967 masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band were released this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the most iconic record in the The Beatles’s catalog. I probably buy this record every ten years, starting with (hold your breath) the soundtrack to the forgettable 1978 movie of the same name. That’s right, my introduction to Pepper came via the Bee Gees and Steve Martin. You can’t pick when you’re born. But I soon purchased the vinyl, and then the cassette… oh and the original compact disc… and then the mono mix CD. And while the record was issued in four distinct formats this week, including a six-disc super deluxe edition, I only coughed up enough for the double disc. I’m not made of money, Paul.
It can’t always recreate the initial magic of the original, but in many ways this remix over-delivers.
With this reissue Giles Martin (son of original producer George) found a happy medium between the original mono mixes and the notoriously hasty stereo versions previously rushed to radio. If happy mediums are your thing. I tend towards a little more rust and edginess. Or maybe I’m super used-to the original. Still, I’m having a blast listening, loving (and judging) the mix and the overall quality. Pepper never sounded so expensive, maybe because Giles relied on first generation tapes rather than mix-downs as a starting point. The sound is definitely more modern, akin to the tracks George and Giles did for Love in 2006. There’s a fullness and warmth to this mix, bolstered by a drum sound impossible in 1967 – especially in the Reprise, a track that still retains its pre-punk vigor.
“A Day in the Life” has some new layers of depth (like it ever needed that) thanks to some thick low end and a tasteful separation of parts. It’s the track I keep going back to. Updates to “Good Morning, Good Morning” and “Getting Better” add a sonic punch that still features the beautiful round tones of Paul’s sinewy bass-lines.
Probably most improved is “Within You Without You,” the sprawling sitar dirge George Harrison somehow convinced John and Paul to include on the original. It benefits tremendously from the added dimension. “When I’m Sixty Four” has a fuller, more deliberate soundscape, but seems somehow reduced to the kind of song Pixar might throw behind a montage.
Sure, there are moments when things sound a little too precise, like some of “Lovely Rita” or the opening plucks of “She’s Leaving Home,” which have never sounded so immediate. This is good or bad based on your relationship to nostalgia and your acceptance of change. Some may adore the increased fidelity, how the vocals sound like they could have been recorded yesterday. Others will look upon this venture like the coloring of old black and white movies.
Disc two has loose alternate takes that are super fun to listen to, and recent stereo mixes of “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields” that remind you there will never be another Beatles. Until the next set of reissues.
Track List (double disc)
Disc 1
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
With a Little Help from My Friends
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Getting Better
Fixing a Hole
She’s Leaving Home
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Within You Without You
When I’m Sixty-Four
Lovely Rita
Good Morning Good Morning
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
A Day in the Life
Disc 2
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Take 9 and Speech)
With a Little Help From My Friends (Take 1 / False Start and Take 2 / Instrumental)
Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds (Take 1)
Getting Better (Take 1 / Instrumental and Speech at the End)
Fixing a Hole (Speech and Take 3)
She’s Leaving Home (Take 1 / Instrumental)
Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (Take 4)
Within You Without You (Take 1 / Indian Instruments)
When I’m Sixty-Four (Take 2)
Lovely Rita (Speech and Take 9)
Good Morning Good Morning (Take 8)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) [Speech and Take 8]
A Day In the Life (Take 1 With Hums)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Stereo Mix 2015)
Penny Lane (Take 6 / Instrumental)
Penny Lane (Stereo Mix 2017)
Janita’s newest album Here Be Dragons is another in a progression of finely crafted hymns for the empowered. Whether by love, as in the silky “I Do,” or by subverting expectations, in the Beatlesesque “Not What You’re Used To,” Janita draws on lessons learned during a positively unique career that spans decades and continents. We caught up with Janita on the heels of her latest single “When It’s All Up To You” to find out three songs she’d love to have written.
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Elliott Smith — “L.A.”
This is one of my favorite songs by Elliott Smith. I listened to the full album Figure 8 a lot while I was writing the songs on my new album, and it was a huge influence on me both melodically and lyrically. This song in particular has also informed some of the production choices we made later, like the heavier guitars you hear on my song “Not What You’re Used To.”
“L.A.” is incredibly melodic, but there’s an elusive, haunting quality to it. It feels like you’re always trying to reach it, catch up to it somehow. The backing vocals accentuate that feeling. In my mind, the song paints such a vivid picture of the ephemeral, fickle nature of L.A., and the similarly transient nature of the main character. Elliott Smith himself? I don’t know exactly how he does (did) it, but I’m certainly in awe of it.
Radiohead — “There There”
So hypnotic. So badass. Could the production possibly be any cooler? The melody is intricate and beautiful, and I can relate to the lyric from every which angle: as the singer, as the one being sung to, and whether in love relationships, friendships, or with total strangers. The subject matter simply comes up in life in so many ways all the time… I recently tried to express similar notions as I was writing a song, only to remember that it was already done here perfectly. Goddammit.
Punch Brothers — “Julep”
This song is simply magical to me. It’s made me bawl my eyes out at a Punch Brothers concert two separate times. It’s like that viral video that was circulating some years ago of a baby moved to tears when her mom sings a sad tune. I’m that baby when it comes to this song. It simply hits some sort of primal button in me and keeps pressing it until the very end.
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While you’re at it, check out Janita’s video for “Digging in the Dirt,” a funky and faithful rendition of the Peter Gabriel classic.
Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner join forces as Bachelor – a musical powerhouse whose new record Doomin’ Sun drops May 28th on Polyvinyl.
Kemper and Duterter recorded the album during two weeks of mutual appreciation in California. Three visceral singles have been released in the lead-up, including the Pixies-flavored “Stay in the Car” and the sprawling “Anything At All.”
Bachelor has also announced the Doomin’ Sun Fest, a one-day livestream featuring Tegan & Sara, Courtney Barnett, Adrianne Lenker, Jeff Tweedy, Japanese Breakfast, Julien Baker, and more.
Two men that look suspiciously alike meet outside a fictitious Brooklyn hot-spot – six feet apart.
MC Krispy E: Very nice to meet you. (squints) Have we met before?
Electronic Device: Maybe?
MC Krispy E: Is the rest of the band joining us?
Electronic Device: (pause) I am the rest of the band.
MC Krispy E: You are Electronic Device? What’s that about?
Electronic Device: Uhm, yeah, it’s like a pen name. You know what that is, right?
MC Krispy E: I have some idea.
Electronic Device: It was actually the name of one of my dad’s companies back in the day before…
MC Krispy E: (looking at his watch) Wonderful. So… it says here you have a new single called “All Things Come to an End” inspired by the death of your brother.
Electronic Device: Yeah, after my brother died I recorded songs as a form of therapy in his old bedroom in Staten Island.
MC Krispy E: And now I read that you have cancer. Am I supposed to feel extra sorry for you?
Electronic Device: Uhm…
MC Krispy E: It sounds like this album is going to be super depressing.
Electronic Device: It’s not, I swear. I was looking for some happiness while recording these songs, there’s not much of an agenda beyond that.
MC Krispy E: What kind of music is it?
Electronic Device: I wasn’t really thinking about influences while recording, but listening back I hear some Concrete Blonde, some Cracker.
MC Krispy: So bands no one is interested in?
Electronic Device: What the hell, man?
MC Krispy: Sorry, it’s almost like I can’t help it. What’s the single about?
Electronic Device: I hate saying what a song is about because everything is up for interpretation.
MC Krispy E: Humor us.
Electronic Device: I can say that “All Things Come to an End” has multiple narrators, some of which are unreliable.
MC Krispy E: (stares)
Electronic Device: And that one day I was at my Dad’s house and when I turned the corner into the hallway my Dad thought I was my brother for a moment, which was super sad because of course I couldn’t be.
MC Krispy E: And then you wrote a whole song about that.
Electronic Device: I guess so. When you put it that way…
MC Krispy E: (yawning) Tell us when the single come out.
Electronic Device: The single is out now. The album comes out in 2021.
MC Krispy E: Well, good for you. And good luck with that cancer thing.
Electronic Device: Yeah, you too.
MC Krispy E: Thanks. What?