I haven't gotten mine yet, but am really looking forward to it.
And even though I haven't heard it yet.
I either know some of the songs, or have an idea of what type of surf/instro they are.

I am glad that this comp. is pushing the limits of surf/instro.
And not just a bunch of Ventures/Lsj's sounding bands.

Not that there is anything wrong with those bands.
But I think we as a "community" need to let people know that
this music is more than "Walk don't run" done 30 different ways.
and That there can be some amazing musicianship, and songwriting
incorporating musical styles and influences from around the world.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Thanks, Jeff. That was exactly the idea, you got it.

Steve wrote:

I like the CD. A lot.

Great!

If there's any disappointment at all, it's that I already have more than half the tracks on their original albums.

Kudos to you, sir, you are clearly a very dedicated surf music fan! I think you are in a tiny minority, though, sad to say. This CD was designed to appeal primarily to casual surf fans that don't buy that much new surf, or even more to people that are not familiar with modern surf whatsoever. That's the target audience. Just to open people's eyes a bit more.

(BTW, hopefully you feel you still got your money's worth with the 7-9 tracks you didn't have before - it's only $12.75 for the CD, so if you get 7-9 tracks you really like for that much money, well, I've done a lot worse than that with many of my music purchases! )

It would be awesome if the Brave New Surf site had a
shopping cart to purchase CDs from the featured bands,
but I suspect that's cost and logistic prohibitive.

I agree, that would be great. I believe Sean is doing what he can to stock the CD releases featuring the tracks on the comp. Maybe you could write here which CDs in particular you would be interested in buying based on this comp.

Thanks!!

Ivan
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Thanks, DreadinBabylon, that's great stuff - I agree completely, that track just blows me away each and every time, such imagination and creativity and adventuresomeness. Those guys really bring in so many non-standard influences into their take on surf music. I personally hear Rush and shoegazing stuff (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush, Swervedriver, Curve, Slowdive) in that song, for example. Whatever the influences, they really do something incredible with them all, creating a sound and atmosphere all their own. To me there was no way to follow that track on the CD except to come way down and wrap it all up.

I suspect the Daikaiju track will be the most divisive on the comp among the surf music community, given how unabashadly different and progressive it is. But I honestly did try to represent all corners of the surf music world, and I think the trad stuff is well-represented by the tracks by the Thunderchiefs, Surfer Joe, Los Kahunas and Aqualads. Most other tracks fall somewhere in between IMO, having a fair amount of trad influence, but definitely pushing at the boundaries a bit here and there. I thought it was important to show off the breadth and diversity of the modern surf scene, that it's not just one thing, which I think a lot of outside people think (that think about surf music at all).

Ivan
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Brian wrote:

Okay, back to the CD.

I have a lot to say about this release but here is a
good start. What track surprised you the most? I had
heard some of these tracks before, and some were brand
new. I have to say the Phantom Four track really hit
me. Those guys always nail the "exotic" aspect of surf,
and their playing is always so tight and tasty. It's a
magnificent track.

Just wanted to bump Brian's comments above to the new page. But here's also a comment about the Phantom Four track. I've been a HUGE fan of Phantom Frank since the first Treble Spankers album "Araban", hearing it for the first time around '95, soon after its release, and being heavily influenced by the band over the next few years. Frank can barely do any wrong in my book, he's just the tops! (Though it took a while to grow on me, I even love his solo album.) It was also soooo great to read the raving comments about the Phantom Four appearance at the last Surfer Joe festival, it really made me happy. I knew the Phantom Four have had an album in the can for a while now, so rather than asking them for something older (which was outside of my working time frame of '08-to-present anyway, Madhur having come out in '06-'07), I thought I'd hit 'em up for something new. Frank and Niels (the drummer, and the guy behind the North Sea Surf Music Festival) were kind enough to send me three new tracks and let me choose among them. I was blown away by all three, I think they're all even better than Madhur tracks, and it was very difficult to choose just one. But in the end I think El Palmero just worked a bit better with the other tracks on the comp, introducing a new and different element to the proceedings. Among a CD chock full of amazing tunes (certainly from my perspective!), El Palmero still remains one of the highlights for me! I'm soooo excited about the next Phantom Four CD....

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
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Last edited: Dec 14, 2011 13:26:15

Noel wrote:

I took it into my music shop today, the one owned by an old southern-rock and blues man who can cover SRV really well. He finds surf music quaint, but he really likes this record a lot. Told me it changed his mind about surf music. To him, the Daikaiju track wasn't at all unusual or out of place. The standout track for him? The Bambi Molesters. It knocked his socks off. If any record can open the ears and minds of non-surf music fans, this one can. It already has.

Noel, this is freakin' AWESOME!!! You've completely made my day. This is exactly the kind of thing that I believe all of us that worked on this comp had hoped for. This is exactly what it was "designed" for! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now, if we can unleash another 500 like you on the unsuspecting world, armed with this comp....

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
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The Space Cossacks on Facebook
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Last edited: Dec 14, 2011 14:15:37

My personal perspective is that one of the things that makes surf such an interesting and rich genre is that it's not all prog or all trad. I think it's REALLY important to preserve and encourage both sides of the spectrum and let bands mix them up in various proportions. What I mentioned in my liner notes is that pretty much ALL surf bands are founded on the tradition - yes, even Daikaiju (at the post-convention jam last year, after much cajoling we got Santanu to play a vintage cover - maskless! - something by Link, I forget what - but what I remember is that he looked at the list of the tracks for which there were available background tracks and said that he actually knows pretty much all those songs, and there were good 40-50 '60s songs on that list, songs that Matt Quilter was performing with his "Wave Machine). I think it's that rich tradition that provides the fertile grounds on which creativity can prosper, and that ultimately still ties all surf bands together. I love hearing good trad bands, and they can be very creative, interesting and exciting. It reminds me why I fell in love with surf music in the first place. But it's also such a blast seeing talented musicians imprint their own stamp on this music and turn it into something new, whether only slightly or sometimes quite dramatically.

So, I have a hippie message here - peace, love and harmony! No need to banish any part of surf music if your particular preferences tend in the other directions. We're all in this together!

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
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ivan, didn't santanu play 'jack the ripper'?

www.surfintheeye.com

surferjoemusic wrote:

This thread is getting more & more interesting. I
cannot wait to get my copy and listen to all the
tracks!

Hey Lorenzo! I have to say your Surfer Joe track on the compilation is a huge leap forward (IMHO) from your Wadadli Riders album. Don't get me wrong, I like that stuff, but this track really grabbed my attention. It is sure to make every trad surf music lover smile. Great job! Did you play all the parts?

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Last edited: Dec 14, 2011 21:33:58

Now, where are those damn cd's ;-). Can't wait to hear it!

El Twitter
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Last edited: Dec 15, 2011 05:35:13