‘In Concert’ by The Beach Boys

It’s fifty years since the Beach Boys began, and in 2012, the world can look forward to the band dragging themselves round the earth’s arenas for (presumably) one last time. It’s hard to say how long it’s been since this happened – the line-up of the band changed so often from the mid-sixties onwards – but it’s certainly been a while. There will almost certainly be recordings made and sold – whether they’ll be good or bad is hard to say, as historical precedent swings in both directions. This album, however, is a good one.

Recorded on tour around the time of ‘Holland’, it captures the Beach Boys in their final gasp of creativity. Beefed up by the presence of Ricky Fataar and ‘Blondie Chaplin’, the band are in fine form as musicians, and the setlist is sprinkled with all sorts of interesting stuff which would soon be shelved forever – ‘The Trader’, ‘Marcella’, ‘Let The Wind Blow’, ‘Leaving This Town’, and so on. Even more interesting is the presence of ‘We Got Love’, a track recorded from ‘Holland’ but then ditched – nine tracks was obviously deemed sufficient. A shame, as it’s a great song.

Only at the very end does the record start to degenerate into the sort of greatest hits sing-along which the band were soon to become on a full time basis. The band would never sound this good again – I suspect that 2012 is unlikely to change this state of affairs.

‘In Between Dreams’ by Jack Johnson

I’ve been sitting on this for a fair while. Listened to it ages ago – and actually, it’s been on heavy rotation in the house since the Christmas music went away – but I just haven’t worked out what to say about it. The problem with this album is that it’s so straightforward, so undemanding, that it almost defies description. Trouble is, as soon as you say that, it sounds like a massive criticism, and it’s not meant to be, as this is a very fine record. I listened to ‘Brushfire Fairytales’ a few weeks ago, and it’s best track (‘Flake’ – if you think otherwise, you’re wrong) is matched, quality-wise, by almost everything on ‘In Between Dreams’.

So, it’s easy to listen to, but it has a warmth and a lightness of touch that’s hugely enjoyable. Johnson’s songwriting and vocal delivery have both developed well since his first two albums. Most of it is fairly simple, whether in the one-man-and-his-guitar tracks of ‘Do You Remember’ or the loose-acoustic-rock style of ‘Good People’, but there are some more ambitious moments – the close harmonies of ‘Staple It Together’, say. And that’s it, really. Let it wash over you. All done.

‘Imagination’ by Brian Wilson

A word of advice. If you’re one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and you’ve been responsible for some of the best albums ever made, be careful with your album titles. Calling your record ‘Imagination’ prompts a certain expectation. This record struggles to live up to that.

It isn’t a bad album, as such. Wilson’s voice is in reasonable shape, and his ear for harmony arrangements is as strong as ever. The songs themselves are okay. There’s nothing on this album that’ll change your life, but greater depths have been plumbed throughout Beach Boys history. The albums greatest failing is its overall sound – it’s very, very polished, when a few rough edges might have helped.

The two most familiar tracks are old Beach Boys tracks. ‘Keep An Eye On Summer’ and ‘Let Him Run Wild’ are both decent reworkings – the latter, in particular, works quite well several keytones down and delivered from a mature perspective. The greatest strength of this album is what it did to Wilson personally. After its creation, he gained enough confidence to tour again, which in turn lead to ‘Pet Sounds’ live, which in turn lead to ‘Smile’. A small step which makes this album more important than it is good.

‘If You’re Feeling Sinister – live at the Barbican’ by Belle and Sebastian

Nine years later, Belle and Sebastian returned to their second album for a one-off gig in which they played the record through in its entirety. The gig was recorded, then released via iTunes for charity. The setlist was chosen as the band themselves weren’t ever so happy with the final result of the original album. Personally, I’d rather listen to this version.

There are no radical departures here – every track is played more or less as it was originally, but with a greater confidence – almost a swagger. Almost a decade on, the difference in how the band sounds is striking. There’s a great sense of relaxation throughout this album, and this brings the album a real sense of joy. Tracks like ‘Like Dylan In The Movies’ and ‘Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying’ lose their slightly pained and restrained edge and become songs that are a sheer pleasure to listen to.

It’s rare, I imagine, for an exercise like this to be any more than an exercise in vanity, or at best, something which works well on stage but is unnecessary on record. But not this time – this is great.

‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ by Belle and Sebastian

Second album by Belle and Sebastian, and released only five months after their debut, ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ is a great album in many ways, though not without its issues. The songs on the record are superb – whereas ‘Tigermilk’ is a little patchy, ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ is pretty much free of weak spots, which is remarkable given the short length of time between the two records. Having said that, the arrangements and production throughout the record struggle to match the quality of the material. Too many of the backing tracks sound a little feeble – like the band aren’t quite sure of what they should be doing. No-one seems quite comfortable with the material, as though they know it’s good, but they’re not sure how to represent this. So, a good album to hear, but given the choice, I’d always opt for the next on the list. Here goes…

‘I’m Waking Up To Us’ by Belle and Sebastian

‘I’m Waking Up To Us’ was the final single released by Belle & Sebastian before they settled into the more conventional approach of releasing singles taken from their albums. Their next release was the ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ album – a big step forward in terms of their production values and arrangements. This single shows the signs of that – the title track is bold and ambitious in its scope, and the other tracks show a developing confidence and humour which would continue to grow through subsequent releases. Not their strongest set of songs, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome by any means.

‘I Might Be Wrong - Live Recordings’ by Radiohead

It’s difficult to see the purpose of this record. A live album? A ‘rounding up’ of the ‘Kid A’ / ‘Amnesiac’ era? An opportunity to show how tracks from these two albums worked in a live context? In some ways, it’s all of these things – in other ways, it’s none of them.

It’s too short to work as a convincing live album. In fairness, it was released and priced as a mini-album, so that’s perhaps an unfair criticism, but it seemed (and still seems) a waster opportunity – a few earlier tracks would have made welcome additions. Does it round off the era? I guess so, though you could say the same about ‘Hail To The Thief’, which arguably does the job a little better. So, an opportunity. Would Radiohead really have wanted to prove themselves like this? It flies in the face of the more self-consciously difficult approach they’d been working with. And, to be fair, it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to listen to the studio versions of ‘Idioteque’ or ‘Morning Bell’, say, and not see how they would work on stage.

Three tracks, though, make this worthwhile. ‘Like Spinning Plates’ is the most radical departure from the album version, replacing the programmed backing track with a simple circular piano accompaniment to great effect. ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ starts in the same place as the ‘Kid A’ version, but mutates into a pulsing beast of a track. ‘True Love Waits’, the closing track, is the albums main draw – the only track not available elsewhere. It’s radically different to the rest of the album: a solo performance on Thom Yorke’s acoustic guitar, but it’s a thing of beauty.

The album as a whole – decent enough, but a footnote, really.