VAN DYKE PARKS appreciation thread...

i got some deluxe CD reissue of that at a used record store--but i can't find any trace of its having existed online. it's a legit european release, maybe it was recalled or only released in a limited edition or something.

anyway it is good but yeah it really takes some getting used to esp if you know many of the songs from other performances as i do.

I don't think I knew any of the original versions - certianly not well enough to recognise them - how different are they in terms of arrangement, performance? I'm assuming they probably didn't have orchestras, for a start, but VDP used stuff like steel drums on some of the tracks. How faithful are they, I guess?

VDP + Scott Walker = Bob Drake

I don't think those are Bob's parents really.

Uncles, perhaps.

arrangements are odder and more strident than originals in most cases, but VDP's voice is also very much an acquired taste. me, i haven't really acquired it per se, i just sort of put up w/ it. anyway arrangements + his singing give songs a kind of arch, vaguely ironic flair that at first kind of irritated me. but at some point on most of the songs the weirdness kind of gels at some point.

have folks heard his arrangement of that bonnie raitt calypso song. at some level it could probably be considered a horrid misstep--almost a kind of blackface routine, w/ ms raitt adopting an outsized patois and the arrangement cranking up the steel drum. but it kind of works. at least, it's interesting to hear her stretch out a bit.

I love that song "G-Man Hoover". So awesome. The vocals on it are so great, too.

Oh wait i said that already early this year.

Rat-ta-tat.....TAT
Rat-ta-tat.....TAT

http://bellaunion.com/2013/02/van-dyke-parks-to-release-songs-cycled-on-may-6th/

his new album Song Cycled is out on May 6. it's a collection of all his recent singles

er, Songs Cycled

i got that train-themed LP on record store day but have yet to listen to it.

It's pretty good!

i love it. super-cinematic

ugh, i need to get that, is it available still anywhere?
this ry cooder vid from 1970ish that VDP made is kind of great. http://bananastan.com/scrapbook.html#videos

also of importance
http://bananastan.com/lightbox2.03a/images/vdp_grace.jpg

http://images.ukfestivalguides.com/gallery_images/van-dyke-parks/van-dyke-parks_10.jpg

His business cards read, approximately:

Mr Van Dyke Parks
would like to apologize for his behaviour at this event
(312) etc.

L.A. not Chicago, sorry

hey tyler i'll sell it to you for $150 ;-)

"I spoke of my love for MacArthur,
The man, not the park in LA"

Got Songs Cycled yesterday, it's a weird one - there's an Esso Trinidad Steel Band track in there completely uncredited, it lifts stuff really unsubtly from his scores, but there's so much good stuff here and I wasn't able to shell out for the 7' series. The Parting Hand and Sassafrass are glorious, and throughout his arranging and production are amazing. <3 Van Dyke.

His lecture at Red Bull Academy on arranging

http://vimeo.com/66822387

this is sounding good. http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=1895&fulltext=1
liners are great too.

ty!

New single, to mark anniversary of the JFK assassination: http://bellaunion.com/2013/11/van-dyke-parks-announces-limited-edition-7-single-im-history-bw-charm-school/

Just downloaded and it's pretty nice-sounding. A-side is one of the densest things he's done since "Song Cycle"; B-side is a "Clang of the Yankee Reaper"-style Caribbean instrumental.

new single sounds great -- the strings are really nicely recorded. van dyke is on a roll!

Discovered "Discover America" for the first time about two weeks ago and it's so good I'm kind of at a loss to describe it. VASTLY superior to Song Cycle (which I also like quite a bit). I immediately went out & tracked down copies of both the Esso Trinidad Steel Band album he produced, which is also very good, and Jump, which I'm still waiting on to be delivered COME ON.

Discover America is great...
Gotta be a tie between Cale's Academy In Peril, Parks' Discover America and Nitzsche's St Giles Cripplegate as the weirdest records Warner/Reprise ever put out in the early 70s.

Too right. St Giles Cripplegate sounds like it should be on Drag City circa 2002.

has anyone heard this kathy dalton (no, not karen dalton) LP

http://www.discogs.com/Kathy-Dalton-Boogie-Bands-One-Night-Stands/release/2553972

VDP arrangements. it's at the local store but I didn't pick it up (yet), not b/c it was expensive but b/c I have no room for more LPs :(

but if anyone says it's worth a listen I'll pick it up

i've only heard the title track, but i think the backing band is basically little feat so... you probably want it? the song i've heard is not very VDP iirc.

oh why did i not notice the little feat connection?

that's as good as bought, then

at this point I basically have a growing "stuff I bought in the last six months" box since there is no room on my proper shelves

sad

Does anybody know if there's a complete list of everything VDP's arranged/produced online somewhere?

I guess this'll work: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-dyke-parks-mn0000838241/credits

Trying to put together a Spotify playlist…

VAN DYKE PARKS aka "Everything's coming up Americana"

2002 one-two punch of silverchair and sixpence none the richer

Had no idea he worked with Toad the Wet Sprocket!

OK, I took a crack at the playlist: http://open.spotify.com/user/evankindley/playlist/16MCXuuEO643X6vm8DRGV7

I limited it to tracks where I could confirm significant VDP involvement, either as producer, arranger, composer, or sideman. Left out covers of "Sail On Sailor" and other Beach Boys songs.

There's a bunch of intriguing-looking stuff that isn't on Spotify (Syd Straw's "Surprise," Cher's "Stars," the 1973 Happy End album, Goldie Hawn's "Pitta Patta"). I might post a few YouTube links later to supplement this.

can you post the list here for those who don't use spotify?

(i'd like to use it, it just consistently hogs too much memory on my computer and often crashes)

Hmm, does anyone know a way to export Spotify playlist information into text? (It's 325 tracks right now, so it'd take a long time to type out!) I know how to do it on iTunes, but have never done it for Spotify before.

don't put too much time into this! :)

Too late…

Randomly: anyone know the German techno track that samples the intro/outro to "The All Golden"? Not the Madlib track.

Hadn't listened all that much to "Discover America" until last night. WOW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ8wH_O6Uzs

Really love the guitars in the first verse of this!

Went into this thread expecting it to be bumped because of this: https://twitter.com/thevandykeparks/status/568206586268684288

discover america is such a weird/wonderful record.

Mike Love once again rockin' that serial killer stare