The Smile sessions were NOT written, arranged, and recorded by a drug-addled, paranoid recluse whose bad LSD trips had clouded his judgment. Done right, Smile could have tossed Pet Sounds around like a tidal wave, and maybe even made the Beatles yearn for yesterday. Though we’ll never know the answer to the mystery of what might have been, this collection gives us our best guess, while at the same time shattering any myths about what was assumed never could be.

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Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks messing around while recording Smile.

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Os Mutantes decided everything was possible and tried to prove it. Low End Theory resident and Blank Blue guitarist Nobody (Elvin Estela) speaks with Mutantes co-founder Sérgio Baptista about helicopters, honesty and the brand-new Mutantes album Haih.

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Ya Ho Wha 13 were the band formed out of the pre-dawn practice sessions that served also as morning meditation for the Source Family, the L.A.-area religious sect that ran their own health food restaurant during the ‘70s. Drag City has collected nine unreleased songs for this month’s Magnificence in the Memory. This interview by Dan Collins.

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The Shins right now are no longer the Shins they used to be—founder James Mercer debuted a new line-up (with members of Modest Mouse and Fruit Bats) last week and will be taking the band from Sub Pop to their own label Aural Apothecary for their next releases. He speaks now about this and Bob Dylan, Heath Ledger and Kermit the Frog, too. This interview by Daiana Feuer.

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christine hale The Grammy Museum is the premier downtown destination for documentaries on the Wrecking Crew or question-and-answer sessions with Brian Wilson, and they have now extended their operating hours from 6 PM to 7:30 PM. According to the Museum—which assures us this is not an April Fool’s joke—the new hours will add up to [...]

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zach hill

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christine hale

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scott schultz

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