The Beach Boys vs. Nina Nastasia (feat. Todd Hanson)

CrossFade: The Dueling Album Review Show

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3+ y ago

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Writer and performer Todd Hanson (The Onion, Squidbillies, WTF with Marc Maron, & more) guests on this very special episode of CrossFade!

Todd didn’t really get into The Beach Boys until a couple years ago, when he discovered their strange, dark album Surf’s Up, recorded in 1971 to turn around the public’s waning interest in fun-in-the-sun pop after the Summer of Love came to an official end. It’s full of beautiful, conflicted messages about protest, environmentalism, madness, and self-doubt – definitely not the Beach Boys you know and love.

Matt’s pick, Nina Nastasia’s 2000 debut Dogs, is no less grim in subject matter, but it IS more intimate. With stripped-down production and a focus on the singer-songwriter’s lilting alto, the album carries the muted expressions of ‘90s grunge emotion into a decade defined by a divergence of technical progression and self-produced music.

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To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below…

2:03 - Why it’s hard to satirize the world today

6:42 - The Beach Boys: The most American band?

8:11 - The Beach Boys - “Surf’s Up”

15:00 - “Feel Flows”

19:54 - “Take A Load Off Your Feet”

23:11 - “Don’t Go Near The Water”

26:25 - “Long Promised Road”

28:42 - “Student Demonstration Time”

37:18 - “Disney Girls (1957)”

41:39 - “A Day In The Life Of A Tree”

49:04 - “‘Til I Die”

51:23 - “Surf’s Up”

1:01:17 - Nina Nastasia - “Dogs”

1:08:08 - “Dear Rose”

1:10:37 - “A Love Song”

1:12:59 - “Underground”

1:16:36 - “A Dog’s Life”

1:20:01 - “Stormy Weather”

1:24:15 - “Smiley”

1:25:25 - “Nobody Knew Her”

1:29:46 - “Roadkill”

1:33:21 - “Nobody Knew Her” (Detail)

1:38:58 - Community Questions - Todd’s old cartoons, getting more creative, favorite biopics, music with an expiration date, & more

1:58:03 - Calvin Grad - “Who Is Calling You?” (suggested by MinnMax supporter Jason Wojnar)

67 episodes

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