WMFU has unearthed Brian Wilson’s mothballed rap debut “Smart Girls,” recorded during the golden age of 1989, and even if my head wasn’t already swimming from too much gin last night, I don’t think I’d be able to wrap it around this bizarre attempt at…what? Hip-hop crossover? Contract-breaking? Self-help? (WFMU notes the song was written “during one of Wilson’s supposedly troubled periods when he was under the influence of psychologist Eugene Landy.”)
Produced by Matt Dike–behind the scenes svengali on the Beastie Boys’ Pauls Boutique–”Smart Girls” really is deranged, as much for Wilson’s slackjawed rapping and surfin’ harmonies laid over a late ’80s electro groove as for the hallucinatory way the (really loud!) samples from old Beach Boys songs explode in the mix. Over/under on this (frankly really awful) MP3 becoming a “key influence” for some band that will top bloggers “Best Of 2008″ lists: two months.
Ummm…wow. How far the great have (had) fallen.
The biography “Catch a Wave” is an absolutely fantastic read BTW, for any Brian Wilson fans left after listening to that.
There are no words. Kudos for being able to say that much about it, Jess. I think I need to go lie down and pretend this never happened…
Why did no one think to team up MC Wilson with Dee Dee King? His record came out in ‘89, too!
@dennisobell: HA ha! The horror..the horror…
I’ve had that weird fucker for years, as part of my prized “Sweet Insanity” bootleg. The Landy Years were some seriously bummer times for Bri.
I love to torture my friends and loved ones with periodic spins of “Smart Girls.” Amazing mash-up techniques, no?
“Intelligent chicks are dynamite”?
To be fair, there were a few years there where a very high percentage of America’s caucasians seemed to be under the impression that anyone could rap. They also appeared to feel that every rap had to begin, “My name is …”
Hey, anything that kept him out of his sandbox is cool with me. After hearing the tape of Murray Wilson drunkenly coach his sons during a “Help Me Rhonda” session, all is forgiven.
good god this made my brain hurt. Is it that hard to write down all the words before you start rapping?