The Superb Owl and other Stories about the New Will Simmons Maxi-Cassingle
by Quyale “I Can’t Spell My Own Name” Smithers
Living in Orygun has us all waiting for a certain substance to become legal. It won’t be long but then here comes a recording from Will Simmons that has me doubting the need for any such foreign substance for the pure psychedelic pop of this new recording includes one heck of a glorious contact high. It’s a trip. Will Simmons has the uncanny knack of producing short tunes that don’t feel brisk. He’s expanding time. Expanding time is unbelievable. This is exactly what Einstein had in mind. I’m floating among these stars and many others. Far out. This vibe that Simmons has gotten into with recent recordings, well, he just pushed it into the stratosphere by golly. Starting out with Gamelan music which is sounding transcontinental and stellarorbital, he’s mostly ticking ivories here, you know, keyboards but there’s tons of riffage and musical ideas that cross pollinate on top of other music ideas mixed with songs that feel like movie scripts written out of beat poetry. I’m either staring at trees or listening to symphonies. Cosmic.
I’m about to crash a space ship when I have a thought that when Brian Wilson hears this he is going to weep. He’s been weeping often lately so it’s not that out of the ordinary. But Simmons has done what drove Wilson mad on many occasions by fashioning sweet slabs of psychedelia with a pop music mash and Simmons never needed to put his piano in a sandbox. There’s a post modern take on 96 Tears and then Simmons has me trying to answer the question of whether I like canned beats more than canned beets. Slapping 10 minutes of music that feels much longer on a cassingle is a triumph of this medium. It’s a brave format, misunderstood but hanging in there and this release will bring new life and an appreciation for what can be achieved with plastic and magnetic tape. The dude will blow your mind. Mine’s blown. Floating. Tin Can. You know, far away in outer, outer space. It’s so pretty. Man, wow, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
credits
released September 7, 2015
All songs and sounds by Will Simmons and copyright 2015 Will Simmons.
Conceived, written, and recorded December, 2014 and January, 2015.
Recorded and mixed at home, Pittsburgh, PA.
Mastered by John "Double-J" Johnston at Silvertone Studio, Erie, PA.
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