FIRST HEARING THE BEATLES | "NOW AND THEN" (REACTION/DISCUSSION)

[@mikecaetano]

Lennon wrote the song in the seventies. He recorded a demo with a piano accompaniment on a cassette tape -- very lo-fi. Yoko Ono found the tape in the nineties and gave it Paul and George to work with. They recorded some backing tracks for it, but they couldn't extract John's vocals from the tape with sufficient quality to use. That's where the AI comes in twenty five years later. Movie director Peter Jackson and his crew developed software for use in the Get Back movie that allows for isolating particular sounds in vintage recording media. At some point during the production or presentation of that film he must have had a conversation with Paul or maybe Yoko in which the subject of the demo came up -- along with the technical difficulties they faced in the nineties. Jackson's software -- the AI -- resolved that difficulty. So they had Lennon's vocals and Harrison's guitar work available. Paul likely finished the arrangement with Ringo on drums and backing vocals. The new video hints at all that. The Beatles were still recording music and releasing new albums the year I was born and their music has always been a part of my life. I think the song is a very fitting finish, a true Swan Song, as it were. Hearing Lennon's voice on a brand new song forty years after his death is mind blowing, it's like hearing a ghost. I also hear hints of Lennon's solo work in it. But the melody in the verse remind me a little bit of "Dosed" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[@iamjimkelly]

Interesting we got Rolling Stones and Beatles music in 2023. Legends never die. I really dig your reviews. As for for Youngblood, Were you able to listen to Khamari’s album from earlier this year? Sometimes he gives me a Frank Ocean vibe. Would be interested in your thoughts on his album “A Brief Nirvana”.

[@lifeastatum]

i didn’t. i’ll check it out this week.