FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2005
NEPTUNE'S KINGDOM PRESS ANNOUNCES A JUNE 16, 2005 PUBLICATION DATE FOR THE RELAUNCH OF DUMB ANGEL MAGAZINE; A PERIODICAL THAT COMBINES MUSIC, SOUND DESIGN AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-INSPIRED POP CULTURE TEXT AND VISUALS.
LOS ANGELES—Neptune's Kingdom Press has announced a June 16, 2005 publication date for Dumb Angel, a 148-page music/pop culture magazine chronicling the '60s surf scene, melodic sound design and Modernist architecture.
Brian Chidester serves as editor-in-chief/publisher of Dumb Angel, while the magazine's original founder, Domenic Priore, continues as co-editor.
The publication's name comes from the working title of Brian Wilson's Smile recordings during 1966.
Upon reviving Dumb Angel 15 years after its last issue, Brian Chidester wanted the magazine to explore the larger context of the California surf movement, as well as vintage Los Angeles style. "There's definitely a Generation X audience for the Beats, Chet Baker types, sound pioneers like Spector and Brian Wilson," said Chidester, who is also a documentary filmmaker (The Secret Map of Hollywood for BBC-TV; Feel Flows: A Tribute to Carl Wilson; etc.). "A lot of musicians from my generation, including members of the Flaming Lips, Stereolab, the Pixies and the High Llamas, are really into exotic and cool recordings. I want people to read Dumb Angel and feel like they're right in the middle of 1964, experiencing how relevant these musicians and sound designers are today."
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R E V I E W S
P a s t I s s u e s :
"Domenic Priore has assembled a gigantic tome. A totally bonus effort."
—SPIN
"[Dumb Angel No. 2: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile!] cracks Beach Boys' Smile"
—Billboard
"Through a mixture of contemporary analysis and reprints of all the '60s articles on Brian Wilson's lost masterwork Smile, Domenic Priore has assembled a patchwork of texts and pictures which takes us as close to the true story of Smile as we'll probably ever get."
—Record Collector
"[Dumb Angel No. 2] is tied together by Priore's connective commentary -- not just historical, but critically setting the contemporary context for this immortal work of art."
—DisCoveries
"I still can't believe this book actually exists. The ultimate esoteric fan volume."
—Option
"In 1988, Domenic Priore published an exhaustive 264-page scrapbook entirely about Smile. He began reading up on the band, and became fascinated with Smile, the band's legendary never-released 1966 album."
—Rolling Stone
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"The original Dumb Angel was about surfing, hot rods, instrumental rock 'n' roll and Brian Wilson as a composer and producer," said Domenic Priore, who is also the author of the books Beatsville, Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece and Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood 1965/1966. "Today's sophisticated graphics and text presentation made it possible for Chidester and I to develop, nurture and execute this in a broader sense."
The new issue contains 15 feature articles in three sections — [1] surf; [2] music production; [3] graphic design — and over 75% of the archival graphics have never been published. These include images and photos by Dennis Hopper, Rick Griffin, Julian Wasser, John Severson and Leroy Grannis. Dumb Angel contributors include pop artist Shag ("Vine Street Mondrian"), rock family tree creator Peter Frame ("South Bay Surf Bands"), Beach Boy historian Brad Elliott ("The 1964-65 Brian Wilson Sessionography"), author Harvey Kubernik ("Reflections on the L.A. Scene Surrounding Phil Spector, 1964-66") and poster artist John Van Hamersveld ("Dana Point Dynasty"). Also included is an article about the evolution of the surf sound through its independent cinema, plus "The Marimba You Send Out Returns to You: The Influence of Exotica on Psychedelic Music." Graphic designers Chris Green (staff artist with the Los Angeles Conservancy) and Mark London (graphic artist for Brian Wilson) created Dumb Angel's mid-century Modern look.
"Dumb Angel has always been more than just a magazine," offers Chidester. "It stands as a sort of almanac or book ... no one really throws these things out. I found that out myself and that's why I am publishing it now. This issue ends up being part of the Dumb Angel series of books that already exists ... it's logical on your bookshelf," suggests Chidester.
Dumb Angel will be available via traditional distribution and select retail outlets, and can also be ordered directly from Neptune's Kingdom Press for $19.95.
