I Wish

From Patricka

I Wish is Patrick Aei's twenty-third album recorded in early December 2011. This is the third album of the Poetry Trilogy, behind I Laughed and I Lied. While the other albums are nineteen minutes, I Wish is fifteen minutes. The cover is misprinted as "I Lied."

The album contains only one poetry track, however Longer, Radio Static, and Screw were intended for this purpose. However, Patrick felt he had enough longer songs from previous albums, and wanted to add shorter tracks to the trilogy. Orient is the only song over two minutes long, though was not intended to be longer than the other tracks. Ironically, while being higher in quality and better sounding, most of the material was in the vein of Aei's early albums. When Urinal was released, the most pestering critique Aei received was that his music was not "fleshed out enough." The short songs of Urinal were simple experiments in sound, but he felt the need to better himself. After several albums, Aei wished to make shorter songs better.

Musically, Aei took a look at past influences more than what he was then-currently listening to. "Calm" takes a lot from My Bloody Valentine's sound; Radio Static sounds similar to a Byrds song; Screw takes a blues-esque riff and adds funk to the mix; Orient continues Patrick's love affair with Robert Fripp's music; and Wetter covers Heavy Metal with clean guitar.

The Beach Boys covers, while none are complete, form a medley of songs recorded in single takes. Patrick simply pulled up the chords and lyrics on his computer, and recorded each on the spot. Sail On Sailor was the only song he had previously worked on. "Little Pad" is from the Beach Boys' Smiley Smile album, where the band famously recorded under the influence of marijuana. "Girl Don't Tell Me" combined the innocent lyrics of Brian Wilson with Carl Wilson's boyish, beautiful vocals. "Do You Wanna Dance" is one of Dennis Wilson's earlier lead vocals; Aei considers Dennis's voice to be highly influential on his own. Aei had previously remastered "Sail On Sailor," and would constantly listen to it over his first sophomore semester in college. All together makes for a genuine tribute to the band.

"I guess I needed to stop trying to make the instrumental 'In Too Deep,' lose any hangups about my music being one thing and not what it used to be, and say 'fuck you' to anyone, including myself, who would dare criticize or want to change the final product."

Track Listing

1. Calm

2. Longer

3. Radio Static

4. Screw

5. Orient

6. Wetter

7. Little Pad (Beach Boys Cover: )

8. Girl Don't Tell Me (Beach Boys Cover: )

9. Do You Wanna Dance (Beach Boys Cover: )

10. Sail On Sailor (Beach Boys Cover: )

11.

"The Beach Boys songs may seem a little out of tune, but I did them honestly. I didn't want to spend forever getting notes right and trying too hard. I wanted it to seem real."