A little different to the last album we reviewed on the Light In The Attic label, Jamaica To Toronto - Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-1974 and in truth, on initial listens A World Of Peace Must Come seems to be a spirit of its time that should have rest in peace with itself.

That’s all very well with modern day cyniscism and it’s hard not to have a wry smile at the psychedelic ‘Candy Face Lane’ or the Fingerbob-esque ‘Lonely Man’. Even there’s a touch of Circulus intro to ‘A Walk Along With Love’. But hang on, this is Brian Wilson after all and some of the tracks with minimal backing like ‘The Deer, The Elk, The Raven’ pre-empts Tunng’s foktronica.

Without the name of Brian Wilson (who’s status as musical icon was revived with the critical acclaim of the 2005 release of the Smile album re-recording, a project he started recording with the Beach Boys in 1966), would this recording would have stayed unreleased? The master tapes that disappeared at the time reappeared 20 years ago, so why now?

The imputus was September 11 when Kalinich recited ‘America, I Know You’ in LA and the crowd loved it. It’s a power piece and stands the test of time like the more personal poems like ‘Be Still’ and the ‘indo-jazz’ ode to love ‘If You Knew’ (this album version is far superior to the one he’s currently got on his myspace site).

Apparently Kalinich now splits his time between Los Angeles and Brighton and still remains a close friend of Brian Wilson; god only knows what the pair of them think when they listen to this. I suspect there’s a touch of embarisment but after that, I’m sure they’re proud of this collection. And you never know, a world of peace maybe closer than we think.

Reviewed: Stephen John Kalinich - A World Of Peace Must Come (Light In The Attic) Cat. No.LITA 039 Release Dates: North America: 30 September 2008 - Rest of World: 6 October 2008
Tracklisting
1 A World Of Peace Must Come (Intro) (0:12)
2 Candy Face Lane (3:31)
3 I Am Waiting / The Birth Of God (2:59)
4 The Deer, The Elk, The Raven (2:39)
5 The Magic Hand (3:22)
6 Lonely Man (2:37)
7 Be Still (4:26)
8 A Walk Along With Love (2:07)
9 A World Of Peace Must Come (2:33)
10 If You Knew (2:55)
11 America, I Know You (4:08)
12 A World Of Peace Must Come (Outro) (0:15)
13 Leaves Of Grass (2:44)

Links
stephenkalinich.com
www.myspace.com/sjkalinich
www.lightintheattic.net/releases/sjk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson_Presents_Smile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerbobs
If Everybody Had an Ocean Brian Wilson: An Art Exhibition curated by Alex Farquharson - 26 May - 23 September 2007 Tate, St. Ives, Cornwall. www.tate.org.uk