SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-“Love, Reign o’er Me” (1993).
On December 2, Pearl Jam announced that their fan club holiday singles will be released to streaming services. Their first holiday single was released back in 1991. It was “Let Me Sleep (Christmas Time).” They are rolling out the songs one at a time under the banner 12 Days of Pearl Jam.
These releases are coming out as a daily surprise.
This is an impressively faithful (and really good) cover of the classic song from The Who. I knew the band played this in concert-I’ve seen it once or twice myself–but I never realized they had released a studio version.
It opens with the piano and gong just like the original. There’s some synth washes and that familiar keyboard melody before Eddie starts singing. he sounds powerful like Roger Daltrey including doing a Daltrey scream right out of the gate.
The music is remarkably faithful–the guitars, the keys–everything. The only major difference comes around three and half minutes when there is a keyboard solo and the sound of the keyboard is an usual choice–a little unusual for the rest of the song.
But the guitar solo is right on. Eddie can certain do some manly screams just like Roger and this version totally rocks.
Even the guitar slide before the crashing ending sounds great. A truly fantastic cover.
[READ: December 10, 2019] “Training Module”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fourth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
The Short Story Advent Calendar is back! And to celebrate its fifth anniversary, we’ve decided to make the festivities even more festive, with five different coloured editions to help you ring in the holiday season.
No matter which colour you choose, the insides are the same: it’s another collection of expertly curated, individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.
(This is a collection of literary, non-religious short stories for adults. For more information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.)
As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.
Want a copy? Order one here.
I’m pairing music this year with some Christmas songs that I have come across this year.
This story was a powerful indictment of men, written in a compelling and interesting manner–as a sexual harassment training manual.
It is a series of questions with multiple choice answers. There is no point in trying to summarize or rewrite them because they are perfectly written. So i’ll just give some examples here.
The first one:
You’re an adult man of indeterminate age in between subway cars in 1967, and you see a six-year-old girl with her mother. Do you:
a) quickly move to the next car, as any sensible person between cars on a moving train might, or
b) expose yourself to the child. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 