SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vs. (1993).
Ten was a solid record, and although it had diversity within it, overall the sound was pretty consistent. On Vs., Pearl Jam mixed it up sonically and otherwise.
It opens with “Go,” a track that rocks harder than anything on Ten but which retains a great Pearl Jam chorus. “Animal” is also loud, with Eddie’s voice sounding incredibly rough and raw.
It’s on the 3rd track that PJ begin to really mix it up with their first ballad: “Daughter,” their first acoustic track. It’s catchy, and really works with Eddie’s voice. I can never listen to the next track “Glorified G” without thinking of my college roommate who spoiled it for me. And I’ll spoil it for you because every time you hear the chorus you will now think “glorified version of a pelican.” It’s not my favorite song anyway, as the chorus is kind of weird, but the verses are really strong and do redeem this track.
“Dissident” and “Blood” continue the great rocking vein. Although they are quite different from each other, (“Blood” being much harder) they both showcase Pearl Jam’s excellent rock aesthetic.
The track between them, “W.M.A.” is the other track on the disc that shows Pearl Jam’s experimental side. It’s percussion heavy and seems like a rambling track…it works much better live, actually.
“Rearviewmirror” on the other hand is PJ at their best, a fantastic rocking (but not too heavy) song with a great chorus, and excellent vocals by Eddie. Its complement is “Elderly Woman…” which highlights the other end of PJ’s spectrum: a sort of ballad that rocks more than you might think.
“Rats” and “Leash” are two rough, almost punk songs that continue to mix up the tempo and tenor of the disc. “Rats” seems to get ignored a lot even though its chorus is a good one, and “Leash” is another angry song that’s, again, enjoyable live.
“Indifference” ends the disc and it’s a song that I wasn’t all that excited about initially. However, again, after hearing the live versions, I gained a much better appreciation for the song and now I really enjoy it. All in all Vs, is a great step forward for Pearl Jam, strangely enough pulling them away from arena anthems and into more intimate areas.
[READ: April 16, 2009] The Book of Other People
I discovered this book by searching for A.M. Homes in our catalog. I was surprised I had never heard of it. The premise of this collection, put out by McSweeneys and benefiting 826 is that each author was asked to make up a character. The requirement was that the story would be named after the character. There were no other rules. And as such, you get a wide variety of stories about all different characters: people and otherwise. In fact, it’s surprising what a diverse collection of stories have arisen from this rather simple concept.
Zadie Smith is the editor and she wrote the introduction. I like to cover all of the written pieces in the book, but there’s not much to say about the introduction except that it fills you in on the details of the collection. She thanks Sarah Vowell for the idea but I gather that the rest of the work was done by her.
I’m not grousing about the different covers this time, I’m just showing the UK one. It has the same basic set up, including pictures by Daniel Clowes, but as you can see, it’s slightly different.
And check out this roster of talent that has written (or drawn) a story: it’s like a who’s who of contemporary young writers. (more…)
Sigur Rós are nothing if not ethereal. Their music is constantly floating up in outer space somewhere. So imagine the surprise when the first song of this disc opens with some thudding drums. And, there are acoustic instruments aplenty this time around. Their previous disc Hvarf/Heim had them playing a number of acoustic pieces in various unexpected settings. And clearly the experience must have been a good one.
SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-In Your Face (1986).
Fishbone’s first full length starts out with two great songs. “When Problems Arise” has the great stop/start techniques that Fishbone uses so well, as well as a great riff and some fantastic funky bass playing. The second track “A Selection” has a great ska feel, and could easily be The Specials or Selecter; however, Fishbone throw in a bit of humor (“No toothpaste?”) to make the song their own.
SOUNDTRACK: NEIL YOUNG-Live at the Fillmore East (1970) & Live at Massey Hall (1971).
Live at the Fillmore East. This is a fun, rowdy little disc. I’m confused as to why it’s only 6 songs, as surely they would have played more at the time, but I’m not going to spend any real time figuring that out. The first two songs, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” and “Winterlong” are fuzzy, brief versions of these cuts. They’re a good opening in prep for the twelve minute “Down By the River.” Two more short songs, “Wonderin'” and “Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown” barely prepare you for the 16 minute “Cowgirl in the Sand” conclusion. I didn’t know that “Downtown” was a “Crazy Horse” song and not a Neil song. I’m not even sure where I know it from, but it was as familiar as most of his tracks. And it was interesting to hear one of the other guys sing the song.
Live at Massey Hall. The same quality is evident on this recording as well. But this record is just Neil solo. It’s a more mellow affair, with the songs being pretty evenly split between acoustic guitar and piano. This disc has 17 songs on it and only one runs over 5 minutes (actually the closing “Dance, Dance, Dance” runs pretty long too, but it’s basically 2 and a half minutes of applause which Neil really should have cut).
I Just Read About That... 