SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Binaural (2000).
Binaural bursts forth with the rampaging “Breakerfall” and “God’s Dice.” The latter pauses only briefly for a chorus break. They are followed by “Evacuation,” a song that sounds a bit off kilter in this studio version but which blasts off on the live version. It’s got a great shouty chorus too.
“Light Years” is another wonderfully singalongable PJ track. The verses are delicate and, while the choruses don’t build, they are still very catchy. “Nothing as It Seems” is a haunting track that is dark and fantastic. The opening guitar riff sounds like it’s coming from the middle of a desert, and the rest of the song is great and great sounding too. “Thin Air” is another mid- tempo song that doesn’t wear out its welcome, and is fun to sing along to as well.
“Insignificance” is one of the great stop/start songs in PJ’s history. The staggered guitar work builds and stops, builds and stops and just gets better as it goes along. “Of the Girl” is one of those moody pieces that on previous discs sounded kind of throwaway, and yet this song has enough interesting nooks in it that it never gets dull. It doesn’t really ever bust out into big chorus, but the subtle changes are just as powerful. “Grievance” is also fantastic. Another staggered type of song with powerful lyrics and rocking verses and choruses. And when played live, this song is a behemoth.
“Rival” is one of those weird little songs that PJ throws in. An experiment that works more than some of t heir others. Followed by “Sleight of Hand” one of their more impressive ballads. Even though the chorus isn’t dramatically different, it’s still very powerful. “Parting Ways” is one of their best album enders in a long time. It’s another slow one, yet it doesn’t meander. There’s some nice guitar interplay that keeps the song interesting.
And then there’s “Soon Forget” a little number played on a ukulele. For another band this would be a gimmick yet Eddie’s sincerity pulls it off quite nicely. There’s also a hidden track at the end (evidently called “Writer’s Block”) which is the sound of a typewriter typing.
This was the disc that got me back into Pearl Jam, and it really is a great album. Most of their first barrage of live discs came from this tour, which may explain why I like these songs so much (I heard them all about 70 times, right?), but it’s a great place to start for latter-day Pearl Jam.
[READ: April 2007] The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
I read this book a long time ago, in college, based on the recommendation of my friend Gene. I really enjoyed it and found it quite funny. Then, last year, I watched Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, which is sort of a film adaptation of Tristram Shandy. A post about this movie could be just as long as the movie itself, but the short version is that the hilarious Steve Coogan is an actor in a production of the film of Tristram Shandy. As they are filming Tristram Shandy, the camera follows Coogan, the actor, as his neuroses get the better of him in both his professional and personal life. This Coogan stuff has absolutely nothing to do with the book, making the whole proceeding weird and wonderful. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vitalogy (1994).
I always think of this as the “weird” Pearl Jam disc. Mostly that’s because the contents are certainly weird (in that it’s made up like an old book, including excerpts from the book in the liner notes). But also because it has some of Pearl Jam’s strangest songs on it, especially “Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me,” easily one of the weirdest songs in their canon, and possibly the weirdest song on a major label. It’s 7 minutes of samples and scratchy guitars. And it’s more than a little creepy. The disc also contains “Bugs” an accordion-based rant about, well, bugs. and “Aye Davanita” a sort of Eastern chanting type piece.
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.
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 don’t recall why I started getting 
SOUNDTRACK: LULLABYE ARKESTRA-Ampgrave [CST044] (2006).
I’m not sure what’s up with the spelling of Arkestra (Sun Ra tribute, perhaps?), but “Lullabye” is certainly a misnomer. “Ampgrave” on the other hand is a pretty good summary of the music on this record.
SOUNDTRACK: AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-“Sometime Around Midnight” (2009).
I’ve been hearing this song on the radio a lot lately (WRFF especially seems to play it a lot). But they never said who it was! I liked it, but I was sure it sounded like an old song. Ack, but what was it? I kept coming up with a band called Dear Mr. President. And then I heard the truth. It was the Airborne Toxic Event.
I have a Periodicals page already, but I rarely look at it or update it. So, over the next few months I’m going to mention a magazine that I subscribe to. When I’m all caught up, I’ll remove that page.
They’ve also started a Green section (this latest one has a computer built into a cardboard CPU unit…very cool).
SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM.
I stumbled upon this station by accident one day. I was working outside, trying to tune in a radio station, and, although I was near a classic rock station from New York, I heard a very cool alternative song. So, I tuned in this staticky station and later learned that I was listening to 104.5, WRFF out of Philadelphia.
SOUNDTRACK: QUATTE.F- “I’m So Glad” from My Space (2009).
SOUNDTRACK: ISLANDS-Arm’s Way (2008).
I enjoyed Islands’ first album (and, in a weirder way, their earlier band The Unicorns). This album seems to have made a lot of 2008 Top Ten or at least Top Fifty lists. What’s so strange about the whole affair is that I absolutely love the first 8 songs on this disc, and based on those alone, I would put it on my top ten as well.
I Just Read About That... 