SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Riot Act (2002).
This album seems to get overshadowed by the anti-George Bush track “Bu$hleaguer.” Evidently many people were turned off by this track, and that may have had an impact on sales. Of course, I’m sure many other people were introduced to the band by this song, too. Regardless, the rest of the album shouldn’t be judged by this track, as it is rather unusual.
This disc is the first one to feature a dedicated keyboardist, “Boom” Gaspar. He’s present on all of the live discs from this concert tour, and it is quite disconcerting the first time you hear the audience yell “Boooooooooooom” when he comes out. But he plays a mean organ solo.
“Can’t Keep” opens the disc sounding unlike other PJ tracks. It has a vibe like Led Zeppelin III–almost a world-acoustic feel. “Save You” rocks out with the classic chorus, “And fuck me if I say something you don’t wanna hear. And fuck me if you only hear what you wanna hear. Fuck me if I care.” A great fast song with a cool bassline. “Love Boat Captain” feature Boom Gaspar’s first contribution to a song: lots of organ. It’s a rather touching song, a gentle piece, except for a center part which rocks out. “Cropduster” features a delicate chorus after a skittery verse. If you are familiar with Matt Cameron’s contributions to the band, you’ll not be surprised by the unusual sound of this song.
“I Am Mine” starts a section of three great songs. This one is acousticy and uplifting. “Thumbing My Way” is a pretty PJ ballad. Then “You Are” has a really funky wah wahed sound on almost the whole song. Three great tracks in a row.
Not that “Get Right” is bad. It just doesn’t quite fit the mood of the previous three. Rather, this is a punk blast that feels more than a little off-kilter (another Cameron track, of course). “Help Help” begins the really weird section of the disc with this peculiar song (catchy chorus though). It’s followed by “Bu$hleaguer” a spoken word rant, with an abstract chorus. The chanting aspect is interesting, th0ugh. “Arc” is a short chant, no doubt reflecting Eddie’s duet with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
“1/2 Full” returns to the “proper” songs with this sloppy jam. The verses are quiet but the choruses rock. “All or None” is another mellow disc ender, this one has some good subtle drumming that really propels this jazzy song.
At this point in Pearl Jam’s career, we get yet another solid effort. You more or less know what to expect on their releases although there’s always a surprise.
[READ: May 7, 2009] McSweeney’s #3
This is the third volume of McSweeney’s print journal. This one, like the first two, is a white, softcover edition. If you click on the cover above it will take you to the flickr page with a larger picture.
[UPDATE: September 25, 2009]
It has just come to my attention that David Foster Wallace DOES have a piece in this magazine. (See my comment on the Notes from the authors). His piece runs on the spine of the book and is called:
“Another Example of the Porousness of Various Borders (VI): Projected but not Improbable Transcript of Author’s Parents’ Marriage End, 1971” (which is also available in his book Brief Interviews with Hideous Men under the title “Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI)”).
The piece itself is almost shorter than the whole title and is basically a funny argument about which parent would get the double-wide trailer and which parent would get him. Pretty funny stuff, and even funnier for being on the spine.
Okay, back to the issue.
[end UPDATE]
The opening colophon on this one explains the price increase (from $8 to $10). It’s because this is a longer issue, it has color plates (foldouts!) and because of a sad but amusing anecdote of a lost bag with $2,000 cash.
There’s also notes about some stories (the Hoff & Steinhardt pieces are true) and an apology of sorts for running a story about the Unabomber.
And an actual (presumably) envelope sent from the titular Timothy McSweeney, as a way of verifying the authenticity of the title of the journal.
The final page of the colophon shows a sample of how long it will take for them to respond to submissions (which should not be funny fake news). And it ends with a half a dozen or so random questions, which they do answer: ARE THE RIVERS THAT FLOW FROM HOT SPRINGS HOT? They are often very warm. DO THEY GIVE OFF STEAM? Yes, and they smell vaguely of sulfur. MARTIN VAN BUREN: He had a certain charm. etc.
LETTERS PAGE:
JONATHAN LETHEM
Ride with Jonatahn Lethem and the Mad Brooklynite as he narrates Manhattan’s superiority complex when it comes to the other boros. Funny stuff. (more…)
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.
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).
I Just Read About That... 