Some random musical ephemera for today (a.k.a. “Odds & Ends,” but I thought I’d mix it up a little)

The ten best albums of ALL TIME, according to a British poll released yesterday:

1: Definitely Maybe – Oasis
2: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
3: Revolver - The Beatles
4: OK Computer – Radiohead
5: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – Oasis
6: Nevermind – Nirvana
7: The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
8: Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd
9: The Queen Is Dead – The Smiths
10: The Bends – Radiohead

Those crazy Brits. See the full article here.

Ûž Speaking of those reigning champions, Scatter O’Light has a little live Oasis set and a lovely picture of some Italian soccer players. Mmmm. But where’s Batistuta? I don’t even know who he’s playing for these days, but there was a time when he and I were tight.

Ûž Dodge is on this mad cover song rage, and has more versions of “God Only Knows” than you can shake a stick at. Also on the recent agenda: Dylan’s Girl From The North Country, Cohen’s Hallelujah, The Pixies’ Where Is My Mind, Elvis’ Suspicious Minds, The Smith’s There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Blue Oyster Cult’s cowbell classic (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. It’s covers galore. He is out of control, folks.

Ûž On an avian note: The Byrds are prepping a huge box set. And the Black Crowes are officially releasing some of their “lost” material from the Tall Sessions and the Band Sessions, which Justin had up over at Aquarium Drunkard because he ROCKS like that.

Ûž Jennings at rbally has an amazing Van Morrison bootleg from Fillmore West in San Francisco, circa 1970, nine years before wee Heather was even thought of. But I wish I could have been there.

Ûž Pearl Jam has a new video for Life Wasted. I tried to watch it and all the gory bloody heads (a la the new album art) kind of turned me off, but the concept is way cool: “In its latest bid to show its progressive side, popular band Pearl Jam has just released its latest music video, “Life Wasted,” under a Creative Commons license. That means, according to Creative Commons creative director Eric Steuer, that anyone will be able to ‘legally copy, distribute and share the clip’ for noncommercial purposes. Steuer thinks that this is the first music video from a major record label to be so licensed. But either way, it’s a great step forward for those who believe that content can be both protected and shared, something the record companies and the movie studios usually don’t seem to believe.”

And this is a really great in-store video from this weekend up in Seattle with Nada Surf performing “What Is Your Secret” (complete with forgotten lyrics and laughter).

I love the immediacy of YouTube, as well as the educational value. For example, in addition to great in-store musical performances, I also learned that Lindsay Lohan is apparently a firecrotch. What an adjective.

Ûž Finally, this is one of the funniest articles I have ever read: Baghdad’s love affair with Lionel Ritchie:

“Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. ‘I love Lionel Richie,’ they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song.”

That is beyond excellent.

Odds & ends

Ûž Starbucks is selling the new Pearl Jam album. No wait, listen. Starbucks. Is selling. The new Pearl Jam, alongside Norah Jones. Let’s just ponder that for a little while. I am not sure how I feel about that, but then again, *I* was in Starbucks. And I like Pearl Jam. So that means either I am not as youthful and rebellious as I once thought, or else I am just becoming a yuppie (in denial, but one nonetheless?). Hmmm. Depressing.

Ûž Well, that settles that. The Arctic Monkeys have officially beaten Noel Gallagher in a drinking contest after a show at London’s Brixton Academy. With tequila nonetheless. It’s because the Arctic Monkeys’ livers are younger and fresher. Noel says, “Normally when somebody asks if you want one you say ‘no’.” Remember that, Heather. Tequila, my nemesis. The article is funny as all get out.

Ûž In the wake of the defunction of Grandaddy, you can catch some in-stores with frontman Jason Lytle. He’ll be at Easy Street in Seattle tonight, and at Amoeba in San Fran on Saturday performing songs off Just Like the Fambly Cat (V2).

Ûž One of my all-time favorite bloggers gets in on the music commentary. Read dooce’s “Potentially Shamed By The Shuffle.” Another Heather doing the world proud.

Ûž FUEL’s 100,000th visitor received the Nicolai Dunger promo CD I sent him (see, you didn’t even know there was a contest going on! Neither did I!), and as a sort of thanks he posted up a “superb gig” with Jens Lekman over on his blog. Enjoy!

Ûž I also just got an email from Ticketbastard: “Heather, Don’t Miss Nickelback! We thought we’d let you know about the following events you might enjoy: Nickelback VIP Packages, Coors Amphitheatre, 08/09/06.” Tempting. Glad I am somehow on their list for them to let me know about that one.

Ûž Death Cab For Cutie will be on the Henry Rollins Show tomorrow night, you can watch it online. The ULTIMATE in scary tattooed manliness meets the gentle emo boys of indie rock.

The person who let me know about this show also told me that the band name of Death Cab comes from the Beatles movie Magical Mystery Tour. Perhaps I am the last person to know that, but I guess it makes the band name seem a percentile cooler and less annoying to know that provenance.

Ûž Fascinating article about the hidden rootkits/spyware scandal from Sony BMG Music.

Ûž Penn State University of Pennsylvania gets all the best commencement speakers. I think I got the Smothers Brothers. What? I’ll take me a rapping Jodie Foster any day. Wait, no, actually that makes me feel mightily uncomfortable. It’s like when your dad tries to quote Nas or something.

“What the funk is up?”

Let’s all admit right now that 1990 was an embarassing year for a variety of reasons. Mariah Carey, Bel Biv Devoe, Vanilla Ice, and Whitney Houston: yes, I knew them all. I was 11.

Eddie Vedder took some time in 1990 to perform this rather unfortunate song: (with Bad Radio, Feb 11, 1990)

Thanks for the tip, Chad. You ROCK, you closet Pearl Jam stalker, you.

Pearl Jam promo video for new album

Here is a 5 minute promotional interview video with Pearl Jam, which is very reminiscent of the Single Video Theory DVD (1998) released for the Yield Sessions. Directed by Danny Clinch (who also did that Ryan Adams featurette), it contains interview clips of Ed, Stone and Mike mixed with the band playing in-studio and working on the new material (“Pretty much every song was written, like, looking at a body of water,” says Vedder). Songs featured include World Wide Suicide, Life Wasted, Comatose, and Severed Hand.

This makes me very very happy on this good Friday.

Thanks to The Sky I Scrape for the tip-off.

New Pearl Jam (!&%*&#!!!): Parachutes

Oh, I can’t see straight. Oh my gosh. I am blinded by this song. I will try to pare down the dramatics, but my heart is racing in the manner of really good music and what it does to you inside. There is a new top finisher in the race for Heather’s favorite Pearl Jam song. If you thought you didn’t like Pearl Jam (Clea, I’m talking to you) just listen to this:

“Parachutes” – Pearl Jam (link expired)

Here’s a short recounting of how I came to buckle on my moral standards regarding leaked PJ tracks: I was looking for information on the second leg of the Pearl Jam tour, which is rumored to be released early this week, and came across a thread on the message board about Parachutes. WAAF in Boston apparently started playing at least 4 leaked tracks from the new album last week, and they have been steadily making their rounds on the net since then.

People who had heard Parachutes were posting what it reminded them of: “I was thinking the Beatles, namely Ob La Di, Ob La Da…” – “similar to the Harvest Moon MOOD during the Canadian Tour” – “the riff at the end is definitely the same as Bowie’s on his song All The Young Dudes” – “It reminds me heaps of the Radiohead song ‘No Surprises’” – “Definitely Beatles, White Album.” Wow, I had to hear this one.

Parachutes was written by Stone Gossard, the other god-like guitarist, and was described in Rolling Stone as being “an island-flavored beauty with acoustic guitars,” but I’ll echo everyone else on the Pearl Jam boards and agree that I hear straight-up Beatlesesque pop. It’s got a quirky time signature and really lovely vocal tone from Vedder.

Listen closely at the end, right at 3:09, for the build and the sweet electric guitar to kick in. Aahhh. I really lack words. I love you, Stone.

I thought I was strong. I thought I was noble. Turns out I am just as easily swayed as the next gal. But this is it, a moratorium starts from here on out, I will not listen to any more leaked tracks until the album comes out May 2. No, I’m serious. Stop chuckling.

And for pete’s sake, just pre-order the new album already
a) so that I don’t feel as bad about buckling and leaking the one awesome track and
b) because you get a really rad bonus CD included – circa 1992, with the Vedder angst & The Scream.

Mike McCready on KROQ Monday: Pearl Jam news

Mike McCready, one of the god-like guitarists from Pearl Jam, did an interview on KROQ Radio this past Monday (3/27/06). Topics discussed include their new album, opening bands for the tour (Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth), the Surfrider Foundation, and the 30-50 odd songs that they have in their vaults that no one has heard. Mike also talks about how “rocking out is in [his] blood.” Amen.

Listen to it here:

Mike McCready, KROQ Radio, 3/27/06 (mp3, about ten minutes)

Pearl Jam album cover revealed, and sweet pre-order deal

So, wow, one of the best things about being a music blogger is that people representing PEARL JAM (who, as you all know are probably my favorite band) send me stuff regarding the new album! I am so excited, this is fab. Here is the cover of the new album. Why is there an avocado? Jury’s still out on that one. But they are a fabulous source of healthy fats in your diet.

A few related tidbits that I’ve found:

• World Wide Suicide debuted on Billboard Modern Rock Audience Chart at number 1 and number 3 overall on the format’s chart. Check out this Billboard article. Go boys!

• There is a sweet pre-order deal goin on right now at the pearljam.com site. If you pre-order the album you get a free DVD of their epic 1992 New Year’s Eve show at The Academy in New York (opening for Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos). Read the SPIN article here about the show, and download the audio file of Wash from that same show (and read more about it). Sah-weet! For $14 bucks you can’t miss.

• Rolling Stone recently had a listen of the album and offered up some more tantalizing details about the music: “The title, Pearl Jam, reflects the group’s most collaborative effort yet: It produced the album together, along with Adam Kasper; each member will receive writing credits; and, for the first time ever, guitarist Mike McCready contributes lyrics, to the album closer ‘Inside Job.’ Gossard’s two musical pieces, ‘Parachutes,’ an island-flavored beauty with acoustic guitars, a Wurlitzer, and shifting time signatures, and ‘Life Wasted,’ which features a bridge reminiscent of Pink Floyd, are among twelve or thirteen tracks that made the final cut.”

New Pearl Jam (full version): World Wide Suicide

Ha! The new Pearl Jam single is officially going to be available for download this Tuesday from the fabulously redesigned PearlJam.com website, and I was hoping it would surface in advance. Well, yay, it did. Some technologically clever soul ripped the audio from the 107.7 The End radio stream and I am so pleased to present it to you.

I find myself still furiously in love with that guitar riff on the chorus. It’s tight and caged and excellent. I was a bit surprised to hear that the sound of the rest of the song is more loping and melodic than the earlier snippet made it seem. The verse portions of World Wide Suicide strongly remind me of an excellent, excellent b-side from the Lost Dogs CD called Undone.

“World Wide Suicide” – Pearl Jam
(updated with official released version – better quality – on 3/7/06)

One thing I am not as crazy about is the title of their new album: Pearl Jam. Yep, self-titled. That seems like more of a debut album move to me, but some say it is a classic in the rock tradition. I would have voted for the “Super-unowned” title myself, but oddly, no one asked me.

Pearl Jam’s new album is scheduled for a May 2 release. The confirmed tracklist is:
01 Life Wasted
02 World Wide Suicide
03 Comatose (formerly Crapshoot)
04 Severed Hand
05 Marker In The Sand
06 Parachutes
07 Unemployable
08 Big Wave
09 Gone (previously featured on the Monday Music Roundup in January, go snag it)
10 Wasted Reprise
11 Army Reserve
12 Come Back
13 Inside Job

The first leg of the tour dates have been announced. My stars, do I love these guys & I am stoked for a tour.

New Pearl Jam (snippet): Worldwide Suicide

Now this is a mixed bag because the 15 seconds of this song is really nothing more than a teaser, and I can’t even say what I think at this point, other than that this song has a pretty solid, catchy riff. Kind of reminds me of Do The Evolution in the caged energy and making me want to jump around. You can download 15 seconds of the song here if you want to hear it for now. Your trusty blogger here will try her best to seek out a full-length mp3 as soon as possible.

New album still slated for May 2 on the J Records label. Vedder has said of the new album, during a Brazilian radio interview, “It’s easily the best stuff we’ve done but also some of the hardest stuff. It’s very aggressive, because again, it’s kind of a product of what it’s like to be an American these days. It’s pretty aggressive, especially when you turn it loud.”

The album is currently untitled, but Vedder says he was kicking around titles which play off of one of the best albums from the ’90s, Soundgarden’s Superunknown: “I was thinking of the word ‘un-owned’ — not owned by anybody,” he said. “The sky is un-owned. The moon is un-owned. We’re un-owned. We want to remain un-owned. The title was ‘Superun-owned.”

And I think that is rad.

Behind the Music: Eddie Vedder, Bad Radio & early Pearl Jam

Look closely at the ’80s photo above and you may recognize now famous Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder sporting some extremely questionable fashion choices in 1989 with his band Bad Radio. While living and working in San Diego (as a gas station attendant), Ed was a driven songwriter on a passionate quest to be heard and have his music heard. The early Vedder/Bad Radio recordings are still floating around, both demos and live performances. I think it is interesting to hear that same awesome voice, albeit over some music that sounds pretty, well, 1989. But it is a hell of a lot better than most of the other top albums of 1989 (to refresh your memory, Bobby Brown, Debbie Gibson, Milli Vanilli, and everyone’s favorite saccharine American Idol judge, Paula Abdul. That is the year my fifth-grade classmate Carl Harris promised me tickets to the New Kids on the Block concert, and I was sorely disheartened when they did not materialize. Ah, 1989.).

“Believe You Me” – Bad Radio
In 1990, Bad Radio won the battle of the bands (San Diego) contest at Rio’s using this song.

“Homeless” – Bad Radio
Interesting to me how the subject matter here is strongly reminiscent of Even Flow. I also love the way his voice soars on the final verse, “Look me in the eye just this one time I mean it, I won’t be here tomorrow, there’s only one place left to go…”

“Betterman” – Bad Radio
(did you know this was a Bad Radio song? Kind of scratchy live recording, but cool)

While doin’ his thing in San Diego, the roots of PJ were beginning to form further up the coast in Seattle. The story is full of kismet: Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCready were already playing together, working on stuff for Temple of the Dog. They had just finished a three-song instrumental demo with Matt Cameron (Soundgarden) on drums. This cassette tape demo found its way down to Vedder via ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons, who passed it along to Ed during a hiking trip together.

When Vedder got this instrumental demo tape, he listened to it several times, and then headed out to the companionship of the waves for an afternoon of surfing. Amisdt the solitude of the ocean, lyrics began to percolate. Vedder then dubbed these lyrics as vocals over the cassette tape and called it the Mamasan Trilogy: Part One – Alive, Part Two – Once, and Part 3 – Footsteps. It tells a story which Vedder calls a sort of mini-opera.

Well, the guys in Seattle liked what they heard when the tape was returned to them, and Vedder flew up to Seattle at the end of October 1990 to test the waters musically together. They clicked. That first week of rehearsals (10/23/90) and some of the demo versions of songs that they laid down are still extant, and today you get to hear ‘em too:

PEARL JAM: FIRST WEEK REHEARSALS/DEMOS

Even Flow
Once
Breath
Release
Girl
Goat
Alive
Alone
Oceans
Black
Improv (will later become one of my favorite songs, Yellow Ledbetter)
Weird A
Daddy Could Swear I Declare

*ZIP FILE OF ALL SONGS*

Vedder, Ament, McCready, and Gossard (with the addition of Dave Krusen on drums) called their new band Mookie Blaylock, in reference the pro-basketball point guard of the same name (pictured right….uh, jersey number Ten). This name was changed (legal trademark concerns) in favor of Pearl Jam, after briefly considering the name Reenk Roink, and the band was solidified. And fifteen years later, we all still reap the benefits.

Thanks, as always, to The Sky I Scrape for some of the PJ history.

NOTE: If you dig the “remember when” music history like I do, also jet on over to the featurette that (superfan) Chad put together on Elliott Smith back when he was just a young-un, fronting a band called Stranger Than Fiction. The high school photo is priceless.