Twenty-five years ago: Pearl Jam Ten

With everything else that's been going on, I certainly haven't been keeping up with 2016's significant album anniversaries. However, Pearl Jam's monumental debut Ten deserves recognition as a landmark album of its time, a touchstone in alternative rock and for lasting so well up to the present. The album celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its release just a few days ago, on August 27. It's a near perfect album full of amazing songs, performed with unbridled intensity and musicianship, with vivid lyrics and tangibly passionate performances.

It's one of my all-time favourite albums and Pearl Jam's performance at Lollapalooza 1992 was one of the most magnetic performances I've ever seen, with Eddie Vedder scaling the stage scaffolding and the band in top form.

"Even Flow", with its excellent riff and heaviness that's mixed with such groove, was the first song that I played from the album on my college radio show at the time. The lyric, "He can't help when he's happy he looks insane" is still one of my favourite lyrics, not least of which because it describes a dear friend so well. Soon after, the rest of the album would reveal its magic song by song.

From the atmospheric opening of "Once" through its building intensity, to the aforementioned "Even Flow" to the big single and probably the best known song on the album "Alive", the album gets off to a great start. "Why Go" continues the intensity before one of my favourites of the favourites "Black" goes into dark and intense territory. The other song that vies for the title of best known, "Jeremy", is next with its vivid lyrical description of tragedy. The album continues its flow through the atmospheric "Oceans", the outstanding and frantic "Porch", the intensely passionate "Garden" and the mind-bending jam of "Deep" before hitting the slow-burn of "Release". Ten is a truly incredible album and a personal favourite.

"Once"

"Even Flow", an official video that does a pretty good job of capturing the live vibe of the band

"Alive" This version starts of pretty sedate but amps up appropriately and incredibly. Love the Ace Frehley inspired solo.

"Why Go"

"Black"

"Jeremy"

"Oceans"

"Porch" I love the pro-choice message Vedder snuck into this performance.

"Garden"

"Deep"

"Release"

Pic from here.

Video for Pearl Jam's Sirens

Pearl Jam's new album Lightning Bolt comes out October 15. We already heard the rocker "Mind Your Manners" and now we get the solid ballad "Sirens". Check out the official video:

Five-by-Five: Five Recent Five-Star Songs: Pearl Jam, Hanoi Rocks, DIIV, Mike Doughty and N*E*R*D

Just five amazing tracks that came up on iTunes recently. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Pearl Jam "Rats" from 1993's vs.

Hanoi Rocks "Tragedy" from their 1981 album Bangkok Shocks Saigon Shakes Hanoi Rocks

DIIV with "Doused" from last year's Oshin

Mike Doughty "Ossining" from 2003's Rockity Roll

And N*E*R*D with "She Wants to Move" from 2004's Fly or Die

New Pearl Jam track Mind Your Manners!

Yes, it's true. A fresh jar of Pearl Jam. I've loved Pearl Jam since Ten was released and I played "Even Flow" on my college radio show. I was lucky enough to see Pearl Jam live at Lollapalooza 2.

The new album will be called Lightning Bolt and is out October 15. The teaser track is "Mind Your Manners". It rocks hard and sounds like it would have fit well on Vitalogy. Kewl!

Pearl Jam Still Have It

I was a college radio disc jockey back in the early 90s. It was a cool time in music and a very cool time in my musical evolution as I went from being a metal head with pop sensibilities to being turned on to bands like The Wonder Stuff.

I was the first one to grab the album Ten from this new buzz band called Pearl Jam. I checked out a few bits of some tracks and decided to play "Even Flow". I got right into these guys. I had a ticket to see them at the Concert Hall in Toronto - they'd never play a venue that small in T.O. again - and had to sell it off since my own band had a gig in Peterborough. I did get a chance to see them at Lollapalooza 2 with such great acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ministry. Pearl Jam were awesome, with Eddie climbing the lighting rig and stopping a song because someone was down in the pit.  And then there was my friend, who I saw coming over a hill after Ministry's set with his broken glasses in his hand, his white t-shirt smeared with dirt and a large, clear doc marten boot print in the middle of the chest - and, of course, a great big smile on his face.

Thinking of Lollapalooza 2, does anyone remember an act called Sharkbait? They were this crazy act that passed out paint cans and drumsticks and assorted shit to bang on and we all chanted "We love you cuz you keep on crushing" until the energy was amped up so high. Then they had everyone stop and "put your hands in the air" and chill out. I seem to remember body painted boys and girls on stage, too. Very wild. There were lots of people around, but my buddy and I are the only ones who seem to remember seeing this act. Maybe it was the brown acid, or lack thereof.

That's a pretty long intro to say that I really like the tune "The Fixer" from Pearl Jam's most recent album Backspacer. You've probably heard it, and maybe you should hear it again. If you haven't heard it, check it out.



And here's a video of PJ on Jools

Singles, Grunge and Plaid

The 90's. They were pretty cool. There was Grunge and it was good. It was kind of like metal, but with more groove and without the leather and studs and mullets and lyrics about rainbows and dragons. Then they made a movie out of it. The movie was called Singles and lots of grunge-type people were in it. It did have a pretty cool soundtrack. Here are a bunch of tunes from the soundtrack:

Paul Westerberg with "Dyslexic Heart" and "Waiting For Somebody"





Pearl Jam with "State of Love and Trust" - played fast



and Screaming Trees with "Nearly Lost You"

Them Crooked Vultures, Polaris Prize, new James Song, Pearl Jam and more cool stuff

I had seen the band name The Big Pink floating around the Interwebs recently, but hadn't heard any of their music. I saw a post over at Artrocker that echoed my feelings about the name and its origin with The Band. Artrocker posted this video and I think it has a great sound and a great hook. Go to The Big Pink's site and they'll trade your email address for an MP3 of "Dominos". The album, A Brief History of Love, is due out September 15. Emusic has some singles, so I'm hoping they'll get the full album.



Spinner has the ten Polaris Prize nominated albums available for streaming until the prize is won on September 21. Go check it out.

James has recently put up a free mp3 on their site. It's for a song called "Not So Strong" and they say it's semi-legendary. "Not So Strong was first performed during a low-key gig at Hoxton’s Bar and Kitchen in June 2007, and became a regular feature on the setlist throughout the rest of the year. It quickly established itself as a fan favourite, and many of you expressed shock and disappointment when it did not appear on Hey Ma." Great song.

If you're interested in the history of Canadian music, you may be interested in two new documentaries from the CBC. By the time of this post, you've missed the first airing of the first episode, but it looks like there are repeat airings on CBC Newsworld.

I've been enjoying the new single, "The Fixer" from Pearl Jam. They have another new one called "Supersonic". I kind of lost track of Pearl Jam around the time of No Code but it looks like I'm catching up with them again. Backspacer is out September 20. If you pre-order the album from iTunes, you get "The Fixer" right away.



Well, everyone's been freaking out about Them Crooked Vultures (pictured above). They are the newest supergroup comprised of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, and based on the videos linked below, a couple of other guys. Youtube has bits of a couple of songs from the official TCV channel. There's one called "Elephants" and a short and long version of "No One Loves Me and Neither Do I". Stereogum has live videos in features 1, 2, and 3. After listening, I can hear what the fuss is about. They rock hard. They also played with Arctic Monkeys. Spinner's got the scoop on that show.

Think it's too early in the year for lists? Never. Pitchfork has a feature "P2K: The Decade In Music". Highlights include the "Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" and the "Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s".  Stereogum's got some good analysis.

And R.E.M. has a great sounding live version of Accelerate's "Living Well's the Best Revenge". More info on the coming live album on remdublin.com.

Living Well Is The Best Revenge


Photo from themcrookedvultures.com/