Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Soundgarden (with Matt) to Play SXSW's iTunes Festival


Next month, Matt Cameron breaks his promise to leave Soundgarden fans wanting this year when he joins the band for the iTunes Festival at South By Southwest where the band will celebrate the anniversary of Superunknown by playing the album front-to-back live.  Even if you can't attend, you can watch the show live via iTunes.

From March 11-15, iTunes Festival at SXSW is taking over ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, for five spectacular nights of live music.  Stream the shows live or after the performances right here.

Located in the heart of the live-music mecca that is Austin, Texas, ACL Live at the Moody Theater hosts more than 100 shows a year and is home to the oldest televised music series in America.  There couldn't be a more perfect venue for iTunes Festival at SXSW.

Watch your favorite artists perform live or after the performances [right here] in the iTunes Store.  You can also watch the concerts on your big screen with Apple TV - just select iTunes Festival from the main menu or stream via AirPlay with the official app.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Help Save a Piece of Pearl Jam History


London Bridge Studios, where Ten, Temple of the Dog, Mother Love Bone's Shine, and Soundgarden's Louder than Love (among many other great albums) were recorded, is having an on-line Kickstarter-ish campaign to restore their Neve console.  They've cut this great video featuring owners, Geoff Ott, Jonathan Plum, and Eric Lilavois, and Ten and Temple of the Dog producer, Rick Parashar, to encourage you.

Be A Part of Seattle Rock History & Help Restore London Bridge Studio's Legendary NEVE Console from Eric Lilavois on Vimeo.

Need more convincing?  How about an audio track of all the great tunes cut at London Bridge?


Contribute what you can, but goodies start at $35.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Soundgarden to Reissue Superunknown


This year is the 20th anniversary of Soundgarden's Superunknown, and the band will be celebrating big with a remastered album which is available in a 2-CD or 2-LP format or a Super Deluxe Edition with 4 CDs and a Blu-Ray packaged in a hardcover book and a 10-inch singles boxed set.  The official announcement follows with a full tracklist below:
This year, the band celebrates the 20th anniversary of this groundbreaking album with a special reissue in two deluxe versions outlined below and available on June 3, 2014 via A&M Records/UME. The Deluxe Edition is a 2-CD package featuring the remastered album along with disc two consisting of demos, rehearsals, B-sides and more. The Super Deluxe Edition is a 5-CD package featuring the remastered album, additional demos, rehearsals and B-sides and the fifth disc is the album mixed in Blu-ray ™ Audio 5.1 Surround Sound. The Super Deluxe Edition is incredibly packaged in a hardbound book with a lenticular cover, liner notes by David Fricke and newly reimagined album artwork designed by Josh Graham. It also features never before seen band photography by Kevin Westerberg. A 2-LP gatefold of the original 16 vinyl tracks remastered on 200-gram vinyl in a gatefold jacket will also be made available. 
In addition, the Superunknown singles and associated b-sides with newly interpreted artwork sleeves by Josh Graham will be reissued on Record Store Day, April 19th, as a set of five limited edition 10″ vinyl records.



DELUXE EDITION 2CD TRACK LISTING:
CD ONE – REMASTERED ALBUM
1. Let Me Drown
2. My Wave
3. Fell on Black Days
4. Mailman
5. Superunknown
6. Head Down
7. Black Hole Sun
8. Spoonman
9. Limo Wreck
10. The Day I Tried to Live
11. Kickstand
12. Fresh Tendrils
13. 4th of July
14. Half
15. Like Suicide
16. She Likes Surprises

CD TWO – Demos, Rehearsals, B-Sides & More
1. Let Me Drown (Demo)^
2. Black Hole Sun (Demo)^
3. Half (Demo)^
4. Head Down (Rehearsal)^
5. Limo Wreck (Rehearsal)^
6. The Day I Tried to Live (Rehearsal)^
7. Like Suicide (Acoustic)
8. Black Days III*
9. Birth Ritual (Original Demo Version)
10. Exit Stonehenge
11. Kyle Petty, Son of Richard
12. Jerry Garcia’s Finger
13. Spoonman (Alternate Steve Fisk Remix)^
14. The Day I Tried To Live (Scott Litt Mix)^
15. 4th of July (Instrumental)^
16. Superunknown (Instrumental)^


SUPER DELUXE TRACK LISTING:
CD ONE – REMASTERED ALBUM
1. Let Me Drown
2. My Wave
3. Fell on Black Days
4. Mailman
5. Superunknown
6. Head Down
7. Black Hole Sun
8. Spoonman
9. Limo Wreck
10. The Day I Tried to Live
11. Kickstand
12. Fresh Tendrils
13. 4th of July
14. Half
15. Like Suicide
16. She Likes Surprises

CD TWO – B-SIDES & MORE
1. The Day I Tried To Live (Alternate Mix)^
2. Spoonman (Alternate Steve Fisk Remix)^
3. Beyond The Wheel (Live)
4. Fell On Black Days (Live)
5. Birth Ritual (Original Demo Version)
6. Jesus Christ Pose (Live)
7. Like Suicide (Acoustic Version)
8. Kickstand (Live)
9. My Wave (Live)
10. Spoonman (Steve Fisk Remix)
11. Exit Stonehenge
12. Kyle Petty, Son of Richard
13. Black Days III*
14. Ghostmotorfinger**
15. Jerry Garcia’s Finger
16. Fell On Black Days (Video Version)

CD THREE – THE DEMOS (unreleased)
1. Let Me Drown (Demo)
2. Fell On Black Days (Demo)
3. Superunknown (Demo)
4. Black Hole Sun (Demo)
5. Spoonman (Demo)
6. Fresh Tendrils (Demo)
7. 4th of July (Demo)
8. Half (Demo)
9. Like Suicide (Demo)

CD FOUR – THE REHEARSALS (unreleased)
1. Black Hole Sun (Rehearsal)
2. Bing Bing Goes To Church (Rehearsal)
3. Half (Rehearsal)
4. Head Down (Rehearsal)
5. Kyle Petty, Son Of Richard (Rehearsal)
6. Let Me Drown (Rehearsal)
7. Limo Wreck (Rehearsal)
8. My Wave (Rehearsal)
9. Fresh Tendrils (Rehearsal)
10. Like Suicide (Rehearsal)
11. Ruff Riff-Raff (Rehearsal)
12. Exit Stonehenge (Rehearsal)
13. Spoonman (Rehearsal)
14. The Date I Tried To Leave (Rehearsal)
15. The Day I Tried To Live (Rehearsal)

DISC FIVE – BLU-RAY AUDIO 5.1 MIX
1. Let Me Drown (5.1 Mix)
2. My Wave (5.1 Mix)
3. Fell On Black Days (5.1 Mix)
4. Mailman (5.1 Mix)
5. Superunknown (5.1 Mix)
6. Head Down (5.1 Mix)
7. Black Hole Sun (5.1 Mix)
8. Spoonman (5.1 Mix)
9. Limo Wreck (5.1 Mix)
10. The Day I Tried To Live (5.1 Mix)
11. Kickstand (5.1 Mix)
12. Fresh Tendrils (5.1 Mix)
13. 4th Of July (5.1 Mix)
14. Half (5.1 Mix)
15. Like Suicide (5.1 Mix)
16. She Likes Surprises (Int’l Vers & Us 12″) (5.1 Mix)


THE SINGLES – FIVE 10-INCH VINYL SET
1. SPOONMAN
Fresh Tendrils
Cold Bitch
Exit Stonehenge

2. THE DAY I TRIED TO LIVE
Like Suicide (Acoustic Version)
Kickstand (Live)
Limo Wreck

3. BLACK HOLE SUN
Jesus Christ Pose (Live)
Beyond The Wheel (Live)
Fell On Black Days (Live)

4. MY WAVE
Spoonman (Steve Fisk Remix)
Birth Ritual (Original Demo Version)
My Wave (Live)

5. FELL ON BLACK DAYS
Kyle Petty, Son of Richard
Ghostmotorfinger**
Fell On Black Days (Video Version)
Girl U Want
Black Days III*

* Originally titled “Fell On Black Days (Demo – Early Version)”
**Originally titled “Motorcycle Loop (Short Version)”
^ Previously Unreleased

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Amanda Palmer's Eddie Crush


... or is it Eddie Vedder's Amanda crush?  Maybe it's not even news, but whenever two ukulele afficianados start trading [professional] love in public forums, it's going to hit the Interwebz.  

Who is Amanda Palmer?  Well, I didn't know until the New York Times featured her and Ed in an article about the ukulele's current popularity.  She's a fairly obscure American artist who at some point started whipping out a ukulele on stage.  That eventually led to her cutting a full album of Radiohead covers done on ukuelele.  It's on Bandcamp for a dollar right now.

Much like Ed, the ukulele doesn't always take the forefront in her music, but in her most recent album with The Grand Theft Orchestra included a song called Ukelele Anthem.

It seems that Ed took a shine to that song because he covered it on New Year's Eve at Bill Maher's party in Hawaii then he sent Amanda a ukulele as a Christmas gift (it looks like she needs it, is that a toy 4-string on her album cover?) and included a gift that said, "Thanks for penning the greatest ukulele song ever written."  Anyhow ... she was "filled with absolute joy."


Then earlier this week Ed invited her to Melbourne to play Ukulele Anthem and Hard Sun.  An experience that left us with some great backstage pictures.  You can see what Amanda had to say about it on her blog.

So, will this public crush continue?  Will Palmer be on Ed's third album?  Will that third album be available later this year?  Will it include songs that were left off the soundtrack for Out of the Furnace?

I can't help it.  It's a Pearl Jam blog.  Certain questions must be prioritized.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Pearl Jam Adds North America 2006 to iTunes


Last year, Pearl Jam revamped their iTunes store to offer tons of previously out-of-print live shows.  Now they've added North America 2006.  The new section includes all of their U.S. shows from Albany to Portland (Canadian shows, The Gorge, and Hawaii are excluded).  Still, if you're looking to round out your iTunes/Pearl Jam collection, you've now got 31 new shows with which to do that.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Ed and The Boss on a Highway to Hell


Backstreets Magazine, reporting from Australia, tweeted us a photo of what will surely become one of the most popular Ed/Springsteen collaborations of all time.

Earlier today, Eddie Vedder took the stage with Bruce Springsteen in Melbourne to cover AC/DC's Highway to Hell.  Check out the video below.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

From The Top with Jeff Ament

FROM THE TOP with Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam from Peter Shmock on Vimeo.

Jeff recently sat down with former Mariners coach, Peter Shmock, to talk about how the lessons he learned playing team sports are applied to being part of a successful band.
Pearl Jam bass player, Jeff Ament sits down with Peter to reflect on his 30 + year path to creating and maintaining his successful career in music. Jeff drew from his experience in team sports to define and adapt his tenured role in Pearl Jam. A mix of talent, intuition and commitment, Jeff has mastered the Life Athlete way of "going hard and going easy." In part 1 of this "sit down" Jeff shares how he draws from everything he learned in team sports to help keep Pearl Jam at the top of their game.



Monday, February 3, 2014

All Four Lightning Bolt Interviews Now Available in Full

Pearl Jam's most obsessive fans can now rejoice.  Over the past few weeks, Pearl Jam has been releasing full-length versions of the interviews that Danny Clinch used to create his Lightning Bolt short film.  With today's release of Carrie Brownstein's interview, you can now view more than three hours worth of Pearl Jam interviews. 

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN (MUSICIAN/ACTRESS)

STEVE GLEASON (FORMER NFL SAFETY)

JUDD APATOW (FILM DIRECTOR)

MARK RICHARDS (PROFESSIONAL SURFER)

Maybe next week we'll get Ed and Danny previewing the album in the car?


Happy Birthday, Boom Gaspar


Sunday, February 2, 2014

Shinedown's Brent Smith and Zach Myers to Release Cover of Black


Shinedown frontman Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers released an EP last week called (Acoustic Sessions) featuring a cover of Pearl Jam's Black.  If you like the video below, you can pick up a digital copy for five bucks here.
Now available, download this highly anticipated, one of a kind digital (Acoustic Sessions) EP from Shinedown’s Brent Smith and Zach Myers. For a limited time get this digital EP for free when you spend $20 or more in Shinedown’s official store!

This brand new fully acoustic and intimate EP features half a dozen tracks picked exclusively by Shinedown fans. Smith & Myers put their own acoustic touch on classic hits from legendary artists including The Clash, Otis Redding, Metallica, Black Crowes, Kenny Wayne Shepard, and Soul Asylum.

February 2: Pearl Jam in Perth