Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Top Ten Live Acts of All Time!
Thank you, Rolling Stone readers, for putting Pearl Jam in your top ten live acts of all time. Of course, we think they're number one, but the list is good company.
When you see Pearl Jam you never quite know what kind of show you're going to get. Sometimes they play all the early hits like "Jeremy," "Black" and "Alive," while the very next night be mainly deep tracks from Yield, Riot Act and No Code. Regardless of what they perform, Pearl Jam approaches every show with a Springsteen-like level of passion and respect for their fans. They go out of their way to make each show special, often extending out the encores for well over an hour. It's one reason why they continue to pack giant venues without radio hits or much media mainstream attention.
Full list:
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
- The Rolling Stones
- The Who
- Pink Floyd
- Led Zeppelin
- U2
- Queen
- Pearl Jam
- Grateful Dead
- Kiss
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Eddie Vedder US Tour Rumor
We've mumbled about the uke album. We've mumbled about the DVD. Now we mumble about the US Tour.
Guerilla Candy has whet our appetite.
The last bit of today’s trifecta of speculation also comes from the band’s message boards where one poster mentions that Philadelphia 76ers announcer Matt Cord said Eddie would be playing in Philly in June at Pennsylvania’s Tower Theater. If this is true it’s safe to assume the show would be part of a U.S. tour since Vedder is touring Australia, and hopefully that tour will include a gig in Seattle so Eddie can finally play his first official solo show in the city where he lives.
All That's Sacred, Episode #77
One thing I love about music is its ability to inspire a myriad of emotions: happiness, excitement, affection, anger, resolve, you could go on and on... But I think the one thing that sets music apart from all other artforms is its ability to heal and empathize when you are struggling and in a dark place. Somehow knowing that another has walked a similar path can be of great comfort.
Today's ATS was motivated by a letter from an old friend congratulating me on my return to the podcast and commiserating about the current job market. At one point in the letter, he joked that maybe I should do an unemployment-themed podcast someday. Given the origins of ATS, I thought this was an idea worth pursuing. These musical expressions on #77 have always helped me process things mentally and emotionally and have been great friends to me over the years.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Guided Tour of Vitalogy: Satan's Bed
SATAN'S BED
Bugs ends with the main characters surrender, his resignation and acceptance that the forces arrayed against him are simply too much and that it isn’t worth fighting anymore. The accordion cuts out and you’re left with an image (or at least I am) of the main character walking off into darkness or being overrun. But either way we lose sight of him.
Satan’s Bed picks up right where Bugs leaves off. The first thing we here is the sound of the whip, ordering the slave back to work, but when the music comes back in we’re in a different space than we were at the end of Bugs. It’s dirty, raunchy, argumentative, and seems to say “I don’t feel like taking any of your shit.” The music is a repudiation of the surrender at the end of Bugs, and the lyrics advance the same theme and feeling. It’s a refusal to be an image instead of a person, a celebration of imperfect authenticity. There is a relaxed playfulness to the song that is also a welcome break from the tension on the rest of the record. The urgency is still there, but there is a confidence lacking elsewhere, but Satan’s Bed really escapes the claustrophobic feel of the rest of the record, as if by making the song’s central declaration “already in love” he’s lifted a huge weight off of his chest and can breathe easy for the first time in forever.
The first verse frankly admits the power of the temptation, the allure of giving in, of accepting the rewards that come from surrendering principles, taking the easy way out. The temptation is always there---constant (Sundays Fridays Tuesdays Thursdays the same), uninvited (you know he don’t wait/sometimes the special guest he don’t like to leave), and powerful (I always want to give in). So what stops him from surrendering?
The answer, as it tends to be in most of Pearl Jam’s music, is love, a purer, healthier, more authentic kind of love. The song doesn’t specify what sort of love, which is probably deliberate. It could be his relationship with his girlfriend/wife (I don’t’ recall if he was married yet at the time, but he was still with his pre-fame partner), it could be his love of music, or it could be the more meaningful forms of friendship and solidarity he has in his life. But in all cases these relationships predate the temptations and trappings of fame, surrender, or selling out, and however imperfect they are, are powerful because the expressions of something more authentic and pure, a relationship unmediated by the promises and expectations of others.
The second verse develops the theme of authenticity further, and is one of my favorite verses in the catalog. It rejects the social standards of a celebrity consumer culture demanding that everything in life should be easy and perfect, its superficiality and materialism, and reminds us that its understanding of happiness and contentment is not only illusory, but unnecessary, as the thing in life that is most valuable and meaningful (authentic and unmediated love) is above and beyond these illusionary standards—in fact, they may only be achievable if we actively reject those standards. And we don’t need to look to celebrity heroes and voices of our generations. It requires no fucking messiah. Love is something we can find and create for ourselves.
The bridge is a brief throwback to Bugs, almost a reminder of where he has come from. That the rewards offered from surrender, acceptance, selling out, come at a great price, an endless cycle of torture and rewards. But there is also a realization that this is inevitable—it is the nature of life, and that whether or not you surrender or dedicate your time here to trying to move the rock you’re going to have to accept that every existence will be a series of victories and defeats, rewards and punishments, joy and sadness. There is no way around this, and the best we can do is find the right kinds of love that can help us endure and if we’re lucky, find moments of triumph.
And the third verse brings us back to the Satan metaphor and reprises the themes of the rest of the song. In case it wasn’t clear there is the declaration that he hasn’t given in—that despite the temptations he has yet to shake Satan’s hand, or, if you like, suck his dick. There is a desire to accept the hardships in life for what they are, and to live it as best we can, imperfectly for sure, but in a way that is true to ourselves. If we’re going to fail we’ll jump off our own cliffs. If we’re going to rise we’ll do it on our own power. We won’t take the easy way out or conform to others expectations for ourselves. It’ll be difficult at time, and while the possibility of an angel coming to rescue us is comforting, we also have to learn to accept that they probably aren’t going to make it, and that we’re going to have to learn to live for ourselves, to save ourselves, on our own---but never truly alone as long as we are in possession of a better kind of love.
OTHER SONGS IN THIS SERIES
OTHER GUIDED TOUR SERIES:
Binaural
Backspacer
Bugs ends with the main characters surrender, his resignation and acceptance that the forces arrayed against him are simply too much and that it isn’t worth fighting anymore. The accordion cuts out and you’re left with an image (or at least I am) of the main character walking off into darkness or being overrun. But either way we lose sight of him.
Satan’s Bed picks up right where Bugs leaves off. The first thing we here is the sound of the whip, ordering the slave back to work, but when the music comes back in we’re in a different space than we were at the end of Bugs. It’s dirty, raunchy, argumentative, and seems to say “I don’t feel like taking any of your shit.” The music is a repudiation of the surrender at the end of Bugs, and the lyrics advance the same theme and feeling. It’s a refusal to be an image instead of a person, a celebration of imperfect authenticity. There is a relaxed playfulness to the song that is also a welcome break from the tension on the rest of the record. The urgency is still there, but there is a confidence lacking elsewhere, but Satan’s Bed really escapes the claustrophobic feel of the rest of the record, as if by making the song’s central declaration “already in love” he’s lifted a huge weight off of his chest and can breathe easy for the first time in forever.
The first verse frankly admits the power of the temptation, the allure of giving in, of accepting the rewards that come from surrendering principles, taking the easy way out. The temptation is always there---constant (Sundays Fridays Tuesdays Thursdays the same), uninvited (you know he don’t wait/sometimes the special guest he don’t like to leave), and powerful (I always want to give in). So what stops him from surrendering?
The answer, as it tends to be in most of Pearl Jam’s music, is love, a purer, healthier, more authentic kind of love. The song doesn’t specify what sort of love, which is probably deliberate. It could be his relationship with his girlfriend/wife (I don’t’ recall if he was married yet at the time, but he was still with his pre-fame partner), it could be his love of music, or it could be the more meaningful forms of friendship and solidarity he has in his life. But in all cases these relationships predate the temptations and trappings of fame, surrender, or selling out, and however imperfect they are, are powerful because the expressions of something more authentic and pure, a relationship unmediated by the promises and expectations of others.
The second verse develops the theme of authenticity further, and is one of my favorite verses in the catalog. It rejects the social standards of a celebrity consumer culture demanding that everything in life should be easy and perfect, its superficiality and materialism, and reminds us that its understanding of happiness and contentment is not only illusory, but unnecessary, as the thing in life that is most valuable and meaningful (authentic and unmediated love) is above and beyond these illusionary standards—in fact, they may only be achievable if we actively reject those standards. And we don’t need to look to celebrity heroes and voices of our generations. It requires no fucking messiah. Love is something we can find and create for ourselves.
The bridge is a brief throwback to Bugs, almost a reminder of where he has come from. That the rewards offered from surrender, acceptance, selling out, come at a great price, an endless cycle of torture and rewards. But there is also a realization that this is inevitable—it is the nature of life, and that whether or not you surrender or dedicate your time here to trying to move the rock you’re going to have to accept that every existence will be a series of victories and defeats, rewards and punishments, joy and sadness. There is no way around this, and the best we can do is find the right kinds of love that can help us endure and if we’re lucky, find moments of triumph.
And the third verse brings us back to the Satan metaphor and reprises the themes of the rest of the song. In case it wasn’t clear there is the declaration that he hasn’t given in—that despite the temptations he has yet to shake Satan’s hand, or, if you like, suck his dick. There is a desire to accept the hardships in life for what they are, and to live it as best we can, imperfectly for sure, but in a way that is true to ourselves. If we’re going to fail we’ll jump off our own cliffs. If we’re going to rise we’ll do it on our own power. We won’t take the easy way out or conform to others expectations for ourselves. It’ll be difficult at time, and while the possibility of an angel coming to rescue us is comforting, we also have to learn to accept that they probably aren’t going to make it, and that we’re going to have to learn to live for ourselves, to save ourselves, on our own---but never truly alone as long as we are in possession of a better kind of love.
OTHER SONGS IN THIS SERIES
Last Exit
Spin The Black Circle
Not For You
Tremor Christ
Nothingman
Whipping
Pry, To
Corduroy
Bugs
Satan's Bed
Better Man
Spin The Black Circle
Not For You
Tremor Christ
Nothingman
Whipping
Pry, To
Corduroy
Bugs
Satan's Bed
Better Man
OTHER GUIDED TOUR SERIES:
Binaural
Backspacer
Three Mountains Now Available
Tres Mountains' debut, Three Mountains, is now available for $9.99 at the Ten Club or iTunes and $7.99 on Amazon. If you preordered the CD or vinyl you might even have a nice e-mail in your inbox.
It looks like there are two bonus tracks attached:
Every Dream Home a Heartache and I Smoke
Monday, March 7, 2011
If you Luv Fish and Mountains ...
PearlJamOnline.it has scored an exclusive interview with Jeff Ament's favorite drummer (Sorry, Matt), Richard Stuverud.
Oddly enough ... I wrote that opening sentence prior to reading the following excerpt. Still who didn't know? Stuverud and Ament have been in three bands together.
Back in 1999, in the back of Three Fish' tour bus, Jeff gave me a copy of "Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend," an amazing biography of Keith Moon. On the first blank page Jeff wrote: "To my favorite drummer, a book of the most bad ass drummer ever... how to and how not to". It was clearly the best compliment i had ever got from a friend and musical companion... (the other half of the rhythm section). It was beyond cool!
Check out the full interview here.
Friday, March 4, 2011
"Makes Me Feel" by Tres Mountains
Spin Magazine has a new exclusive track from Tres Mountains called Makes Me Feel.
Looks like you'll also be able to catch Tres Mountains on Jimmy Fallon March 24th.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Ed DVD?
UPDATE: I posted this a week or so ago, but pulled it down because we can't seem to verify that the news on the Trixie Film blog is current. Nonetheless, rumors persist. File this under possible, but fairly unlikely. -B
We've been freaking out over the rumor that Ed might release an all ukulele album in 2011. Now, film production company, Trixie Film has blogged that they are expecting to release "live Acoustic concert film" of Eddie Vedder.
We've been freaking out over the rumor that Ed might release an all ukulele album in 2011. Now, film production company, Trixie Film has blogged that they are expecting to release "live Acoustic concert film" of Eddie Vedder.
This video has nothing to do with the movie or the album. I'm just posting it to make you all drool.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
A Fallback Career for Ed?
The Chicago Cubs are looking for a new announcer, and ESPN Page 2 has a few ideas.
We like, at least, one of their ideas ...
Can't find a better man for the job than the Pearl Jam frontman and Evanston, Ill., native. Vedder has sung "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field five times since 1998 and even recorded a song, "All the Way," at the special request of Mr. Cub , Ernie Banks, in 2008.
Ed's Uke Album Coming in May?
Dave Bookman, a DJ at 102.1 in Toronto, has tweeted a potential release
New Eddie Vedder solo LP in May..more deets to come coming soonWho knows what his sources are, but that coupled with a post by Grunge Report that the latest Rolling Stone features a photo of Ed in Hawaii posing with his ukulele should have you drooling into your shoes.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
What's Your Pearl Jam Experience?
Pearl Jam continues their experiment into new social experiences for their fans with the creation of PearlJamExperience.com, a website where you can share a blurb, photo, and/or video that encapsulates you experience with any of the tracks features on Live on Ten Legs.
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