Sirens

Ament

Great movie soundtracks, part - whatever

When I started the blog I posted up quite a few movie soundtracks which I intended to add to every now and then. Suffice to say I haven't added to the list because I'm forgetfull/lazy, and well - lets face it, there aren't that many good soundtracks out there.

Thought I'd add one from the film featuring this fictional band:

My least favourite Cameron Crowe movie, but great artists/records on the soundtrack.

Congrats Mr V

After going for a surf with friend and wedding guest Laird Hamilton, Eddie marries Jill Mcormick in Oahu, Hawaii.
Spin magazine article here.

I cried

yeah yeah yeah. let's get that over with right from the off. The other title for this post was going to be 'We are here to save your evening!' (Pele from the Hives).

Here's the setlist:

Given To Fly, Why Go, Brain Damage (cover), Corduroy, Got Some, Once, World Wide Suicide, Small Town, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Unthought Known, Nothing Man, Arms Aloft (cover), Not For You, Of The Earth, State Of Love And Trust, Do The Evolution, Wasted Reprise, Better Man/Save It For Later (cover)

1st encore: Just Breathe, Red Mosquito (feat. Ben Harper), Black, Porch

2nd encore: Go, The Fixer, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

the weather couldn't have been better. The food and beer was expensive. I bought a T-shirt that I'm putting away for Isaac. The sound was better than I'd expected and aside from a strong rendition of an average Joe Strummer song (I don't care about the Clash, sorry) the set was kind of a greatest hits, and I'm perfectly happy with that - and the new track Of The Earth sounded amazing.

the only real downers were the 5 Heidi Montag sound-a-likes with their clutch bag collection, standing next to us facing the other way and talking to/texting each
other and eyeballing anyone who got too near them. I hope your plane crashes into whatever sun drenched neon lit, Rodeo Drive looking fucking toilet you came here from.

and - to Mr 'I'm a quiet loner who doesn't know one single song lyric yet if anyone tries to walk past me to the front I'll give them proper shit' (but am too much of a pussy to do anything when someone fronts me on it) you enjoy that lonely bus ride back to your mothers basement where your microwave bacon cheeseburger is waiting for you. You bald retard.

anyhooo, that aside the night was more or less perfect. Not going to review it here but will say that there's no band I've seen, ever, who are as tight as those guys. Especially this long into a career. It's all about consistency people.

here's a pic of Ben Harper who rocked the support slot after the Hives had finished, and Ben and Eddie doing Under Pressure from early in Bens set. (Not much I know, but I didn't include in the above list - those people who were filming the whole thing to put on YouTube tomorrow. And I mean the WHOLE thing. Put your cameras down and listen to the tunes - you assholes).

I love everyone really.

Link to Absolute Radio site here.

On to the next one

 

So that’s STP over with. A good night all in all. When bands come back from a long hiatus with a new album, and/or new sound – the set lists tend to be pretty predictable:

Start with a few tracks off the early records (Vasoline etc)
Slip into the brand new material for a couple of songs
Some mid-era stuff and slowdown (Creep / Sour Girl)
More new stuff followed by the biggest single(s)(Plush)
Encore (I hate encores) of ‘the old track everyone knows they haven’t played yet’(Dead and Bloated)

Anyway, it works for me – and aside from the blonde girl in front with trustafarian dreads tonguing her boyfriend 2 inches from our faces all night – the crowd was mostly cool too.

Countdown to 1996 Begins

Add these guys...


To these guys...


and it makes this coming June the best month of 2010.

This wasn't on the DVD

Ten – Redux

Partly because it’s my favourite album and partly due to the fact that, the new remixes make each song sound different in ways that are so subtle – I’m deciding if these or the originals sound ‘better’.

A recent re-release of REM’s Murmur, raised the issue of which version would stand the test of time with their fans. And indeed, if the remastered disc sounded TOO clean and crisp, removing the ethereal quality from what was essentially the 1st ‘college rock’ album to break mainstream.

There’s no point in me reviewing Ten Redux as it wouldn’t be that unbiased an opinion, but suffice to say, the most well known tracks off Ten (Jeremy / Alive) do sound new in interesting ways. Alive has possibly a more rounded feel overall, less like a band jam and more a ‘studio cut’. This isn’t necessarily a minus point however as Eddie’s vocals (and especially the drums – as with most of the other tracks) stand out spectacularly well on these versions.

Jeremy - possibly the most played single off the album back in 1992, feels like a new track here, the mix bringing McCready’s guitar to the front more obviously. While Once, Why Go, and Porch also have a new punch underlying their rhythm sections, all the while keeping the familiarity of the songs intact.

The £100 deluxe set would’ve been nice, but the CD/DVD – with the extra tracks from the early recording sessions and full MTV Unplugged show released for the first time, in 5.1 (albeit in the same order as first broadcast with the Jeremy encore still in the middle for some reason) is a nice little package that includes a hardback booklet. And I also have the vinyl on order, which still only takes the whole lot to half the price of the deluxe set.

Any of these are well worth a purchase. As, regardless of those people who would harp on about Nevermind being the definitive example of the Seattle sound in the early to mid nineties, Ten was a paradigm. A milestone album that caught the energy of a band just starting what would become one of the longest careers of all their cohorts and contemporaries.