Grunged 4: Angry man behind the desk in a medium-sized town

April 9th, 2009

I was planning some grand epic post about how Pearl Jam have managed to survive and prosper while the other grunge bands have died (literally) or fallen apart by now. It was supposed to mention things like the band’s intentional alienation of their mass audience, their audacious urge to experiment musically and most importantly their epic live shows. I was also going to mention how they’re one of the only bands in America that has never sold out or compromised their integrity for record sales (and in fact did the opposite). It was going to mention all kinds of amazing stuff about all that shit.

But everything I want to say has probably been said before. People still listen to Pearl Jam because they are a great motherfucking band, and Pearl Jam is still around because they are truly a band, working as a cohesive unit to create good music, entertain their fans, and fight for causes they believe in. Pearl Jam work so damn well as a band that they should put out self-help books for troubled marriages. The adversity and hardships that Pearl Jam has fought through would kill most anyone else, but instead they come out stronger, better and more determined to succeed each and every fucking time. Pearl Jam proves time and time again that you can succeed on your own terms, and that if you have the talent, desire and determination the people will come around to you and not the other way around.

Pearl Jam is the best band in the world, and don’t you fucking forget it.

Heavy handed much? Yeah, but I don’t care. Moving on to the music….between Lost Dogs and the new special edition of Ten nearly every single Ten-era rarity from Pearl Jam is now easily available. But there are still a few tracks that have slipped through the cracks, lets take a look at some of the best (that I have).

Pearl Jam
Alive (Live)
Even Flow (Re-Recorded)
Wash
Dirty Frank
These four tracks have all been on various singles and EPs, but I got them from the Japanese version of the “Alive” single. The live version of “Alive” and the re-recorded version of “Even Flow” have never appeared on any proper Pearl Jam album. “Wash” And “Dirty Frank” were on Lost Dogs, but the versions that appeared there weren’t the originals for some strange reason – these are. “Dirty Frank” is an awesome song, and as the linear notes to Lost Dogs points out, the best song about a serial killer bus driver you’re ever likely to hear.

Why Go (Live)
Deep (Live)
Alive (Live)
These live cuts were B-sides to the “Oceans” single and are from a performance at the 1992 Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands.

Footsteps
A long time fan-favorite and one of the first three Pearl Jam songs written, this track finally got the album appearance it deserved on Lost Dogs, but once again that version differed from the original, and included some slightly annoying harmonica. This is the version that appeared on the “Jeremy” single.

Dissident – Live In Atlanta
Okay, so this isn’t Ten-era stuff but I don’t think anyone will care. Dissident was a pretty big hit when it came out, and there were a ton of different singles, each with different live cuts serving as the B-sides. The live cuts were all taken from the same concert and when combined formed a nearly complete concert. Later on all of the singles were compiled into a massive three-EP set called Dissident/Live In Atlanta. This EP is an entire concert (minus three tracks from Vitalogy) and must have been an amazing deal when it first came out, it was an even bigger deal for me when I bought it used for seven bucks. You can find the tracklist here. I’m not including the studio version of “Dissident” because well, what’s the point?

Posted in B-sides, live, Pearl Jam | 5 Comments »

Grunged 3: Fell On Whack Days

April 8th, 2009

No more suicide/death talk this week, unless you count the creative death of Chris Cornell.

Soundgarden
Fell On Black Days (Video Version)
She Likes Surprises (International LP Version)
Like Suicide (Acoustic Version)
Jerry Garcia’s Finger
Cold Bitch
Exit Stonehenge
My Wave (remix)
Rhinosaur (remix)
Spoonman (Steve Fisk Remix)
Dusty (Moby Remix)
I’m not the first person to ask, but what the fuck is wrong with Chris Cornell? Have you heard anything from his new solo record? It’s fucking awful. And it’s not just awful because it’s not “rock” its awful because it’s shitty fucking music. This shit would sound like shit no matter who sung it, whether it be Chris Cornell, Freddie Mercury or motherfucking Curtis Mayfield (random selection I know but you get my point).

I understand that Cornell wanted to branch out and try new things, but this was not the way. Hiring the hack plagiarist Timbaland to put up shitty beats behind some shit songs that he didn’t even write by himself wasn’t the way to go. People have defended him by saying that he should have the right to do what he wants with his music, and yes that’s true, but don’t go say he did this shit because of some artistic belief or cause, the dude wants to make money and he figured this would be an easy way to do it. Thankfully the record is bombing.

Someone should get Rick Rubin on the phone STAT to guide this motherfucker back to the light.

Ah, but Chris Cornell wasn’t always a two-bit has-been, he used to be the frotnman for the bigget, baddest, rockingest grunge band in the world, Soundgarden! I remember an article in Spin that said while Nirvana saved “rock” Soundgarden saved “RAWK,” bad-ass, balls-to-the-wall ass-kicking metal made for bikers and weight lifters. I agreed at the time, Soundgarden was my first favorite grunge band, and Superunknown was my favorite album. I remember thinking that the album had to be the longest record ever, it was over 70 minutes long! No filler! Bad-ass supreme shit featuring Cornell’s heavenly wails! There hasn’t been an epic rock album as good as Superunkown since. I listened the shit out of that album.

Soundgarden also has an epic amount of b-sides, remixes and rarities. And since there is still no box set collecting them all finding them can be quite a drag; here’s what I managed to drag up. The first four tracks are from an EP called Songs From The Superunknown, and the second two are from the CD single of “Spoonman.” The remixes are from various EPs and singles…I think, I really don’t know where some of those are from. These are all excellent tracks, but the Moby mix of “Dusty” is a real standout, he deconstructs the shit out of that motherfucker. Maybe Cornell should call Moby for his next album, could save both of their careers.

Posted in B-sides, remixes, Soundgarden | 2 Comments »

Grunged: Junkie Rock

April 7th, 2009

This will not be a happy blog post. Talking about Kurt Cobain is depressing for sure, but that’s a happy tea party compared to the pathetic final years of Layne Staley’s wasted life and the general apathy that has followed.

If you really want to know the details about Layne’s final years you can do the research yourself, I’ll give you the downer-highlights.

From 1997 to Layne’s death in 2002 he was rarely seen in public and never performed, instead spending most time in his condo shooting up heroin and avoiding everyone around him. His last recording session with Alice In Chains produced the great “Get Born Again” and “Died” which served as a memoriam to his girlfriend who died from an overdose some time before then. Layne estimated date of death was April 5th, 2002, but he wasn’t found until the 20th, when the police came by his house since no one had seen or heard from him in weeks. He was found surrounded by cocaine and heroin, I believe the fucking needle was still in his arm.

The same week Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes died in a plane crash, and the media attention was all on her. Layne was forgotten quickly, according to an MTV news story only 200 people showed up for a vigil after his death. Everyone knew it was going to happen and no one cared when it finally did I suppose. Now no one talks about him, even though Alice In Chains remain one of the biggest acts on alternative radio, with songs like “Man In The Box” and “Rooster” undeniable classics.

But what is Alice In Chains’ legacy? Well, they left us three amazing albums and two great EPs as well as the best Unplugged in MTV’s history. But in their wake came an entire subgenre of shit musicians who continue to rip-off their sound in the most obvious of ways. Being influenced by a band is one thing, but Godsmack, Stand, Seether, and the countless other AiC-copycats aren’t adding anything new, they’re copycats pure and simple (Godsmack even named themselves after a fucking Alice In Chains’ song) and they fucking suck. They lack the emotion, power and dark energy that Alice In Chains had, and they’re never going to get it. I thought necrophilia was illegal, then why are these pricks getting away with raping Staley’s corpse on a daily basis? It’s a fucking shame.

Alice In Chains
What The Hell Have I
A Little Bitter
Suffragette City
Again (Club Mix)
Again (Trip Hop Mix)
Another Brick in The Wall (Part 2)
This is an odd collection of rarities. Alice In Chains doesn’t have a lot of hard-to-find material thanks in part to their scant recording history and the amazingly-comprehensive Music Bank box set. This was all I could gather up from my collection. Those first two tracks are from the soundtrack to Last Action Hero, which was a great CD by the way, and are not the remixed versions that appeared on Music Bank. The cover of “Suffragette Ciy” is from an old demo tape, and I have no idea where the remixes of Again are from. I found them online. Finally, there’s the cover of “Another Brick In The Wall”, which isn’t an Alice In Chains song at all, but a one-off recoding by The Class of ’99, which featured Layne on vocals with Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction) and Martyn LeNoble (Porno For Pyros). It was recorded for the soundtrack to The Faculty. That movie sucked and so did the soundtrack, but this track is worth hearing.

Tomorrow were on to slightly less depressing pastures with Soundgarden. No suicide there, just creative bankruptcy.

Posted in Alice In Chains, B-sides, remixes | 4 Comments »

Grunged: I Think I’m Right

April 6th, 2009

So Sunday was the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. Does anyone still give a shit?

Nirvana are pegged as a hugely influential and important band. People always say that Nirvana changed everything forever. But is that true? Sure, when Nirvana burst onto the scene they helped kill hair metal and brought in the era of “alternative music” (whatever the fuck that means) bu what does that even mean? Wouldn’t hair metal have killed itself off eventually? If Nirvana wouldn’t have convinced the headbangers to flock elsewhere I’m sure Pantera would have (if they weren’t already). And alternative music existed before Nirvana, and if it wasn’t for Nirvana it would probably still would, Nirvana made Alternative mainstream – something that the underground/indie scene has never fully recovered from in my opinion.

But I’m veering off topic. Does Nirvana still matter? Did they really change anything at all in the long-term? Do “the kids” even listen to Nirvana anymore? How cool is it to like Nirvana for a high school kid, that album came out 17 years ago? To a teenager that’s classic rock. Although, who knows, when I was a teenager most kids my age who were into music listened to classic rock more than anything else.

If Nirvana has had any lasting influence in the music world right now it’s pretty fucking hard to find. The artists in this week’s top five modern rock/alternative albums are Nickleback, Blue October, Papa Roach and U2. The number one spot is held by the fucking soundtrack to Twilight, which features an odd assortment of artists such as Paramore, Linkin Park, Mute Math and Iron & Wine. The only group out of that selection that I even hear a hint of Nirvana is fucking Nickleback who, like many of their post-grunge contemporaries (Theory Of a Deadman, Puddle of Mudd, Seether) ape the angst and loud-quiet-loud dynamics of Nirvana but have peeled away the edge, anger and any real emotion from their fucking music. Besides, I don’t think most of these bands would site Nirvana as their grunge band of influence, I hear more of Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam in today’s music than Nirvana.

The “indie” bands of today sure as hell don’t listen to Nirvana. You hear any Nirvana in Arcade Fire? How about The New Pornographers, The Strokes, Fucked Up or any other flavor of the second act? Hell, some might even say that Talk Talk’s Sprit Of Eden had a bigger impact on indie rock than Nevermind did, and they might be right.

What’s my point with all this? Good question, I don’t know if I have one. Maybe I’m just getting old but it kind of bums me out that the biggest band of my generation might be inconsequential and forgotten in the long run. Nirvana’s continued descent into relative irrelevance is to me a symptom of a larger problem about the media, the music industry and the pre-programmed nature of youth culture, but I really don’t to get into that right now.

And while we’re all good and depressed it’s also worth mentioning that April 5th is the estimated date of death for Layne Staley of Alice In Chains (estimated because he sat rotting in his home for weeks before anyone bothered to check up on him). I have an Alice In Chains post planned for later this week and to round it all off I plan on doing something on Soundgarden and Pearl Jam too, might as well hit all the rainy bases when in Seattle. Hold on to your Doc Martin’s it’s probably going to be a depressing week.

Nirvana
Outcesticide 1
Outcesticide 2
Outcesticide 3
Outcesticide 4
Outcesticide 5
I remember sitting on the couch watching MTV when Kurt Loder came on to say that Kurt Cobain was dead. I wasn’t a huge Nirvana fan at the time (Soundgarden was my grunge band of choice) but it bummed me out. I remember kids wearing black to school the next day and having talks about suicide in all my classes. A friend of mine who was in college at the time told me later that they held a candlelight vigil or something and that they were sobbing off and on all night. General sucky times all around.

A year or so later I was browsing the local used record store when I came across these really weird Nirvana albums. Outcesticide? What the hell is that? Why is the artwork so shitty? And the CD isn’t even silver. What gives? Being a dumb teenager at the time I didn’t know what a bootleg was, and we didn’t really have the internet back then to figure this shit out. We just had to go by word of mouth. Of all the Nirvana boots that floated around the years following Kurt’s death the Outcesticide series quickly became known as the best, with high-quality recordings and genuine rarities. I had a lot of boots that claimed to have lost and never-before-heard songs, but they were actually just poor quality live recordings with inaccurate track listings. Outcesticide was the real deal, They had “Junkyard,” “Talk To Me,” “Sappy,” and tons of other Nirvana songs I never heard. Years later many of them showed up on the massive With The Lights Out box set, but many others did not.

There are a lot of Outcestides out there, and I only consider the first four to be “legit” with the fifth getting a big maybe in my book. After that they became rehashes by other bootleg companies looking to capitalize off of the series name (it’s not like the original label could sue for copyright infringement).

I have a ton of Nirvana bootlegs on vinyl, CD and even cassette tape, and the Outcesticides are the only ones I still listen to at all. I going to put up my favorites from each album and then link to other blogs hosting the entire series, but I was shocked when I actually couldn’t find any halfway decent blogs that had them up. Oh well, now it’s time to test my server provider’s claim of unlimited bandwidth.

(oh, and here’s the front and back covers of 1-4, which have detailed track listings and descriptions)

Posted in bootlegs, Nirvana | 7 Comments »

The Depeche Load

April 2nd, 2009

I can’t believe I’ve never made that pun before.

Depeche Mode
In Your Room (Zephyr Mix)
In Your Room (Extended Zephyr Mix)
In Your Room (The Jeep Rock Mix)
In Your Room (Brian Eno’s Apex Mix)
In Your Room [Live In Lievin]
Policy Of Truth [Live In Lievin]
Painkiller (Kill The Pain Mix – DJ Shadow vs. Depeche Mode)
Headstar (Luke Slater Remix)
Surrender (Catalan FC Out of Reach Mix)
Only When I Loose Myself (Dan The Automator Mix)
Only When I Loose Myself (Gus Gus Longplay Mix)
Only When I Loose Mysel (Subsonic Legacy Remix)
My Joy (Slow Slide Mix)
My Joy (7″ Mix)
Walking In My Shoes (7″ Mix)
Walking In My Shoes (Grungy Gonads Mix)
Walking In My Shoes (Random Carpet Mix)
Walking In My Shoes (Extended 12″ Mix)
Walking In My Shoes (Anandamidic Mix)
Walking In My Shoes (Ambient Whale Mix)
Okay, this is it, the final massive Depeche Mode post! I’m finally caught up, and have now posted every single Depeche Mode remix and rarity in my collection. I’m sure there will be more later, but for now it feels nice to finally get all of these bastards out of the way. My review of Sounds Of The Universe will be up at Bullz-Eye in later this month, but my early impressions certainly are positive. I like it more than Playing The Angel, but nothing on the album is as good as my favorite tracks from that album, “A Pain That I’m Used To” and “John The Revelator.”

Posted in Depeche Mode, live, remixes | 7 Comments »

Depeche Mode Clearinghouse Sale

April 1st, 2009

I finally got my uber-ultra-super-fantastic mega deluxe version of Pearl Jam’s Ten in the mail today. It comes with the album, the remixed album, b-sides and rare cuts, a live concert from 1992 (on vinyl), a DVD of their unplugged performance, a cassette tape of Eddie’s audition tape, memorabilia, posters, books, photos and the kitchen sink. So I’ll be enveloped in that motherfucker for the next week or so. I plan on making a massive Pearl Jam post sometime this week or the next, which will include some stuff that’s exclusive to the huge box set as well other assorted Ten-era material that was left off the set and is still rare. Until then here’s a bunch of Depeche Mode songs.

Depeche Mode
Barrel Of A Gun (Underworld Hard Mix)
Barrel Of A Gun (United Mix)
Painkiller (Plastikman Mix)
Barrel Of A Gun (3 Phase Mix)
Barrel Of A Gun (One Inch Punch Mix V2)
Barrel Of A Gun (Underworld Soft Mix)
Dream On (Pink Noise Club Mix)
Dream On (Dave Clarke Club Mix)
Dream On (Bushwacka Tough Guy Vocal Mix)
Dream On (Dave Clarke Acoustic Mix)
Dream On (Pink Noise Dub)
Dream On (Bushwacka Tough Guy Dub)
Dream On (Bushwaka Blunt Mix)
Dream On (Kid 606 Mix)
In anticipation of Sounds Of The Universe I figured I’d get back to my ever-delayed Depeche Mode clearinghouse, posting the various DM tracks that I never got around to putting up. These are from various CD and 12” vinyl singles. I actually just found out I’m reviewing their new album and I’m pretty stoked. I’ve never gotten to review one of their records and I think we can all agree I’m more than qualified.

Posted in Depeche Mode, remixes | 5 Comments »

Zombie Devo Punks

March 30th, 2009

So we’re friends right? You read my blog, you download my tunes and you comment on my amazingly awesome taste in music right? Well, if you really want to be cool then do me a massive favor and read my article, Let The Right Ones In: 10 Bands That Should Be In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It was an article that was conceived from a post in this very blog after all!

Please read it, and if you like it Digg it, I want as many people as possible to read this one because I am sickeningly proud of it.

A.D.A.M. and Amy
Zombie (Eternal Airplay Mix)
Zombie (Dancin’ With Zombie Mix)
Zombie (Adam & Gielen Club Mix)
Zombie (Orbital Test)
Zombie (Rockin’ With Zombie Club Mix)
Zombie (Rockin’ With Zombie Radio Mix)
When I think of great topics for dance remix covers, The Troubles don’t immediately leap to mind, but hey that’s just me I guess. This cover was actually a hit single in the UK and I think they know more about the issue than I do. These are from a 12” single.

Devo
Watch Us Work It (Still Workin’ Mix)
Watch Us Work It (Teddybears Mix)
Watch Us Work It (Original Demo)
Fuck yeah Devo. Double fuck yeah it’s new Devo. Well, it’s newish Devo. The song is from 2007 but the 12” single I got these mixes from came out late in 2008. The song originally appeared in a Dell commercial but it’s supposedly going to be in that new Devo album that has been on again off again and back on again about half a dozen times since early this decade.

The Attery Squash
Devo Was Right About Everything (The Devo Mix)
A bonus b-side from the Devo 12” single. Find out more about The Attery Squash at their MySpace page.

Against Me!
Don’t Lose Touch (Mouse On Mars Remix)
Folk/punk/dance/electro – it’s the new black.

Posted in A.D.A.M., Against Me, covers, Devo, remixes | 8 Comments »

A Manifesto (with a soundtrack)

March 25th, 2009

I don’t know anyone that enjoys music more than me, and if I ever met someone who did I’d probably be scared of them. Most people who know me tease me about my obsessive nature with music, which my video-game addled friends have frequently compared to a Pokemon mentality, I gotta get’em all. I’ve demonstrated OCD behavior in the past, most of which is under control now because I focused it all towards collecting and listening to music. I now have well over a thousand records, hundreds of CDs and even a few 8-tracks and cassettes. As you may have guessed, my Mp3 collection is massive, with over 35,000 songs, adding up to 108 days of music.

I still buy most of the music I listen to. Sure I’ll download some off of BitTorrent on occasion, but for the most part I play by the rules and pay for what I want to hear. Not only that, I tend to go out of my way to buy the actual physical CD and not a digital download. I’m not a fan of digital downloads, I think the quality is substandard many of the times and they offer no real protection should my computer decide to die a fiery death. Also, I’m a real fetishist for having a physical copy of something. I like to read the linear notes, hold the case, examine the CD art. Sure, there are digital booklets for that it’s not the same. I don’t care if that’s an old-fashioned or outdated way of looking at things, that’s how I feel. I think I’m one of the good guys, going out of my way to champion music and the purchasing of it. I used to not see a reasons to download music illegally that you could find easily legally unless you A) were broke or B) just had no qualms about stealing. But that’s not been an easy position to hold up for the past few months.

It’s getting very hard for me to get the music I want in an affordable and easy manner. First it was The Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist album, which was released in multiple versions with different tracklistings depending on where you bought it (none of these places being an independent record store) forcing fans who wanted to be legal to buy the same album four times. Then it was Depeche Mode with the bullshit iTunes Pass version of their upcoming Sounds Of The Universe, an $18.99 subscription to the album which promises to feature “exclusive” remixes and b-sides, none of which will be on the $99.99 special edition that I already pre-ordered. This week I finally snapped when I saw Mastodon including special instrumental tracks on the iTunes version of their new album Break The Skye and Pearl Jam tacking on some bonus live cuts for the iTunes edition of the new Special Edition of Ten.

Both of these albums are also available in very expensive deluxe editions, and neither of them contain the iTunes “exclusive” tracks. The limited edition of Crack The Skye came with an awesome lithograph and extra artwork, and that clocked in at $40. That one was only available at Mastodon’s website (it’s sold out now) as was another special edition that included a t-shirt and a bonus single, which features two of the instrumentals that were supposedly “exclusive” to iTunes. Hardcore fans who bought the more expensive editions at Mastodon’s website got fucked over by being left out of the other tracks on the iTunes version. And of course, you can’t buy those tracks separately, you have to buy the album to get them all.

It’s even worse with the Pearl Jam album. The Super Deluxe version of Ten costs $150. It’s worth the money to hardcore fans (such as I) as it’s loaded with bonus vinyl, a DVD, live stuff, artwork, booklets and even a reproduction of Eddie’s demo for the band. However, it doesn’t include the Live At The Academy tracks that are on the iTunes edition. If I pay $140 bucks for a damn album, I think I should be getting all the shit that’s included on the $16.99 online edition.

And, just like half of the Mastodon “exclusives” the Live At The Academy tracks aren’t even exclusive, they were originally included on a bonus CD that came with the fan club edition of 2006 self-titled album. Pearl Jam is my favorite band in the world (Those 35,000 mp3s on my hard drive? 2,481 are Pearl Jam tracks.) and I’ve always thought they’ve done a good job of putting themselves above the typical industry bullshit. Now I’m not so sure.

The most annoying this about all this is that as a die-hard collector there’s little I can do. I’m not going to stop buying Depeche Mode or Pearl Jam albums because of shit like this, hell, it’s hard to tell if it’s even their fault with record labels becoming more and more desperate to squeeze every buck possible out of the consumer. I think the one part of the equation that deserves the most blame however is iTunes.

The iTunes store has always sucked ass, and now it sucks in stereo. In addition to these bullshit examples there are countless more of albums getting “iTunes exclusive” tracks and even more where they make it impossible to buy individual tracks (especially on soundtracks). I’m done buying from iTunes until they stop with this bullshit. It hurts the fans who just want the most music possible from their favorite bands, and it hurts the record industry by limited what independent record stores can sell. It’s also false fucking advertising. Almost every “iTunes exclusive” isn’t a fucking exclusive, it’s usually a b-side, import track, vinyl cut or other rarity that just isn’t available at any other digital store. Any “exclusive” track you find on iTunes you can usually buy somewhere else, and if you can’t…well…that’s why they invented BitTorrent. I’m done with the iTunes store, and you should be too.

Now for some “exclusive iTunes” tracks!

The Strokes (featuring Regina Spektor)
Modern Girls and Old Fashioned Men
This track was my first exposure to the fraud that is an “iTunes exclusive” I saw it at their store and bought it right away. Then I found it a week later on a 7” single that had amazing artwork. I felt screwed over. A shame since it’s such a fucking amazing track. I love Regina Spektor and this track makes me yearn for a Julian Casablancas/Regina duet album. It would have to be better than First Impressions Of Earth.

Depeche Mode
The Sun And The Moon And The Stars (Electronic Periodic’s Microdrum Mix)
Oh Well (Black Light Odyssey Dub)
The two tracks so far released from the iTunes Pass edition of Sounds Of The Universe. These tracks will not be on the deluxe edition of the album which, as I stated earlier, costs $100. Oh yeah, that’s fair. The remix for “The Sun And The Moon…” is unbe-fucking-lievably good and totally worth buying, but you can’t if you want a physical copy of the record, so don’t. Steal it instead.

Smashing Pumpkins
Stellar
The iTunes exclusive track to Zeitgeist. I tried posting this one the week the album came out, but couldn’t find the fucker. Time heals all wounds.

Kings Of Leon
Knocked Up (Lykke Li vs. Rodeo Remix)
Another track that’s labeled as an iTunes exclusive but is in fact not. This is an awesome remix/mash-up of a great song though. Too bad I bought it under false pretense on iTunes, I would have paid much more for a physical copy, but they told me it was an exclusive so I didn’t bother to check. You shouldn’t either.

Pearl Jam – Live At The Academy 1992
Not only did iTunes slab on four tracks of this concert that was readily available at Pearl Jam’s website and call them “exclusive” but their picks for which ones to use sucked. “Speed Wash,” “Sonic Reducer” and “Porch” were totally the way to go. This is the full CD which came with my copy of Pearl jam album. I posted this back then, now I’m posting it again.

Posted in B-sides, Depeche Mode, Kings Of Leon, live, Pearl Jam, rant, Regina Spektor, remixes, The Strokes | No Comments »

Blogging in Rhythm & Sorrow

March 24th, 2009

To the person that wanted “Party Animal,” sorry, I couldn’t fit it and I can’t find the record either. Trust me, I’m more upset about that than you are.

This might be my only post this week, so I am definitely making up for that with quantity and quality.

The Sugarcubes
Birthday (Icelandic)
Regina (Icelandic)
Regina (Propellor Mix)
Regina (Jet Mix)
Dragon
Traitor (Icelandic)
Birthday (Demo)
Polo
Organic Prankster – This is just another version of “Delicious Demon”
Fucking In Rhythm & Sorrow (Live)
Cowboy (Live)
Coldsweat (Live)
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Christmas Present
Petrol (live)
Coldsweat (Meat Mix)
Coldsweat (instrumental)
Motorcrash (Live)
Blue Eyed Pop (2nd Mix)

Yay early Bjork! All of these are from one massive box set that I picked up last week. The front cover calls it 12-11 (since it features 11 12” singles), while the spine and back cover call it The Box. I stuck with that title on the ID3 tags mostly because I like it better. The back also has the following notice: “Contains all the 12” recordings by The Sugarcubes from October 1986 to October 1989. This catalogue is now deleted.”

They leave out that it also includes a 10” single. But that’s the least of this box’s typos. The tracklisting is riddled with massive fuck ups. For example, the back of the “Cowboy” single says that an Icelandic version of “Traitor,” but it’s really a “Polo”. The tracklisting for “Motorcrash” is fucked too, listing “Polo” when in reality the track is the English version of “Traitor.” Then there’s the intentional clusterfuck of the “Christmas” single, which features a double-grooved side, so you don’t know which version you’re going to get whenever you put the needle down (pray it doesn’t skip.) I posted that single a while ago, but I was not aware of the double groove, so everything was fucked up and mislabeled. I also previously posted the songs from the “Cowboy” single, but I’m posting them again since this rip is better and “Fucking In Rhythm & Sorrow (Live)” is one of the best performance of any song you’ll ever fucking hear. I want that song played at my funeral.

Basically my point in all of this is that you shouldn’t blame any fuck ups or mislabeled tracks on me, instead blame Einar (that’s the dude who “sings” with Bjork). Also, there were more tracks on this set than I’m posting tonight, but I’m not posting them because they were album cuts or are now on greatest hits/deluxe editions that are easily available.

This is very rare box set, after I bought it I wanted to compare the price I paid with what it was going for on Amazon and eBay, but I couldn’t freaking find it. That tells me that it’s pretty obscure and that my $65 was money well spent. I couldn’t even find good pictures of the thing, so I took some, enjoy the day-glo.

Posted in B-sides, Best Song Ever, Bjork, live, Sugarcubes | 7 Comments »

The Final (Re)Post

March 21st, 2009

Well this is it…for reposts anyways. Don’t worry, it takes more than a fucking DMCA for me to go away. However, a shitload of work and an unforgiving deadline will cut down on my productivity, as was the case this week.

As for the DMCA notice, I still don’t know what exactly was the offender, so until I do find out I’m withholding comment. You can bet that once I do get the facts I’ll have something to fucking say about it though. For those of you who like my rants, stay tuned, this motherfucker is going to be epic.

Now, I know I didn’t get to everyone’s reposts. I tried to hit as many peopleas I could, but a lot of my old stuff really sounds like shit, in fact I was so unhappy with a lot of stuff that I deleted them and I haven’t gotten around to re-recording it. Some of the ones I’m puting up tonight don’t sound too hot either, but it’s better than nothing right? Sorry if you feel snubbed but to quote the best movie of all time “Life is pain, get used to it.” If you still really want something then email me and offer me something in return. Shit ain’t always free.

Wang Chung
Dance Hall Days (Extended Remix)
Kind of awesome.

Seal
Killer (William Orbit Remix)
Kind of stupid.

Grace Jones
She’s Lost Control (Long Version)
Kind of…no, scratch that….fucking terrifying.

Robert Plant
Tall Cool One (Extended Version)
Ditto.

Ministry
Work For Love (Extended Version)
Fake British accents are awesome.

Kate Bush
Sexual Healing
Ditto for Kate Bush

The Crystal Method
You Know It’s Hard (Koma & Bones Gaping Axe Wound Remix)
Hehe, they said “hard.”

Siouxsie & the Banshees
Cities In Dust (Extended Eruption Mix)
Insert inappropriate “hard” joke here.

Pixies
Born In Chicago
The rarest Pixies song in the world.

P.M. Dawn
Set Adrift On Memory Bliss (Extended Version)
A Watcher’s Point Of View (Don’t ‘Cha Think) (Youth Extended Mix)
Man…anyone got any weed?

See you next week. And if you like The Sugarcubes get ready to be so happy that you’ll shit…which now that I think about it sounds kind of fucked up.

Posted in B-sides, Grace Jones, Kate Bush, Ministry, P.M. Dawn, remixes, Robert Plant, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Crystal Method, The PIxies, Wang Chung | 9 Comments »

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