The Rock Blogger

In this video from one of 2007’s most underwritten bands, The Future of the Left compiled footage by fans taken at their concerts and massed it together to this propulsive tune. I’m hoping they create a video for “Small bones, small bodies” and “Suddenly its a Folk Song”, two of my favorites from Curses.

I was listening to My Morning Jacket’s acoustic CD with my number one groupie, taking in the warm and familiar guitar strums gently rocking our senses as Jim James’ unreal falsetto climbs, belting out:

“…feelin’ you are here again. hot on my skin again.
feelin good a thing i’d never known before
what does it mean to feel? millions of dreams come real
a feelin’ in my soul i’d never felt before… mmm…
and you always told me.
no matter how long it holds me if it falls apart
or makes us millonaires. you’ll be right here forever.
we’ll go thru this thing together
and on heaven’s golden shore we’ll lay our heads”

Sometimes, synchrony happens and your deepest feelings and wishes seem to just manifest themselves into the world around you, like some blissful energy that slowly takes hold of you, and guides you to where you always wanted to be. How long can you hold on to it? Why is it said that the enlightened have to let it go? I’m not ready yet.

On their list of The Best 100 Tracks of 2007, Pitchfork Media honored LCD Soundsystem’s terrific “All my Friends” from their LP Sound of Silver which was #16 on my 50 Best Albums of 2007 list. The award seemed fair, as the song does brilliantly capture singer James Murphy’s growing pains with its evocative song-writing, jittery piano lines, inspired chorus, and top-notch production. What do you think is the best song of 2007? Some of my nominees would be “Squalor Victoria” by The National, “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” by The Arcade Fire and “Suddenly its a Folk Song” by The Future of the Left”. Here is LCD:

This hilarious send up to The Beatles’ 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night is by HBO’s Mr Show. If you don’t know what Mr. Show is, get on Youtube immediately. Yeah Yeah Yeah!

Just thought I would throw up something fun for a Monday morning. This classic is from The Clash’s 1982 album Combat Rock which would be the final album to feature Mick Jones and Topper Headon before their departure from the band. Enjoy.

Geinoh Yamashirogumi Akira Original soundtrack. 1990. (2001 reissue). 4 stars.

Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s eclectic score beautifully captures the speed, estrangement, violence and mystery of Katsushiro Otomo’s anime masterpiece. Blending both traditional Japanese percussion and ominous chanting with modern rock composition and pacing, this soundtrack is a whirlwind of progressive ideas that complements the cataclysmic energy and images of the film.

An incredibly diverse array of instruments like organs, xylophones, tablas and electric guitars are thrown together in strangely harmonious ways, captivating the imagination and bringing you straight into the film’s immersing and climatic world. The songs here range from spine chilling requiems to raging rock numbers to perplexing experimental suites, exquisitely matching the film’s most surreal, serene and horrifying moments. A must for Akira fans and a recommended listen to those who may not have seen the film but have a keen ear for progressive and unusual compositions.

Following my Grunge list from yesterday, I though I’d post my favorite Pearl Jam video, “Do the Evolution” from Yield. Easily one of the greatest animated videos of all time, its also one of the darkest social commentaries ever put to music. A work of art.

Grunge began as a fusion of punk and hard rock styles in the late 80s-early 90s and it slowly mutated into the most popular and derivative style of hard rock by the end of the last decade. Early grunge had a sludgy, gritty sound that was full of distortion, fuzz and stop/start dynamics while also borrowing heavily from 70s hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. With the pop-culture explosion that was Nirvana, the genre’s underground aspirations made a dramatic transition into the mainstream, entering rock arenas across the world with anthem like lyrics and punkish recklessness. The pioneers of grunge were predominately from Seattle WA., as this list below will demonstrate.

Unfortunately, because these groundbreaking bands became so successful, countless other bands milked their sound to no end, giving the world safe and boring “bread rock” like Creed, Staind, Nickelback, Default, Seether, the list goes on…

But don’t let Grunge’s fallen legacy detract from any appreciation of these classics:

#5. Temple of the Dog Temple of the Dog. 1991

Chris Cornell’s one-album tribute band created this fitting tribute to their friend Andrew Wood, the front man for Seattle’s Mother Love Bone, who had died from a heroin overdose. With members from Soundgarden and Mother Love Bone backing him, Cornell passionately screams and bellows his way through 10 life-affirming tracks, making vivid allusions to the powerful ballads of 70s hard rock. This album is most well known for “Hunger Strike” which topped alternative radio and featured Eddie Vedder on guest vocals before Pearl Jam broke out on the scene.

#4. Soundgarden. Superunknown. 1994.

Easily one of the most popular Grunge albums ever, Soundgarden’s landmark album featured such hits as “Black Hole Sun”, “Fell on Black Days” and “Spoonman” where Cornell really demonstrates his unique vocal talent. There is plenty of gloom on this album but enough stellar musicianship and layered arrangements to keep it engaging over the course of an epic 70 minutes.

#3. Alice in Chains. Dirt. 1992.

This is the late Layne Stanley’s magnum opus that plunges the listener into a black pool of misery and self-loathing, sludgy delving into the dark holes of abuse, addiction and hopelessness. The album’s most recognizable songs would have to be “Rooster”, a stunning memoir of The Vietnam War, as experienced by Stanley’s father. Easily one of the most despairing, if not revealing, hard rock albums of the past 20 years.

#2. Pearl Jam Ten. 1991.

Pearl Jam’s first and still best album is a staple of alternative rock, and cemented the band’s legendary status so early into their career. Classic tracks like “Even Flow”, Jeremy”, “Black” and “Alive” can still be heard on the radio everyday, while songs like “Once” and “Oceans” deepen the experience, calling for repeated listens. Melodic yet aggressive, Pearl Jam found a delicate balance between being accessible and provocative, both musically and lyrically. While the urgency of Ten’s songs could never be duplicated, Pearl Jam continued their parade of hits in their subsequent albums as they expanded and experimented with their sound. Because of this constant reinvention of their music, Pearl Jam remains of one the few bands to survive Grunge’s dissipation.

#1. Nirvana. Nevermind. 1991.

I apologize for this list’s predictability, but I couldn’t deny Nirvana the top spot for a genre they helped lay the foundation for. Pretty much everything that can be said about this album has already been said, as it has dominated countless best of lists since it first shook the rock world in 1991. “Smells like Teen Spirit”, “Polly” “In Bloom” and “Come as you Are” have survived the stagnation that constant airplay usually creates, and the album as a whole still blisters with its vicious, reverb-drenched psychological fits, and Kurt Cobain’s smart, ironic, and often unsettling lyrics.

Well there are my five picks for the best Grunge records. Obviously there are many standout bands from this saturated genre I omitted, like The Melvins, Screaming Trees, Green River, early Foo Fighters, Mudhoney and Bush (X), but that won’t stop you from dusting them off your CD shelf.

What are your picks for the best Grunge records? List them off in the comments section below.

John Cooper Clarke is a beat/punk poet from Britain who had a cult following during the glory days of punk in the UK (late 70s, early 80s), opening for bands like Joy Division and The Buzzcocks. (You can catch a glimpse of him in the new film Control).

I first heard of this song when it was used at the end of The Sopranos episode, Stage 5. This video, while conceptually simple, effectively captures the dread and alienation of modern urban life.

As reported by Chart Attack, Montreal’s Silver Mt Zion will be releasing their fifth full length album 13 Blues for 13 Ghosts March 25 under Constellation Records. Their first release was mentioned on my Post Rock list for its alluring melancholia, and this new release will hopefully continue on the band’s expansion of their sound. Hopefully a tour announcement will follow soon as well. In the meantime, you can watch this YouTube video I found for “Stumble then rise some awkward morning” from their debut album. I’m not sure if this is official or not, but it sure is strange and hypnotic.