two things

2wanda is doing a project about electronic conversations, and she could use your participation.

mezdeathhead wrote an excellent rebuttal to a newspaper article that denigrated tattooing as art.

two things

2wanda is doing a project about electronic conversations, and she could use your participation.

mezdeathhead wrote an excellent rebuttal to a newspaper article that denigrated tattooing as art.

i bought a bunch of music...

... so i'll be giving you a flash review of each album as i hear it.

I'm going to cheat here by reviewing the new Pearl Jam (self-titled, and i hate self-titled albums, so i'll call it Avocado), which i've heard a few times already.  And, anyway, i'm not a reliable critic when it comes to Pearl Jam; i just love their stuff.  But i'm gonna try anyway.

It rocks.  OK?  Fine, let's move on.  OK, fine, fine.  Let's see... man, i don't know what to tell you.  Pearl Jam is no stranger to throwing in odd rhythms and meters, and that's more prominent in this album than others.  Needless to say, i dig it.  Ed Vedder wrote the lion's share of the lyrics, as always; the exceptions are "Army Reserve", which he co-wrote with Damien Echols, one of the West Memphis 3, and "Inside Job", which were written by Mike McCready, which i think is a first for him in Pearl Jam.  OK, that's it, go buy it now.  Or kill me.

i bought a bunch of music...

... so i'll be giving you a flash review of each album as i hear it.

I'm going to cheat here by reviewing the new Pearl Jam (self-titled, and i hate self-titled albums, so i'll call it Avocado), which i've heard a few times already.  And, anyway, i'm not a reliable critic when it comes to Pearl Jam; i just love their stuff.  But i'm gonna try anyway.

It rocks.  OK?  Fine, let's move on.  OK, fine, fine.  Let's see... man, i don't know what to tell you.  Pearl Jam is no stranger to throwing in odd rhythms and meters, and that's more prominent in this album than others.  Needless to say, i dig it.  Ed Vedder wrote the lion's share of the lyrics, as always; the exceptions are "Army Reserve", which he co-wrote with Damien Echols, one of the West Memphis 3, and "Inside Job", which were written by Mike McCready, which i think is a first for him in Pearl Jam.  OK, that's it, go buy it now.  Or kill me.

tool - 10,000 days

I'm not sure if it's fair to say that Tool has gone full-on prog in this album, but throw in the music with Marsvoltaesque track titles like "Lipan Conjuring", "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" and "Viginti Tres", well, if the shoe fits, put that motherfucker on and run track, as hannibaltaburss was wont to say long ago.

The packaging is unique, which has been a Tool trademark since Ænima; in this case, it's a cardboard case that has two inset lenses to allow you to enjoy the artwork in stereoscopic vision.  It works if you fiddle around with distance, but it's a bit of a pain to get right.

The arrangement of the tracks is rather symmetrical; three average-length tracks, followed by an 11 minute track, another average track, a short track with chanting, another average track, another 11 minute, and three more average-length tracks to close the album (and the final track is another bit of weirdness and noise, yet another Tool trademark).  It's good, but it doesn't have that one track you can point to and say, "This is incredibly fucking awesome," like "Ænema" or "The Grudge" or "Lateralus".  I'm gonna have to listen more.  It's good, for sure, but i'm not yet sure just how good.

tool - 10,000 days

I'm not sure if it's fair to say that Tool has gone full-on prog in this album, but throw in the music with Marsvoltaesque track titles like "Lipan Conjuring", "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" and "Viginti Tres", well, if the shoe fits, put that motherfucker on and run track, as hannibaltaburss was wont to say long ago.

The packaging is unique, which has been a Tool trademark since Ænima; in this case, it's a cardboard case that has two inset lenses to allow you to enjoy the artwork in stereoscopic vision.  It works if you fiddle around with distance, but it's a bit of a pain to get right.

The arrangement of the tracks is rather symmetrical; three average-length tracks, followed by an 11 minute track, another average track, a short track with chanting, another average track, another 11 minute, and three more average-length tracks to close the album (and the final track is another bit of weirdness and noise, yet another Tool trademark).  It's good, but it doesn't have that one track you can point to and say, "This is incredibly fucking awesome," like "Ænema" or "The Grudge" or "Lateralus".  I'm gonna have to listen more.  It's good, for sure, but i'm not yet sure just how good.

pearl jam - live in nyc 12/31/92

I ordered the new Pearl Jam CD on their Web site before its release; this came with my purchase as a bonus.  In general, i'm not a fan of live CDs; i can't say what makes one live recording work for me versus one that fails.  I'd purchased PJ's Live on Two Legs and i dumped it after a couple of weeks because it just seemed flat.

This is not flat.  This is a very young Pearl Jam, still full of piss and vinegar.  There's a fast version of "Wash" that starts things out, and they play "Oceans", which is one of my favorites and —in my opinion— definitely underrated, and they close the set out with "Porch", another favorite.  Two thumbs up.

pearl jam - live in nyc 12/31/92

I ordered the new Pearl Jam CD on their Web site before its release; this came with my purchase as a bonus.  In general, i'm not a fan of live CDs; i can't say what makes one live recording work for me versus one that fails.  I'd purchased PJ's Live on Two Legs and i dumped it after a couple of weeks because it just seemed flat.

This is not flat.  This is a very young Pearl Jam, still full of piss and vinegar.  There's a fast version of "Wash" that starts things out, and they play "Oceans", which is one of my favorites and —in my opinion— definitely underrated, and they close the set out with "Porch", another favorite.  Two thumbs up.