The sole Nick Cave disc (well discs technically — it is a double album) in my collection and a sign of my brief foray into checking him out. It’s an album I enjoy selectively, but mostly for a couple of standout (for me) tracks.
I was probably put onto this from triplej playing the singles ‘Get Ready For Love’ and ‘Nature Boy’ which are still two of my favourite tracks on the album. These tracks and my other favourites ‘There She Goes, My Beautiful World’ and ‘Supernaturally’ all have a certain ramshackle rollicking quality to them, which I really love.
There is a recklessness and abandon in the playing that is quite appealing, and they tend to put a smile on my face.
Across the two cds there are also a number of slower, more sedate numbers, and I must confess I find them far less appealing.
Overall, this is a double album I rarely listen to in it’s entirety, but quite enjoy a number of tracks from. What do you think of this album?
Last night saw the anticipated release of the new Cameron Crowe directed doco Pearl Jam 20. Sydney was one of the first cities for it to be shown in it’s limited one night release in theatres, and we went along.
Pearl Jam 20 follows the past 20 years of history of Pearl Jam. Starting out in Seattle in the ashes of Mother Love Bone with the arrival of an unknown kid from California. It takes you through crazy frenetic first months (the band played their first gig just 6 days after their first rehearsal) through the meteoric rise of the band and the Seattle ‘grunge’ scene, through their battles with MTV and Ticketmaster, and through to their continued success and popularity.
Boston.com described Pearl Jam 20 as ‘a loving portrait of Pearl Jam’ and this is certainly true. Crowe himself was around Seattle at the time everything was happening and was a fan of the band (famously including them cameo roles in his film Singles). This leads to a documentary that is well understood, and complementary, without ever becoming fawning.
Crowe narrates, although this happens predominantly in the opening, and for the remainder of the film the story is told through interviews and old footage. The range and quality of the footage, especially from the very early pre-Pearl Jam days is astounding. We see rehearsals, early performances, and a healthy amount of goofing around. The raw power and energy oozing from Eddie and the band is never more apparent than in the footage of these early shows.
The band members (and also Chris Cornell, with his association with the band) are all frank and reflective in their interviews, showing the wisdom that 20 years touring the world can give. Jeff Ament shows pure enthusiasm for playing and performing, even 20 years on — you can sense his love of the band and it’s music. Stone Gossard shows the considered and thoughtful side of things, and is perhaps the most interesting to hear from. Eddie, as always, is something of a down to earth guru. He exudes this mystique and depth — always taking things seriously, but never TOO seriously. Mike Macready is only interviewed briefly and on the whole lets his fingers do the talking (which they do, astoundingly).
The bulk of the film focuses on the first 10 years, with only a small portion dedicated to the most recent decade, although this seems fitting to the bands career path. What is inspiring is to the see the recent concert footage, and the more recent interviews and still see a burning passion and love for what they do.
With the added experience (and presumably financial success) the band has seen, they are now able to do things on their own terms and no longer worry about whether people think they have sold out, battles with ticket outlets and tv channels and the like. They are content so long as they get to keep making music.
Pearl Jam 20is well worth a watch, whether you are a fan or not. It is a well documented story of a band that has stood the test of time.
A great article over at the NY times looking at the Beatles use of language in their lyrics.
“All our early songs,” Mr. McCartney said, “had always had this very personal thing,” pointing to “Please Please Me,” “From Me to You,” “P.S. I Love You,” and “Thank You Girl.” Then he said, “we hit on the idea of doing a kind of a reported conversation: ‘I saw her yesterday, she told me what to say, she said she loves you.’ It just gave us another little dimension really.”
Over the last month Chan and I have been taking part in the 30 Day Music Challenge. It was an interesting undertaking — trying to think of songs that top the list for a certain time, or emotion.
But I have two problem with the 30 Day Music Challenge.
Only One?
The first is that it can be a real struggle to pick a single answer to many of the questions that they pose. My Favourite Song? I can maybe think of a list of 10 songs, or something like that, but to single out one song is far too difficult.
This may only be a personal thing, but it really made it difficult for me. Though, to be fair, I did cheat on a couple of occasions and list more than one song.
Events and Emotion
The second thing I struggled with completing the 30 Day Song Challenge was any of the challenges that revolved around songs reminding you of events, or making you feel a certain way. I have never been a particularly emotional person, so to think of songs that made me feel happy, or sad, or angry was quite difficult.
Associating songs with events was a little easier, but still a bit of a struggle. For me, all but a handful of special songs (like this and this) transcend particular events and are just songs that I like. This is again, quite a personal thing but it wouldn’t surprise me if other people feel similarly.
An Alternative Option
I’m starting to think that I might come up with my own 30 Day Music Challenge. A list of 30 questions about music that are suited to a person like me. A bit more analytical, and a bit less emotionally based. Things like your favourite song from a soundtrack, or your favourite cover version.
In fact, it might be good to allow more than one answer. Have a top, 5 a-la Rob Gordon from High Fidelity. That would allow a little more flexibility for those of us who have trouble choosing.
So stay tuned — I think I will work something together. If it does happen, I will share it here.
“I love the relationship that anyone has with music … because there’s something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. … It’s the best part of us probably …”
The sole Nick Cave disc (well discs technically — it is a double album) in my collection and a sign of my brief foray into checking him out. It’s an album I enjoy selectively, but mostly for a couple of standout (for me) tracks.