A conversation with Seattle
“I don’t really like most of what passes for “rock” these days. Corporate radio and the major labels have somewhat destroyed it.[…]That makes me kind of mad, actually, but I think we’re just currently in a bad cycle. And everything happens in cycles.” Continue reading Seattle Rock Veterans Present their Walking Papers (Part 2)
Around 20 years ago, Seattle was home to two true rock supergroups—Temple of the Dog and Mad Season. Though short-lived (by design and by untimely death, respectively), both bands still have fans who will likely dig the city’s newest uber-talented collective, Walking Papers—and not just because of its familiar faces. Turns out when vocalist/guitarist Jeff Angell (Post Stardom Depression, Missionary Position), drummer Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season), keyboardist Benjamin Anderson (Rorschach Test, Missionary Position), and bassist Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses, Loaded) get together, they make really good music. Continue reading “Seattle Rock Veterans Present their Walking Papers (Part 1)”
If I had filmmaking talent and had befriended Pearl Jam’s members when they called themselves “Mookie Blaylock,” the movie I’d make about their career today would be a lot like Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty. It’s sweet. It’s funny. It’s moving. And it rocks.
But I would tack another hour on the running time—maybe move some scenes around, too—and dig deeper into some of the career-shaping decisions and events that director Cameron Crowe holds up for us to admire, and then, like an enviably proud kid at show-and-tell, excitedly replaces with something else. Continue reading Pearl Jam Twenty: Totally Awesome and Oddly Incomplete
Sing like Eddie Vedder in the shower? Nab a chance to take your talent public on Saturday, April 30, when Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and friends host live karaoke at the Croc. Your ticket fee goes to a great cause. Continue reading Mike McCready Wants YOU (to Front His Karaoke Band)
But where Tres. Mts. the record is borderline loungey, Tres Mts. the band (Dug Pinnick of King’s X, the Fastbacks’ Richard Stuverud, Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament) was pounding and shred-heavy. Where the record’s lyrical repetition aggravates, Dug Pinnick’s ultra-lanky, effortlessly schmoove stage presence and soulified live vocals made each refrain unique and visceral. Continue reading The Aural Peaks and Valleys of Tres Mts. and Tres Mts.