PEARL JAM IS ROCK N ROLL by Greg Brinkmeyer

Pure rock and roll.  If you asked me to name one band that defines this saying and owns the title to the greatest band ever, the answer would come without hesitation; The Rolling Stones.  Now this is just my opinion.  Sure they have had their moments of ‘softness’, but looking back on their catalog, it is hard to say that they are not the greatest of all time.  Many will argue the Beatles own the crown and they might be right, but they did not last long enough as a band before embarking on solo careers.  Contrary to modern science, the Stones will not continue to churn out music as they once did, although we all secretly hope they do.  They have a certain aura about them that just makes you want to throw your arms in the air and dance.  My Mick Jagger impression is horrible, but I get a kick out of doing it when ‘Street Fighting Man’ blares over the speakers at a party or gathering.  So, if we look back on the careers of a phenomenal band, the only question is who will take their place?  The answer once again comes without hesitation.  Two words; Pearl Jam.

Without a doubt, Pearl Jam is the greatest American rock band ever!  They never cease to amaze their fans with each album.  Remarkably, it has been almost 19 years since the release of their debut album Ten.  19 years!  Hard to believe. Released in the age of grunge, Pearl Jam wowed listeners with stellar songs such as ‘Jeremy’, ‘Alive’, and ‘Evenflow.’  I still can’t get enough of ‘Release’ to this day.  Looking back, it seems like they took a backseat to Nirvana, which I feel like was an okay situation. They continued to produce extraordinary music.  Pearl Jam’s first three albums crashed through the rock scene like a sledgehammer.  And after Kurt Cobain’s passing, they grabbed the reins and never looked back. 

19 years later, nine studio albums, one live album, and countless bootlegs, Pearl Jam still continues to electrify the crowds. And yes, just like the Stones, they have had their moments of weakness.  Or have they?  Talking with a friend last weekend, we pondered whether Pearl Jam has released a bad album.  No Code has and probably always will be my favorite album and I’ll never forget buying it the day I left for college.  I was never partial to Binaural, but I am listening to it as I write this article and feel as if it is a great album that was overshadowed by its predecessors.  So, maybe some songs have not lived up to the Pearl Jam hype, but they have not released a bad album in my opinion. 

In talking with another friend, another question arose.  Do we love Pearl Jam for the songs or for the memories associated with the songs?  Plain and simple, I love the songs.  Sure, when ‘Elderly Woman’ plays I am immediately transported back to the Stockwell Inn singing at the top of my lungs with ten of my friends.  I recall pulling into Chicago a few years back when I heard ‘World Wide Suicide’ for the first time.  And when ‘Long Road’ plays, I think of my grandmother.   There are several other memories associated with Pearl Jam songs, but if it wasn’t for the songs, the memories would not stand out as well.  Isn’t that the case with all music?  I remember the day I bought Vs. on tape!  Music brings out the best and worst in all of us. It is and always will be about the music.

This week I bought a ticket to see Pearl Jam in May.  I have not seen them live since 2004.  Six years have passed and my faith in the band is just as strong.  I absolutely love Backspacer and cannot wait to see the band walk out onto the stage.  It will be a magical moment and it has forced me to look back on a career that will no doubt be noted as remarkable.  I remember seeing RC almost cry when ‘Smile’ echoed throughout the amphitheater and later seeing my brother almost shed a tear at his first PJ concert in ‘03.  I remember KG arriving at the car, hair slicked back with sweat after a show in ‘98.  I remember rocking out to bootlegs in Shooter’s Blazer in college as we hit the gas station for a late night dip and bottled water in the late 90s as well.  And I’ll never, ever forget the lights going up and the band closing a show with ‘Rocking in the Free World’ in ’00.  Pearl Jam has followed me since high school and I have followed them.  They have been there for me in the good times and the bad.  They have helped through personal struggles and they have astonished me on road trips across the country.  There will never be another group like them.  They may have changed their sound at times, but the heart and soul behind each guitar lick, each drumbeat, each bass line, and each lyric is always there.   So, as we look to the future, I am confident that Pearl Jam will continue to churn out balls to the wall rock and roll.  Should we expect anything less?    

TOUR DATES (w/BAND OF HORSES)

21-May	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden
20-May	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden
17-May	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Banknorth Garden
15-May	Hartford, CT	XL Arena
13-May	Bristow, VA	Jiffy Lube Live
10-May	Buffalo, New York	HSBC Arena
9-May	Cleveland, OH	Quicken Loans Arena
7-May	Noblesville, Indiana	Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Indiana
6-May	Columbus, OH	Nationwide Arena
4-May	St Louis, Missouri	Scottrade Center
3-May	Kansas City, Missouri	Sprint Center

Parenthood

If you haven't had a chance to watch Parenthood yet I think you should give it a shot.  It's probably not realistic (all good looking people managing life problems with ease, humor, and wit), but if it was realistic it would be boring and that is why television and movies are entertaining; they take life and make it how we all wish it would be.  Ron Howard always does a great job with the dynamics of television families (ie Arrested Development) and he doesn't miss with this one.  The producers do a good job incorporating music into the show.  This element alone can make an average show good and a good show great.  Don't quite know where this show stands, but I do like it and watch it over Southland which airs at the same time.  Here is a song that played at the end of the last episode.  I had The Animal Years by Josh Ritter in my hand one day at a record store, but put it back before I could purchase it.  Change of Time is the first song from his upcoming album and now you can listen to it.

Parenthood on NBC Tuesdays at 9:00

The Late 90's Are Back

I don't know what made me post this song because its not that great.  It is Stone Temple Pilots and it sounds like Stone Temple Pilots so maybe thats why I have posted this song.  Listen to this song twice and I think you might just say that it is alright.
I still love Purple and Tiny Music and even like No 4.  They were really a great band and I think they were underrated because they were being compared to Pearl Jam and Nirvana.  The comparison doesn't seem fair, but you can't blame anyone but Scott Weiland because he thought it would be a good idea to emulate the most well known voice in 90's rock music.  To his credit he did a great job turning himself into something quite different.  Take a listen and remember your friends passing out in the back of your '81 Blazer listening to a worn out copy of Purple on cassette.

Stone Temple Pilots - Between The Lines by Atlantic Records

Titus Andronicus The Monitor

I loved Airing of Grievances by Titus Andronicus. It was great and I didn't think 
they could come up with another album that good, or even close to that good.  
They did and it is better.
The album is The Monitor and here is a song off of the album. This is A Perfect Union. I hope
you enjoy it.

Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals

Its no secret that The Sun Sets On Indiana loves Larry Bird and 80's NBA basketball. Or maybe it is a secret, but let it be a secret no more. I just watched an unbelievable documentary called Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals. I laughed like I laugh when I see genius and I cried like someone who watched a highlight video of their childhood. At the risk of sounding like every coach, teacher, parent, adult that have lectured us through our early years I am going to say that life was better when we were growing up. Let me be more specific. Sports and competition were better.

Rivalries were real, I mean existent. They weren't conjured up by Nike puppets, they were conjured up in big games and heated battles. In those days you could foul somebody into the third row and not face a lifetime ban from the sport. You could leave the bench and knock someone's nose off and not be crucified in the media. It was a better time. It was a time when real rivalries meant you didn't hug before big games and if you did the river dance during a rout you might just have your patella tendon ruptured the next time you played. I miss Larry and Magic. Those two divided friendships and gave us all something to argue about. Larry and Magic were polar opposites divided by a continent. Did you have the black converse or did you go with the purple and yellow. I know which pair I owned.

Those two defined you. If you liked Larry you were...like Larry. You were a little more quiet, you were a little less flashy and if you weren't a poor kid from Indiana, you wished you were. If you liked Magic you were a little bit of a "show off" and you were outgoing and you might just be a trouble maker. I don't know if that completely true, I think I am just describing the differences between me and my childhood friend Parker Gibson.

When was the last time you saw an NBA player go diving into the scores table to save a ball. I will tell you when. Late 80's Larry Bird. No one does this anymore. In "A Courtship of Rivals" they showed a number of clips where Larry dives, I mean sells out, to save a ball. I get dusty watching it. I don't know what it is, but it makes me remember why I wanted to be him for the first 13 years of my life. This documentary was everything I wanted it to be. Everyone always says, "who will be the next Jordan" and people always answer, "there will never be another Jordan" and while that is probably true I guarantee you we will see "another Jordan" before we see anyone who comes close to Bird or Magic.

As kids we grew up with these guys as our idols. We saw how much it hurt to lose (LeBron's leaving the court before shaking hands doesn't even come close, even though he thinks it does). Being competitive meant you would rip someone's balls off with your teeth if it meant you would have more points on the scoreboard when the clock read 0's. Its different now. It doesn't make me sad, it just makes me happy that we got to live in the middle of it. That when we shot free throws on our slanted driveway at night, we thought we could still be them.

Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals is showing on HBO

The Freaking Rural Alberta Advantage by Mitch Miggenburg

by: Mitch Miggenburg

I was assigned a record review by Sunsets a couple of months ago, and while i have yet to complete this assignment, the main reason is here. I loved many albums of the 'oughts' (is this the best term for the years 00' - 01'? I guess it'll have to do) including, but definitely not limited to:
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin and Everything All the Time - I love them both unconditionally
The Mountain Goats - Sunset Tree (my original winner of album of the decade)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot (bad name for a great album)
The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
The Postal Service - Give Up
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - self-titled
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
Josh Joplin Group - Useful Music
The Features - Exhibit A
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Sun Kil Moon - Tiny Cities
and
The Fray - How to Save a Life....OK, just kidding - had to make sure you were still reading!

Some pretty good stuff! How is one to choose fromt he greatness above? I am no rock critic, i just know what I like. Most of the time I have a difficult time describing exactly why. I usually just kind of realize my affection for an album based on its time spent in my disc player. Each of the albums above spent an inordinate amount of time in my cd player in my car, and most of those still find their way there on a regular basis. These albums just don't get old. Ever. I have probably listened to Sunset Tree and Cease to Begin all the way through at least 200 times each. And that's a conservative number. Even when I know every single lyric and melody....I still listen. In those three seconds before the next track begins, I can already hear the opening sequence to the next song I already know i like. Powerful stuff. You know you've found something special when you don't even bother to research new bands, or songs, or videos. Nothing new gets a chance. You're content listening, and re-listening. I guess that makes these albums 'great' to me.

That being said, there's one band (and one album) that still gets me excited every time i listen. It's denying other new bands chances to be a part of my life. I don't want to listen to anything else. I am still stuck on Hometowns by the Rural Alberta Advantage. It snuck into my life at Christmas time, thanks to Sunsets, and it hasn't left my life since. I have literally worn the album down to a nub. I play it on repeat grading papers in my classroom; i listen over and over on my ipod on long runs; and i cannot eject it from the honda's disc player. It's the soundtrack of my last 3 months, and I don't see it coming to an end any time soon. I search for videos on youtube (hold on, where almost there), look for articles on websites, hoping for new releases....anything to feed the addiction. Again, i am no rock critic, but there's something to be said for their simplistic chord progressions, the urgency of his voice and words, and the complexity of the drums (I've never heard percussion this way). i notice something new with each listen. That's what makes it great to me.

So, if you haven't heard the RRA, do yourself a favor. If you have, do yourself another favor and play it again, and again, and again. I bet it won't get old any time soon.

Here's a couple videos I found taped at a record store in Ontario. Anyone else have a little bit of a secret crush on Canada? I digress. "Don't Haunt this Place" is on Hometowns, and Barnes' Yard is not. Both are unreal.

Don't Haunt This Place




Barnes' Yard

Spring Is Here or Its Closer Than it was with Snow on the Ground by Greg Brinkmeyer

It’s amazing what a few beers, sunshine and good music can do to inspire or lighten your mood. The temperature hit the low 40s today but the sun was out all day. I wore a fleece jacket to class. The small amount of warmth broke through the lingering haze of winter and offered a glimmer of hope for better things to come. Spent the evening with a few classmates kicking back a few Guinness and reliving the past week. Came home, cooked dinner and enjoyed a few Heinekens. But the weather was still on my mind and the things to come. Looking forward to
Opening Day
Green grass
Flip flops
Driveway drinking while listening to Bob Dylan
Leaves on the trees
Tiger lilies blooming throughout the neighborhood
The Kentucky Derby
Simply saying it’s May
Outdoor fires
Washers
Cornhole
Smoking meat on the grill
Plants and veggies springing out to say hello
Tomatoes with mozzarella and basil
Gin and tonics
Garage sales
Rolled down windows in the car
Open windows in the house
Birds singing you to sleep and
Waking you up in the morning
Blue skies
Rainy days
Coolers full of beer
Sunday fun days
Vinyl in the garage
Porch swings
The smell of fresh cut grass
A simple sense of peace
Regardless of feelings, desires and personal dissatisfactions, Spring always, always brings back a sense of hope, a sense of new beginnings. The true task is to take advantage of the opportunities this great season presents to us all. Spring is upon us. Take it by the horns and live it up with good music, good friends and family, and remember to enjoy each and every minute of it

Iron and Wine's music means Spring is around the corner.