New Pearl Jam, New Radiohead OMG
It's been a busy few days on YouTube... new Pearl Jam live footage, new-Radiohead-song live footage, and clips of Nine Inch Nails playing New York's Bowery Ballroom and Webster Hall, clubs the likes of which NIN haven't played in a loooong time. Not only that, but Phil Selway, the hairless (on top of his head, at least) helmsman of Radiohead rhythm, moved to the front of the stage to sing the atmospheric (Radiohead-influenced!) singer-songwriter-style songs that he, yes, wrote. What a week (so far).
+ Pearl Jam are back, of course, and the promo cycle for Backspacer is inching dangerously close to what one might call, and what the band—noted hoops fans—would definitely call, a full court press. In May, rumors circled that the band had taken over Seattle's Showbox club in order to shoot a video for a song called "The Fixer." Notable about the shoot? It was directed by Cameron Crowe. Also notable? Footage was apparently intended for marketing tie-in's with Target. Four months later, we know the rumors all turned out to be true. Finally, footage has made it the internet. As you might expect from Cameron Crowe, the video is high energy rock presented with impeccable production values. Fast cuts, close-ups, projection screens and a high energy audience combine to deliver a thrilling video to match one of the more melody-drenched rockers in the band's catalogue. Backspacer is available September 20th at Target, yes, but also at independent stores as well as Pearl Jam's Ten Club.
+ Radiohead last week, as everyone with an internet knows, released a brand new song, for free. The song, "These Are My Twisted Words", is a major key romp with hand claps and some silly call and response vocals between Thom Yorke and his merry bandmates. Just kidding, it's a minor key mid-tempo piece with spider-like guitar lines and seemingly varied time signatures. As Robert Pollard once sarcastically exclaimed from the stage, "Woo hoo, everybody loves Radiohead! Can't say anything bad about Radiohead!" Thing is, almost everybody DOES love Radiohead. And yeah, you're not supposed to say anything bad about Radiohead. OK, here's ONE bad thing about Radiohead (cliched job interview style): Sometimes... they work too hard. Here's the debut live performance of "These Are My Twisted Words from this weekend's Frequency festival in Austria (setlist of which can be found here).
+ For years, all we've seen of drummer Phil Selway are arms, a torso and a shiny head hunched over a kit, studiously meting out the rimclicks, tight snare snap, and hi-hat eight notes that have dominated recent-ish Radiohead. That's all about to change, however, as Selway steps out from behind the Premiers to strum a guitar and sing his song. Two of them, at least, for now. The occasion was a show at tiny Dingwalls in London celebrating the release of 7 Worlds Collide, the Neil Finn-led supergroup/superalbum featuring Phil and Ed O'Brien from Radiohead, as well as members of Wilco, Johnny Marr, and others. The songs below begin simply—almost too simply—enough, but as the song progresses, layers of emotion reveal themselves in the unfolding melody... like a Radiohead song might! But you know, different.
+ Nine Inch Nails kicked off their Wave Goodbye tour Saturday night at New York's 500 cap Bowery Ballroom. Tickets were impossible to get. Fans began waiting in line outside (for released tickets? a prime spot at the relatively tiny venue?) the night before. Even many of NYC's most inside movers and shakers couldn't get, well, inside. And the next night? The band moved fifteen or so blocks north to the larger though still ridiculously small Webster Hall for Round 2, stunning fans by opening the show with a complete, song-by-song performance of The Downward Spiral album. Many clips, and the setlists, are gathered here and here. Below is a TwitVid clip of the beginning of the show. It's shaky and the sound ain't great, but for pure excitement—for the rush that must have been felt at the beginning of a NIN club show—it's hard to beat.
