The Society of Gloves

societyofgloves.com

2009-03-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

You can listen to our new song "Don't Say You Will" on our website, among other places on the Web.

We'll have to abandon this blog at society.deramos.org (as if we paid attention to it recently LOL), but we might bring it back as blog.societyofgloves.com or something good. In the meantime, we have started to microblog - or tweet - at our Twitter page.

Cheers,

Ryan
Society of Gloves

The Society of Gloves

2008-06-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

We are recording new material right now.

Three Years of the Society of Gloves

2008-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

I wish the celebration means we would have lots of new music soon, but sadly, that is not the case. Good news might happen, who knows?

Buzznet

2008-04-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Society of Gloves is on Buzznet: http://societyofgloves.buzznet.com/

Whatever that means, we'll find out eventually.

New Website, New Music...?

2008-03-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hopefully. Who knows? Not even the band!

Mutiny Universe Promotes Growth

2008-02-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

Check out this video promoting the Mutiny Universe Podcast, featuring new music by The Society of Gloves:

Smashing Pumpkins "American Gothic" EP

2008-01-03T15:04:00.000-08:00

Ironically, the last original-recipe (plus or minus D'arcy) Smashing Pumpkins album was a free download called Machina II. It's ironic because the first reborn Smashing Pumpkins (SP2) album - Zeitgeist - has been repackaged so many times, and one of the album's singles has been shilling for "A Sick System" - or is that "A Sync System"? Machina II was an F-YOU to the major record companies, and Zeitgeist has been hijacked by the same industry - a dying industry desperate for money.

Currently, this is Zeitgeist, though I'm missing a few versions on this list: Red Zeitgeist, red book Zeitgeist, yellow Best Buy "Death from Above" Zeitgeist, green UK Zeitgeist, blue iTunes "Stellar" Zeitgeist, violet Target "Zeitgeist" Zeitgeist, silver Best Buy "Death from Above" / "Stellar" / "Ma Belle" / Inside the Zeitgeist documentary Zeitgeist, and now blue "explicit lyrics" iTunes Zeitgeist / American Gothic / music videos bundle. Whew!

With that said, SP2's acoustic-ish Zeitgeist EP American Gothic sounds pretty good. It's almost like an alternate universe where Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin recorded songs for Into the Wild, instead of Eddie Vedder. More accurately, this is what the Adore album might have sounded like with Jimmy Chamberlin and with the original rumor of an acoustic post-Mellon Collie album.

In case you're wondering, this is what a potential Super Zeitgeist would look like. It's not an Ultimate Zeitgeist because the faithful still hope for an epic studio version of "Gossamer." This is basically combining the silver Best Buy reissue album, the Target-only title track, and the new EP:

1. Doomsday Clock
2. 7 Shades of Black
3. Bleeding the Orchid
4. That's the Way (My Love Is)
5. Tarantula
6. Starz
7. United States
8. Death from Above
9. Bring the Light
10. (Come on) Let's Go!
11. Neverlost
12. Stellar
13. Ma Belle
14. For God and Country
15. Pomp and Circumstances
16. Zeitgeist
17. Rose March
18. Again, Again, Again (The Crux)
19. Pox
20. Sunkissed

Super Zeitgeist is too large to fit a standard 80-minute CD. You can buy a DRM-free mp3 album of Zeitgeist at Amazon.com, otherwise the bundle is for sale at iTunes . You'll have to track down the bonus tracks "Death from Above," "Stellar," "Ma Belle," and "Zeitgeist" elsewhere.

Society of Gloves Blog on Hiatus

2007-12-17T17:23:00.000-08:00

Happy First Day of Saturnalia! The Society needs to celebrate the holidays and not blog, so this blog is going to be on hiatus until the new year. I really haven't had anything new to write about as of late, and I don't remember any recent dreams.

Here's the last episode available on Hulu of The Office. The episode is called "Business School":

See you next year!

Society Surveys on Hiatus

2007-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

I guess it's a wise choice to put the bulk of the DeRamos.org Network's daily features on hold for the holiday season, as (1) I don't have the time and (2) Web traffic is probably low this time of year - with the exception of online merchants.

With that said, our socio-politico-economic surveys at Survey Sunday will be on hiatus for the holiday season. I don't know if people will do these types of surveys for this time of year, but we'll be back with a vengeance in time for the primary season for the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections.

And of course, we'll have some new Society songs in the coming year!

With that said, here's the last episode of The Office before the Strike finally sunk in, or at least before the holiday hiatus - but likely the former. The episode is called "The Deposition":

Chord du Jour on Hiatus

2007-12-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

Given the busy nature of the holidays, and the time it takes to create a daily music lesson, I've put Chord du Jour on hiatus...as in, I hate to do this but that's what I need to do. On the bright side, we've gone through two complete cycles of all twelve keys - chords AND scales.

While you digest that info, please stick around and watch this episode of The Office, called "Survivor Man":

Rest assured, I'll be putting some of that music theory to practice during that hiatus while I'm scoring a film called Elan Vital.

And that's sort of how those two otherwise unrelated things - music lessons and film postproduction - tie into this usually unrelated thing - a band called The Society of Gloves. It's all related.

In fact, it's absolutely relative.

Filler

2007-12-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

The Holidays always become the Holy Daze...
I have yet to do another podcast (it is past due)...
The Elan Vital score is slowly coming along...
Congratulations to Eddie Vedder and the other Into the Wild composers for their Golden Globe nomination for best score...
Here's an episode of The Office called "Branch Wars":

This One's for Ike Turner

2007-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

It's music legend that in 1951, Ike Turner and his band discovered guitar amp distortion - an essential element in rock and roll - by accidentally dropping a speaker from the roof of the band's car...or a story to that effect. Rock music salutes you, Mr. Turner!

As a non-sequitur...here's an episode of The Office called "Local Ad":

Ike Turner photo credit: Masahiro Sumori.

"The Office" of Gloves

2007-12-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

I dreamt that I was part of the cast of the NBC show The Office, but it wasn't a show. It felt like a real office, and I felt like I had a real white-collar job, but the whole situation was funny like the show. Steve Carell played the role of the boss, but his name wasn't Michael Scott. He was instead named Butch Reed, like the wrestler.

Anyhow, here's an episode of The Office for your reference:

Acting Conspiracy

2007-12-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

I had a dream where I was part of a "conspiracy" to trick someone to follow their dreams. Sad premise, I know. The first run of the act was great, as I wasn't aware that I was playing a role. Then we tried it again and again, and then it felt like an act. Then we tried to ad lib, and that was a disaster.

Since it's the holiday shopping season, here's that infamous Saturday Night Live Digital Short, just in time for Christmas:

Scoring a Film

2007-12-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

I've been writing and recording the soundtrack (10-14 songs' worth!) for a movie called Elan Vital. You can read more about the scoring process at the Elan Vital postproduction (and beyond!) web log. Cheers!

To keep yourselves occupied, here's a badass Natalie Portman rapping for an SNL Digital Short:

My Friends

2007-12-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

I had a dream I was hanging out with my dear friends since high school, and it was Christmas. They all spoke with different accents (than usual), and so did I . I had a Western movie cowboy accent. And there was this road trip from Washington state to Alaska.

While you digest that, check out SNL's "People Getting Punched Just Before Eating":

Tom Hanks, Pop Star

2007-12-08T00:34:00.000-08:00

This is funny, bizarre, and starring Tom Hanks:

An Unanswerable Riddle?

2007-12-07T11:52:00.001-08:00

In this dream, there were two words. One word was clone; the other word had the same meaning as clone, started with the letter c, was five letters long, but had the letter m in it.

Impossible.

Note to Self

2007-12-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

I keep a minicassette recorder near my bed to record ideas conveniently, especially when I wake up and need to do so. I've done this to record my incoherent dreams in great detail. However, last night I woke to and record my dream in such an intelligible whisper, that I have to do a note to self.

Note to self: No matter how groggy and half-conscious, try to enunciate while recounting a dream.

I remember the content of the dream a little bit. It involved Star Wars, as well as a reality show with two households under one roof - the consequences thereof.

Not "Ishmael"

2007-12-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

So I had this dream about a wise, telepathic shark in an aquarium in a small college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The teacher was a great white named Voldermor, like Harry Potter's Voldermort without the -t, otherwise Voldermar (-mar alluding to the sea) was also used in the dream. The student - much like the Alan Lomax characters in Ishmael and My Ishmael - was a seeker of knowledge, and the two had Socratic dialogues about the meaning of a fictionalized Tolstoy's War and Peace - in the dream it was called Troyovski's (it was spelled that way!) Life and Death.

Somewhere along the way, the student helped the teacher escape the college to his spaceship, which also contained a large enough water-filled aquarium for the shark. The student, who I suspect was yours truly, was definitely happy that there was a glass partition between the telepathic shark and myself.

A shark's a shark, isn't it? Okay, maybe the dream wasn't long enough for me to warm up to the non-gorilla, Ishmael-like character...but the shark was named Voldermor...so buyer beware.

"Elan Vital" Soundtrack

2007-12-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have a good feeling that my part of the Elan Vital soundtrack/score will have enough material to fill an entire album. While being in the middle of constantly writing, recording, and viewing the locked picture track is fulfilling - I can't wait until it's all done and look back with an even greater feeling of satisfaction.

More Unintentional Symbolism

2007-12-03T10:58:00.001-08:00

Someone dressed up like my brother (and band mate in the Society) began to electrocute that area near my right shoulder and probably tried to drain some life-force or something. Anyhow, I knew that the demon wasn't my brother and I let out a war cry and began to attack.

And that's when I woke up. The war cry sounded like a strange wheeze in real life.

Oh...and last night's dream, I came up with a stand up comic routine that involved buying 16 to 20 tacos. Apparently, I was also in high school.

End transmission.

Society Survey #7: First Amendment

2007-12-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

We have a new survey that covers a fraction of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The Establishment Clause, the Free Exercise Clause, and Freedom of Speech. Please take this quick survey, and we should reveal some results on a future Results Thursday. Thanks.

Also, if I have nothing to write about tomorrow, I'll tell you about last night's dream - one where I fought a demon.

Emperor Pie Man

2007-12-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

I dreamt of a Star Wars spoof on The Simpsons, with Homer's Pie Man persona ruling the galaxy. Woo-hoo!!!

Waking Up after Waking Up

2007-11-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

I had a dream that I came up with a melody so irresistible, I had to wake myself up and hum it into the microcassette recorder near my bed. And so I did that.

Realizing that was still part of the dream, I woke up again to record the melody. Upon listening to the melody...it's not that great, and it's probably lifted from another musician's work. This whole episode was a good effort, though, if I do say so myself.

The Technician

2007-11-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

A quick one: Check out The Technician and his phat beats on MySpace.

Hospital Food

2007-11-28T07:37:00.000-08:00

I'm obviously writing about the dreams of previous nights because I have nothing new to report: No new tracks close to completion, no new records to review, no nothin'. So here goes:

I was in a hospital, and the hospital food consisted to sweets and deserts - chocolate donuts, cake with chocolate frosting, cake with white frosting, and bread pudding conveniently packaged Jell-O pudding cups.

I watched House last night, so that explains the hospital part...

Disney Like Cake

2007-11-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

That was one of the dreams I had last night. Disney Like Cake. It had nothing to do with Walt Disney's empire, and the word disney was a common noun with a meaning that's since been lost. It made total sense during the dream, however - but what nonsensical subconscious storyline doesn't at the time broadcast?

Unwound D-String

2007-11-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

I had a dream last night where I noticed the D-string of my guitar was unwound, making the string thinner than the G-string. And then I took out a metal slide and The Society played a rendition of The Who's "Baba O'Riley," and apparently, I did the synthesizer intro playing the slide guitar.

I didn't know I had it in me.

Society Survey #6: Second Amendment

2007-11-25T07:38:00.001-08:00

In reaction to then-current Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese's purchase of two guns, and the band-wide heated conversation about gun ownership, Eddie Vedder wrote the lines: "Got a gun / Fact I got two / That's okay, man / 'Cause I love God!"

Anyhow, DeRamos.org has a survey about the Second Amendment and the current U.S. Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller (2007).

The Subconscious Protest

2007-11-24T01:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, folks, yet another dream open for interpretation. Okay, two dreams. One involved Dick Cheney: A private investigator called the V.P. "Priest" and successfully blackmailed him over a photo. Hmm...politcal strategy?

The second one: A webmaster/conspiracy theorist was paranoid about the government following his every move. His solution? He distributed as many No. 2 pencils as he could, each engraved with his website's URL. It was a .com site because it looked like "no3" when I read it.

.
n
o
3

Like that. What does this all mean?

Probably nothing.

Quadruple Feature

2007-11-23T10:44:00.000-08:00

It was a strange night of sleep. I had four feature-length (?) dreams, each ending with me waking up between dreams. I don't remember the content of the first two, except that they were two distinct dreams, and I vaguely recall the last two: One involved explaining the theory of evolution like I knew what I was talking about (I really don't in real life). The other involved me borrowing a magazine, misplacing said magazine, and spending the rest of the dream frustratingly looking for the magazine.

I never found the magazine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

The Society would like to wish your society and ours a Happy Thanksgiving!

Anyhow, I had another strange dream. It involved a Beverly Hills 90210 television movie reunion that turned out to have a storyline that spoofed teenage "coming-of-age" comedies, and the main characters had superhero powers. Then again, as I never really watched that show growing up, that could very well be a feasible plot for a reunion movie.

Time Has Lost Its Hold

2007-11-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

I had a dream that I lived in an alternate universe where I decided to continue teaching. I had the impression that I was employed at the same school, but the buildings were different. It had indoor hallways, as opposed to the school in real life. And it felt like I was consistently drunk at work (which I never was in real life and had always anticipated I would never be).

They had just hired a middle-aged librarian, and she was asking all sorts of uncomfortably friendly questions to me, such as if I was married and stuff like that. I found that to be strange...until it was revealed that I was 54 years old and had a birthday coming up. So it also turned out that I wasn't drunk at work; I just living in a nearly broken body.

So the middle-aged librarian was effectively hitting on a fifty-something, alternative universe, teacher equivalent of myself.

I found that to be even stranger.

"Time (Lose Your Hold)" featuring moxy phinx

2007-11-20T23:25:00.001-08:00

TIME (LOSE YOUR HOLD)
(R. DeRamos)
Download | moxy phinx

The rain streaks a pane
Of scars on the fade
And many the names lost
Waiting and hoping to dust
Waiting and hoping to just
Rise above

The world's at an end
Much more to pretend who you are
Time lose the people you need
Much more than you grieve who you are
Time lose a moment of trust
Much more than enough who you are
Time lose your hold
Time lose your hold
Time

The sun through the glass
Some healing at last
Cast out is the dark, love
Shining not bleeding apart
Shining not bleeding a start
Here anew

The world's at an end
Much more to offend who you are
Time lose the people you need
Much more than you leave who you are
Time lose a moment of trust
Much more than enough who you are
Time lose your hold
Time lose your hold
Time

The scars and the leaving
The rain and the grieving
We're shining not bleeding apart
Rise above

The world's at an end
Much more to defend who you are
Time lose the people you need
Much more than you bleed who you are
Time lose a moment of trust
Much more than enough who you are
Time lose your hold
Time lose your hold
Time lose your hold

© & (P) 2007 DeRamos Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved.

Time (Lose Your Hold)

2007-11-19T02:54:00.000-08:00

Within the next day - probably Tuesday - The Society of Gloves will officially unveil "Time (Lose Your Hold)," featuring moxy phinx. The song will be linked above for download and streaming, as well as on our MySpace music profile. We recorded the basic tracks for the song in September, Katrina Lenk of moxy phinx recorded her vocals in October, and the Society finished the recording and mixing process earlier this month.

The song will be featured in Mutiny Universe's Outcasts, coming to a film festival near you!

As far as the album art goes, it's basically another section from Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son, as is the cover art for "Who Are Your Friends?" The ancient Romans considered Saturn to be "Father Time," so the imagery is obvious in relation to the song title.

Society Survey #5: Anthropology

2007-11-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Is there one correct way to live? If so, then how would you describe it? While far from perfect, please take this ten question, multiple-choice survey on anthropology to help us understand which type of society seems best for many. Thanks!

Ensemble Dream

2007-11-17T16:10:00.000-08:00

I had a dream that three different characters simultaneously tried to get out of their respective Faustian deals (i.e., deal with the devil for fame or fortune or whatever) through surprise epic battles. I think the characters were sort of aware of when things were amiss and had to fight some specialized (and ironic) mega-demon. In the end, I think two of the characters failed (in a sense) and became super-powered and famous mega-demons. The last one "won" his epic battle only to ironically live insignificantly from then on.

So I don't know the moral of that jumbled subconscious story was.

Three Hats

2007-11-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

I dreamt I wore three hats simultaneously. By the way, I actually wore three masks simultaneously for a Halloween party this year.

Blackout Blues

2007-11-15T10:04:00.000-08:00

My neighborhood had a workday-long blackout. We're so very dependent on electricity - and been so for more than a hundred years or so. Anyway, since I couldn't be productive on the computer, I took out my trusty microcassette recorder, the band took out a couple of guitars, we reviewed old riffs on tape, and we made new riffs. We developed some new Society material, and it was fun. And we were still dependent on a power source, since the microcassette player runs on a AAA battery. Then again, the sun's a power source too, which feeds the plants, which is part of a food chain...you know what? I'm hungry. I'm going to eat now. Later!

Review: Pearl Jam "Live on Two Legs" (1998)

2007-11-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

1998's Yield is not only my favorite Pearl Jam album, it also signifies the rebirth of the band. They were a commercial phenomenon for their first three albums - Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy - and their commercial success waned during their "experimental" era of Vitalogy and No Code. However, commercialism often does not equate when it comes to crafting art.

In the making of Yield documentary Single Video Theory, there was a sentiment that the band had become a true collaborative force recording the Yield album. Everyone contributed to the songwriting process in one way or another, whether co-writing with another band member or bringing a song to the table.

Live on Two Legs finishes the Yield era trilogy (Yield, Single Video Theory, and Live on Two Legs) by documenting how the band performed during their 1998 tour. It's not a true concert but a compilation similar to the DVD Touring Band 2000. Also of note is that this live album shows the reborn band still in transition, with former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron behind the kit, replacing the semi-retiring Jack Irons.

All in all, it's a solid live compilation, with the debut of the song "Untitled," which often transitions into "MFC."

In progressing years, Pearl Jam will follow the album era trilogy pattern of studio album, live album(s), and related video(s):

2000/1: Binaural, Official Bootleg Series, and Touring Band 2000.
2002/3: Riot Act, Official Bootleg Series, and Live at the Garden/Live at the Showbox.
2006/7: Pearl Jam, Official Bootleg Series/Live at the Gorge 05/06, and Immagine in Cornice.

Obviously there's some clever marketing afoot in releasing album era trilogies, but it does beat releasing and reissuing the same album seven or more times (Zeitgeist).

Ti-i-i-ime, Lose Your Hold.

2007-11-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

Now that the song for Outcasts, "Time (Lose Your Hold)" is good to go - and the movie is at the cusp of running the film festival circuit - it's time to continue writing an album's worth of music for another film: Elan Vital.

Time, lose your hold, indeed.

Studio Calendar

2007-11-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

I finally seriously grasped why recording artists, engineers, and producers have a big calendar with a schedule of duties in the studio. It obviously helps with work flow and good stuff like that. Next time we record a song, we should try it, instead of playing by ear (pardon the pun) and shifting gears constantly and erratically. Then again, it does feel more fulfilling to track guitars or vocals or whatever, whenever the feeling to do so strikes. It's less efficient, of course, but some things just need to take time. So who knows?

Society Survey #4: Abortion

2007-11-11T18:33:00.001-08:00

This one's extremely serious this time. Are you pro-choice or pro-life? Please take this survey, which consists of three questions, one optional question, and the same six demographic questions. Thanks!

Pitch Shifting in Pro Tools

2007-11-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

I've been aware of the fantastic (and often ridiculous) things that Pro Tools can do, but the Society has pretty much used the program like a 1970s multitrack recorder with a few extra goodies and some digital wizardry.

And then I discovered the pitch shift tool. (Actually, the time shift tool fixes pitches more intuitively.) While not an automatic perfection-maker like Auto-Tune or Melodyne, it's still pretty evil. Hopefully, we'll only use this tool sparingly.

Or else I've joined the Dark Side.

It's Almost "Time"

2007-11-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

The time is near..."Time (Lose Your Hold)"...that is. In the meantime, check out Society collaborator Moxy Phinx's MySpace profile...and listen to the music!

Results Thursday at DeRamos.org

2007-11-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for some sarcastic Society Survey results, please go to Results Thursday at DeRamos.org. Thanks!

Two Mics

2007-11-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

We've tried several strange things in the studio, but we've neglected to try one of the most basic "tricks": Recording vocals with two mics simultaneously. We have the capability to record two separate tracks simultaneously, so it's only natural that we should try this at least once.

If all goes well, we'll let you hear the results, in the form of a download linked above.

Crowd Noises

2007-11-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

I dreamt I added crowd noises to a song we've been recording. It's a nice idea, but for the time being, we'll leave that faux live sound to early Guns N' Roses (Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide is the name of the pretend live EP).

Moby "Southside"

2007-11-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

This song was cool (almost eight years ago). It's Moby's "Southside" (the song and not the anatomical geographic location) featuring Gwen Stefani (before her strange solo career):

Society Survey #3: U.S. Politics

2007-11-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

Since the 2008 U.S. Presidential election is exactly one year away, we've posted a U.S. politics survey. It consists of ten multiple-choice questions, so please take the survey to help us out - THANKS! (We'll provide some results with commentary at DeRamos.org.)

Note to Self

2007-11-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Note to self: Never play a game of twenty questions in a dream; otherwise you'll never get the answer. End transmission.

Monetizing Icons

2007-11-02T01:49:00.000-07:00

It doesn't bode well with me that a lot of the rock bands listened to (and still listen to) have their music or their image manipulated by big business.

Case in point, a soundclip from the new Smashing Pumpkins in a Ford Focus commercial:

That kind of thing didn't happen in the 1990s. It was one thing to "sell out" (i.e., get a major record deal) but it was almost unheard of to be an obvious part of a corporate campaign.

I guess it all went downhill when a thing called Woodstock 99 happened.

While part of me wants to license the Society's music and thus reap some rewards from doing so, there are limits to do that, in my opinion. Licensing music to movies is okay in my book...depending on the movie. TV...maybe. But Ford automobiles? Ford. Fix or Repair Daily. That brand. It's like that country music popstar Toby Keith's "I'm a Ford truck man" song. Maybe that appeals to a certain demographic, but to me - that's totally what a pitchman - and a non-artist - would do. It's like having your music in a Nike or McDonald's commercial. It sort of devalues any art originally intended. It aligns something bright and optimistic with an exploitative corporate machine.

U2 hyping the iPod a couple of years ago was just as uncool, too.

Don't get me started on those Kurt Cobain website ads that show up from time to time on MySpace. I'm sure every molecule that used to be part of Cobain turns over in disgust every time that ad appears.

Most of the blame goes to the record companies, obviously. They make the money, which doesn't really trickle down to the artists. I guess that's the part that really doesn't bode so well with me.

And yes, I do realize we've monetized this blog to attempt to pay the bills. But we're not icons...idealized and put on a higher plane of behavior.

Review: Pearl Jam "Single Video Theory" (1998)

2007-11-01T00:44:00.000-07:00

Pearl Jam's 1998 album Yield is my favorite album by one of my favorite bands of all time. I haven't had the opportunity to watch the making-of music documentary Single Video Theory (The Yield Sessions) - released a few months later in August of 1998 - until yesterday.

I now have a deeper appreciation of the collaborative process of a fantastic album. Also, I finally got to see former PJ drummer Jack Irons' garbage can lid cymbal (which is exactly that) in action. It's very awesome! Since the sessions happened in 1997, the band (except maybe Stone Gossard) looks 10 years younger and dressed like I did when I was in high school. Ah, the 1990s...

While I liked the video overall, here are a few minor gripes:

1. There are no chapters or main menu, but that's understandable since the video was released in 1998.

2. I wish the band practice performances were complete songs, but for the most part, they either segue from an interview/actuality sequence/montage in progress and/or fade out to the next interview/actuality sequence/montage.

3. It's only 45 minutes, almost like the record company intended to broadcast it on TV with room for commercials or something. Pearl Jam's subsequent DVD releases are far superior, which is a good thing: It's better to go uphill than downhill.

On the plus side, however, the aesthetic of shooting on film (which was used somewhat for this year's Immagine in Cornice) makes it look like a music documentary from the 1970s, which is way cool.

If Yield were to be re-released (10 years later as opposed to Zeitgeist's 3 months later), it would be logical to package the album with this making-of video. For good measure, Live on Two Legs (a tour compilation CD from the Yield tour) would complete the Yield trilogy. As I haven't checked out that live album (yet another anomaly from a big Pearl Jam fan), I will have to do so ASAP.

This is the track listing for Single Video Theory:

1. "All Those Yesterdays"
2. "Faithfull"
3. "Brain of J."
4. "Given to Fly"
5. "No Way"
6. "MFC"
7. "Wishlist"
8. "In Hiding"
9. "Low Light"
10. "Do the Evolution"

Asynchronous Musical Collaboration

2007-10-31T00:32:00.000-07:00

Definitions from Wiktionary.

asynchronous (adj.)
1. not synchronous; occurring at different times
2. (computing) (of a request or a message) allowing the client to continue during a processing

musical (comparative more musical, superlative most musical) (adj.)
1. of or relating to music.
2. pleasing to the ear. (Her voice had a musical tone.)

music (uncountable) (mass noun) (n.)
1. A sound, or the study of such sounds, organized in time in a melodious way.
2. (figuratively) Any pleasing or interesting sounds
3. Something wonderful.
That's music to my ears!
4. A guide to playing or singing a particular tune; sheet music.

collaboration (plural collaborations) (n.)
1. the act of collaborating.

to collaborate (third-person singular simple present collaborates, present participle collaborating, simple past collaborated, past participle collaborated) (v.)
1. to work together with others to achieve a common goal.
2. the product of collaboration.
3. treasonous cooperation, as with an enemy occupation force in one's country.

That's how we roll...sometimes...due to a lack of some resources (a decent studio) and a sufficiency of technology (broadband Internet).

"Zeitgeist": Inflating Album Sales?

2007-10-30T01:35:00.001-07:00

I bought the iTunes blue Zeitgeist download album as a pre-order for the chance to buy some pre-sale concert tickets, with the hope that the new Smashing Pumpkins would play a full-length concert in Los Angeles. It was a gamble, and since they did not play a proper LA show, I lost that bet. I'm fine with that decision.

I bought the Target-exclusive violet Zeitgeist compact disc album because (1) I wanted a physical, DRM-free copy of the album and (2) since I had to decide between Target's bonus track of "Zeitgeist" and Best Buy's bonus track of "Death from Above" without hearing either song, I chose to go with the title track of the album.

There's little chance that I would want to buy the same album more than twice.

It would have been more palatable if Warner/Reprise released the Inside the Zeitgeist DVD as its own thing. Instead, by bundling it with the album, it's an obvious ploy to boost album sales. That doesn't bode well with me. It just might be the principle of it, but I'd rather buy a music documentary DVD at $15 dollars than essentially the same CD with a bonus DVD for $10. Rationally, you'll get more for the latter, but the former just seems more...honest?

I often joke that reason why Nickelback's recent middle-of-the-road, pop rock album has been high on the charts for two-plus years is because the same 100,000-200,000 people have been buying the album weekly without fail. Unfortunately, that might be a reality for Zeitgeist's current worldwide sales of 700,000 - only to inflate more by week's end - with the same tried and true Pumpkinheads with two or more copies of Billy and Jimmy's production.

But I do wonder if the Pumpkins' silver Zeitgeist music documentary will be any good - like Immagine in Cornice good.

Grey "Zeitgeist": This Is What Record Companies Do...

2007-10-29T02:11:00.001-07:00

The other night I had a dream that it was the late 1990s, and the original Smashing Pumpkins were working on a prototype to the new Smashing Pumpkins' song "Starz." It sounded less like a Queen-like production, as it contained a bunch of guitar work from James Iha - wah-wah, Ebow, Digitech Whammy, etc. It was cool, and Jimmy Chamberlin's drum solo was still intact.

Unfortunately, it was all a dream.

Anyway, we can point the finger at Billy Corgan for any number of things. As much as he'd like to believe that Iha broke up the original band, Corgan could have fired whomever he wanted and continue the name Smashing Pumpkins. That's pretty much the de facto power that band leaders (who aren't necessarily the lead singer - Nikki Sixx, Noel Gallagher, etc. - but often are) have. So we can safely say that Corgan broke up the old Smashing Pumpkins. We can also say that, when rebuilding the band, Corgan chose to continue the bandmate relationship with the only peer he truly needs: drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. We can also say that Corgan, after the original Pumpkins and Zwan, was firmly unwilling to relent some creative input to his peers (except for Chamberlin, of course), so the rest of the band needed to come from outside his peer group. They needed to be obedient Christians (also see Zwan), or at the very least, not the following people: James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky, Melissa Auf der Maur, Eric Erlandson, Jimmy Flemion, Dennis Flemion, Mike Garson, Eric Avery, Dave Navarro, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, Matt Sweeney, David Pajo, Paz Lenchantin, Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo, Pat Smear, Krist Novoselic, Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, Mike Starr, etc. (In other words, musicians from the Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, The Frogs, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, Zwan, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, etc.) We can safely say that the bandmates that Chamberlin auditioned fit that sort of Corgan-obedient, less-than-equal archetype.

We could also say that while Corgan probably didn't make it a point to market multiple versions of the new Pumpkins' debut album - red Zeitgeist, red book Zeitgeist, yellow Zeitgeist, green Zeitgeist, blue Zeitgeist, and violet Zeitgeist - he didn't stand in the way of Reprise / Warner Bros. from doing so. It's almost if, by inaction, his label Martha's Music (which co-published the music, in all likelihood) would also actively benefit from this sad marketing scheme. Hmm...

Anyway, forgive the rambling, as my point is this: On Tuesday, October 30, 2007, after a summer of lackluster sales for Zeitgeist, Warner is reissuing the album with two of the three separated bonus tracks, and exclusive bonus track, and a making-of DVD - solely through the electronics retailer Best Buy. Enough is enough. They should have released grey Zeitgeist on July 10, 2007, and that should have been the only version of the album. The end.

I'm glad that Radiohead seems to have been successful at their relatively novel business model (which had more notoriety than the Pumpkins' year 2000 attempt at it, called Machina II). I'm glad that Pearl Jam seems to have an a la carte record contract with J Records / Sony (and Rhino for DVDs, I guess) after leaving their previous contract with Epic / Sony. I'm glad that Amazon.com has one-upped iTunes Plus' DRM-free downloads in terms of price (about 99 cents vs. $1.29). I'm glad that more artists are willing to break from the stranglehold of the old way of doing things, which has broken down in this new era. (Simple biology states that if you don't adapt, you'll become extinct, and I believe the same holds true for business.)

If record companies, and other dinosaurs of commerce, can only figure out that adapting their business model to this changing media frontier would only give them greater profits and longer viability, instead of passing the headache of the same ol', same ol' to the consumer.

Talk about "Bleeding the Orchid." And by the orchid, I mean the fans - out of about $10 or more at a time.

Society Survey #2: Religion

2007-10-28T17:30:00.001-07:00

Please help us understand religion in society by taking this 10 question, multiple-choice survey, and we'll spread some sarcastic misinformation at DeRamos.org.

Thanks,
The Society of Gloves

Filler

2007-10-27T16:59:00.001-07:00

Did I even dream last night? I don't remember...

Review: Zwan "Mary Star of the Sea" (2003)

2007-10-26T02:57:00.000-07:00

I don't understand the Zwan backlash post-2003. The criticisms against the alternative rock supergroup were pretty loud during the impending release of the New Smashing Pumpkins debut 2007 album Zeitgeist. In my opinion, Zwan outshines Zeitgeist, if only slightly.

Zwan's one and only studio album, Mary Star of the Sea, is a classic. It borders on spirituality, but in a U2-esque, non-fundie Roman Catholic kind of way. It was optimistic in a time of uncertainty (the invasion of Iraq began at the time of the album's release). The guitars are thick and layered, in a Billy Corgan-meets-David Pajo-kind of way...well, literally, actually. Jimmy Chamberlin's drumming is consistently above par. Paz Lenchantin's bass playing goes above and beyond Corgan's longtime chick bass-player fetish of the past two decades (which I share as well). Additionally, Lenchantin's harmony vocals tame Corgan's signature whine in an unprecedented manner, as her vocals are actually in the final mix - unlike most Smashing Pumpkins records with Corgan thinly harmonizing with himself.

I'm sure Matt Sweeney is also in the mix somewhere, but his contribution truly shines in the Djali Zwan's wild west adaptation of Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" from the Spun soundtrack. Sweeney's vocals on that track, as well as Zwan's acoustic arrangment, make the cover more badass than the original. "Beast" is not on the album, but I recommend that you track it down if you're interested.

"Baby Let's Rock!" is probably the weakest track on the album, and while I can't hang with that song as much as the other thirteen tracks, it's still a solid song.

The title track "Mary Star of the Sea" is such a great song, and I wish it was granted its own track. Unfortunately (relatively speaking), it's bundled together with "Jesus, I," which is a hard-rocking rendition of a hymn but also the third weakest track. It's a good song, but it's a given that there are songs better or worse than other songs in any given album. I'm glad I have an edited mp3 of "Mary" in iTunes so that I can listen to that epic (comparative to the Pumpkins' "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans") anytime I want, without manually fast-forwarding four minutes or so into the bundled track.

The album closer, "Come with Me" is a catchy ditty, but falls between "Rock!" and "Jesus" in the lower portion of the quality spectrum.

Again, listing the weakest tracks is not necessarily a bad thing, as those songs are pretty good by themselves. With the rest of the album far outshining those solid tracks, why is there such a backlash against Mary? Admittedly, Corgan's only F-bomb on "Yeah!" is consistently out-of-place, but the hooks of "Yeah!" and pretty much every Zwan song are fantastic!

Here's the track list of the album:

1. Lyric
2. Settle Down
3. Declarations of Faith
4. Honestly
5. El Sol
6. Of a Broken Heart
7. Ride a Black Swan
8. Heartsong
9. Endless Summer
10. Baby Let's Rock!
11. Yeah!
12. Desire
13. Jesus, I / Mary Star of the Sea
14. Come with Me

If you can find it, I recommend the limited edition release of Mary Star of the Sea, with the documentary DVD. You'll kind of-sort of get to know the short-lived supergroup and hear extra tracks (albeit fragments thereof) from Zwan.

The bottom line is this: 2/5 Old Smashing Pumpkins (or 100% New Smashing Pumpkins) + 3/5 indie rock credibility = a band that was (1) meant to craft such a marvelous album and (2) inevitably implode as soon as possible. While the latter wasn't a pleasant thing, at least they stuck together long enough to create the former.

I Dreamt I Ate a Sandwich

2007-10-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

I just woke up from a midnight nap, and I dreamt I made a sandwich. I used a great tasting roll and some all sorts of sandwich ingredients. I was in a laundry room with a TV broadcasting some interestingly strange cartoons.

I think I ate some of the sandwich, and it was good.

One of these days I'll need to pick up a symbolism book or two to decipher what all this weirdness is supposed to mean.

On the other hand, I can pretty much identify which parts of the dream correlates to things that happened yesterday or the days before.

In any case, it would be great to have a sandwich right about now.

Italian sandwich photo credit: Xavier Snelgrove.

Talking Baby Animals

2007-10-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

I had a dream last night where I was a temporary caretaker (a babysitter) to about a dozen kittens, puppies, and little birds. They were well-behaved - for the most part - and they could talk. They all spoke English. It was rad. And yes, it was also cute.

There was only one problem. One of the kittens apparently disliked another kitten, and I had to somehow resolve their little feud. I gave this cliche spiel about all the baby animals being family even though they had different parents or weren't part of the same litter. Since they all hung out in the same living room environment for seemingly an eternity (as I presumed they were perpetually youthful talking animals), that constituted being in a family that should stick together. I guess that worked to resolve the differences between the two kittens, but I wish I had remembered their names.

After the exciting confrontation, all the exhausted baby animals went to sleep in a circle formation. I think I passed out too (in the dream) and strayed into another dream.

I wish I had remembered all of the baby animals' names. They all introduced themselves to me at the start of the dream, and I'm sure there's a part of my brain that stored that information, but there's probably little chance of me accessing those names. Well, I do remember three names. I think one of the baby animals was named Scottie or Scooter, or maybe there were two with each name. And there was a kitten named Applesauce. You can't forget someone named Applesauce!

Kitten photo credit: André Karwath (Aka).

The All-Night Dream Conundrum

2007-10-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had a dream that there was someone who rewarded people who answered his riddles correctly. He apparently had the reputation of telling easy riddles and giving grand rewards. Unfortunately, before my dream began, this person acquired a book full of harder riddles.

And it was just my luck that an extremely difficult riddle was given for me to answer.

I couldn't answer it.

Therefore, I wouldn't know what the prize was.

That plagued me the entire night, as I was searching for either the answer to the unanswerable, or for the prize itself.

Such is dreamland. Fortunately, the next night was a night of comedy, and I felt like I was laughing the entire night.

Band Name Deathmatch

2007-10-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

I stumbled onto this bit of trivia recently: There are 21 bands named "Parousia" on MySpace. Since the term parousia refers to Christian eschatology, most of those bands are either play Christian music or death metal (it's only natural with the supernatural/spiritual overtones of metal in general)...or both. That's the problem with having one-word band names...the one who gets famous first (or trademarks their name or publishes something through ASCAP, BMI, etc.) gets to keep the name. Even then, there are all sorts of potential litigation to arise from a myriad disgruntled parties.

After the smoke clears, the losers will be forced to add a suffix, such as an X or their country of origin's abbreviation, to their band name...or change their band name altogether.

Let's just say that I'm glad we're The Society of Gloves, but obviously there several Society of _____ names and organizations in this world.

I wonder what will become with all the Parousia bands in the United States. Will they sue each other (especially as they are mostly supposedly Christian bands)? Who will win?

Objects Are LARGER Than They Appear

2007-10-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had a dream that I was driving a Ford Mustang. I drove through some dusty roads in some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland. It was definitely at nighttime. However, the interior of the Mustang was as large as a bus, and I had several passengers, all of whom had familiar faces.

I didn't know where exactly I was driving to, but I thought the whole situation was pretty cool. I especially like that the "Mustang bus" was eerily similar to the contradictory space inhabited by the TARDIS police box from the long-running BBC series Doctor Who.

TARDIS photo credit: Zir.

Review: Stone Gossard "Bayleaf" (2001)

2007-10-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Alternative rock sidemen tend to make great solo albums. As sappy as it is, former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha's 1998 solo album Let It Come Down has some solid songwriting. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's 2005 side project Life Begins Again is the most groovin' fusion album I've heard, and it goes to show why Billy Corgan needs Chamberlin in the new Smashing Pumpkins. Add Pearl Jam's first songwriter/riffmeister, Stone Gossard, to the list of great alt-rock sideman solo albums.

Stone's 2001 solo album, Bayleaf (which was coincidentally released on September 11th of that year), is one of those few albums that already sound pretty good at first listen. It's a fun album. Stone sings lead vocals on seven of the ten tracks, and sings back-up for three of the tracks. While he's no Eddie Vedder, Stone ably sings pretty good melodies with some Neil Young-influenced tone. I have to admit, it's a bit disconcerting whenever another voice (guest vocalist Ty Wilman) sings lead vocals, but it's Stone's songwriting that shines through. Here are some album highlights:

Track 3: "Pigeon" is an instantly classic-sounding groove rocker.

Track 5: "Cadillac" has a fun vocal interplay between Stone and Ty Wilman. It does sound like a mix between a car commercial jingle and an improvement upon the Beach Boys' eighties hit "Kokomo." Once you get past those eerie similarities, it's a happy little number.

Track 6: "Bayleaf" (the title track) has one short instance of melody that borrows from Axl Rose's vocal playbook. It only happens once in the song, but it makes itself obvious. The rest of the song is great, by the way.

Track 7: "Every Family" is a soulful, bluesy song that would make fat Elvis proud. And I mean that in the best way possible. There's some great Hammond organ instrumentation in this song.

Track 9: "Hellbent" seems to have influenced a Stone Gossard/Eddie Vedder-penned Pearl Jam track five years later: "Parachutes." This is ironic because Ed often complains that Stone tends to refuse to return to previously explored territory when it comes to songwriting.

Since I bought this album on iTunes, my biggest complaint is the lack of liner notes. I've heard that Stone did the liner notes art, but I don't have it to confirm. Stone is not only a great guitarist, a decent vocalist, and a multi-instrumentalist - he's also a painter. Since Bayleaf seems to be out of print, you'll either need to buy a used copy at Amazon.comor download it with iTunes:

While the album is a bit less than 40 minutes, I think I can burn this album with Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild (without the bonus tracks) onto one disc. Ed's folksy acoustic album and Stone's funky electric album sound like companion pieces (albeit six years apart). It like the two belong in a band together...hmm...

You can sample some choice tracks (plus an import-only bonus track) at Stone Gossard's fan-made MySpace Music profile.

Stone Gossard Rocks

2007-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone who knows Pearl Jam knows that Stone is the boss. Stone wrote the music to Ten, and an obscure singer named Ed added lyrics and melodies...and the rest is history. Here's an interview he (and his baby daughter, too!) did at a New York radio station called K-Rock:

Here's Stone playing Woody Guthrie's "Roll On, Columbia":

Society Survey #1: Pop Culture

2007-10-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Please help us understand society by taking this 10 question, multiple-choice survey, and we'll spread some sarcastic misinformation at DeRamos.org.

Thanks,
The Society of Gloves

Puscifer "Queen B."

2007-10-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

Maynard James Keenan has a non-Tool, non-A Perfect Circle side project, called Puscifer. The song for the following video is called "Queen B.":

Mash-Ups Are Cool

2007-10-16T02:46:00.000-07:00

Like most of what's posted on YouTube, the legality of mash-ups is dubious, but that doesn't mean that they aren't cool when done well. Case in point: If "Every Breath You Take" by the Police mated with "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, you'd get "Every Car You Chase." Both the audio and the music video have been mashed together well, so it's doubly cool:

The Band with the Staple Singers "The Weight"

2007-10-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

While browsing through the Internet, I was on the case of why the Verve forfeited the royalties for "Bittersweet Symphony" to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Evidently, "Bittersweet Symphony" took one sample too many from the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra's rendition of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time," which itself was unintentionally lifted (without legal consequence) from a gospel song by the Staple Singers.

Yadda, yadda, yadda...I found this video clip from Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz, with The Band and the Staple Singers performing "The Weight":

The Game Plan (Not the Movie)

2007-10-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

Here's our tentative process if/when we ever release a full-length album:

1. Write and record 30 songs, and post them on this website. Hopefully this will ensure that there aren't any filler tracks, or at least we'll have filler tracks that we aren't ashamed to post on our website. This part can take weeks (no), months (no), or years (yes).

2. Choose the dozen or so that work together.

3. Put the songs in a coherent order.

4. Rework and/or rerecord those songs.

5. Remix and remaster that collection of songs.

6. Release an official Society of Gloves album.

7. The remaining songs will be B-sides to whatever we consider as album "singles." We'll remix, remaster, and release accordingly.

8. In the meantime, enjoy all our non-album "singles," as we like to write and record songs intermittently. Remember, the magic number is 30. With six songs already posted, one in purgatory, and several other songs already written - we're about 1/5th of the way there.

Who Are Your Friends? (Finally.)

2007-10-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

WHO ARE YOUR FRIENDS?
(R. DeRamos)
Download | Donate

I want you.
Let me crawl the Earth.
It is barren like my soul.
To find you.
To find truth.
And answers to questions you must know.

Who are your friends; may I torture them?
Who are your friends; may I devour them?
Let's pretend they're still in love with you.
Let's pretend you will see me through.

Misericordia.
I ain't warning you.
Just a consequence.
These tears you have to shed.
Oh my, oh my, am I pleased to meet you.
Don't shake my confidence.

Who are your friends; may I torture them?
Who are your friends; may I devour them?
Let's pretend they're still in love with you.
Let's pretend you will see me through.

A stranger seeks revenge.
And when he gets it, it's the end.
A stranger seeks revenge.
And when he gets it, it's the end.

Who are your friends?
May I devour them?
Let's pretend they're still in love with you.
Let's pretend you will see me through...

Out of this hole, out of control.
Drunken the soul's come down to this.
I am the underdog; I am the sorrow god.
Shadow follows light to hold you in the dark.

© & (P) 2007 DeRamos Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved.

P.S. Compare these lyrics with the original lyrics from 2004 (posted January 2005).

Who Are Your Friends?

2007-10-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Within the next day or so, The Society of Gloves will officially unveil "Who Are Your Friends?" as a free/donations-accepted download. The song will be linked at the top of this blog, as well as on our MySpace profile. We recorded the song in August, so it's about time we officially release the track for download and streaming.

Unlike our previous "record covers," the album art for this song is just an otherwise unedited (other than cropping into a square) classic painting by Francisco Goya: "Saturn Devouring His Son." Last year's album art also had classic, public domain art, but the images were heavily modified. We pretty much left Goya's painting alone, albeit cropped. As you can see from the thumbnails above, we'll also use another part of this painting for "Time (Lose Your Hold)," which will be released soon.

The darkness, despair, and franticness of Saturn just fit the mood of the song like a glove. The word "devour" is also used in the lyrics, if you want to get obvious about it. Check out the original painting by Francisco Goya:

At the recent Peter Chavez album release, a random observer compared my friend Jason Loya's artwork to that of Francisco Goya, so be sure to check out Jason's art too.

"In Rainbows" Is Back!

2007-10-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, InRainbows.com was down, and Radiohead.com redirected to Radiohead's blog. I thought that meant the sale was over and you'd have to wait for the album to be re-released sometime later. However, the site apparently still works, so you can order the album as a digital download or discbox directly from the band. Unfortunately, the site's servers are slow because many people are buying and downloading right now (which is good for Radiohead's business plan).

Remember, the price is in Great Britain Pounds Sterling (GBP), and it takes roughly $2.00 USD (more than that, more recently) to equal £1.00 GBP. You can also "buy" the album for free, but it is worth whatever money you give the band.

Review: Radiohead "In Rainbows"

2007-10-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

Few "mainstream" wood-skin-and-metal rock bands have ventured into an electronic world of soundscapes and survived, much less thrived in it.

U2 had a somewhat forgotten (forgettable?) 1990s dance music stretch between Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Nirvana never had the chance, other than a few, obscure, lo-fi audio collages by Kurt Cobain.

After firing drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in 1996, the Smashing Pumpkins tried out Billy Corgan's vision of "arcane night music" with their 1998 album Adore. While an underrated album, the result was almost immediate: The loss of much of their Gish-Siamese Dream-Mellon Collie fanbase and subsequent beginning of the end for Smashing Pumpkins, version 1.0. In the longterm, it meant: Billy Corgan + synthesizers = no-no (TheFutureEmbrace).

The closest Pearl Jam has gotten to ambient-sounding-yet-dance-inspiring-grooves is Matt Cameron's "You Are," from Riot Act. Then again, the song being reminiscent of the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" doubled the cool factor of that song.

To the contrary, post-OK Computer Radiohead has apparently thrived being a "mainstream," major label band that does this sort of electronic, post-rock (post-pop format) thing. Honestly, I need to give Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail to the Thief several more spins, but I'm happy to report that In Rainbows has the same vibe as OK Computer, e.g. 2007's "Nude" is reminiscent of 1997's "No Surprises." For the new album, Radiohead's rhythm section is sometimes jazzy and always dance-friendly. Radiohead's guitar/soundscape section is as dreamy as ever. And Thom Yorke's voice - which prevously launched a thousand Matthew Bellamy and Chris Martin ships - is as moody and high-pitched as ever. You have to realize that moody and high-pitched are difficult to have simultaneously.

In Rainbows has a good mix of aggressive/upbeat songs and ambient/downbeat moodiness. Here is the tracklist:

1. 15 Step (3:57)
2. Bodysnatchers (4:02) I recommend this rocker.
3. Nude (4:15) This is the tenth anniversary edition of "No Surprises," but not really.
4. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (5:18)
5. All I Need (3:48)
6. Faust Arp (2:09)
7. Reckoner (4:50)
8. House of Cards (5:28)
9. Jigsaw Falling into Place (4:08)
10. Videotape (4:39) Starts off like a Coldplay song for a couple of seconds but quickly resolves as a Radiohead song that Coldplay will try to do for their next album.

The bottom line: In Rainbows was the best £2.45 I've spent on music...in recent memory, at least, although I wish they had provided a PDF file of liner notes in the downloadable ZIP file. And if you missed the boat on their special you-name-the-price digital release sale, too bad for you. You're going to have to wait for the albums rumored physical release early next year.

About the Society of Gloves

2007-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Society of Gloves officially formed in May 2005 but can trace its roots back to 1994, when the brothers DeRamos learned to play guitar. The band consists of Jonathan DeRamos on guitar/soundscaping and Ryan DeRamos on guitar/everything else, with room open for collaboration. Our first recording as the Society, "White Rhino," was recorded in July of 2006. If was followed by "Fifty Can't Be Wrong" and "Shield" later that summer. "Transcend the Writing" was recorded in fall of 2006.

Spring 2007 brought "Do the Code," which is the Society's adaptation of a song written for the upcoming film Elan Vital. "Who Are Your Friends?" and "Time (Lose Your Hold)" were recorded this summer but will be released sometime in the fall of 2007.

You can visit our MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/societyofgloves and our CafePress store at www.cafepress.com/societyofgloves.

If You Bill It, They Will Rock...

2007-10-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

I had this dream the other night (well, the other day since I've succumbed to vampirism) that I threw a gigantic music festival in an old European village - it was probably from the Immagine in Cornice DVD ingrained to my subconscious.

As I looked down from an ancient balcony, I saw a large causeway/stairs full of people. They formed a circle around a performer playing an acoustic guitar. After that set was done, the performer passed the guitar to the next musician to play. And so on, and so forth. This was exciting stuff, as everyone knew the songs that were played. I was pleased with the festival I had created.

Somewhere during this sequence, Bruce Springsteen asked if he could play, since he was in this neck of the world on tour, but the E Street Band had their day off that day. So he offered to play an acoustic set in the middle of the day. I thought that was cool, so he was part of the festival.

The End. Now download some songs linked above, or you can preview the songs by using the streaming music widget at the top left. And if you feel the need to throw some Euros, pence, or cents into the donation fund, I won't stop you!

Bruce Springsteen photo credit: Sister72.

Radiohead's Business Model

2007-10-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Within the next day or two, the Society of Gloves' blog will host free downloads of the songs we've recorded as the Society of Gloves - the four songs recorded last year, the three songs recorded this year (thus far), etc.

The songs will be free to right-click and save as, and we are glad to spread our music to as many ears as possible. At the same time, we will leave the guitar case open - so to speak - and have links to donate to our PayPal account.

Yes, it's almost exactly like Radiohead's business model for In Rainbows, except that Radiohead is a gazillion times bigger than the lowly Society of Gloves.

WIDE Rhino

2007-10-06T03:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of trivial knowledge, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The name White Rhino originated in South Africa where the Afrikaans language developed from the Dutch language. The Afrikaans word "wyd" (derived from the Dutch word "wijd"), which means "wide," referred to the width of the Rhinoceros mouth. Early English settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "wyd" for "white."

Here's a bit of Society-related minutiae: Our song "White Rhino" was named after the albino-colored rhino drawing on a Dunlop Ultex guitar pick that I was using while writing the main riff of the song.

What does this have to do with anything? Not much at the moment, other than we've slightly modified the template of this blog, making it wider. See? The payoff is here!

We hope to get back on track soon, writing deeper and more useful blog entries. And possible writing, recording, and posting new songs here and/or on our MySpace profile. Anyhow, I feel a Radiohead review coming in the next few days...when they release their you-name-the-price album In Rainbows next week.

White rhinoceros photo credit: Colin M.L. Burnett.

We've Improved Chord du Jour!

2007-10-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

I want you to check out our new and improved guitar lessons blog Chord du Jour at chord.deramos.org. We've made it look more user-friendly, and we plan to change the templates of all the blogs in the DeRamos.org Network, including this one.

Anyway, this blog entry is going to be cut short because it is my bedtime. Yes, the sun is rising and I must go to sleep...

Apparently "Beatbox" Is Also Spelled "Bitbox"...

2007-10-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

...it must be an phonetic, transliteration, language, or regional dialect thing. Obviously I am not much of a philologist. Here's a video of a beatboxing (or bitboxing, if you will) chef creating a mix, though I suspect there are moments of postproduction sweetening and overdubbing to sell the effect more:

Archive of Music Review Blog Entries

2007-10-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

We've opened a new blog called Muze Nuze 'n Revuze at music.deramos.org to organize our various music review blog entries at various blogs around the Blogosphere. No, this blog isn't a simple copy-and-paste job, but a concise summary of the reviews containing the following features: (1) Artist name, (2) album or film title, (3) quick review summarizing the album/film, (4) a track worth noting - whether good or bad - and (5) one or more links to further reading about the album/film.

Anyhow, we are slowly building the music review archive; so far there are articles for relatively recent releases. Every article is organized by release date, so hopefully there will be some blog entries with timestamps from decades past. I hope that Blogger will give us that function.

"Immagine in Cornice" DVD Tracklist

2007-10-02T00:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a quasi-accurate tracklist for Pearl Jam's Immagine in Cornice: Picture in a FrameDVD. The bold, numbered tracks are the band's concert songs in order of presentation, while the appropriately italicized titles are - for the most part - listed in the end credits. In any case, it's a bit difficult to know which McCready or Ament instrumental is which.

Anyhow, the list of songs:

1. Severed Hand (Milan)
2. World Wide Suicide (Montage)
3. Life Wasted (Torino)
Mike McCready's score:
"Meander #1"
"Meander #2"
"Frentic 2 Edit/Abstract"
"Abstracts-Whale Sounds"
Other soundtrack music: "Pesina Marina."
Ed practices "Immortality" before a show.
4. Corduroy (Verona)
Ed and Mike play the first verse and chorus of "Lukin," acoustically.
5. State of Love and Trust (Milan)
"Wasted Reprise"
6. Porch (Verona)
7. Even Flow (Torino)
Jeff Ament's score:
"Forest is My Church"
"Only Cloud in the Sky"
8. Better Man (Verona)
9. Alive (Milan)
10. Blood (Verona)
Boom plays "Heaven Can You Hear Me Now" in a Pistoia cathedral.
11. Comatose (Pistoia)
12. Come Back (Pistoia)
"Donato's Dance (Vivo)," with hints of "Alive."
13. Rockin' in the Free World (Pistoia)
Eddie Vedder's "Transcendent Mental Clarity."
Ed sings "Picture in a Frame."
"Love Boat Captain" plays during the end credits.

Bonus Tracks:
1. A Quick One While He's Away (Ed with My Morning Jacket in Torino)
2. Throw Your Arms Around Me (Ed solo in Pistoia)
3. Yellow Ledbetter (Milan)

Please read my review at DeRamos.org. Thank you!

Digidesign Strike: Our Favorite Robot Drummer

2007-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

I feel the need to blatantly sing the praises of Digidesign's proprietary plug-in for Pro Tools called Strike.

Strike is a virtual instrument RTAS plug-in that, as I have redundantly stated one sentence ago, only works with Pro Tools. But never, ever, ever call Strike a drum machine. You'll hurt his feelings. Strike is programmed to be like a human drummer, sometimes random in action and timing...yet solid and consistent like an experienced drummer. You can tell Strike to be varying degrees of loose or tight, depending on the mood of the jam. Right out of the box, Strike knows how to play a near-myriad (okay, not quite 1000) genres, and several grooves and fills within each genre. Of course, as any friendly robot should, Strike is fully prepared to learn a new thing or two...that is, if you have the chops to teach him.

Anyhow, we've only begun to scratch the surface with our favorite robot drummer Strike. While strike is a natural at 4/4 time, he can almost adapt to other time signatures at the click of a mouse and a stroke of the keyboard. Chances are good, though, that Strike still would like your input in terms of where to place the accents (usually the snare). That's not a bad thing, as Strike needs to know if the musicians he's jamming with are within the same ballpark as the almighty Strike. If you don't have the knowledge to unlock Strike's full potential, Strike won't take you to the next level. It's like when someone tells you something groundbreaking, and you berate him/her for not telling you sooner - and that person's response is almost always, "You never asked."

That's the potential of Strike. We, the Society of Gloves, need to ask Strike better, deeper, and more philosophical questions - musically speaking, of course.

The other day, we were at the local Home Depot buying AA batteries and using the self-checkout to be our robot cashier. Anyhow, Strike was all getting his mack on with the robot cashier...'cause STRIKE IS THE MAN!!!

Drumsticks photo credit: Uryah.

Jimmy Chamberlin Drum Loops

2007-09-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

I bought M-Audio ProSessions 24 Jimmy Chamberlin Signature Drums Volume 1 a little more than a year ago, hoping to inspire some groove songwriting and to give a little kick to the Society's demos. It's really great fun to jam with Jimmy, something I'd like to do in real life (one can wish, right?).

Jimmy's drumming is very unique, so you can tell which Pumpkins song is which just by hearing the drums. And I don't just mean the obvious "I Am One" iconic drum riff. So if you're a Smashing Pumpkins fan, and you would like to do some really ACCURATE covers, then by all means...it's Jimmy! (I haven't really gotten around to recording Pumpkins covers, but Jimmy's drumming is an ideal starting point!)

Here's the promo video that is bundled with Jimmy's drum loops. It is an obvious M-Audio informercial, but I like M-Audio products. The Society uses several M-Audio products - including M-Powered Pro Tools - for the recording process.

It kind of makes me wish that the Society would have an endorsement deal with M-Audio and/or Digidesign, too.

Third Chance Listen: "TheFutureEmbrace" (2005)

2007-09-29T03:20:00.000-07:00

I was one of the few to buy Billy Corgan's solo album TheFutureEmbrace when it was first released in June (?) of 2005. Neither sounding like the dynamic space rock that the original four Smashing Pumpkins brought, nor sounding like the sun-drenched, Roman Catholic rock and roll of Zwan, I instantly disliked TheFutureEmbrace. Needless to say, I only gave the album about one complete spin in my CD player. "All Things Change," being the first track had considerably more play than the rest of the album, as I had aborted further complete listens.

I liked James Iha's alt-country, singer/songwriter album Let It Come Down much more at first listen. Jimmy Chamberlin's release from early 2005, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex's Life Begins Again, was a magnificent album. If D'arcy Wretsky had recorded a solo album...

The closest that TheFutureEmbrace got to was the Jimmy-less Pumpkins' "arcane night music" experiment Adore, and Adore depressed the hell out of me. I don't think anyone but Billy Corgan will understand Billy Corgan's fascination with electronic music. And I say that with the utmost sycophantic respect, as I've learned a lot about guitar playing and music arranging from Billy Corgan's work from the 1990s.

Hyperbole and other misuse of fancy words aside...

By the way, TheFutureEmbrace shouldn't be confused with FutureSex/LoveSounds, as that particular album had Justin Timberlake bring "SexyBack." The liner notes of Corgan's album had Billy Corgan pose shirtless and showing his birthmark. So no, there is no bringing of "SexyBack" to be found in TheFutureEmbrace.

Again, hyperbole aside...

I gave the album another complete spin a few months ago, and while some of the music grew on me, I was thankful that Billy and Jimmy created another album vaguely sounding like the Pumpkins of old (Zeitgeist).

At this moment, I'm listening to the album for a third complete spin. (It's not technically a spin, as I've imported it into iTunes.) So far, so good - I must say. Well, maybe not the songs "Sorrows (In Blue)" and "Pretty, Pretty Star." The preceding tracks, however, are the kind of mood music I need for a screenwriting attempt I'm making for Mutiny Universe.

So thank you, Billy Corgan...two years later.

Guitar BEST BUY! Center

2007-09-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Evidently, Best Buy is slowly but surely getting into the musical instruments game, a la Guitar Center and Sam Ash. Here are the benefits of each newly-created guitar store wing of the major electronics chain: Peace and quiet. These store sections look like mini-Guitar Centers with a wall of guitars, an acoustic room, a drum room, etc., but while they're new, barely anyone travels from regular Best Buy to musical instruments Best Buy. Peace and quiet, other than the bored employee pleasantly wailing away on a guitar.

No, this is not an advertisement for Best Buy; this is more of an observation and maybe a helpful hint. Like many big chain musical instrument stores, Best Buy will allegedly price match the lowest price, and they'll order anything that doesn't fit into the store.

I wonder if they'll be able to score the elusive green iLok for me...

Review: Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace"

2007-09-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

What if Kurt Cobain had lived? I vaguely (or mistakenly) remember a radio broadcast on the Thursday night (April 7, 1994) before an electrician found Kurt's body. On that edition of KROQ Music News, Tami Heide broke the rumor that Kurt Cobain had fired his bandmates, thus dissolving Nirvana.

That wasn't the case, sadly, as Kurt had already been dead for a couple of days.

Let us journey - for a brief moment - to an alternate reality, where Kurt had not died, but lived and officially dissolved Nirvana. With Kurt being alive, Dave Grohl still would have recorded another solo album a la Late! Pocketwatch, but it probably would not have been successful. The reaction would have been, "Oh, that's just the drummer's solo album!" Pat Smear would have never joined the touring band, and neither would the rhythm section of Sunny Day Real Estate.

As for Krist...well, he still would have been on the current path of saving our democracy.

The band Bush would have kept their jobs as house painters, and the boys of Silverchair would have stayed in high school. With Nirvana dissolved and unable to headline Lollapalooza, the Smashing Pumpkins would have still been the replacement headlining act, but their music would not have filled a void (which would be nonexistent). Thus, Billy Corgan and the Pumpkins wouldn't have had the same Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, top-of-the-world rock band experience from 1995 to 1996.

Also, Better Than Ezra...who? (Remember, I'm mostly talking about the years 1994, 1995, and 1996.)

Having dissolved Nirvana, Kurt would have written and recorded solo album after solo album in the vein of Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild, albeit more bluesy than folksy.

But let us snap back to reality. After Kurt's death, Dave Grohl recorded a successful solo album, which formed a rock band that has recorded five additional studio albums. The sixth chapter of the Foo Fighters' existence, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, sounds like a standard Foos album for the first four tracks. The first three tracks are dynamic and oft-angry rock songs that would find good homes in Foo Fighters, The Colour and the Shape, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, One by One, and the first disc of In Your Honor. The fourth song, "Long Road to Ruin" sounds like it was written by Dave Grohl and no other. One chord progression hints of the slightly obscure Foo Fighters album track "Oh, George." Another chord progression (and melody overlay) of "Long Road to Ruin" has a certain quality to it, which I'd like to call the "Grohl Interval." The Grohl Interval is prevalent in their second, third, and fourth albums. Listen to the softer songs of those albums, and you'll hear what I mean by the Grohl Interval.

It's not necessarily a bad thing to have a signature sound, but to release a rehash of a previous album (Human Clay, Weathered...what band was that?) is ridiculous.

Fortunately, the album goes beyond standard Foo fare starting with the fifth track, the aptly titled "Come Alive." I highly enjoyed the second disc - the acoustic disc - of In Your Honor, and tracks five through twelve successfully not only successfully marry acoustic Foos with loud Foos (often in the same song), but those tracks make babies that further the Foo evolution. All right, those were messy metaphors, but I hope you understand what I mean.

It's always great to hear a band try something new and branch out from safe songwriting, while keeping their identity in the process. The last seven songs outweigh the first four regular Foo fare (the single "The Pretender" is naturally part of the first four) to make this album a better-than-regular listen.

There are two morals to this story: (1) Changing the past will create unexpected longterm results, and (2) unless you're AC/DC, you can't get away with releasing the same album over and over. The Foo Fighters have fortunately avoided both with their new album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace...although millions in this Universe would have loved to hear a bluesy Kurt Cobain solo album or two.

Lucky alternate reality.

Postscript: For the rest of this week (or until next Tuesday), you can listen to Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in its entirety, at AOL Music.

Post-postscript: Like many other recent releases, the iTunes version of the new Foo Fighters album contains a bonus track (two if you pre-ordered the album). It must be the influence of mp3s, m4as, and similar file format albums that stopped me from typing "CD" or "compact disc" anywhere in this review.

Yesterday's News: Foo Fighters Release New Album

2007-09-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think of myself as a first-generation Foo Fighters fan. I was a fan of Dave Grohl's Nirvana b-side "Marigold," and I bought the ridiculously overpriced "Heart-Shaped Box" import single from the local mall (I was a teenager without much access). In early 1995, I enjoyed what was billed as Dave Grohl's solo demos, played during Pearl Jam's pseudo-pirate radio broadcast "Self-pollution Radio." I bought the Foo Fighters' first album on cassette when it was first released, and I bought it again when a boombox ate the tape. (And I bought it again in CD form in 2002.) I have a Foo Fighters glow-in-the-dark alien shirt somewhere in my closet.

Yesterday, the Foos' latest album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released. I haven't heard the album, and I don't know when I am going to pick it up (either physically or via iTunes), or if I would want to buy it at all. Yes, I've read some very favorable reviews of the album. If you have the album, it would be great to read a comment about it...

I'm the type to absorb new releases from my favorite bands, as I'm still digesting the last two Pearl Jam-related products. All I know is that it's great news that first-incarnation Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear (also of Nirvana and the Germs) is back as a touring member of the group.

Anyhow, here's the video from their first single off the new record, "The Pretender." I'm a bit bummed out because music video director X pretty much used a music video concept that had been brewing in my head for about two years (which I COULD HAVE USED because I'm in a band and/or I have directed and produced music videos in the past). In my head, a large fascist army (riot cops in the Foos' video) attacks the band, and the fascist army is wiped out by the power of rock 'n roll and other forms of social justice.

Anyway, the video:

Foo Fighters concert photo credit: The Elwoods.

Have You Watched Your Picture in a Frame Yet?

2007-09-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Today is the official release day for the music documentary Immagine in Cornice, and I think I'll give the DVD another spin (you can read my review on another blog).

I guess this is the end of the road for me ranting about Pearl Jam and/or Eddie Vedder on this particular blog (for the foreseeable future, of course). Since my knee-jerk review of Ed's solo disc, I've listened to the album over and over. My only relevant complaint of brevity falls on the second track, "No Ceiling," as it seems to abruptly end. "Setting Forth" is incredible for its completeness and medium tempo, being all of one minute and thirty-seven seconds. The tracks lasting between two and three minutes recall the older form of 45 rpm songwriting, completeness while keeping the time short. The cover songs "Hard Sun" and "Society" are nice in length, though. Also incredible, other than backing vocals on a couple of songs and a guitar track for one song, Ed played EVERYTHING on the album! Okay, that's all I have to add to my previous review of the album.

In the meanwhile, here are some clips from the Pearl Jam DVD Immagine in Cornice (Picture in a Frame), which I also reviewed a couple of days ago (as mentioned at the start of this post):

"Immagine in Cornice" DVD in Stores 9/25/2007

2007-09-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed Danny Clinch's rock music documentary (rockumentary, if you want to say it that way) Immagine in Cornice, which focuses on Pearl Jam's short tour of Italy in 2006. Some Ten Club members, like yours truly, received their pre-ordered copy of the film a few days ahead of the September 25th release date. If you didn't have the privilege of watching it before the official release, the movie "drops" (I've never written that before!) this Tuesday.

Yesterday, I wrote a review of Immagine in Cornice at the DeRamos.org blog. That review might help in the whether-or-not-to-check-it-out decision-making process, and if it does, I would certainly appreciate a Digg and/or a Del.icio.us bookmark (just click on the bookmark button at the bottom of the post). Thanks!

Road Music: Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild”

2007-09-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

Before I get to my review of Eddie Vedder’s Into the Wild, I’ve written an open letter to Mr. Vedder himself (that he probably will never read):

Why are the majority of the tracks so short, Ed? The songwriting is magnificent in your solo soundtrack album Into the Wild, and I’m sure these songs fit the movie Into the Wild perfectly, but a few repeats here and there would’ve made this album a better listen. Hey, if you want, I can chop and repeat some of the stuff in Pro Tools (or Audacity, if you want to be open-sourced about it). I’ve done that sort of thing in the past for other people. I extended the musical theme for part of Rob Zabrecky’s card magic act. You remember Rob Zabrecky, the former lead singer of Possum Dixon and current magician/actor/auctioneer. You both helped out with this year’s benefit for Flea’s school of music. Name dropping aside, it would be great if you added an extra verse or two to the songs that are less than two minutes long; otherwise I can chop, copy, and paste some already-recorded choruses. I hate tooting my own horn, but I can make it sound pretty seamless.

Cheers…alright (wait, I stole that from you),

Ryan DeRamos
The Society of Gloves

The first track on Eddie Vedder’s solo album, “Setting Forth” sets the mood of the this album. You can almost see the open road, under a crisp blue sky, in this song. We’re in for a road album, a journey that is (presumably) perfectly in tune with director Sean Penn’s movie Into the Wild – as well as the book upon which the movie was based, and the real-life tragic adventure from which the book was inspired.

Having never read the book (it’s on my list now, believe me) nor seen the movie (I’ll most likely check it out on DVD in a few months), I can still hear a storyline of mood in the album. Yes, Ed’s solo album is a concept album, due to it being a movie soundtrack. There is a feeling of a hopeful journey from “Setting Forth” (track one) to “Hard Sun” (track seven). Track eight, “Society,” signifies a point of no return in the journey, with hope ever fading. The next two songs pretty much end the journey, and the final track “Guaranteed” is a final lament to the once-hopeful journey. The bonus track, a reprise of “Guaranteed,” is a nice tag to the otherwise short album.

The current giant of music distribution, iTunes, released a deluxe edition of Ed’s solo album, with four bonus tracks: “No More,” an instrumental called “Photographs,” and live versions of “Here’s to the State” (an adaptation of the Phil Ochs’ protest song) and “No More.” This additional EP is essentially protest music – adhering to my ideology so there’s no disconnect on my part – but in the context of the entire album, it gives a pseudo-back story to the journey. The additional songs give purpose to the society-leaving journey – part resignation of changing the system and part determination to begin anew.

In conclusion, Eddie Vedder’s Into the Wild is a short album densely packed with great music. The music is both folksy and electric, but in a mellow sort of way. If you have to decide which version to get – hard copy or virtual – I suggest you lament the end of the CD age and pick up the “deluxe album” at iTunes. (And then burn a CD.)

As a postscript, several of the socio-political references of the cover/updating of “Here’s to State” are currently outdated. While the injustices sung about are sadly current, the specific names have either resigned (Alberto Gonzales) or died (Jerry Falwell), as well as those perceived as lame ducks (Dick Cheney and George W. Bush). The jury is still out on the third category, with the verdict coming in late 2008.

Here's the music video for "Hard Sun":

Finally...

2007-09-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Funnily enough, both Into the Wild and Immagine in Cornice arrived today. While I pre-ordered both products on separate occasions, I guess the Ten Club wanted to be efficient by mailing both packages simultaneously last Thursday.

Anyway, stay tuned for my reviews for both Ed's solo album and the band's latest concert DVD.

Waiting Some More...

2007-09-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

I'm still waiting for the Into the Wild soundtrack album that was released Tuesday. According to an email I received last week, the Ten Club mailed the package either on the 14th, the 15th, or the 17th - depending on how the Pearl Jam fan club keeps business hours.

All I'm saying is that if the Immagine in Cornice DVD arrives first, I'm going to definitely write an email or two to the fan club.

That is some half-assed assertiveness, isn't it?

iTunes, Slayer of CDs?

2007-09-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's been two days since New Music Tuesday, and I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered CD to arrive. Hmm...maybe I should have just skipped the CD buying process and bought the album on iTunes. Plus, I've heard that the iTunes "deluxe edition" of the album contains FOUR bonus tracks.

Is this the new frontier of music sales? iTunes (and other, lesser online stores)? Obviously, it's been the frontier for more than half a decade, but is this the new world that will ultimately phase out CDs? Being a musician and self-produced recording artist, I really don't like the prospect of the only songs available to hear are the ones compressed at 128 kilobytes per second.

When it comes to digital music, I'm used to CDs: 16-bit sound, with a 44.1 kHz sampling rate, and using up 10 megabytes per minute at WAV or AIFF compression. It just reassures me that there's more resolution, more fidelity in all the digits being processed, than a 1 megabyte-per-minute mp3, Windows Media File, or Apple m4a.

When I record, I initially start off with 24-bit sound, with a 48 kHz sampling rate (though I would like some hardware that can go up to 96 and beyond!). It's all about resolution. If I had the funds, I would just record in analog. Now, that's the sound! That's as real as recorded can get, right?

So should I replace all my 80s, 90s, and 2000s tapes and CDs with vinyl? If I had the funds...

As far as the iTunes, Slayer of CDs, epithet goes...I'm a bit too late to turn the tide on that one. May all your music have next-generation MPEG compression with DRM, may all your art and photographs be JPEGs, and may all your cinema fit your cellular phone...ooh, that's a nasty curse!

Still Waiting...

2007-09-19T00:51:00.000-07:00

"New Music Tuesday" has come and gone, and I have yet to hear the Ed's solo album! Evidently, there's a song called "Society" on it, so I'm wondering this: Of the visitors that come from search engine referrals, how many of them typed in "Eddie Vedder," "Into the Wild," and "Society," to end up on this website?

If that's you, WELCOME! And we hope to see you again 'round these parts regularly!

Unusually Not Early

2007-09-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

I usually get pre-orders from Ten Club, Pearl Jam's official fan club, a couple of days ahead of the official release date. I wish that would be the case for Eddie Vedder's solo album, but alas, it is not. Hopefully it'll arrive in my mailbox later today (the official release date). If not, then maybe sooner and not later.

I'll be sure to review the album on one of the various blogs I write on, maybe within the next week. (Maybe I'd get an advanced copy of virtually everything I was a member of the press. How would one get a membership at this so-called press, anyway?)

Emmy Awards

2007-09-17T01:44:00.000-07:00

I didn't really pay attention to the Emmy Awards last night, but the ads for New Zealand did stick to my head, especially because of the music the ads used - a cover of the 80s song "Forever Young," originally by Alpahville. The cover is by an Australian band called Youth Group. (And I thought Aussies and Kiwis were supposed to be opposed to one another!)

Here's the cover song, apparently first made popular during the run of the Fox show The OC:

And here's the O.G. 80s version, by Alphaville:

Baseball

2007-09-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Watching the Angels-White Sox game today, I wanted one of two possible endings:

1. Angels winning, as I am loyal to teams in the Los Angeles Metro...Megalopolis.

2. Jim Thome of the White Sox hitting his 500th home run, while simultaneously being the game-winning hit.

Evidently, the Universe saw it fit to create a story of an episode, with Jim Thome hitting his 500th home run to win the game. Technically, it was Darin Erstad, who was already on base, that broke the 7-7 tie, but that doesn't take away from Jim Thome's accomplishment.

Congratulations, Jim Thome! We'll blog about music and/or the band tomorrow...