Martedì 6 Giu 2006, 16:53

Good dags. D'ya like dags?

Is there anything better than Brad Pitt talking incoherently with a thick Cockney accent? Very few things. One of those few things just happens to be a group I recently established to serve as an "everything else" forum. Check it out: The MILFin Rangers!.

Another thing that just so happens to be better than Brad's cockney accent is a Pearl Jam concert. Specifically one that occured on May 30th, 2006 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. I have to give up props to My Morning Jacket. They put on a wonderful set, but when Pearl Jam was finished, I completely forgot there had been another band on stage. Mike McCready owned the stage. He was running around, jumpin around, playin his axe behind his head. Eddie was getting smashed. Willie on keys was rockin like there was no tomorrow. Matt, as usual, was pounding on the drums like Bam Bam and Jeff looked like he was having a blast as well. Then of course the audience. We were all going nuts. Singing along at the top of our lungs. I won't talk about the entire concert, at least not in this journal, but I will recap my three favorite moments of the night.

1) Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
The song itself is one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs, but the live versions serve as some sort of connection between everybody at the concert. When the lights come on and everybody is singin "HELLO" and waving, its a magical moment. It feels like you're meeting family you haven't seen in years.

2) Leash & Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Fuckin' Up
Apparently, Pearl Jam has been playing "Leash" at their past 6 or 7 shows in hopes of making the fans tired of the song. I personally loved it. DROP THE LEASH! is fun as hell to chant along with. The end of the song, though, Eddie served a small intro to "Fuckin' Up." Here's what Eddie had to say:

So, the uh, most interesting thing happened to me this morning. I got a phone call from, uh, Dick Chaney. *crowd BOOS* And he said 'Hi. This is Dick Chaney.' And I said, uh, 'Hi…Dick. And then, I just had to ask, 'How did you get my number.' And he said, 'Well, I just got it from the NSA. My assistant just got…' But he said he heard we were playing in D.C. and he asked if we'd play a request. His favorite song that he listens to every morning, but he just wanted to hear it live. So this is the song. This is for Dick.

3) Yellow Ledbetter
Nothing major. Almost every show Pearl Jam ends with "Yellow Ledbetter." Unlike the other shows I've heard, however, after the goodbyes, Mr. McCready stayed on stage and sent us off with his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Thank you Mr. McCready for making me a proud American!

Hmm…what else is better than an incoherent Cockney accent? OH! TOP TENS!

Top 10 Artists of the Week

9) Fleetwood Mac - 11 Plays
Rumours has become one of my favorite classic rock albums. Lindsey & Stevie's vocals are wonderful together, but apart, Stevie's really shine. Yesterday, I listened to Buckingham Nicks for the first time and that album is wonderful. After listening to that, Rumours was clearly majorly influenced by Buckingham & Nicks. Thankfully!

9) Led Zeppelin - 11 Plays
This was a spin of Led Zeppelin II, which like the rest of I-IV are some of my favorite classic rock albums of all time. II and III are terribly underrated, especially II which holds two of my favorite Zeppelin songs: "Heartbreaker" and "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)." Zeppelin may not have been the most original or best band of all time, but they were full of talent and that is undeniable.

8) The Derek Trucks Band - 12 Plays
Songlines. Again. Hell, it is my favorite album of 2006 and has become one of my overall favorites. I cannot say enough about how amazing this album is nor can I even begin to try and explain how awesome Derek Trucks is on the guitar. He is the current generations Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. Hands down currently one of the best guitarists around. I cannot wait to see him with his band and The Allman Brothers Band at the end of this month! Hopefully I can catch him touring with Clapton this fall as well.

7) Alice in Chains - 14 Plays
I was craving some Dirt when I got back from the Pearl Jam concert. Jerry and Layne harmonizing on top of screeching, sludgy guitars is a thing of beauty. Simple. As. That. Whoever does not own this album, GO BUY IT!

6) Cypress Hill - 16 Plays
Another spin for the Hill's self-titled debut album. I'm still enjoying it, especially with the whole Summer season fast approaching. This album being a freakin awesome laid back, relaxed and chill album will make this a must for the Summer.

5) My Morning Jacket - 20 Plays
After seeing these guys open for Pearl Jam I just had to go back to Z. I'm not sure what it is about seeing a band in concert that makes their studio albums seem so much better, but this is what has happened with Z. It didn't really click until I came back from the concert. Its a wonderful album, what with the southern rock basis and all. And I love Jim's vocals. So powerful and haunting.

4) Broken Social Scene - 27 Plays
YAY! More Broken Social Scene. I'm not sure where the 27 plays came from, at least not the total, but I did listen to You Forgot It In People twice this past week. I believe it has become my favorite BSS album. Its stronger than their self-titled album from start to finish and holds my favorite BSS songs: "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" and "Lover's Spit." Anthems is pretty damn catchy and sort've hypnotic in that repetitive kind of way. "Lover's Spit" is just weird, I love it. Wonderful album. I should have bought this one first.

3) Neko Case - 36 Plays
Obviously not as many listens as my first week with Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, but I am still in love with this album. Case's vocals are mesmerizing. Her control is just awesome. It takes at least three listens to wrap your head around the album. One listen to listen to the vocals. One listen to listen to the lyrics. And one more to listen to the whole thing together. MASTERPIECE!

2) Pearl Jam - 82 Plays
I listened to all of the Pearl Jam albums I have: Ten, Vs, Vitalogy, and Pearl Jam. Plus, I listened to a handful of tracks from each one more than a couple times as well as a couple songs from the concert I attended. Hurray for Pearl Jam! The greatest band from Seattle by far!

1) The Beatles - 125 Plays
Thank God for Memorial Day sales. Circuit City was selling all their CDs for $9.99 and they made it a point to tell the public this included The Beatles. Its rare to find The Beatles CDs for ten bucks, so I bit. I picked up Revolver and Magical Mystery Tour. Both albums are wonderful, but Revolver has become my second favorite Beatles album (behind Abbey Road). It features a great Harrison song which is just radiating Indian musical influence and I love it. Not to mention YELLOW SUBMARINE. Magical Mystery Tour is great as well, but overall it doesn't flow as well as a true album does (it was an EP after all). But hey, at least the US got the good version, so take that UK!

Now that I think about it, I have never included The Beatles in any of my "favorite bands" lists. I don't really know why either. I thoroughly enjoy their albums. Hell, Abbey Road is one of my 3 favorite albums EVER. I can listen to them pretty much all day long. Their songs are catchy and small masterpieces. But I feel out of place calling them a favorite band of mine for some reason. Call me crazy.

Top Tracks

1) Tenacious D - Tribute (9 Plays)
2) The Beatles - Yellow Submarine (6 Plays)
2) The Beatles - Love You To (6 Plays)
2) Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (6 Plays)
5) DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - Summertime (5 Plays)

WHY DO I KEEP FUCKIN' UP?!