Today is the Super Bowl. The day when we celebrate what it means to be American. We eat, drink, watch sports and pass out. Here’s our pre-game warm-up for all you Seahawk fans.
Here are the 11 Best Bands from Seattle (or close by):
A couple weeks ago, I did a comprehensive break down of Wilco’s b-side collection and what were the best tracks from the package. Like Wilco, Soundgarden has released a collection pulling all their b-side and rare tracks from their epic career. Also like Wilco, 90% of these tracks were all previously released and have been readily available on CD singles, soundtracks, and compilations. So here’s a look at the best of the extra songs that Soundgarden has to offer that never made it to a proper album.
Here are the 11 Best B-Sides By Soundgarden:
Buy Soundgarden’s new B-Sides album, Echo of Miles…now!!!
When albums are given the ever-to-often “remastered” treatment, it’s not the remastering that we get excited about. I have yet to hear a remaster that has improved on the original. Sometimes the mix is just different…and that’s fine…but when they take out all the background noise and heighten all the levels, it makes it sound less human and less warm. The only thing we truly care about when remasters come out are the bonus tracks and unreleased material. Soundgarden’s 4-disc set promises just that. This is the only reason to get “remastered” sets. These sets are a behind-the-scenes look into the making of pivotal albums. And if you don’t have this in your set…then your set is basically a remix album. Nothing more.
Here are the 11 Best Non-Album Tracks By Soundgarden:
Buy Soundgarden’s 20th Anniversary release of Superunknown…now!!!
Don’t forget to check out our blog’s awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s. Available now!
I picked up so much vinyl this year…I’m not even sure how I’m going to pay rent. And isn’t that what good music is about? Living in a van…down by the river. There wasn’t a release this year that I went in excited about…but I came out loving almost everything I purchased. I’ve had the chance to listen to most of my purchases and have heard a lot of other stuff. And the Calexico album…best release of the year…Period.
It was a crazy day…and I’m still reeling from it. Some say Record store Day is Christmas for music fans. It’s better than Christmas…because on Record Store Day you get exactly what you want.
To celebrate such a momentousness day and with nearly 400 releases…there’s no way to condense it down to a mere 11. Instead, I’ve created 3 lists to give light on some on a lot of the material that you may have missed. And by the way, many record stores still have a lot of product…so if there’s something that was sold out at one store…I’d check out the store down the street…just in case.
Here are the 11 Best Record Store Day 7-inches:
Here are the 11 Best Record Store Day Reissues:
Here are the 11 Best Record Store Day Releases:
They crammed all my favorite bands into Saturdays line-up, so I was left with no choice but to watch the Chili Peppers.
One of the best things about Coachella is guessing with iconic band will reunite for that year’s show. This list taps into the wet dreams of all the indie kids heading out to the desert every year. For a list of the best bands who are still together that have never played together…check yesterday’s list. I excluded a couple of groups (N.W.A., The Replacements) because they were missing dead members. I only did this to narrow down the list.
Who am I missing?
Here are the 11 Best Bands Who Have Never REUNITED To Play Coachella:
um…yeah…that’s 13. It’s a hard list to make!
What the hell is wrong with Comcast? I tried to sign up for their internet package. It was listed as $44.95 online. I took pictures of it to verify that this was the truth and there’d be no funny business later on. In the picture, it says “$44.95 total price modem included.” Clear as day. To complete the order, I had to get on the phone with a dispatcher. They called me and put me on hold for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes!! I’m a new customer who wants to give them money for their service…and they make me wait to do it. It’s like they think they’re Pearl Jam and I’m waiting all night to get concert tickets? No. You’re not even Creed. If you want me as a customer you should be doing everything in your power, including massaging my feet to get me on board…not exhibiting what terrible customer service you have. If this is how you treat new customers that you’re trying to lure in…imagine how bad your customer service must be once I am a customer locked into a contract and you no longer give a crap about me.
Finally, someone with a heavy Indian accent got on the phone. She must be from Michigan. She asked what I was calling for. I told her that her company called me. She said she didn’t know why. I explained that I signed up for a package online and her company needed to talk to me to complete the order. She said I must be signing up for the $99 a month offer with cable, phone, and internet. I said no. She said she was confused why I didn’t do that. I said I only wanted internet. She then asked which package. I said…I signed up with your company…you should have this info. She didn’t. She then said…”oh wait, here it is.” You want the $44.95 package with $3.95 for modem rental. I said the offer online clearly states the modem is included. She said, then that ad is false because it’s not included. I said then that would be false advertising and that would be illegal. She said it is not illegal because she is telling me the real price now. Sorry, it’s still illegal. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she said she didn’t have one. I asked to speak to someone in the United States…she said she’d have to look up that number. She put me on hold. After 10 minutes of being on hold…I hung up. 30 seconds later…I signed up with Time Warner. Way to go to Comcast. You’re shitty customer service just cost you a new customer.
Here are the 11 Best Songs By Soundgarden:
Buy Soundgarden’s new album, King Animal now!!
Last week, I went to the Sonic Youth/Pavement show. There was something comforting about listening to 2 1/2 hours of fuzzy guitars and warped lyrics while pounding an Estrella Damm Inedit (best beer in the world). Then a strange realization hit me. Pavement’s been around almost 20 years. While Sonic Youth is pushing 30. These two indie niche bands have surpassed many of their hitmaking contemporaries, not only in the dust, but in obscurity. Why did they survive while all the mainstream marvels crashed and burned?
This past week Soundgarden released their greatest hits package, which many are touting as their first comprehensive compilation (did everyone forget about A-Sides?). Soundgarden hasn’t been around in over a decade. They completely missed the 00s. But they are coming back with a bang. Once last week’s sales numbers are official, Soundgarden, will have a platinum album and the number 1 album in country. An accomplishment…no one has done in a long time.
What Soundgarden did was brilliant. They are attaching their new album with every copy of the new Guitar Hero game. For every video game sold, they sell one album. How did they do so far? They sold 1 million copies on the first day. Take that Nsync.
Here are the 11 Best Chris Cornell solo songs:
1. You Know My Name (Carry On)
2. Sunshower (Great Expectations sdtk)
3. Can’t Change Me (Euphoria Morning)
4. Seasons (Singles sdtk)
5. Billie Jean (Carry On)
6. Flutter Girl (Euphoria Morning)
7. Time (Scream)
8. No Such Thing (Carry On)
9. Moonchild (Euphoria Morning)
10. Enemy (Scream)
11. Never Far Away Rock Version (Scream)
Buy Soundgarden’s Greatest Hits Telephantasm now!!