Now’s the time to resurface… Five from Pearl Jam written by Matt Cameron

July 8, 2025 / Tony / 4 Comments

Like all Pearl Jam fans, I was taken by surprise by Matt Cameron’s announcement yesterday that “after 27 fantastic years, I have taken my final steps down the drum riser for the mighty Pearl Jam.” While the decision seems to be amicable and Pearl Jam offered a similarly brotherly message, it’s a shocker.

Since joining the band in 1998 after Jack Irons left ahead of the Yield tour, Matt’s been a steady presence behind the drum kit as, per Pearl Jam’s own statement, a “true powerhouse of a musician and drummer… [that] propelled the last 27 years of Pearl Jam live shows and studio recordings.”

Pearl Jam have often referred to themselves as a band of five songwriters and, so, while we await to hear what’s next for both band and drummer, I thought it a fitting time to have a quick look at five of those Pearl Jam songs to bear Matt Cameron’s name on the writing credits.

You Are
Riot Act (2002)

While Binaural -an oft-overlooked gem in the band’s career – was the band’s first to feature Matt Cameron as their drummer, that album’s sole Cameron credit (‘Evacuation’) has never been a favourite so let’s move forward to Riot Act.

‘You Are’ – one of the band’s softer, more inwardly reflective pieces, sits one one of Pearl Jam’s most over-looked albums. While many of the album’s songs bristle with post-9/11 and Bush-era anger and urgency, ‘You Are’ – to which Cameron contributed lyrics as well as music – is a meditation on personal responsibility and connection with an almost dream-like atmosphere which highlights both the subtle persistency of his drumming and his love for an odd time signature and hypnotic groove.

Cropduster
Riot Act (2002)

There’s a certain eerie, almost cinematic quality to “Cropduster,” a song that feels like it’s crawling through the underbrush of disillusionment. With music by Cameron and lyrics by Vedder, the track blends paranoia, frustration, and an unsettling sense of impending doom. The lyrics—mysterious and fragmented—pair perfectly with Cameron’s drum work, which shifts from a steady pulse to a disorienting, almost jittery rhythm.

Unemployable
Pearl Jam (2006)

Encapsulating the feeling of being both trapped by and liberated from the grind of modern life, what I love about ‘Unemployable’ is the combination of McCready and Cameron. It’s a rare one for Pearl Jam songs but Mike’s guitar lines paired with Matt’s off-kilter rhythms is fucking gold.

The Fixer
Backspacer (2009)

Backspacer, Pearl Jam’s shift to a leaner, more streamlined sound contains the song that perfectly captures Cameron’s importance in the band. Credited to Cameron, Gossard and McCready, ‘The Fixer’ is based on a riff and basic song that Cameron had written in 2008 called ‘Need to Know.‘ Listening to that version vs the orgiinal two things are clear – how strong a writer Matt is but also how much more powerful it becomes in the hand of the whole band.

Take the Long Way
Gigaton (2020)

Is Gigaton another Pearl Jam album destined to be over-looked? It’s ridiculous how many people seem to have a gut-reaction to their experimental shifts and would probably only be happy if they only played Ten and Vs. in concert. Gigaton is a beautifully experimental album with a really warm and organic feel that sounds like a lush bath when compared to Watt’s production of Dark Matter. ‘Take The Long Way’ – with words and music by Cameron – feels hard, flirts with sugary pop on the choruses, and reveals more layers with each listen.

Catch-up spins

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 / Tony / 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I was ‘here’ having pretty much taken most of summer off. It feels like a fitting way to get back up to speed with a review of what’s been going on in my ears over the past few months.

Air – Radio # 1

I spent a good chunk of time in France, again, this summer. Arriving in time to watch the Olympics’ closing ceremony from a hotel bed and marvel at – after hours of more pointless faff that rivalled the opening ceremony for fuckery – how wasted Air were. It did mean that I spent time in a number of Lyon record shops hunting for Air albums though and came home with their first trio. Following up the faultless Moon Safari was never going to be easy and while 10,000 Hz Legend wasn’t as successful or well-recieved I’ve always had a soft-spot for its willingness to experiment.

Soccer Mommy – Driver

It sounds like the upcoming new album from Soccer Mommy is a bit of a retreat from the production of 2022’s brilliant Sometimes, Forever to a more organic sound and I’m all on board for it.

The Cure – Alone

It seems strange that as we near the end of 2024 I’m still enjoying a new Pearl Jam record, I have pre-orders in place for new records by Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and The Cure. On the one hand it’s akin to Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones releasing new albums in 1994 which would’ve been pretty much unnoticed by the younger ears of the time, on the other hand I’m bloody loving the fact that so many of my favourites artists are still dropping records and that so many of them are hitting at the same moment. The wait for a new Cure album has been ridiculous but Song Of A Lost World is shaping up strong based on the two songs dropped thus far.

Girls In Hawaii – Flavor

Another album fittingly purchased while in France – the 20th Anniversary edition of Girls In Hawaii’s From Here to There, an album my wife and I listened to on repeat on our first holiday together some 16 years prior and soundtracked plenty of our driving around France at the time. While I’ve enjoyed some of their subsequent albums more, this Belgian band’s upbeat indie vibe is always a fun spin.

Kim Deal – A Good Time Pushed

In some ways it feels mad that we’re only getting a Kim Deal solo album in 2024 but given how many wonderful Pixies, The Breeders, Amps albums we’ve had it’s not like she’s been shirking. Given that she walked from working on new Pixies material it’s not too surprising just how sonically wide-reaching the sound of the songs released ahead of the album are.

Crowded House – Together Alone

I’ve been trying to listen to whole albums at a time again on my commute. Together Alone, the final of Crowded House’s first run of albums and still their finest, has popped up a couple of times. I adore this album’s sound and vibe especially the Maori choir and log drummers on this track.

Pearl Jam – Other Side

Anywho, here’s more Pearl Jam. As much as I’ve been enjoying Dark Matter since its release, I’ve been listening to tunes from their ‘lost’ era – Binaural and Riot Act – lately and Other Side, the other side to ‘Save You’, is a great tune that should’ve made the cut.

More midweek spinnage

August 7, 2024August 7, 2024 / Tony / 3 Comments

Here we are once again at the midway point of the week with the scale starting to tip toward the weekend and, for me, the beginning of holiday season.

With that in mind, here’s what’s been going in the ears this week.

Smashing Pumpkins – Goeth The Fall

I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a new Smashing Pumpkins album in the way I have Aghori Mhori Mei in years. Released last week and heralded as one that’ll please the fans of the ’90s stuff and a ‘rock’ record, I’ve gotta say that’s about right. It’s not that good but I’ve been surprised how much I’ve been listening to it and enjoyed to the point of pre-ordering the vinyl.

Air – Kelly Watch The Stars (Edit Version)

While I’m not usually one for picture discs (especially overpriced RSD ones), when this one appeared in my local store’s sale it was an easy decision. Moon Safari is unimpeachable but getting this meant getting hold of the version that was played on MTV back in the day.

The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds

With the exception of Smashing Pumpkins there seems to be a much more mellow edge to everything here. Maybe it’s the build up of CBD but that’s where I’m at lately. I actually caught this one on the radio this weekend and it’s gained a few spins since. I’ve also just discovered that it’s Rickie Lee Jones talking about clouds – the lads in The Orb heard her trippy response to “So what were the skies like when you were young?” in an interview (who the fuck asks that without smoking something first?) and sampled it. After paying her $5,000 for its use first.

Ben Howard – Time Is Dancing

Oh man I played this album so much when it came out I was surprised that the CD still held up when I chucked it in the car this week. It’s coming up for its tenth anniversary – with the prerequisite re-release in special colours / clear / etc – and for me marks the perfect point in Ben Howard’s sound; moving away from the ‘only love’ festival-pleasing acoustic work and embracing the more experimental elements that would enthuse the later albums while still retaining a focus song structure.

Pearl Jam – Force of Nature

Anyway, here’s some more Pearl Jam and another favourite deep(ish) cut from recent times. Backspacer is the only album I’m missing on my record shelves (for some reason it’s not as widely available as other albums) and while not my favourite it has some wonderful tunes on it and I love the shift in this song’s vibe.

Another midweek spinnage

July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 / Tony / 3 Comments

Slipping seamlessly into the middle of another week with an eye firmly on the approaching weekend like a desert oasis…. here’s another selection of those tunes that have been gaining traction this week.

Pixies – Chicken

As the Pixies prepare to drop album ten (with bass player number four) The Night The Zombies Came, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the vibe of the single (do they still call it that? Is asking ‘do they still call it that?’ a signifier that I’m old?) they released this week, it’s a little different to their usual flavour but, as with the vast majority of things Frank Black, I’m here for it.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – First Flash of Freedom

I’ve been giving Mojo a good bit of attention recently. I didn’t when it came out but after a few tracks came up on shuffle I’ve lined the whole album up for my commute a couple of times and while there are a few duds (someone really needed to have nuked ‘Don’t Pull Me Over’), if you trim those out there’s a more concise and close-to-perfect album there. The blues-based, jammier style they tapped into for their last pair of albums fitted them perfectly.

Muna – Anything But Me

Sitting there waiting for a tire to be changed the other day I caught a tune on the radio that I could’ve sworn I knew. It was this, and I did – having enjoyed their self-titled album in 2022 but failing to have listened much beyond that until hearing it again this last week. Sometimes there’s just so much to listen to that I feel more slips through the cracks than gets the attention it deserves. I think I read that Muna‘s singer has got a solo record about to drop too.

Slowdive – Cath The Breeze

Slowdive’s gorgeous 1991 debut Just For A Day – pressed on a nice translucent red marble vinyl – arrived in the post on Monday and I’ve since been covering myself in a lush blanket of shoegaze.

David Gilmour – The Piper’s Call

Due to arrive in the post at some point in the second half of this year, David Gilmour’s upcoming album Luck and Strange is touted as taking a different approach in production values with younger hands at the helm that weren’t in thrall to his legacy and the ‘deluxe’ sound that’s been slapped on all things Gilmour / Floyd since the ’90s. ‘The Piper’s Call’ is a pretty strong tune and Gilmour’s guitar, as always, is definitely worth tuning in for.

Mdou Moctar – Oh, France

Two thoughts here. One: I haven’t seen Mdou Moctar’s fucking PHENOMENAL Funeral for Justice in any where enough mentions for ‘best albums of the year so far’ conversations and B: I’m heading off to France for a couple of weeks in a couple of weeks – timed to slip between the Olympics and hopefully avoid too much faff. Three: this song is a fucking belter.

Pearl Jam – In Hiding

Anyway, here’s some Pearl Jam. ‘In Hiding’ is one of those beloved deep cuts for me – while my battles with the black dog of depression continue it’s lines like ‘No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now, it’s funny when things change so much it’s all state of mind’ to a tune like this that help me up just enough.

Midweek Spinnage

July 24, 2024 / Tony / 3 Comments

Been a while… again. Without further mumbling, it feels like a good ‘get over the mid-week slump’ exercise to share half a dozen of those things that’ve been getting into my ears this last week or so.

Wilco – Either Way

I’ve been slowly but shortly putting together and whittling down a list of what I would consider to be 100 albums that are essential to me – in a way revisiting a list I put together some sixteen years ago. I haven’t mentioned them much here, if it all, but Wilco are a wonderful band and their Sky Blue Sky is definitely on that list. It’s easily their finest album and I love this tune especially.

Gary Clark Jr – Bright Lights

Listening to the iPod on shuffle in the car can often mean a few tracks get skipped but whenever a tune from Gary Clark Jr’s Live comes on I’ll end up turning shuffle off and lining up the full album. I’ve been spending more time with his studio discography lately and his 2011 Bright Lights EP is a favourite and this is a hell of an earworm.

Larkin Poe – Preachin’ Blues

Across the summer, the park behind my house hosts a number of festivals and concerts. This weekend past was the ‘Maid in Stone’ festival which veered towards the hard rock / metal crowd. On our usual evening walk on Sunday, the cub and I were lucky enough to get there just as Larkin Poe kicked off their set and so sat under a tree a few yards from the stage – while not within the festival grounds – and got to enjoy a solid slab of the great stuff.

The National – Fake Empire

I added Boxer to the vinyl shelves this weekend (in a nice yellow hue) and hearing this made me harken back to a time that – while not all that long ago – seems like a lifetime ago in terms of political news from a former colony.

Bruce Springsteen – Rockaway the Days

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of Springsteen’s monster Born In The USA. Understandably, given how he’s since shared his dissatisfaction with the grab-bag nature of it, if not sadly, we’re not getting anything to celebrate the milestone beyond a coloured version of the record with a few extra photos in the liner. No The Promise or Ties That Bind revisit. Which is a shame for, as I’ve already covered in a three-parter, there were multiple versions of the album and a bounty of songs that were recorded and discarded before the final album emerged. While getting those out into the air wouldn’t necessarily cause a reevaluation of the album, it would certainly be great to get them all collected into one place and show that the scale of Springsteen’s vision at the time went far beyond the twelve tracks that kickstarted his Rambo era of stadium domination.

Pearl Jam – Wishing Well

They may have cancelled their London show at the last minute but I’m still spinning Pearl Jam on any day ending in ‘y’. This cover – from 2015’s Christmas single – has cropped up a few times lately and is still worth a listen.

Swallowed up by the sound: current spins

June 11, 2024 / Tony / 4 Comments

As the last few posts have had a somewhat singular artist / track focus and while I’m still in a posting stage of mind, I figured it was fitting to share what’s been on heavy rotation of late.

Pearl Jam – Waiting For Stevie

I haven’t talked about Dark Matter here in any real way yet. I probably will. I’ve played the arse off it since securing a copy on RSD. Yeah, Andrew Watt is still shit at capturing drums and loves compression just that little too much but, without wanting to come across like a pretentious audiophile, it really comes alive on vinyl. ‘Waiting For Stevie’ was much-hyped by those who’d attended the listening parties and it’s a fantastic centrepiece complete with that early ’90s vibe and extended outro.

Buffalo Tom – Come Closer

A new Buffalo Tom album announcement has long been another of those that gets me to the pre-order button pronto. Their 10th album Jump Rope is another late-career gem that leans more to the acoustic but still smoulders in all the right place, their sound perfectly suiting the more mature tinges to their songs as they age like a fine wine.

Arrested Development – Mr Wendal

More of that great early ’90s hip hop that I’ve been enjoying with my son: Arrested Development’s 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of… has been a regular in the walkman since we caught this one randomly on the radio a while back.

Drop Nineteens – Winona

Finding out that Drop Nineteens’ 1992 album Delaware had been reissued meant it was another no-brainer of a purchase. Often pigeonholed as shoegaze, while that genre’s influence on the guitars is clear, there’s something unique about the way they merged it with the alt/college rock bite that was on the upswing.

The Mysterines – Sink Ya Teeth

Not sure why the new album from The Mysterines has been pushed back but current single ‘Sink Ya Teeth’ has been getting a good bit of traction on the airwaves and hits the right spots for me.

New things from old friends

February 21, 2024 / Tony / 2 Comments

In the interest of fairness, after my recent clump of new music from new bands, it’s probably about time to highlight such offerings from acts more familiar to the collective ear.

Pearl Jam – Dark Matter

I couldn’t be considered a Pearl Jam fan if I a) hadn’t listened to this a good few times since it appeared last week and b) didn’t pop it up the top of this list. Oddly, while it seems to be going down well enough (one headline review: ‘Song of the Week: “Dark Matter” – Put Some Fucking Respect on Pearl Jam’s Name’) I’m not quite beside myself about this. It’s pretty good and promises some heft but I’m wary about Andrew Watt’s involvement. Sonically everything he touches sounds like over-produced shlock. While the notion of Pearl Jam working at speed and not over-labouring can be good, their best records are those that lean into the depths in terms of arrangement and sound and I don’t think Watt is the man for the job. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll be spinning it as soon as possible and hope to be proven wrong.

J Mascis – What Do We Do Now

Whether it’s Dinosaur Jr or J Mascis solo, J’s album’s are amongst those I’ll hit pre-order on without hearing a thing and I’m never disappointed. Of his recent solo offerings What Do We Do Now – also highlighted by Christian – feels the closest to ‘band’ than others, with more gorgeous guitar solos than we deserve and a lovely rich sound, it’s already had many a play through and will no doubt have more before the year is out.

Sunny Day Real Estate – Novum Vetus

It’s hard to know what’s more addictive right now, this fucking brilliant video or this fucking brilliant new song from Sunny Day Real Estate. I say ‘new’ – it’s a song that they’d been kicking around since 1998 but was only recently bought back into play and expanded into this seven minute epic as they set down a live rack-by-track re-recording of their debut Diary.

Billy Joel – Turn The Lights Back On

Shall I give what’ll probably be the 265th blog take on the first Billy Joel song in nearly two decades? Nah. It’s surprising, it’s pretty damn good and whether there’ll be more is anyone’s guess (I reckon not).

The Mysterines – Stray

A new Mysterines album is due this year – their 2022 album Reeling was a real promising start – and I get the feeling we’re up for darker and heavier.

Thursday now, that’s such a crazy, lazy day…. current spins

May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 / Tony / 13 Comments

A whole month between posts…. this is getting pretty sporadic to say the best.

Thursday is a pretty good day really – the weekend is just a nad hair away and it’s time to load up on caffeine and hit up Mr Fyfe’s weekly quiz. It also feels like a good moment to cast an eye / ear over what I’ve been enjoying of late.

Pearl Jam – In My Tree (Live at Melbourne Park)

Record Store Day this year was a bit of a non-starter for me. I spent a couple of weeks of this last month barely able to walk thanks to severe knee pain – caused by what turned out to be something called a Baker’s Cyst* – so the notion of getting up at a dirty time of the morning and standing for hours was ruled out. Thankfully the one thing I had my eye on wasn’t this year’s big draw – seems like Pearl Jam aren’t as popular with RSD crowds as Taylor Swift or The 1975 – and I was able to wander down at a much more human time of 11am and find plenty of them left.

Give Way – the sign used in place of Yield in most places outside of the States especially Australia – is a live album that’s long been sought after. It was originally prepped for CD release as a freebie for early purchases of their ‘Single Video Theory’ but minds were changed at the last minute and 55,000 copies were ordered destroyed. Some escaped the cull and became massively valuable. Twenty five years later as part of Yield‘s anniversary (one of their finest and ranked fourth in my list way back when) and the concert – recorded March 5th in Melbourne Park – was unleashed for RSD.

A live Pearl Jam album is always worth wrapping your ears around and this one is another brilliant addition to their already strong selection – it’s a real showcase for Jack Irons’ drumming and the vibe his looser drumming style bought to the band. Sadly the run in Australia would be Jack’s last as he was battling a lot of mental health issues behind the scenes and would soon announce his decision to part ways with the band following the tour – he’d be replaced on the Yield tour by Matt Cameron, documented on Live on Two Legs.

Paul Westerberg – Mannequin Shop

My son is building up a Spotify list of his ‘favourites’ – though this is more any song that takes his fancy. We recently caught ‘Waiting for Somebody’ in the car and it made me dig out Westerberg’s 14 Songs for a spin – it’s still a solid listen but it’s the delightful take on the plastic surgery of the early ’90s that has been stuck in my head since. Much in the same way as I wonder how the writer of ‘Answering Machine’ would feel about today’s lack of real communication I’d have to wonder how Mr Westerberg would feel about the state of enhanced vanity in 2023. Unfortunately though, Paul seems to have gone to ground again.

Adé – Insomnies

I popped over the channel again this weekend past for a couple of days and have been keeping an ear to RTL2 since both to assist with the language learning and the variety of music – it seems hard to find a station here that plays as genuine a variety (though their obsession with Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran gets annoying) . Last summer I heard Adé’s ‘Tout Savoir’ a lot and, this trip, it seems that her song ‘Insomnies’ is the current radio player and another I’ve been enjoying.

Daughter – Be On Your Way

Daughter’s new album Stereo Mind Game is bloody good. Gorgeous sounds and arrangements with Elena Tonra’s vocals breathing through an album of lush shoegaze / moody indie-rock vibe.

Slowdive – When the Sun Hits

Speaking of lush shoegaze… I picked up Slowdive’s Souvlaki recently and have spent many a glorious spin lost in the warm blanket of sound it generates.

Silver Moth – The Eternal

One of those albums I hit pre-order on as soon as it was announced – Silver Moth are a band formed out of a few online conversations during the pandemic. Only members Stuart Braithwiate (of Mogwai) and his wife Elizabeth Elektra had met before they hit the studio on a remote Scottish island and recorded Black Bay in just eight days. It’s a bloody strong album – a multilayered beast of slow-burning yet immediate songs that combine its members’ shoegaze** and post-rock dynamics with two vocalists who’s vocals find a place between Kate Bush and Elizabeth Fraser.

Faith No More – Epic

Another one of those ‘hey, if you like this one, check this out’ conversations with the cub after picking up a 7″ of ‘Easy / Be Aggressive’ recently. There’s very little like this and it remains a fucking awesome tune some (gulp) thirty four years later.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood

Texas Flood is forty years old this year, which is as little a reason as I need to have been giving this one some attention.

*whether this is something first experience by a chap called Baker or those spend their time kneading dough develop the issue I don’t know.

**third and final mention.

Eleven

April 5, 2023 / Tony / 18 Comments

According to the mighty notifications bell it’s been eleven years since I started putting words on page here. I did toy with the idea of doing ‘eleven things that have changed since’ but then that would move this blog’s wheelhouse into either the personal or political arenas into which it only occasionally dips. Though I think we could probably all benefit from taking a moment to think of how – a relatively short space of time ago – there was once a time when a certain orange defendant was just an annoying twat of a failed businessman and nobody really considered membership of the EU to be a problem.

It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?

Also – thanks to those that have read the increasingly infrequent output of this blog and creating blogs that I continue to read even if I no longer contribute so much.

Anyway, keeping with the music theme I thought I’d mark this historic moment by hurling eleven great Track Elevens at you. Once upon a time only double albums made it to eleven tracks, in the era of CD bloat many should have stopped at that point and now, while we seem to be veering a little closer back to shorter album run lengths, they typically mark an album’s closing point. There is, of course, very little scientific method to the selection and probably a few I’ve missed but, in the immortal words of The Ramones: “hey, you there – let’s get going”

Pearl Jam – Release (Ten)

Ten might not be their best album but ‘Release’ is one of their finest and works as both a great album closer and concert opener.

U2 – Acrobat (Achtung Baby)

Always good to highlight little-known bands. Achtung Baby may be a bit bloated but I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘Acrobat’ even if it took the band 27 years to recognise it and play it live (probably in some dingy basement somewhere).

REM – Nightswimming (Automatic for the People)

There are so many brilliant albums from those first few years of the 90s… and Automatic for the People isn’t even REM’s finest. The ‘Ride’ of their side may be handicapped by its first three tracks – ‘Monty Got A Raw Deal’, ‘Ignoreland’ and ‘Star Me Kitten’ probably aren’t anybodies favourites – but then ‘Man on the Moon’, ‘Nightswimming’ and ‘Find The River’ is one of the best ‘final three’ since The Wild, The Innocent… and ‘Nightswimming’ is just pure gold.

The Black Crowes – Descending (Amorica)

Amorica is a damn fine album, damn fine. In retrospect I don’t think it was just the pubes that killed it – 1994 may not have been the optimum time for a southern, blues-rock album to be welcomed by the mainstream. ‘Descending’ is both a long-time Black Crowes favourite of mine and a great album closer. I’ll get out of the 90s on this list soon I’m sure.

Bruce Springsteen – The River (The River)

When The River was briefly a single album the title track sat in the middle of the running order. Expanded to a double it still, kinda did but by lobbing it on to the end of the first half of the album Springsteen puts one of his finest songs in place as a reward for making it through ‘I Wanna Marry You’

Pink Floyd – High Hopes

Until recently a beautiful final word from Pink Floyd. It’s still beautiful.

Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced? (Are You Experienced)

Not necessarily stoned…

Portishead – Glory Box (Dummy)

Ah, back to the 90s. Dummy is just sublime and ‘Glory Box’ one of my favourites and they slapped it right at the end of the album.

Dinosaur Jr – What If I Knew (Beyond

Closing off their first album since the original lineup got back together with a great tune felt like a way of saying ‘more to come, stay tuned’,

The Replacements – Can’t Hardly Wait (Pleased To Meet Me)

Yes, the Tim era versions with the ’til it’s over’ was great but this – with Alex Chilton on guitar, horns and strings – is as close to perfect as they got.

The Beatles – Blackbird (The Beatles)

Technically it is track eleven… because that’s what ‘track 3 on side 2’ translates to on CD and streaming etc.

Regina Spektor – Somedays (Soviet Kitsch)

I could, and probably should, write an individual piece on Ms Spektor. Soviet Kitsch is her third album and first for a major and can be seen as the template from which all her future albums would follow: there are pure, well-crafted tunes with just the right amount of refinement while still retaining enough rough edges, quirk and personality to make it engaging and all underpinned by Spektor’s vocals – wonderfully typified by the album closer ‘Somedays’ which she also closed the show with the one time I was able to catch her live some misty years ago.

Ten of ten for ten

April 4, 2022 / Tony / 16 Comments

Apparently it’s my ‘WordPress Anniversary’ today. Well, at least with this blog. I say this only to make those of you who have failed to send gifts my way feel guilty.

To mark this most important of events I thought I’d be achingly original and put together a list – Ten great Track Tens.

Ten. In the seventies some couldn’t keep it up that long whereas by the nineties’ era of CD bloat some went on much longer. Some use it as a ‘leave them wanting more’ final track while for others it’s the point at which they’re in the midst of their second wind. For many, though, it’s just filler.

Anywho, without further prattle, ceremony here’s a sweep of some pretty solid tracks that also happen to be the tenth tune on an album – while a little bit of a sausage-fest* – also serves to cover most of what this blog has in the last ten.

Pearl Jam – Present Tense