Odds And Ends Of News: Soundgarden, Swans, Jay Reatard

I’ve been wrapped up in some things this past week, meaning I’ve missed a few news items that should be covered. First, we’ve got two important reunions:

-Soundgarden! On January 1, Chris Cornell, the former singer for the Seattle grunge legends, tweeted that the “Knights of the Soundtable ride again.” While I doubt such a dumb phrase will ever catch on, I’m glad Soundgarden has returned. After the twin failures of Audioslave and Chris Cornell’s solo career, it’s time for Cornell to return to the band that made him sound good. There don’t seem to be any new album plans in the works, but you can be sure Soundgarden will be making the rounds at the usual summer festivals.

-Swans! The New York noise-rock legends have also gotten into the reunion game, with band leader Michael Gira announcing the first band activity since 1997. Gira made the announcement through MySpace, also uploading an acoustic demo of a new song, “Jim”, intended to be fleshed out on a new, upcoming Swans album.

Finally, on a sadder note, Tennessee punk rocker Jay Reatard died on January 13. He was only 29 years old. His cause of death has not yet been determined. While I may not have liked Reatard’s music (or personality) very much, I know that 29 is far too young to die. May he rest in peace.

Better Late Than Never: The Stooges Get Inducted Into The Hall Of Fame

Since most of the major music publications are still waiting for their writers and critics to stagger back into the office after their (presumed) week-long, post-New Year’s bender, I haven’t been able to put together my first album review yet. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’ve been using this down time to post scathing commentary about reader’s polls. However, on a more optimistic note, here’s a news item I should have covered much earlier.

As anyone who’s been reading Pretzel Logic over the past year should know, getting the Stooges into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has been a major, flag-waving cause for me. They’re one of the cornerstones of modern music and they’ve been eligible for induction since 1994. The fact that it took sixteen years to get this legendary band enshrined in Cleveland is reprehensible, but now that they’ve finally made it, I suppose I should celebrate a bit and just be happy. I only regret that this couldn’t have happened while guitarist Ron Asheton was still alive.

Also on this year’s induction list are ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff and the Hollies, along with a handful of non-performers, headlined by David Geffen. Congratulations to all of them. I can’t wait to see what happens when you put ABBA and Iggy in the same room. For those interested, the actual ceremony will take place on March 15 and be televised on Fuse.

More Moments In Magazine Reader Fail

Yesterday, it was Rolling Stone’s readers and their inexplicable devotion to Green Day. Today, it’s SPIN’s readers and their downright confusing reader’s poll.

Apparently, 2009 was the year of Pearl Jam and music writers all over the world simply missed the memo. Backspacer, the PJ album the readers chose as the year’s best, is currently moldering as the 56th most acclaimed album of the year (according to Acclaimed Music). In fact, SPIN magazine itself didn’t even have that album in their Top 40 of 2009. Even stranger is “Unthought Known” getting voted the year’s best song, despite the fact that it wasn’t even a single off the album. Either Eddie Vedder’s been stuffing the online ballot box or a few SPIN readers got way too zealous. There’s just no way tens of thousands of fans arrived at that conclusion independently.

Either way, it seems like there’s a major disconnect between SPIN and their readers. Just look at their little graphic at the top of the reader’s poll page. They’ve got Green Day, the Dead Weather and Bat For Lashes on display, despite the apparent mandate for more Pearl Jam by their own readers. Meanwhile, the magazine’s choice for Artist of the Year, Kings Of Leon? Nowhere to be found. Awkward…

Ten Thousand Green Day Fans Can't Be Wrong...?

We live in a country that values giving “the people” a voice. However, those people and their voices can often say some very, very stupid things.

We learned that in two different places today. On one hand, the Baseball Writers Association of America embarrassed themselves (again) by only electing Andre Dawson to the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite the presence of at least half a dozen other deserving players on the ballot. However, this isn’t a sports blog. This is a music blog. Therefore, it’s with great sadness that I present you with this link.

Did you catch all that? Rolling Stone’s readers elected Green Day to be the best musical artists of the past ten years. They also thought that Green Day’s American Idiot was the best album of the decade and that “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” was the top single. Needless to say, I’ve got more than a few problems with this. I refuse to believe that two overblown concept albums, fueled by sloganeering, reductive politics and just plain ignorance, qualify a band to be the best of the decade. Oh, and Warning, which no one bought. No matter who you feel deserves a title as awkward as “Best Artist of the Entire Decade,” you should have someone higher on the list of nominees than Green Day.

However, this is apparently what people want. Democracy in action, folks. We live by it, we die by it. And, today, Green Day have won some undeserved accolades by it.

R.I.P. Rowland S. Howard (1959-2009)

Unfortunately, my first real post of 2010 is a tragic one. Rowland S. Howard, best known as the guitarist in Nick Cave’s early 1980s band the Birthday Party, passed away on December 30 from liver cancer. Howard was only fifty years old. However, within his all-too-brief lifespan, he became a beloved and influential figure within the alt rock canon. Traces of his visceral, jagged guitar style can be heard in several generations of guitar-led bands, including My Bloody Valentine and virtually all post-1985 goth rock. Throughout the 2000s, his music experienced a cultural revival of sorts, culminating in his exquisite Pop Crimes album, released this past October. With Howard’s passing, the music community has lost a guitar innovator and unmistakable voice.

Samples of Howard’s music:
-“Nick The Stripper”, with the Birthday Party
-“Six Bells Chime”, with Crime & The City Solution

-“Shut Me Down”, solo