album review: mastodon – crack the skye

Concept albums can be tricky – just ask Jethro Tull. Or, God forbid, Styx. Atlanta’s Mastodon, however, don’t seem to be bothered by the idea. Take their ’94 album Leviathan, for example. A ten-song opus of sludge metal gone berserk, it was loosely based on Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick. With songs like “I am Ahab”, “Seabeast” and “Aqua Dementia”, the 4-piece band was able to assault the intellect as well as the ears.

And on the recently released Crack the Skye, the Mastodon boys are at it again, although they’ve set their sights much higher. There’s no logical way to explain the concept of this album, so I’ll just let drummer/primary lyricist Brann Dailor do his best (brace yourself):

There is a paraplegic and the only way that he can go anywhere is if he astral travels. He goes out of his body, into outer space and a bit like Icarus, he goes too close to the sun, burning off the golden umbilical cord that is attached to his solar plexus. So he is in outer space and he is lost, he gets sucked into a wormhole, he ends up in the spirit realm and he talks to spirits telling them that he is not really dead. So they send him to the Russian cult, they use him in a divination and they find out his problem. They decide they are going to help him. They put his soul inside Rasputin‘s body. Rasputin goes to usurp the czar and he is murdered. The two souls fly out of Rasputin’s body through the crack in the sky(e) and Rasputin is the wise man that is trying to lead the child home to his body because his parents have discovered him by now and think that he is dead. Rasputin needs to get him back into his body before it’s too late. But they end up running into the Devil along the way and the Devil tries to steal their souls and bring them down…there are some obstacles along the way.

That’s right, we’ve got wormholes, astral travel, Russian cults and Rasputin all blended into one heavy metal concept album. And yet, somehow, it all makes sense when you listen to the seven (incredibly) long tracks.

album review: pearl jam – ten (deluxe edition)

Album reissues are generally a tough sell. They already have two strikes against them, as most people have already heard them in their entirety and all the real fans already own the original release. The only selling point they offer is that the existing recordings have been tweaked – a certain song’s opening riff may be featured a tad more prominently or the vocals may have been processed more. There’s nothing new about a reissue that a casual listener would probably even notice.

Pearl Jam have decided to tackle those very concerns with the new reissue of their debut album, Ten, by releasing a “Deluxe Edition” and literally cramming as many extras as they can into the package. Along with the original and reissued versions being offered on both CD and vinyl record, they’ve also included a rare, early performance from ’92 (also in CD and vinyl versions), a DVD of their previously unavailable MTV Unplugged performance (with a never-before-aired version of “Oceans”), a reproduction of the cassette tape demo that was responsible for the bands formation, a copy of one of lead singer Eddie Vedder’s lyric journals and a ton of pictures, stickers and other odds and ends. You even get a Mookie Blaylock rookie card.

For $150, it would be natural to expect a lot of bang for your buck, but the set is so completely detailed and so obviously catered to die-hard fans, opening it for the first time is nothing short of astonishing. In fact, the reissue itself is actually the weakest part of the collection.

music snobbery 101: the journalists

Being a music snob, I am often asked about my favorite bands, albums or songs, but never about my favorite music journalists. This is unfortunate, for without them the casual music fan would be in the dark as to new music, record reviews and sordid band histories. So without further ado, I present my pick of the 5 music journalists any self-respecting music snob should be in the know about.

1. Chuck Klosterman –

Long before Klosterman became famous for his quirky pop-culture writings (Fargo Rock City, Killing Yourself to Live), he was a journalist for Spin Magazine. His column, My Back Pages, was a forum where he explored the conspiracy theories on Kurt Cobain’s death, reviewed albums from A Perfect Circle and Liz Phair and covered Disneyland’s annual “goth day”. Klosterman was always at his best, however, when he was being the cheeky and condescending music snob he would eventually perfect with his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, which has even garnered him speaking engagements on university campuses. This is never more apparent than in his 2006 joke-review of Guns N’ Roses’ album Chinese Democracy – a full 2 years before it was actually released.

2. Michael Azerrad –

Much like Chuck Klosterman, Azerrad was also a writer/reviewer for magazines such as Spin, Details and Rolling Stone. It is Azerrad’s biographical writings, however, that make him stand out as the music authority that he is. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana was published in 1993 and was quickly hailed as the definitive biography of the Seattle grunge band. His second book, Our Band Could Be Your Life, was a collection of profiles of 13 of the most infamous indie rock bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s, including The Minutemen, Fugazi and Sonic Youth. In 2006, Azerrad, using audio clips from the interviews he conducted during his research for Come as You Are, co-produced a documentary about Kurt Cobain entitled “Kurt Cobain About a Son.”
He is currently editing an upcoming biography of Husker Du leader Bob Mould, to be realeased in 2010.

monday music maelstrom #3

Alright, so I realize that it’s no longer Monday, but this one will be worth the wait.  At least in that “huh?” kind of way.

Here is everyone’s favorite soulful singer/songwriter, Jason Mraz, doing his best cover of the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop.  I told you it was gonna be a weird one.

He does a loooong setup, but eventually gets to the music.  Oh, and check out those fingernails!

monday music maelstrom #2

In honor of the 81st Annual Academy Awards, today’s installment of MMM is from Elliott Smith – arguably the coolest person to ever appear on the Oscars (including Mickey Rourke).  Enjoy.

monday music maelstrom #1

As any of my loyal readers (yes, all 6 of you) will know, I’m a music snob.  And being the gracious music snob that I am, I’m going to bestow on all half-dozen of you a tiny bit of my musical wisdom every Monday night.

Some Mondays will bring jazz, some will bring acid rock and some might bring flamenco guitar to the table.  Either way, it will be awesome.  Because I say so.

And so, without further ado, here’s the first installment:

Music Helps The World Go ‘Round, Even In A Recession

Your next American Idol?

My grandfather was the first person to teach me anything about music.  Before that, all I listened to was whatever was on my mom’s car stereo, the television or whatever we played in elementary music class.  Basically, crap.

My grandpa, though, taught me about music in a very general way.  There were no genres, no styles and no labels.  There was just good music and great music.

He would ritualistically pour himself a scotch – with one ice cube – and make me a Shirley Temple, put on a record and talk to me about my day.  He would always stop the conversation when a good song came on and we would just sit and listen.  Sometimes the record was Credence Clearwater Revival, some days it was Mozart and some days it was The Beatles.

I learned about music from all over the world during those conversations; Louisiana creole music, classical Spanish flamenco guitar, jazz and a thousand other styles and voices.  It was as common for me to hear Carlos Montoya as it was to hear Fleetwood Mack or Herb Alpert.  Or Les Paul.  Or Django Reinhardt.

From these early lessons, I grew to love obscure and under-appreciated music.  I became a Music Snob.