Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Pearl Jam Radio

First of all, R.I.P. Jay Reatard. I have not heard much of his work but I admire what I have and the world will be a sadder place without him. I missed his concert at Johnny Brenda's a month or so ago and now I am really regretting it. He was 29.

Pearl Jam radio is lame. It is hard to believe, but I am very disappointed. I first put on Misfits radio, at the gym, but didn't feel like listening to stuff I wasn't familiar with today, so I put on PJ, thinking I couldn't go wrong. It was partly my own fault, considering the output was mostly predictable: lots of Nirvana and lots of Smashing Pumpkins. No Soundgarden, however, which pissed me off, and way too much Led Zeppelin.

I used to love Led Zeppelin. I never thought this would happen, but I just don't really dig them anymore, and when every other song is some overplayed Zeppelin track, it's almost intolerable. What the hell does Led have to do with Pearl Jam, anyway? You would think the Genome Project would have chosen some Niel Young or Eric Clapton, but the GP really came up short today, and made me doubt its intelligence in general.

I really was insulted. I mean, I expect to hear some 90s alternative mixed in, and maybe an obscure Zeppelin track here and there, but I would think Pandora could pull some more modern fare in, as well. The Beck station mixed in Spoon, which was a breath of fresh air. I was listening to Pearl Jam radio for 2 hours and I didn't hear anything that came out after 2006 (the latest was World Wide Suicide, one of the weakest tracks on Pearl Jam's self-titled).

Perhaps I've outgrown some of the 90s music I used to worship. I really dig Pearl Jam's newest, Backspacer, which is why I created the station, but Smashing Pumpkins? Only a few songs of SP's I can still enjoy, honestly, like some from Meloncollie and the Infinite Sadness (none of which played today), but like I said, what do you expect?

It would have been nice to hear Sex Pistols, who influenced Eddie Vedder, for example. It seems like Pandora got lazy and just took the easy route, choosing songs from the alternative/grunge era and not even trying to connect Pearl Jam to anything more eclectic or enigmatic or modern, unlike with the Beck station. Put on Pearl Jam radio if you like that era. Don't, if you're trying to learn something.

2 comments:

  1. oh Alice in Chains also played often, whom I like, but I really don't think they sound anything like Pearl Jam.

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  2. also, the Pearl Jam songs selected were altogether good (except "W.W.S."). "Footsteps" and "Dissident" are examples.

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