The Alternative Nation News Report 11.16.08: Life In A Glasshouse

Posted by Taylor Martin on 11.16.2008

R.I.P. Mitch Mitchell, Billy Corgan is an ass, reunions, Kanye opens his mouth and inserts his foot, AFI and Outkast in the studio, DLC of the Week, and a new weekly feature! What is it? It’s it!



Hello, and, once again, welcome to The Alternative Nation News Report. I can feel the anticipation that you have about reading this column so let's get right into the news, shall we?

Headlines!

Mitch Mitchell, the last surviving original member of The Jimi Hendrix Experience was found dead of natural causes in his hotel room in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday. He was 62. Mitchell was a pioneering drummer in rock music, combining Jazz and Rock styles that would go on to be known as "Fusion". He had just recently finished up the Experience Hendrix Tour which celebrated the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. Mitch Mitchell was an excellent drummer, just listen to "Fire", "Can You See Me" or "Stone Free" for proof. He really didn't do much after Hendrix's death but he certainly was an influence on a lot of drummers, particularly Jimmy Chamberlin, which brings us to our next item…

Billy Corgan has admitted that the Smashing Pumpkins reunion hasn't worked out the way he had hoped. Anyone with a brain knows that, but, still, Zeitgeist was decent enough, just not up to the standard of their earlier works. Nevertheless, the band played in New York this week on a two-night stop in support of their 20th Anniversary Tour. The first night, entitled "Black Sunshine" started out fine with songs like "Siva", "Mayonnaise", "Tonight, Tonight" and new single, "G.L.O.W." (which is actually pretty good, I must say) but quickly turned south with a cover of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". Pretty soon, fans started leaving early and not even "Today" could make up for it. The next night, entitled "White Crosses", started out much the same way as the night before with fan favorites like "Cherub Rock" and "Zero". But then Corgan invited a fan onstage to give his opinion on the previous night's show who voiced his dissatisfaction by saying "Last night's show fucking sucked". Corgan, who takes criticism as well as cats take to bathtubs full of water, replied "By the way, I liked that song you wrote. What was it called? ‘Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It In My Mouth'? That was a big hit in Europe." Seriously, I'm not making this up. Afterwards, the band played a 30-minute jam session. Wow. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when all of this went down. Of course someone recorded the exchange and put it on YouTube so go check it out if you want to laugh and get pissed off at the same time.

Speaking of reunions, Sublime is reportedly reuniting with a new vocalist, seeing as original singer Brad Nowell has been dead for more than a decade. The surviving members have been jamming with an unknown vocalist and are rumored to be performing at The Bamboozle in New Jersey next year. This is a bad idea. Nowell WAS Sublime. Anyone remember Long Beach Dub Allstars? Exactly, you don't.

The Get Up Kids will also be reuniting on Sunday in the band's hometown of Kansas City. My friend is a huge Get Up Kids fan so I'm sure he's pretty excited about this.

Quickies!

- Kanye West was kinda arrested in the UK this week after shoving a camera in a paparazzo's face, injuring him. Kanye also said that he is "the voice of his generation." Kanye makes some good music, but his ego makes the universe look like a midget.

- AFI is working on a new album, due out next year. Awesome, I've been looking for new music to cut myself to.

- Outkast is also working on new material. Andre 3000 and Big Boi will each release a solo album and will collaborate on another. This better be good and I hope it's more in the style of Stankonia.

DLC of the Week

Rock Band: This week, we've got 10 songs to choose from.

Dead Kennedys - "California Über Alles", "Holiday in Cambodia", "Police Truck"
Lacuna Coil - "Closer", "Swamped"
In This Moment - "Forever"
Mission of Burma - "Mica", "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate", "That's When I Reach for My Revolver"
Crooked X - "Gone"

The Dead Kennedys pack is good; the Lacuna Coil and In This Moment songs aren't so good; and the Mission of Burma pack is sort of weird, but pretty awesome. Crooked X is pretty much the Hanson of hard rock, but, just like Hanson, at least they can play their own instruments.

Guitar Hero: Three songs will be available on Thursday, November 20th courtesy of the Jack White side project, The Raconteurs:

"Salute Your Solution"
"Hold Up"
"Consoler of the Lonely"

Good stuff, although it would have been cool to get some songs from their first album.

Alright, I promised a new feature and after thinking for about all of 10 minutes, I now present you with:

The Greatest Albums of My Life

Here's how it works: Every week I'll name the 3 best albums released in a certain year, starting with the year of my birth. And since I was born in 1987, we'll start with that.

The Best Albums of 1987

Honorable Mentions: Faith No More - Introduce Yourself, The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come, Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me, R.E.M. - Document, Anthrax - Among the Living, Prince - Sign O' the Times

3. Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction: What else needs to be said about this album that hasn't already been said? Arguably the best debut of all time, this album came at a time when hair metal was dominating radio and MTV. The video for "Welcome to the Jungle" was initially only played in the early morning hours on MTV but quickly caught the attention of viewers and soon became the most requested video on the network. The song then exploded on radio and eventually the album shot to #1 on the Billboard charts. GNR would go on to rule the rock world for a few years until turmoil in the band resulted in everyone leaving except for Axl Rose. Even still, Appetite remains one of the best albums of the 1980s and a landmark in hard rock.

2. Sonic Youth - Sister: Sonic Youth has never been a commercial favorite, but Sister was a continuation of the style of the band's previous album, Evol, in that it combined traditional rock structures with with experimental elements. It's a loose concept album based on the life of writer Phillip K. Dick and was also the point where Sonic Youth songs actually started to sound like songs instead of just a bunch of different noises. This style would be perfected on their next album, but Sister marks a pivotal turning point in the band's style that would dictate the band's musical direction for the next 20 years.

1. U2 - The Joshua Tree If it wasn't for the best album of 1988, this would be my pick for the best album of the 1980s. Appearing on many "Best Of" lists (and for good reason), The Joshua Tree is U2's "tribute" to America and all of the ideas that it stands for. But Bono also wrote the album in response to US foreign policy and the tendency to bully other countries around. With those themes, you'd think that The Joshua Tree is a recent release but that just adds to the timelessness of the album. This was the album that took U2 "from heroes to superstars" and really made them the band they are today. It doesn't get much better than The Joshua Tree and that's why it is the best album of 1987.

It's Over!

Come back next week for more news, opinions, and the best albums of 1988. Until then, sit at your computer and wait for the next edition of The Alternative Nation News Report.

Later!