Jonny Greenwood, Eddie Vedder, and the D.I.Y. Ethos

I was extremely disappointed to see the Academy Award nominations today, when it came to music nominations. Neither Radiohead guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood nor any part of Eddie Vedder's Golden Globe-winning Into the Wild soundtrack were nominated for an Oscar. Apparently, according to Rolling Stone magazine:

"On the music front, Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Be Blood was disqualified from the competition despite already picking up a Critic’s Choice Award and getting nominated for a British Academy Award. Eddie Vedder’s omission is confusing, as his “Guaranteed” from Into the Wild seemed to be a shoe-in for Oscar love after winning a Golden Globe."

(By the way, I first received news of the nomination list from Rama's SCREEN, run by someone I knew from high school but have gotten to know better through blogging. There's a lot of great, late-breaking movie news at Rama's SCREEN.)

Anyway, check out the trailer for There Will Be Blood, with bits and pieces from Greenwood's score:

And if want to hear some more Greenwood ASAP, your best bet is to download the album through Amazon.com's DRM-free MP3 service: There Will Be Blood.

Eddie Vedder's "Guaranteed" won the Golden Globe for Best Song, but Vedder's work has been snubbed in favor of not one, not two, but three songs from Enchanted. At least Cate Blanchett's two nods come from two different movies (the Elizabeth sequel and I'm Not There). Anyhow, check out the music video for "Guaranteed":



The quickest way to hear the rest of Vedder's soundtrack is to download it through DRM-filled iTunes, as the album hasn't made it to DRM-free iTunes Plus or DRM-free Amazon.com MP3 yet: [Deluxe Version] |

Before I try to provide some analysis to my lamentations, let me just quote what I wrote in the comments of the Rama's SCREEN Oscar Nomination entry: "It’s a bit reassuring (in a masochistic way) that these 1990s alt-rock heroes are still underrated by the mainstream…the establishment. The spirit of D.I.Y. ethos and not selling out lives on, I guess…"

The moral of the story is that the establishment doesn't have to recognize fantastic artists, as it often doesn't. And so what if the mainstream often rewards things that are more popular and less timeless? It's a cliché, but it happens all the time. It shouldn't - and doesn't - stop some really wonderful, timeless work from being produced, regardless of acclaim.

If it's any consolation, not having a Golden Globes ceremony and not being nominated for the currently green-lit Oscar show actually saves Vedder the trouble of being part of a potentially awkward situation. The only thing left is this year's Grammy Awards, in which Vedder is nominated and could win and could say something like twelve years ago:



Jonny Greenwood photo credit: Zach Klein.
Eddie Vedder photo credit: Jim Bachalo.

Ryan's List-Worthy from Last Year List: Non-Podcast Rock Music

Other than spinning the fine music heard at Radio@MU, I haven't consumed much music in 2007. Early in the year, I cut demos to some of the Elan Vital soundtrack. In the middle of the year, my band The Society of Gloves recorded a couple of tracks. At the end of the year, and continuing to this day, I've been tracking music for the Elan Vital score. Instead of listening to new music, I've produced music and grooved to a bunch of classics released in previous years.

Anyhow, here's a sadly brief (but great-sounding!) list of three good songs released last year. They're not necessarily my top favorites from 2007, but each song comes from some of the new albums I spent a great deal of time to listen last year:

1. Radiohead "Reckoner" | Amazon.com MP3
BAD. ASS. You can't get anymore badass in 2007 than Radiohead's In Rainbows and the way it was initially for sale - and Mutiny Universe broke the news (at the same time as virtually everyone else), too! "Bodysnatchers" was initially my favorite track off the album, that is, until "Reckoner" got under my skin! Here's a video of a live performance of "Reckoner," and it is IMPERATIVE that you concur that the song is badass:

2. Eddie Vedder "Hard Sun" |
Into the Wild is a fantastic soundtrack/solo album by Ed. I haven't seen the film, but I've heard great things about it. I'm also partway through the book of the same name, and my brother (who read the book before me) says great things about it. Ed has written great songs, and continues to do so - but this selection is a cover song, which goes to show that Ed can consistently record great cover songs, with or without Pearl Jam: "Love, Reign O'er Me," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," and "Last Kiss," to name a few. Here's a music video that promotes the film:



3. Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin "United States" | Amazon.com MP3
On paper, they're called the Smashing Pumpkins, but since they recorded the album Zeitgeist and their latest EP American Gothic with neither the two other original or the three new Pumpkins, they might as well stick to calling themselves BC/JC. Anyhow, Zeitgeist was a better-than-average comeback album that has been tainted by typical record company greed: Multiple versions and album colors, as well as Ford commercial airplay. Ironically, the previous Pumpkins album, Machina II, was a loud-and-clear F-YOU to the record industry, as the band gave the music away for free online. On any other list that involves new Pumpkins tracks, I would have written "Bring the Light" instead, but "United States" is a nearly-ten minute heavy rock epic, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin recorded the drum track in ONE TAKE and NO CLICK TRACK. Supposedly, there's one flubbed note in there, but I'll take a Jimmy Chamberlin flubbed note any day to my flubbed notes! Here's a live performance of the song:



So that's my short list. It's definitely missing a lot of good stuff from 2007, so I guess I'll have to catch up in 2008.

Conan O'Brien Rocks

Jay Leno's decision to write his own monologues falls in a dark gray area of the WGA strike, but Conan O'Brien seems to go the lighter gray route by ad libbing in a quasi-reality show fashion:

That's right - Conan rocks! On last night's show, Conan sang a rockabilly song with the band. With these one-man show antics, I'm sure Conan can endure the rest of the strike without his writing staff.

As a reminder of what a great writer/writing staff can do, here's the next episode from the first season of Arrested Development (as we've been posting Hulu-approved entire episodes of shows for the couple of months):

Haiku Current Events

Here's to Stu Nahan!
Radiohead's Greenwood's score.
I need to catch up.

New Radiohead Album for as Low as £0.01 (about TWO CENTS!)*

As a big F-YOU to the record industry, iconic alternative - and I do mean that sincerely - rock band Radiohead will release their new album In Rainbows via digital download around October 10, 2007. A physical "discbox" will be available sometime this December. Anyhow, here's the price breakdown:

1. YOU get to choose the price for the digital download-only option. You can pay as low as ONE PENCE* but as much as you want to pay the band - who isn't signed to a record label anymore.

2. A physical discbox to be delivered by December 3rd, containing the album on vinyl and on CD, as well as an enhanced CD with photos 'n stuff. These customers will also get access to the digital download on October 10. The price for this package is £40 (probably a bit more than $80 USD...seeing as how the US dollar is not as strong these days).

So head on over to the official Radiohead website for more information.

*Plus 45 pence surcharge (about 90 cents USD) for credit card orders. Okay, technically you can "buy" the album for free, but I want you to join Radiohead's new music revolution and change the way business is done...hell, I'm a part of a corporation, too! Join the Big Bang Band Boat Revolution, Baby!

Thom Yorke photo credit: Goldberg.

Creep

Radiohead, 1992:


Stone Temple Pilots, 1993:


TLC, 1994:


And finally...