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The hot MPLS emcee covers a deep cut from Pearl Jam's culture re-defining grunge classic Ten in a minimalist, beat-heavy style. Check out the nasty breakdown which goes where the guitar solo normally would.

P.O.S. MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

Pearl Jam "Baracks Around The Clock" By Re-Writing An Old Classic

Download: Pearl Jam - "Rock Around Barack" (via the Ten Club)

From their slow metamorphosis from platinum-selling, reluctant mega-stars to the Grateful Dead for the Gen-X set, Pearl Jam have been one of the most consistently politically progressive groups in existence, from Ed Ved scrawling "Pro-Choice" on his arm while playing MTV Unplugged back in 1992, to the band's protest of the second Iraq war at a time when few acts were voicing such an opinion (turns out putting a boot up your ass isn't the American way after all). So it should be no surprise, then, that the band has endorsed Barack Obama for President. What's truly surprising is that the band has recorded a tribute to him by re-writing an old rock n' roll standby. That's right: "Rock Around The Clock" has become "Barack Around The Clock".

Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard, who sings on the track, elaborates:

("Rock Around The Clock") is a track I've been thinking about for a while. "Rock Around The Clock" was the first mainstream rock and roll hit in 1955 and it had a transforming effect on American music. At that time, rock and rhythm and blues music was traditionally only played on black radio. I am, by no means, an expert on the history of rock & roll, but this was a big deal. The rhythm of rock music and its energy were so overwhelming that traditional barriers of race and culture broke down with an enormous crash. So here's to new energy, rock and the breaking down of cultural barriers: "Barack Around The Clock!"

Well said. And there you have it. Roll your eyes, if you must. At the very least, Pearl Jam appear to be having fun on the song and have their hearts in the right place. One can't ask for much more. Listen to "Barack Around The Clock" at the top of the post.

Pearl Jam MySpace Page

PS - Not too late to vote in the primary! Polls close at 7 p.m. You still have two more hours!

(Jonathan Graef)

Pearl Jam: Their World. Censored.

That is, according to Salon's Machinist blog. Read the article - which details how a certain largest phone company in the entire planet removed political content from Pearl Jam's set at Lollapalooza from the webcast that the company did of the festival here.

A quick summation of the controversy given by the article:

Anyone who was at Sunday's Pearl Jam show closing the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago would have seen the band in a political mood.,,(i)n the middle of a performance of "Daughter," Vedder sang "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home" to the tune of "Another Brick in the Wall."

But if you were at home listening to the show on the Webcast...you would have missed those lines..(They) say its monitor did so by mistake -- what a strangely precise and politically convenient mistake!

I don't doubt that mistakes happen - heck, how could they not, considering the scope of a festival the size of Lollapalooza and the technology required in order to webcast it. That said, if you take into account the dubious actions that AT and T (by the way, what's the deal with Blogger not allowing the "and" character?) has made as a company - here, here and here - then the censorship charge is much more plausible.

But enough political talk and on to the political music. Here are some live Pearl Jam MP3s, a track from b-sides collection Lost Dogs and a few songs from last year's self-titled set. All the songs on this playlist are politically charged, to some degree:

Download: Pearl Jam - "Whale Song"
Download:Pearl Jam - "Insignificance"- Live In Jones Beach, 2000
Download: Pearl Jam - "Rival" - Live: Jones Beach, New York, 2000
Download: Pearl Jam - "Green Disease" - Live: Chicago, Illinois, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Bu$hleaguer" - Live: Denver, Colorado, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Know Your Rights (The Clash)" - Live: Las Vegas, Nevada, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon cover)" - Live: New York, New York, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "I Am Mine" - Live: New York, New York, second night, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Whipping" - Live: New York, New York, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Glorified G" - Live: New York, New York, second night, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Dissident" - Live: New York, New York, second night, 2003
Download: Pearl Jam - "Fortunate Son" (with Sleater-Kinney) - Live: Mansfield, Massachusetts, 2000
Download: Pearl Jam - "World Wide Suicide"
Download: Pearl Jam - "Comatose"
Download: Pearl Jam - "Unemployable"
Download: Pearl Jam - "Grievance" - Live: Seattle, Washington, second night, 2000
Download: Pearl Jam - "Soon Forget" - Live: Seattle, Washington, second night, 2000

(Jonathan Graef)