Pearl Jam - Backspacer

As most of you know, The Blot is a diehard Pearl Jam fan, so I’m excited to say my next two weeks are going to be very Pearl Jam centric. This is because yesterday, Sunday, September 20th, Pearl Jam released its ninth studio album, Backspacer. Then in a two weeks Aly and I will be driving to Austin to see Pearl Jam headline the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival. I really can’t wait!


Since Backspacer dropped yesterday, the first thing I did on Sunday was head down to my local Target to purchase the album. I've been listening to the album non-stop since I got it yesterday, and I really like it. Now it’s obviously not my favorite Pearl Jam album, but I do like it more than the band’s last album, the self-titled Pearl Jam. I think the fact that the country is no longer under the command of the Bush regime has freed PJ up to focus their immense talent on other issues and topics, which has allowed their creativity to flourish.


One of my favorite parts of the new album is its cover! It was designed by Tom Tomorrow (a.k.a. editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins), who is best well known for his liberal slanted weekly comic strip This Modern World. Tomorrow’s artwork for the album’s cover, packaging and inside booklet is really cool looking and all over the place. Each drawing in Backspacer has a very pop art feel to it, which of course I love, and it's going to look really killer as a screen print for one of Pearl Jam’s upcoming concerts.

For those of you wanting to pick up a copy of Backspacer on cd or vinyl, please remember the album is a Target exclusive, which sort of explains why it was released on a Sunday instead of this Tuesday. The album is also available on iTunes and local indie music stores nationwide.

Lollapalooza 2009 Is Officially Rocking

As we speak, the 2009 Lollapalooza Music Festival has begun. I felt a little amiss since I hadn’t mentioned it once this summer even though it is hands down my favorite music festival of them all. I was a little down on Lolla this year because I absolutely hated it’s line-up, but thought I’d show it a little love since both of my step-brothers will be attending this year. If the headliners were a tad better I might have considered meeting up with them, but Depeche Mode, Tool, Jane’s Addiction and the Beastie Boys just don’t do it for me like they would have in the late 80’s and early 90’s.


With that being said, I do love me some Killers and Kings of Leon, so a weekend spent at Chicago’s Grant Park wouldn’t have been all bad. And as always, Lollapalooza just stacked the middle and bottom of its line-up with incredible talent. Just take a look at the 2009 Lollapalooza Line-Up poster above and you’ll notice a ton of great artists, including Ben Harper, Snoop Dogg, TV on the Radio, Andrew Bird, Vampire Weekend, Cold War Kids and too many other great bands to mention all of them here.

I have no doubt this year’s festival will be a blast, but alas it’ll have to go on without The Blot. Besides, I’ve gotta save up all my energy for this year’s ACL Music Festival in October.

Lollapalooza takes place this weekend, August 7-9th, at Grant Park in Chicago, IL.

2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival Lineup Poster

Last night when The Blot finally got a chance to look at this year's ACL line up I got so excited I couldn't go to sleep. What got me this worked up!?! Two words: Pearl Jam. Yup, you read that right, Pearl Jam is finally returning to the Lone Star state to headline the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival. Did you know its been almost 6 years since PJ last played a show here in Texas? It's a fact that has bothered The Blot greatly these past few years, but thankfully the drought ends this October 2-4, 2009 at Zilker Park in Austin, TX!


I've never attended ACL before, but you can rest assured I will this year. Although, now that weekend passes are $185 each I might have to settle with just going on Sunday to see Eddie Vedder and Co. It's a shame that weekend passes are so expensive because the 2009 initial lineup looks really awesome. It's definitely a huge improvement on last year's lineup.

2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival Line
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Ben Harper and Relentless7
Thievery Corporation - John Legend
Ghostland Observatory - Sonic Youth
Mos Def - Toadies - Flogging Molly
The B-52s - Lily Allen - Arctic Monkeys
The Decemberists - Coheed and Cambria
Andrew Bird - Girl Talk - Phoenix
!!! - Medeski, Martin & Wood
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Grizzly Bear - Reckless Kelly - Devotchka
Blitzen Trapper - K' Naan - Daniel Johnston
Asleep at the Wheel - Dr. Dog - The Knux
Click here to see the entire 2009 ACL Lineup!

Austin City Limits Music Festival Lineup

It’s April 15th and the day we’ve all be waiting for. No, not because it’s Tax Day but because it’s the day the Austin City Limits Music Festival unveiled its 2008 lineup. All along I have been planning to attend my first ACL September 26-28 at Zilker Park in Austin, TX, but now I’m seriously reconsidering after seeing this year’s lineup. I’m guessing it’s either because of the dearth of music festivals this year or maybe because after seeing how similar the lineups were of most of the other music festivals this year ACL wanted to be different, but this year’s ACL lineup is extremely disappointing.


I look at a music festival as a chance to see some great headlining acts I really want to see along with the opportunity to catch some other artists I might not see individually but have heard great things about and would like to check out. I kind of assumed Jack Johnson would be headlining since he’s heading up most of the big music festivals this year and yet his name is no where to be found. Instead, ACL is throwing out the Foo Fighters, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and Beck as its headliners, all acts I’ve either seen before and don’t care about seeing again or have no interest in seeing in the first place.


I’d love to see The Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley again, but I’m not sure they’re worth the expense of ACL when more than likely they’ll be heading to Houston before or after their stops in Austin. Surprisingly the mid-card acts are actually more appealing this year than the headliners with appearances by Conor Oberst (a.k.a. Bright Eyes), M. Ward, Gogol Bordello, Hot Chip and Vampire Weekend. Hot Chip alone is almost enough to get me to commit to Austin. I saw those guys at Lollapalooza 2006 and have been a huge fan ever since. Then you get to the bottom of the lineup and it’s a ton of bands I’ve never even heard. Unfortunately, unless there are some additional names added to the top of the lineup I just can’t see myself heading to ACL anymore. Thank goodness I haven’t already purchased my three-day pass. I might skip ACL and just drive to Austin for the weekend anyway to catch all of the soon to be announced after-party shows.

2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival Lineup
Foo Fighters
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Beck
Manu Chao - John Fogerty
David Byrne - The Raconteurs
The Mars Volta - Gnarls Barkley
Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
N.E.R.D. - Erykah Badu - Robert Earl Keen
Patty Griffin - Tegan & Sara - Iron & Wine
G. Love & Special Sauce - Neko Case
Band Of Horses - The Swell Season
Silversun Pickups - Gogol Bordello
Gillian Welch - Eli Young Band - The Black Keys
Against Me! - Jakob Dylan And The Gold Mountain Rebels
Okkervil River – Galactic - Kevin Fowler
Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings - Hot Chip
Vampire Weekend - Slightly Stoopid - Flyleaf
Duffy Alejandro Escovedo - Roky Erikson
Yonder Mountain String Band - Spiritualized - Flyleaf
Drive-By Truckers - Ingrid Michaelson - Stars
Jose Gonzalez – CSS - Del The Funky Homosapien
Man Man - Jamie Lidell - MGMT
What Made Milwaukee Famous - Jenny Lewis - M. Ward
Asleep At The Wheel - Mason Jennings - Heartless Bastards
Antibalas - The Nachito Herrera All-Stars - Shooter Jennings
Xavier Rudd – Yeasayer - Octopus Project - Joe Bonamassa
The Kills - White Denim - Louis XIV - Delta Spirit - Mates Of State
Nicole Atkins & The Sea - Electric Touch
Black Door Slam - Tristan Prettyman - The Strange Boys
Ryan Bingham - Scott Biram - Freddy Jones - Colour Revolt
Five Times August - Langhorne Slim
Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears - Sybris
Eli "Paper Boy" Reed And The True Loves – AA Bondy
Bavu Blakes And The Extra Plairs - Christopher Denny
Mike Farris - The Lee Boys - South Austin Jug Band
American Bang - Bobby Bare, Jr. - Massacoustics
Belleville Outfit - We Go To 11 - Band Of Heathens
City And Colour - Sunny Sweeney - Elizabeth Wills
Autamata - Bonnie Bishop - Ben Solee - Ben Cylus
The Concert Supremes - River City Christionettes - Shields Of Faith
The Jones Family Singers - Nakia And His Southern Cousins
Brotherly Luv - The Hensley Ensemble - School Of Rock
Jambo - Q Brothers - Buck Howdy With BB - Uncle Rock
Big Don - Mr. Ray - The Jimmies