Pandora, Nickelback, and not exactly telling my wife everything

America ,

I am for equality and love and choice.  I am a Democrat, these are my core principles.  I wish I could tell you that I also don’t believe in judging…  except clearly that is not the case.

Anyhow, I wanted to share a moral fable with you.  It’s a story of love, trust, marriage, and subversion.

It starts with Pandora.  I LOVE Pandora.  I use it daily.  I think they are a great company and I want them to succeed.  I know there are now about 11 similar services.  My Pandora is all set and customized, so I don’t to hear about slacker and sticther and beats etc etc etc.  I even pay  for Pandora.  It’s like $40 a year.  SO worth it… and I want them to be profitable.  I want the artists to get paid.

So, because I pay, I have basically unlimited channels.  I use about 15, and I gave the wifey the passwords so she could make her own stations.  That is how loving and compassionate I am.  She can listen to whatever she wants.  What do I care?  I certainly don’t expect her to listen to Dylan all day.  Hell, I don’t expect ANYONE to listen to that much Dylan except myself.

First problem is this, she doesn’t ‘feed and water’ her stations.  This is a biggie, and a big problem.  You don’t just put Pandora on and listen.  No.  NEVER.  If I find you also doing this, I will have your radio taken away.  Pandora demands easy maintenance.  For the first year, it is simple.  EVERY SONG you hear you need to thump up or down.  Trust me, this pays mad dividends down the road.  Think of it, in every possible sense, as the break in period for your car.  That first 1,000 miles you have to take very specific care.  This is how you get 300K miles out of a car.  Or, if you have a GM, up to 300 miles.

It’s why you had to go to school.  It sucked at the time, right?   But, it literally pays 60 years of dividends.  This is why you MUST feed and water your Pandora.

This comes to my problem, and my dirty secret.  I don’t manage my wifey’s stations.  It isn’t my business.  Just like her email, or that Maroon 5 channel she has.

She recently showed me a dope ass station she built.  It was a journey station. So, there is Boston in there, ac/dc, Led Zepp… it is just a great station.  I guess this shows my age a bit.  I liked it so much I have been listening at work.

That is when I crossed the line, and I need your advice.  I made a move, on her station, which is not my business.  Unless she is reading this, she still doesn’t know.

It is like if she finds ciggies on me, she throws them out, for my own good.  That is kinda how I see this.  On her Journey station, Nickelback came up.  For the good of EVERYONE, I had to thumb it down.  I am not proud of this, but I did what needed to be done for own good.  Remember when your parents would say things like “I don’t give a shit if this is your bedroom.  As long as you live under my room you live by my rules!”  It’s a much more loving version of that, right?

So, was I wrong?  Just kidding, of course not you asshole.  Let’s be cool and maybe not mention to her.

 

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Pearl Jam – Ten plus

 

 

 

 

 

Hey all, I rarely write about music in this space.  Lucky you, I am granting myself an exemption.  Normally, I publish my music stuff here.

 

So, the new release of Pearl Jam’s classic ‘Ten’ came out this week.  It is the 20 year anniversary of the breakthrough masterpiece.  So, the band celebrated by releasing a box set sort of thing.  You can get 2 cds, and a DVD of the aired but never released ‘Unplugged’ set which is just phenomenal.  Take a peak at some of the bootlegged footage here.

 

I mean, it’s really really good. It showcases not just how good the music is, but how capable the band members are.  All acoustics, one take, no overdubs, and the music is as solid as the studio release… and even more passionate.   Way more passionate.

 

That isn’t what I am here to talk about, though.  As mentioned above, the set comes with 2 cds.  Specfically, it is two versions of the exact same album.  The first is the original, mixed by Rick Parashar.  The second is a newly remastered and remixed version by long time PJ friend Brendan O’Brien.  O’Brien just fucking rules.  He has made so much great music it makes me puke.  Not just his work with PJ, either.  He made Springsteen’s ‘the Rising’.  He made Stone Temple Pilots ‘Purple’ and ‘Tiny Music’ too.  He has lots, but those really deserved to be mentioned.  So, I am most definitely in the pro-O’Brien camp.

 

Still, though, that isn’t why I am writing.  I am writing on behalf of Rick Parashar.  I don’t know who he is, or if he is even alive.  Probably is, and he is probably more than a little ‘butt-hurt’.  Is this not a slap in the face of Parashar?  Did you know that ‘Ten’ outsold Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’?  It truly is a masterpiece, every rock fan will tell you.  So, why redo it?

 

I mean, remember when they remixed ‘Born to Run’ or ‘Siamese Dream’?  Did you get that remix of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumors’?  No, because no one would dare touch those.  I have heard the re-mix, and I do think it is better.  Still, though, it is a pretty serious slap in the face to Parashar for making one of the top five albums in the history of rock and then having the band outsource you as thanks.

 

I guess my next question is, after this hoopla ends… Ten will go on to exist.  So, if you walk into your local mega merchant and pick up a fresh CD of ‘Ten’… which version will you get?  The color of the CDs is a little different, but the rest is the same.

 

 

 

* update

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I did some googling on Parashar.  I owe him that at least.   Turns out the name is most associated with is Nickelback.   Ew.  I now understand why that nearly renders ‘Ten’ as historically moot.  It’s like when we found out that Hitler’s favorite painter was Kincaid… or that Hitler’s favorite actor is David Caruso.  Kind of taints the whole experience.

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