Earlier this year, Eddie Vedder put out an album of ukulele songs, ingeniously titled Ukulele Songs, but if you’d prefer to hear the "golden baritone" atop, y’know, electric guitars and whatnot, then Pearl Jam (September 11 @ Air Canada Centre) is swinging by Toronto this week. Ordinarily, this is the part where we’d warn you about their new material, but we actually feel that Pearl Jam’s latest holds up pretty well. Jam purists looking to challenge us on that idea are asked to remember that the verses of many of their classic hits (i.e. "Alive," "Jeremy") are about as tuneless as a ukulele that’s lost a fight with a lawnmower.
Those who want to dig a little deeper into the alt-rock banner-band can check out Pearl Jam Twenty at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Cameron Crowe of Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire fame, the documentary will chart the band’s meteoric rise to alt-rock domination.
For those who dare to venture yet further down the dark and murky corridor of grunge nostalgia (wallpapered, of course, with plaid, plus some ripped and faded denim), Mudhoney will be running a pair of dates: September 10 @ Horseshoe Tavern, and at the ACC opening for their buddies Pearl Jam on Sunday. Note that it’s Mudhoney, not Mudvayne: the hard-riffing Seattle grunge progenitors whose heavily-distorted sound inspired a generation of flannel-clad angst rockers, including Kurt Cobain.
And in local news, ascendant Toronto blueswoman Jennifer Castle has announced a set of cross-country tour dates, opening up for the prolifically weird Chad VanGaalen (whose last album, if anyone would like us to support that generalization, was called Diaper Island). The indie songstress has been lurking around Toronto and steadily gathering fans for years, and you’ll see why within the first forty seconds of this video — Castle’s gentle quaver and easy delivery combine into an effortless charm that comes from years of testing out her material. Canadian singers have always loved their vibrato, and sometimes they love to overdo it (see: Gord Downie, Matthew Good), but Castle’s manages to strike an emotional chord without beating the listener over the head.
