* Earlier this morning, Matador Records announced the details behind Pavement’s forthcoming greatest hits collection, Quarantine the Past. Or, more accurately, Matador Records announced one detail — The album with start with “Gold Soundz.” The rest of the album’s track list will remain a mystery for now, and that’s where the fun comes in. The label is sponsoring a guess the track list contest where one winner, the one who comes closest to the actual track list, will win a trip to see Pavement at Central Park in NYC. Other prizes will be awarded for the most creative track list and runner’s up in both categories. All the sketchy details, and information about more forthcoming Pavement vinyl re-pressings can be found here.
* In other news, Chris Cornell made sure Soundgarden would be the first old time band to reunite this coming year, but tweeting his intentions on New Year’s Day. The response has been harsh, to say the least. Here’s this headline from The Scene: Soundgarden win the Does Anybody Really Give a Fuck We’re Reuniting? award for being the first out of the gate in 2010. And this one from Blurt: Soundgarden Returnzzzzzzzz…. The Tripwire was a little less bitter: Soundgarden Reuniting:/. Granted, the whole Rage Against the Garden thing didn’t go so well, and neither did Cornell’s Timabland produced solo album. Yet, what everyone seems to be forgetting here is that Soundgarden were very much a bad-ass band up through and including Badmotorfinger. I think Cornell and company deserve a chance. Then, should the reunion tour turn out to be a gigantic failure, you can feel free to spew your creatively harsh headlines again.
* It’s quite understandable if you’re suffering from list fatigue at this time of year. Hell, I’ve published three of ’em recently, myself, and I’m tired of ’em. But, if there’s one last 2009 list worth reading, it’s Buddyhead’s 30 Best and 30 Worst albums of ’09.
* On a personal note, please mark your calendars for Sunday, January 24th. On that date, I’ll be dj-ing the Beachland Tavern’s Sunday Brunch from 11 to 3 with the help of my good friend in rock, Jeff Sierputowski. I’m still in the process of picking out records and files for your Sunday munch time playlist. So far, I’ve got some GBV lined up, some CCR, a Neil Young track, or two, some Galaxie 500, Yo La Tengo, and some fresher tunes from the likes of Wizzard Sleeve and Disappears. In other words, it’ll be a bit different from my usual dj-sets in that there will be more mid-tempo, mastication music and less of the old “Hey, ho, let’s go” stuff.
* Lastly, I’d like to personally wish the best of luck to Chris DeLine over at Culture Bully, as he’s placing CB on indefinite hiatus while he packs up and moves himself and everything he owns some 1300 miles away from his home base of Minneapolis.
