Monday Morning Pick-Me-Up: The Gift of Radiohead and LCD Soundsystem
HEAD, RADIOHEAD
While Sam Smith ended up singing the theme song for the latest James Bond movie Spectre, the crooner wasn't the first choice. It turns out Radiohead was originally tapped to pen the film's introductory tune. It didn't work out, but a song entitled "Spectre" was recorded. As a Christmas gift to the band's fans, Thom Yorke posted "Spectre" for streaming and download on Soundcloud. It may not have all the hallmarks of a typical Bond theme, but the complexity of its haunting and foreboding vibe would've made for a superb addition to the series' sonic canon.
CHRISTMAS IS PLAYING AT MY HOUSE, MY HOUSE
In a minor Christmas miracle for fans of LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy rounded up the members of the defunct New York dance rock band to create a downtrodden holiday treat. On Christmas Eve, the group released "Christmas Will Break Your Heart" a beautiful and depressing tune where Murphy muses about how "Christmas will crush your soul" and "Christmas will break your heart / like the armies of the unrelenting dark." It's certainly no cheerful sing-a-long, but seeing as it's the last LCD Soundsystem song for the foreseeable future, it'll do.
RUNNING WITH THE BULLS
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder turned 51 last week, and SI Vault marked the occasion by digging up a delightful old photo of the singer celebrating a NBA Finals win with the 1996 Chicago Bulls. There's a solid chance this is the most '90s picture in existence. And while Vedder has long been an unabashed fan of his hometown Chicago teams, the image still makes our Sonics hearts ache just a little bit.
Happy Birthday Eddie Vedder. Here he is in 1996 celebrating the Bulls title with Dennis Rodman: pic.twitter.com/94nmzA3IcQ
— SI Vault (@si_vault) December 23, 2015
SEASONAL NO MAN'S LAND
To be honest, there's not a lot that happens on the pop culture front during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. To fill the void, here's on old video of John Roderick in a Santa suit, sitting next to a camel, singing a song about said nebulous week ("The Week Between").
