Word of the Day
Interpolate (v., in-TURR-poh-LATE)
To insert something different into something else (especially words), often in a way that changes the meaning. To interject, but more fancy and nuisancy.
Gif of the Day
Charlie DayThumbs upExpressionlessSlight nodsExit stage rightkthxbyeA thumb is worth zero words?
Link of the Day
RIP Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell, the lead singer of the grunge bands Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog, was found dead yesterday morning in Detroit at 52. For many of a certain age, the news was a shocking wakeup news story. The dark-haired demigod of grunge music...dead?
Cornell's voice was a shapeshifting, immediately recognizable blend of ferocious wailing and intimate, careful crooning. He first rose to prominence as part of Soundgarden, the Seattle band that was supposed to take over the world but always lagged in popularity behind contemporaries Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Soundgarden was grunge with a graduate degree. Their music was jagged, experimental, not easily consumable, but rewarding. They blended thunderous rhythms with Cornell's powerful screams to create music that still sounds compelling today.
But as interesting as Soundgarden is—and Superunknown is a favorite of The Dailies—it was Cornell's other projects that are more curious. There, Cornell leaned more into his Beatles-influenced songwriting and soul singing influences. Temple of the Dog, a tribute to his former roommate Andrew Wood, features perhaps the best vocal rock album ever. Audioslave was a late-career experiment that never clicked for an album but produced some staggeringly good tracks.
Our favorite, though, is Cornell's first solo album. Freed from Soundgarden, Cornell sounds like he's stretching his legs, whether on the tribute to his late friend Jeff Buckley (above) or on When I'm Down, a magnificent piece of gospel-tinged blues.
Cornell has long been a favorite singer of The Dailies. Even as his output has dimished and our musical tastes have gone elsewhere, we've still returned to his music often. Today, we fell on black days.
MusicChris CornellSoundgardenSingers1990s