Music Buzz

Flannel rocks this fall

July 28, 2011 0 Comments

Competing with the scent of wet fallen leaves wafting through the air, fall is set to smell like teen spirit as Seattle circa 1991 stages a comeback. This September, two projects will look to capture the attention of formerly flannel-clad Pearl Jam and Nirvana fans.

Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten turns 20 years old next month, and though you might have spung for the uber-deluxe box set back in March 2009, there’s still more to discover about the band’s classic debut. On September 20, Pearl Jam brings some history to the big screen with PJ20, a documentary directed by Cameron Crowe that chronicles the craziness of that time period (as well as the before-and-after) via archival footage and new interviews.

Check out the trailer for PJ20, which begins with David Lynch (?) awkwardly interviewing Eddie Vedder:

PJ20 plays in select theaters for one night only on September 20, before premiering on PBS on October 21.

Besides Pearl Jam’s Ten, another grunge-era classic is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, as you may have heard. Following recent retrospectives in GQ and SPIN (whose coverage included a free tribute album), Nirvana’s Nevermind receives the whizbang box set treatment on September 27.

The Nevermind reissue (with mildly controversial cover intact — take that, Facebook!) will be available as a four-CD/one-DVD box set, a two-CD deluxe edition, a one-CD remaster, a four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, and as a digital download. Sounds like nirvana to me.

The double-CD includes the original album, plus B-sides, demos, studio rehearsals, and previously unreleased BBC recordings. But the Super Deluxe box set is the one to spring for, since it adds the “Devonshire Mixes,” a version of Nevermind produced and mixed entirely by Butch Vig (different from the final 1991 commercial release, which Vig produced and Andy Wallace mixed). The box set also includes a CD and DVD of a live show at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre in 1991 and a 90-page book. View full tracklisting details here.

With these two big releases from Pearl Jam and Nirvana coming this fall, why not rock some flannel in tribute? I suggest this mix-and-match plaid button-down from Dolce & Gabbana.