A strange question occurred to me as Backspacer drew to a close for the first time on my stereo; it was about halfway through what is certainly the band’s most mature song yet, the cinematic and winsome “The End,” a song both about death and the presence of life: what would Kurt Cobain be doing right now, at this very minute?
It isn’t stealing Eddie’s moment. And it isn’t a question that has occurred to me during any other Pearl Jam song to this point. Maybe it was the subject matter …

Sad bastard-music lovers of the world rejoice: Coldplay has released a new album. Much has been made about their choice of producers on Viva la Vida—the band’s fourth release— and with good reason. The most famous of the bunch is Brian Eno, whose work with U2 is legendary, and for a band that started off with the ambition of becoming Radiohead Jr. Coldplay has evolved more into U2 Lite. Look no further than the instrumental opener, “Life in Technicolor”, or the track that follows, “Cemeteries of London” with its Bono-like …