Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and prolific singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur met in 1999 when Arthur opened a New York show for Ament's side project with drummer Richard Stuverud. They became friends, staying in touch by email before reconnecting in 2010 in Seattle. Ament invited Arthur to jam at his Montana home, and their creative chemistry was instant. Joining with Stuverud, the group spent four days recording, naming themselves RNDM after the circumstances that birthed their new project. "Modern Times" is the first cut off their upcoming album Acts, which culls 12 tracks from the nearly 20 recorded during the studio sessions.

Acts is set for an October 30th release. RNDM will tour North America this fall, starting November 2nd in Brooklyn.



Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z24rPgo235

Official Site here : http://rndmband.com/

November 2nd in Brooklyn?! I think i might be able to catch this show

This is a surprise, but it's also quite a deja vu of Fistful Of Mercy... so, yeah.

Interesting that Joe seems to see this as underproduction and as something that he never really got to work. It's pretty close to Holding The Void. Well, maybe he just meant without a band.

Since those songs written by Joe already existed in some form before (see Cherries in the Snow)... anything familiar? Walking Through New York makes me think of the There Are Many Omens In The City spoken word piece, but I really doubt he'd do one of those in a band like this.

Does anyone know if the US vinyl always comes with the bonus track, or was that exclusive to the Pearl Jam shop (they don't sell the vinyl over there anymore, so maybe it was some limited thing)?

Not sure how reliable this is but here is the track listing from HMV for the pre order vinyl:


1. Modern Times
2. Darkness
3. The Disappearing Ones
4. What You Can't Control
5. Hollow Girl
6. Walking Through New
7. Theme From RNDM Gong [LP Only Bonus Track]
8. Look Out!
9. New Tracks
10. Throw You To The Pack
11. Williamsburg
12. Letting Go Of Will
13. Cherries In The Snow

I'm liking the sound of this - partly because of the resonance with Holding the Void. FOM didn't do it for me so I'm pleased that this is a departure to familiar territory!

Charlie

Yeah, based on internet info it should be on there, but i've just had an experience with ever changing online information on a record in september, so i thought i'd ask.

Based on what i found, the only difference between the US and UK/European versions is that the US gets the album spread onto two discs. UK mentions the bonus track, but i couldn't find anything on that regarding the german release.

I ordered myself an US copy anyway, just to have it earlier and be positively sure on the bonus track (i wouldn't be surprised if that's just a 30 second instrumental, but anyway ). I'm not so keen on the two disc thing, since i don't think i notice a lot of difference in sound with the 33/45 RPM thing, especially not if i only have one of the two and can't compare, and then i'm a bit lazy when it comes to changing the records so often. But then again the artwork is probably spread out more, too.

Anyway, since this thread might be the main place if anyone stops by and tries to find out more about the record, here's the videos that have already been made:

Modern Times

Throw You To The Pack

Walking Through New York

The last one actually sold the record for me. And I have to agree that it's nice to have another Holding The Void, that record just kept growing for me while efforts like FoM or Temporary People hit their peak early on for me and faded a bit afterwards. Or is that just nostalgia...?

Anyway, just listening to a live-in-Joe's-studio video of Hollow Girl, and the guitar reminds me a lot of Disposable. Not so keen on the hairstyle, though; at first I thought Joe would still be able to pull off a Greg Dulli or even a Richard Hawley hairdo with what he kept.

Well, I've just been checking for setlists... and apparently, in addition to the record and the Ament solo song, they've been playing the cover they just released, one or two other covers (The Psychedelic Furs, Roky Erickson), Can't Exist - and The King of Cleveland.

I was wondering if that song existed at all, or if it had been some mistake back when it was announced for the Travel As Equals single, seeing how it didn't make the cut with the Redemption City bonus. But it seems to exist...

This place has turned really quiet, hasn't it?

Anyway, while I'm still not sure if the european vinyl has the bonus track as well, I got the US version. It's fun because the two discs/four sides allow for nice artwork including four "hidden phrases" scratched into the vinyl (I know that technique from Radiohead).

Also, "Theme from RNDM Gong" is stunning. It's instrumental alright, but with the length of a proper song, and takes the RNDM sound into Invisible Parade territory. Quite moving, actually.

Re 'King of Cleveland' - I guess you'll have heard/seen this in the KEXP session (11/27/2012) already

KEXP Live Video: RNDM -> http://blog.kexp.org/2012/12/17/live-video-rndm/


I missed the recent FB posts, but a new RNDM album looks set for 2013

http://www.guerrillacandy.com/2013/01/0 ... the-works/

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy new Year Helen, it's nice to read you.

A little more news in this RS article

Rolling Stone : Jeff Ament's RNDM Plot New Material, Live Shows

... After a fall tour last year, the band is considering adding more winter dates and recording some new material. "We've been on the road and we don't hate each other," Arthur says with a laugh. "We're talking about putting out an EP, because we have eight tracks left over from the initial session. And now we've got six more. I don't really know when we'll put it out, but there's talk about some kind of EP or something soon." ...