Soundgarden to release live and b-sides albums?

Kim Thayil dropped a small bit of Soundgarden news in a recent interview with a Toronto radio station.

Thayil said there are plans for a live album (which apparently is almost ready to go), a b-sides record and possible releases of older Soundgarden albums. More specifically he said this:

“We had a live album in the can just waiting for someone to mix it. We wanted to do B-side albums and that might be two or three albums. We’ll be doing other shows and working on releasing some albums from deeper in our catalog.”

What exactly does he mean by “releasing some albums from deeper in our catalog”? Are there more songs like “Black Rain” hidden deep in the Soundgarden vaults? Or does he mean reissues of some of the band’s SST and older Sub Pop material? Only time will tell.

Thayil also mentioned that the band has been jamming together which has resulted in possible ideas for new material and that it is likely the band will record new songs.

“”When we get together to rehearse, it’s natural for us, being guys who have a rapport, to start jamming and inventing. We’ve come up with instrumental, and certainly on occasion, lyrical ideas.

I’m not confirming anything, but it’s impossible for us to get in a room and not come up with ideas. It’s very likely in the future, perhaps sooner than later, we’ll get together and de-emphasise the rehearsing part and emphasise the jamming part.”

Of course the key part of that statement is the “I’m not confirming anything” disclaimer but regardless it will be interesting to see what Soundgarden does in 2011. Pearl Jam is celebrating its 20th anniversary which means there will probably be some sort of activity in the Pearl Jam camp and that activity will involve Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron. However, Eddie Vedder is touring Australia solo in March and 2011Pearl Jam world tour isn’t expected so there could be plenty of room on Cameron’s slate for some Soundgarden shows.

About Travis Hay

Travis Hay is a music journalist who has spent the past 20 years documenting and enjoying Seattle's music scene. He's written for various outlets including MSN Music, the Seattle-Post Intelligencer, Seattle Weekly, Pearl Jam's Ten Club, Crosscut.com and others.

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