Garbage Release Live Acoustic Performance of “I’m Only Happy When It Rains”

Marq Evans made a documentary, The Glamour & The Squalor, about Seattle DJ Marco Collins. Collins was instrumental in bringing some of the greatest acts in the alternative era together in the 1990s. His work brought these artists into the mainstream during a time before the internet could make or break an artist in five minutes. Collins, unlike the current hive-mind of the internet, was a singular tastemaker.

The soundtrack to a movie about a famous DJ who had great taste in music should live up to its pretense. Ready for online release on November third and as a CD on December first via Lakeshore Records, The Glamour & The Squalor Original Soundtrack will feature various radio shows performed by Collins. Among other artists, Sebadoh, Death Cab for Cutie, Mudhoney, and Garbage, have features with previously unreleased material.

For example, as a little teaser Lakeshore released an acoustic recording of Garbage’s “Only Happy When It Rains,” from a 1996 show on 107.1 with Collins. The acoustic version has the same upbeat way of telling a story about enjoying the typically unenjoyable, but of course is more barebones than the studio release.

Garbage formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993. Consisting of Shirley Manson (vocals, guitar) and American musicians Duke Erikson (guitar, keyboards), Steve Marker (guitar), and Butch Vig (percussion), the band has sold over seventeen million albums over the course of its tenure. Their debut self-titled album, critically acclaimed, sold four million copies and gained the accolade of double platinum. Their second album, Version 2.0, met similar acclaim. However, their third, Beautiful Garbage, became something of an aptronym. The group disbanded during sessions for their fourth album, Bleed Like Me. They regroups in 2011 to record two more albums. They have a pop sound that has a flavoring of grunge. It’s like a non-pop musician’s take on pop music—trying to create a certain type of sound without falling victim to its formulas. The new release can be heard below.

Photography Credit: Sharon Alagna

Conrad Brittenham: My name is Conrad. I am one year out of college and pursuing a career in writing and journalism. I studied literature at Bard College, in the Hudson Valley. My thesis focuses on the literal and figurative uses of disease in Herman Melville’s most famous works, including Moby-Dick, Benito Cereno, and Billy Budd. My literary research on the topic of disease carried over to more historical findings about how humans tend to deal with and think about the problem of virus and infectivity. I’ve worked at a newspaper and an ad agency, as well as for the past year at an after school program, called The Brooklyn Robot Foundry. All of these positions have influenced the way I approach my work, my writing, and the way I interact with others in a professional setting. I’ve lived in London and New York, and have always had a unique perspective on international cultural matters. I am an avid drawer and a guitarist, but I would like to eventually work for a major news publication as an investigative journalist.
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