NFC News 03/2000 |
"Handwritten lyrics by KURT COBAIN and a wide range of other memorabilia
donated by NIRVANA, PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN, MUDHONEY and Sub Pop will be
included in a new rock'n'roll museum opening in Seattle this summer. When
it opens its doors on June 23, the Experience Music Project (EMP) will dedicate
an entire exhibit area to the Seattle grunge scene, called Northwest Passage.
As well as a wide range of grunge artifacts, the fully interactive museum - the
brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen - will also include videotaped
interviews with ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, former Soundgarden guitarist
Kim Thayil, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and Mudhoney's Mark Arm and Steve Turner."
This interesting story was courtesy of NME. As far back as late '98, this
site put up a bit of info about the museum in the interview with Chad Channing's
parents. You can find more info here.
In Jack Endino's latest newsletter there is a little info on the
No-WTO thing; "Most strange was a project that fell into my lap a
few weeks ago. Back in December, during the WTO frenzy, Jello Biafra
came to Seattle and did a live show with Kim Thayil on guitar and Krist
Novoselic on bass, with Sweet 75's Gina Mainwal on drums. There was
about 20 minutes of WTO-related spoken word from Jello (good stuff,
too) and about a twenty-five minute set of music from the band. A
fellow taped the show on ADATs, and another fellow named 'TR' who
used to be in Sky Cries Mary converted the whole mess into Pro Tools
digital audio files. I was then hired to mix it! To do this I had to
take TR's 9 gig Cheetah SCSI drive down to Hanzsek Audio and plug it
into their Pro Tools rig and go from there. There was editing to be
done to take out some rather-too-pregnant pauses and other bad moments,
and to cut things down to LP length, but no re-recording was done. No
need for it. Still, the live recording conditions were not, um, 'optimal'
let us say, so making it sound good was a bit of a challenge. Probably
got a few new gray hairs from this one but even Jello seems to be happy
now. It's pretty cool. It should be out soon on Alternative Tentacles as
the 'Anti-WTO Combo Live from the Battle in Seattle', or something similar."
This info was courtesy of Jack Endino. © 2000 endino.com
Here is a story that is a few days old, but interesting; "Spin
Turns 15 with Madonna, Nirvana, Beasties, and Biggie. Spin, the
nation's leading music and youth culture magazine, will mark its
15th year of publication with a special April anniversary issue
featuring an expansive look back at its greatest hits (and misses),
and a four-way split cover featuring famous cover images from
Spin's past. The issue, which hit newsstands on March 9th, was
released with four separate covers: Madonna, NIRVANA (1993), and
late rapper the Notorious B.I.G. (1997). Spin's special 15th
Anniversary issue takes an intrepid look back at a decade-and-a-half
of shining moments, of metalheads and riot grrrls and B-boys, of
politics and youth culture, outrageous admissions and compromising
positions, and all of the groundbreaking stories caught by Spin's
unflinching eye." This story was courtesy of Yahoo! News, March 3.
Thanks to Adam for the link. The issue also featured a nice article
on Nirvana that you can read
here. The transcript was courtesy of 'keibler'. You can also see
the cover here, courtesy of Alex.
Wow, we made it to TV! Apparently earlier today, the popular Canadian
television channel MuchMusic was airing the "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
video by Nirvana, during their 'Go with the flow' show. Near the end
of the video, there was a caption naming the band's fansite or official
website and this one came up. Randy explained it further; "I live in
Canada. I was just watching tv on the Much Music Station and I came
across SLTS. It was on a show called 'Go With The Flow'. And at the
very end after the name comes up on the screen it had a caption that
said this: Nirvana's Fan Site - www.nirvanaclub.com" Thanks a bunch
to Randy and 'Gbrad85' for this. Would anyone happen to have a recording
of this particular moment? If so, please contact me as soon as possible.
NFC is also mentioned on MuchMusic's official website, at least at the
time being. Check it out here.
Kate Patten of the BBC sent in some interesting information about
a Nirvana special they are working on; "We are wanting to make a film
on Kurt Cobain as part of a series on music heroes talking to fans and
people who knew him about the legacy of the music and the musician.
The filming will take place in the Seattle/Aberdeen area around the
anniversary of Kurt's death. It is not a celebration of his death.
It is an exploration of what Kurt and his music meant to people."
Kate is interested in getting in touch with Nirvana fans from the
Seattle/Aberdeen area, who would be willing to contribute to the
film. So, if you match that criteria and want to contribute to the
project, e-mail me and
I will forward your letter to Kate of the BBC. Serious inquiries
only please. She added that; "If there are any fans in that area who
would be prepared to talk to us, at what I know is a very sensitive
time then that would be good, but any fans should get in touch with me
if they are interested. People can talk to me without committing to
anything so they don't need to be worried." She also wanted to point
out that; "[the film is about] Kurt through the eyes of the fans so
it is not a rehashing of all these previous documentaries." Thanks a
lot to Kate for this information. Remember to e-mail me if you can help.
As reported in the February 12 update, a CD of the December 1999
live concert by the 'WTO Band' will be released shortly. Here is
some more info; "On Dec. 1, 1999, as civilians were scuffling with
police on the streets of Seattle during the WTO convention, Jello
Biafra and a few select friends -- Krist Novoselic (ex-Nirvana,
Sweet 75), Kim Thayil (ex-Soundgarden), and Gina Mainwal (Sweet 75)
-- working under the name the No-WTO Combo, were delivering a message
of their own on the stage of Seattle's Showbox club to those plucky
music lovers who dared to breach the city's 'protest-free zone.'
It turns out that the show was recorded for posterity, and now the
Combo has decided to share it with you. The album, titled (what else?)
The Battle in Seattle, is set for release May 8 on Biafra's own
Alternative Tentacles label. Grungemeister Jack Endino (Nirvana,
Tad, Mudhoney) will handle the production chores." Special thanks
to AllStar News and Gillian G. Gaar for this story. Much more info
about the WTO band can be found in the December and February updates.
A Norwegian newspaper put up some information about an article,
apparently from Melody Maker, about the biggest trouble makers
in rock. On the top of the list is Kurt Cobain, followed by the
Happy Mondays and Black Grape member Shaun Ryder. Courtney Love
is also in the list, not surprisingly. The story was in Norwegian
so I'm not sure if "trouble maker" is the correct translation ;)
Nevertheless you can check out the article from the Norwegian "VG
Nett" here.
Thanks to Roar for the link & Verdens Gang AS for the story. Yahoo!
also put up the story, calling it a 'Rock 'N' Roll Mayhem Poll';
"When it comes to sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, Kurt Cobain is the
King of Mayhem. The late lead singer of Nirvana, famed for his heroin
abuse, gravelly voice and 1994 suicide, Tuesday topped a chart composed
by Britain's Melody Maker magazine of rock 'n' roll hellraisers. The
magazine's editor Mark Sutherland, reviewing the list of the bad boys
and girls of an industry renowned for excess, said: 'Their antics
read like a litany of sexual deviance, drug-fuelled escapades, self-abuse
and mutilation.' Cobain tops the poll ahead of Shaun Ryder of Happy
Mondays and the late Keith Moon of The Who. Cobain's wife, Courtney Love,
upholds the family honor by taking the No. 8 slot." Read the full Yahoo!
story.
Thanks to Chad Paulson for the link, and Reuters Limited for the story.
A sought after Nirvana recording has now turned up, or info about it at
least. The recording in question is a show Nirvana did in Olympia, WA on
the 18th of January 1991. Someone who has a video of the show has put up
captures from it and a few clips, including "School" in mp3 format.
Here is some more info he provided on his page; "Below are a few video
captures from the rare 1-18-91 'War Protest' show with Nirvana, Helltrout,
Fitz of Depression and more. There are alot of rumors on the net about
this tape. As the owner of the original (and only full copy) I will use
this page to dispell these rumors. I will also be posting some MP3's
from the show." - "The original is on VHS, though it is the original,
it is almost ten years old. The recording process was not the greatest
either." What is in particular interesting about the show is the fact
that it opens with a speech from Krist about the gulf war and ends with
Kurt smashing his guitar with a hammer! While the show would be a nice
addition to any collection, the owner is unwilling to trade it at this
point. Fortunately, he did put up a few MP3's as mentioned and might
put up more eventually. The banner on the right and this information
was courtesy of Willie. If you want to check the MP3's and video shots,
go here. Note: The
mp3's are currently unavailable. We'll keep you posted on the situation.
Some time ago I put up my own 'improved' versions of the songs "Bambi
Kill" and "Clean up before she comes". The songs were improved in the
sense that noise and hiss was reduced, with other various fixes. Now it
has become sort of a hobby to turn old recordings in poor quality into
something that sounds a little better. Often it turns out bad, but I
think I have made some songs sound better than their original source.
The problem with noise reduction is mostly that it often produces an
odd "underwater/burbley" sounding signal, a "rolly" high end, or a
"computerish" mechanical sound. Though, fortunately this sound is not
always clearly audible and its often better to listen to than a constant
hiss. In any case I have compiled my own little experimental CD-R offering
30 tracks most of which were "improved" in some manor. I decided to put
up a couple of clips from the CD. My favorites are probably "Bambi Kill"
and "Clean up before she comes" so I put up some clips of those. Great
songs actually -- yet both remain officially unreleased. I also put up
a clip of the obscure song, labeled as "Seed" on a tracklist and "Misery
Loves Company" by bootleggers. This one is complemented by a clip of the
original, non-edited, noise-filled source I used to work with. It gives
you an impression of how terribly bad these recordings are. With most of
the tracks I just used whatever I had in my collection, thus I am sure
that a lot of the songs could be even better if I had a lower generation
copy. Anyway here are some clips. More will probably be put up soon. Even
if you don't like noise reduction these clips will give you an impression
of the gems that are unreleased - including a beautiful acoustic "Sappy".
Bambi Slaughter
Now that we're getting closer to April (the anniversary of Kurt's death), there
are a lot of people wanting to see Nirvana on MTV's show "Total Request" (for
some reason). Last year, there was a huge campaign to get as many Nirvana fans
as possible to vote for Nirvana on TRL. It was a failure, as they didn't play
Nirvana. So that is one of the reasons I get annoyed with all the "Vote for
Nirvana on TRL" hype. But if you are one of those who just have to vote for
Nirvana feel free to do so, on April 5 or 8, here.
Total Request airs on the US MTV every weekday at 3:30 PM, Eastern (2:30 PM, Central).
There was an interesting interview with Dave Grohl last night, when he
appeared in the Swedish talk show "Sen kväll med Luuk". They talked a
bit about Nirvana and Dave gave his standard answer concerning the box.
Some interesting excerpts: "Interviewer: Do you think you would be as
good a solo ... band ... leader, if you hadn't been in Nirvana? Dave:
Oh .. uhm, probably not. I mean, you know, there's no question that one
of the reasons why this band [Foo Fighters] gets so much attention is
because of Nirvana." Eat that, you Foo fanatics! - "Interviewer: We heard
rumours that maybe there would be a Nirvana box out .. is that true, you
know when? Dave: Probably this year. Late this year. Interviewer: Are there
any new tracks on there? Dave: There's a song on it that no one has ever
heard. I know that. That last song we ever recorded. So, uhh ... ". Again,
the song he's referring to is most likely the song known as 'You've Got
No Right' as mentioned in earlier news updates. After
the interview the band did a live performance of "Generator". Thanks to
John, Mattias, Ola, Jonas and several others for info about the show.
Colin Young sent in this; "The local radio station here, EDGE 102.1,
announced that the WTO Band [featuring Krist Novoselic] had gone into
the studio and recorded 5 songs. They didn't give anymore info."
Wall of Sound just published an interesting story with some info from Dave Grohl
about the upcoming Nirvana box; "A Nirvana box set is still on the horizon. Just
don't ask for details, says Dave Grohl, the group's former drummer and the current
leader of the Foo Fighters. 'It's going to happen at some point, but I'm not sure
exactly when,' says Grohl, who's currently at home in Virginia enjoying some time
off before the Foos start a tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers March 21. 'My guess
is it'll probably come out before Christmas this year. They're just rounding up as
much material as they can to make it as interesting as possible, but I don't know
what's going to be on it. I don't know what it's going look like. I haven't talked
to Krist Novoselic in about a month and a half; the last time we spoke, he wasn't
entirely sure what was happening with it, either.' This story was courtesy of Gary
Graff, Wall of Sound.
Full story. Thanks to Dan for the link.
Well well, the poll announced yesterday is running like a charm. Within 24 hours
it's received about 500 unique votes! Way to go, people! If we keep going like this,
we will surely end up with a result representing a large number of Nirvana fans. So
a huge thanks to everyone who have voted so far. If you haven't voted yet, please do
so here. You can also view the current result of the 'Box
Poll' here. Currently, the 1/94 studio session has taken
a solid lead but the 3/94 session is on a steady 2nd place. It's important to note
that its still unknown whether this particular session took place at all. Anyway,
please keep spreading the word about the poll so we can keep up getting a bunch of
votes from Nirvana fans.
Something I've been toying with for about a week is now finished. I decided to
put up a comprehensive poll, where you can vote for the recording that you would
most like to see included with the forthcoming Nirvana boxed set. The poll will
run for several months so we can get a good impression of exactly which recordings
are most wanted by the Nirvana fans. When the poll has finished, I will forward
the result to some of the people responsible for actually compiling the box. Then,
in a perfect world, they would listen to the fans and include with the box, the
recordings that received the most votes - alas the most wanted recordings.
Of course they could just choose to ignore the fans, but if they decide not to,
this poll should hopefully give an indication of what's hot and what's not.
In any case it doesn't hurt to try and it will only take you two seconds to
vote. I know several other sites have put up similar polls, but none that were
as detailed and lengthy as this one. The goal is to get at least 10.000 votes
so please tell every Nirvana fan you know about it - or put up a link to it.
More information about that is available on the poll page. All votes are much
appreciated. Check the poll here or the current result
here. Note: The scripts handling the poll were entirely
written by me so I can not guarantee that they will work 100%. Though, all tests
so far have turned out perfect. Let me know if you encounter errors. Thanks, and don't forget to vote! :)
I just got a log of yesterday's online chat with the Foo Fighters, courtesy
of the host Planet Internet. The log is pretty easy to read as only questions
and the answers from the Foo's are included (and thus not all the comments
from the people in the chatroom). Special thanks once again to Jeroen for the
link. View the log here.
The log is supplemented by some nice photos of the band members during the chat.
The picture on the right is from the show they did in Amsterdam at the 'Melkweg'
last night. Special thanks to Sebastiaan for this one. Sorry for all the Foo
stuff but I thought this was somewhat interesting and there's been no Nirvana news!
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