News 08/2004
Liane asked me to post this: I'm looking to interview one devoted
Nirvana fan based in the L.A. area for a book I'm working on about fans and the transformative
power of pop culture. I'm interested in someone who can talk at length about how the band's
music has changed their lives and go significantly deeper than 'I just really like their music.'
This person should be able to explain what the band means to their life, what they've invested
(both financially and spiritually), what their friends and family think of their fandom,
whether the music has helped them fill an emotional void or heal a past hurt, etc. Each
fan will be the focus of their own chapter in the book, and should be open to being
photographed (ideally with a favorite album or piece of memorabilia). I'd like to start
things off via e-mail to get the ball rolling, and later schedule a face-to-face interview.
About me: I'm an entertainment journalist (my articles have appeared in Entertainment
Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Variety, Mademoiselle, etc.). I'm happy to answer any
questions about the book - I can be reached at journachick@aol.com.
August 25, 2004
Finally some good news that actually concerns Nirvana music: a DVD
about the legendary Nevermind album is scheduled for an October
release. The DVD, which is part of the popular "Classic Albums" series,
will most likely follow the recording of the album, based on past and
possibly new interviews. Other documentaries in the series are based
on artists including U2, The Who, Iron Maiden, Jimi Hendrix and Metallica.
The Metallica one follows the recording of their monumental Metallica
album, using new and old interviews, revisiting the multi-track masters
(with comments from producers and band members), clips of music videos and
much more. It is an extremely well-produced and interesting documentary,
using original music by the band as opposed to other unofficial documentaries.
Unfortunately, I don't have any specific details on the Nevermind
DVD at this time - other than it is scheduled for a October 25 release
in Europe. If you have more information, please contact me.
Order it online here.
August 20, 2004
Krist Novoselic will soon be embarking on a book signing tour to promote
his new book. He will be joined by author Mark Andersen. Here is the info:
"Krist Novoselic, offers a personal and political memoir
in his first book, Of Grunge And Government, Let's Fix This Broken
Democracy! The bass player of Nirvana tells his the story of his own
musical, and political coming-of-age. From his relationship to Kurt Cobain
to his evolution as a political activist, Novoselic's passion, intelligence,
and integrity come shining through in this moving and inspirational book.
Mark Andersen delivers All the Power - Revolution Without Illusion. An
ambitious, accessible mix of history, autobiography and how-to-manual,
this 'anti-manifesto' challenges popular concepts of radical activism.
Long-time inner-city organizer and punk rabble-rouser Andersen takes aim
at the illusions that tend to keep North American radicals self-satisfied
but ineffective. Leaping from agrarian socialist experiments of the early
twentieth century to embattled 1960s streets to the fiercely independent
punk underground of the 1980s and '90s to the present-day global-justice
movement, All the Power suggests how the seemingly most idealistic of
enterprises-revolution-might be practically accomplished. Mark is also
co-author of Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital."
Here are the dates for the book signing tour:
In the August 10 update I mentioned a huge auction that included a number
of unique items, such as drawings made by Kurt Cobain and more. Click
here
for a news story with more info on the now concluded auction.
August 16, 2004
There's a new play showing in London which has a certain Cobain reference:
"The play is called The Lounge Act and it's best
described as Donnie Darko meets Catcher In the Rye meets Kurt Cobain. The
play will be showing from August 31 - September 19, 2004. A play about spirit
and release." Thanks to Reg for the news. Here are some more details:
Venue: The White Bear Theatre, 138 Kennington Park Rd, London SE11 4RB, ENGLAND
Dates: August 31 - September 19, 2004
Times: Tuesday - Saturday 7.30pm, Sunday 4pm
Tickets: £8, £5 concs (Tuesdays: Pay what you can)
BOX OFFICE: 020 7793 9193
I just finished writing a review of the Dave Grohl biography that came out
last year. You can read it here.
A 'Grunge Night' is being arranged in Israel but they need your help.
"The Cinematheque in Haifa (Israel) is known for
having music nights once or twice a month with a different theme to
every night. I'm helping collect videos for these music nights and
I just found out that we'll be having a grunge night in a few weeks
(after having a Nirvana night a few months back), but the problem is
that getting grunge videos and live shows in quality that won't make
people stand up and walk out is not that easy. We are asking people to
donate video material of good quality video tapes (including beta) or
VCDs, DVDRs or whatever so this night could happen. We are looking for
music videos, live shows, funny videos/strange stuff with these bands:
Nirvana, Fastbacks, Wipers, U-Men, Green River, Soundgarden, Mudhoney,
Screaming Trees, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Dead Moon, Girl Trouble, Tad,
Gas Huffer, Young Fresh Fellows, Supersuckers, 7 Year Bitch, The Gits,
Flop, Posies, Pearl Jam, Mark Lanegan, Pigohnead, L7, Beat Happening,
The Fluid, Afghan Whigs, Babes In Toyland, The Walkabouts, Love Battery
and Dickless - or any other grunge / Seattle band. If someone is intereted
in helping us out he can contact me at flic@bezeqint.net
and we'll take it from there. Tapes (etc.) will be returned."
August 11, 2004
An update on the new Gus Van Sant movie: "No one really
knows what happened during Kurt Cobain's final days, despite -- or perhaps
because of -- all the conspiracy theories. Director Gus Van Sant doesn't
know either, but for his next film, Last Days, he's imagining what someone
in Cobain's position might have experienced. 'There are a lot of hypotheses
about what happened, but I don't know of any full eyewitness account, just
tiny momentary ones,' Van Sant said. 'Everyone has a different opinion,
but there's not one true, authoritative account. He was just kind of missing.'
He started playing with the idea of Last Days soon after Cobain's death,
but he took his time getting the cast and location figured out for the
project, which recently wrapped shooting in New York and will be released
next year via HBO Films and Fine Line Features.
Last Days will have a semi-documentary visual style and won't really
offer any conclusions as to why Cobain -- or in this case, a Cobain-like
character -- killed himself, although there will be plenty of hints and
suggestions in this fictionalized setting. 'He's like a Shakespearean Hamlet,
reflecting on his personal ghosts and demons, and while I don't know what his
were, I'm imagining what they might have been,' Van Sant said. 'It's pretty
much his thing. He's alone.'
Michael Pitt (The Village, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) carries the film as
the doomed rocker uncomfortable with his band's growing fame, while other
characters (such as those played by Lukas Haas and Asia Argento) flit in
and out during their search for him. Argento doesn't exactly play a straight
Courtney Love type, but the singer did give her blessing to Van Sant for the
project when he spoke to her about it several years ago, he said.
Instead of Cobain deciding to kill himself, Last Days suggests that the
troubled singer was already resigned to his own death and that the process
was already in motion long before he went missing and was found dead from a
gunshot wound. But being that this isn't a straight biopic, Van Sant stresses
that people shouldn't read too much into his version of events."
Story courtesy
of MTV Asia.
The next Prodigy album includes an interesting cover of Shocking Blue's
"Love Buzz". A song that Nirvana also covered and released as their first
single. The Prodigy version is somewhat different. Prodigy, one of Dave
Grohl's favorite bands, will release their new album with the track on
September 14. The 'Middle Eastern-tinged acid techno' version of the song
is entitled "Phoenix" on the album and you can listen to a clip here.
In the "150 Greatest Rock Lists Ever" special edition of Q Magazine they
have listed their proposal of the ten best (and five worst) Nirvana songs.
The slightly odd choice for the ten best songs is as follows:
Note 1: Elsewhere in the same mag, they put this track on top of a "bad metal" listing, arguing that "Nirvana spoiled the party by opening the door for hundreds of miserable grunge and nu-metal bedwetters." Hmm. The praise resumes even earlier in the mag, though, when the very same song is #7 on a list of "10 album openers that still make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck."
Note 2: Earlier in the mag, Pennyroyal Tea is #2 on a list of "album tracks that should have been singles but weren't", arguing that it is much better than single-released Heart-Shaped Box. Yet, HSB is #5 on the list of best Nirvana songs and Pennyroyal Tea is not on it at all. Also, Pennyroyal Tea was in fact released as a single, only it was quickly withdrawn from the market following Cobain's tragic passing.
The mag also goes on to list the five worst Nirvana songs - a list that is more easy to agree with:
You can order the magazine online here.
To the moron who keeps attempting to add a link to the German Nirvana Fanclub - get a life, dude!
You've attempted to add a link to this site using a number of different ill-fated schemes and tricks.
Guess what! It's not working! Find some other place to steal material and visitors from. Idiot.
August 10, 2004
Julien Entertainment are having a live auction with some quite interesting
Nirvana-related items. The live auction happens on August 14 and includes
more than 300 pop culture items including a Grammy awarded to The Beatles,
a Golden Globe awarded to "Ben Hur", sunglasses worn by John Lennon and
many other spectacular items. The auction also includes a number of unique
drawings made by Kurt Cobain and one of the MTV Video Music Awards that
the band won. The items seem to have been provided by members of Cobain's
family, including his sister Kim and his grandfather Leland. A list of the auctions:
209: Nirvana Signed Nevermind Artwork
210: Kurt Cobain Hand-Made Christmas Card
211: Kurt Cobain Handwritten Note
212: Kurt Cobain Original Artwork
213: Kurt Cobain Original Artwork
214: Kurt Cobain Drawing of Ronald Reagan
215: Kurt Cobain Letter from MTV Europe
216: Nirvana "Come As You Are" Design Artwork
217: Kurt Cobain W-2 Form
218: Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" MTV Music Award
219: Kurt Cobain Doctor Bill
220: Kurt Cobain Vehicle Title and Towing Letter
August 8, 2004
Another Kurt Cobain-related book has been published. "Ten years
ago, in April of 1994 the Grunge music revolution ended after it's leader, Kurt
Cobain of Nirvana ended his life. Now a book has been released, celebrating this
short musical revolution that spawned some of the greatest albums of the modern
era and created some musical heroes. Titled 'Grunge Days', this fictional novel
set in the 1990's follows three teenage boys from Sydney's western suburbs who
want nothing more than to make it big in the cut throat world of music, and also gives an in-depth
look at the temptations and turmoil the fame of a rock-star can bring." To find out more
about the book and it's young West Sydney-based author, go here.
Thanks to Kenny for the news.
Speaking of books - I recently wrote a review of the new book by Krist Novoselic: Of Grunge
And Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy. While not focused on Nirvana or Krist as
a person, it is nevertheless an interesting read. Check out the review here.
If you want more information about the book, check out the publisher's website
where you can also order it.
The Kurt Cobain Memorial Project in Aberdeen, WA is starting to shape up and receiving more
media coverage. The L.A. Times ran a story on July 26th which has been carried by a number
of other sources. Some segments from the piece: "How best does a city honor
someone who felt like its least favored son? That's the question in Aberdeen, Wash., the small
community on the Wishkah River where Kurt Cobain grew up.
The rocker's accounts of his
youth in the town might be best described as the march of a miserable outsider, but that has
not deterred some locals who are pushing for a memorial to the singer who committed suicide a decade ago.
Every year, young people from around the world hop off buses in Aberdeen to see their idol's
birthplace. The lack of local sites linked to Cobain and his grunge rock band Nirvana forces them
'to wander town aimlessly before giving up and heading back to Seattle to spend time at the
Experience Music Project,' the [memorial] committee argued in a local editorial.
Fundraisers are being scheduled and the committee is looking forward to August meetings, when
details of the projects should coalesce. Radio spots in Aberdeen and Seattle are helping the
cause as well. 'Our two initial goals are public signage recognizing Nirvana was from here,
and a Kurt Cobain Memorial Park,' [committee member Jeff] Burlingame said. 'The prior is
coming along nicely and the latter is at a stalemate as we try to negotiate with the owner
of a specific parcel of land we're looking to purchase.' " Story courtesy of L.A.
Times and The Miami Herald. Read more here.
Seattle photographer Charles Peterson is part of an art sale and silent auction
named Art Vs. Bush! 50% of sales proceeds go to No Vote Left Behind (100% of silent
auction piece). Charles will be featuring a mix of old and new work. 13 Seattle artists will
be featured, including Wally Bivins, Peter Blecha, Stacey Bott, Richard Drews, Ellen Forney,
Rob Johnson, David Kane, Emily Rieman, Charles Peterson, Anthippy Petras, Randolph Sill,
David Walega, and Scott Wilson. The exhibit opens tonight at 5 PM at the Crespinel Gallery
on 2312 2nd Ave. in Seattle, WA. Info.
The May 2004 issue of Mojo featured an extremely interesting story by Gillian G. Gaar about
the last ever Nirvana recording session, which yielded the track You Know You're Right
- eventually released in 2002. You can read the article here.