NFC News 09/2000 |
Jan from Holland stumpled upon a company from Belgium who produce a chocolate
carrying the name "Nirvana" ! There is no word on how it tastes, but I'm sure
it's pretty good. Check their website
here, or a picture of the chocolate here.
Thanks to Jan for the picture and URL.
Cher, of all people, is set to release an album dedicated to Kurt Cobain; "NIRVANA
frontman KURT COBAIN is to be remembered by CHER on her forthcoming Internet-only
album 'NOT COMMERCIAL'. According to reports on UK websites today, Cher wrote the song
'The Fall' after Cobain's suicide in 1994, when she was writing the album. It is reported
as being the first time that the chart-topping star has penned an entire album herself."
Story courtesy of NME. Some more info from music365; "The singer has recorded the song,
titled 'The Fall', for her forthcoming 'Not Commercial' album, which is to be released on
the Internet in November. The singer wrote the song after Cobain's suicide in April 1994,
but only feels prepared to release it now. The material on 'Not Commercial' was apparently
all written around the time of Cobain's suicide. This is the first time in Cher's 35-year
career that she has written every song on one of her albums. Cher is reported to be concerned
that the album is too 'dark' for her younger fans, and may consider labelling it with a sticker
which states that it is inappropriate for children. Cher, and presumably her record label, are
at pains to point out that 'Not Commercial' is not the official follow-up to her 'Believe' album."
Story courtesy of music365. Thanks to Reidar, Steve, Nick Kelly and Daniel for the news.
From Patrick; "One 80s glam-rock and now poppy-rock band Enuff Z'Nuff, famous for their Top 50 hit 'Fly High Michelle' covered a Nirvana song. They covered the Nirvana song off In Utero 'All Apologies.'" A little warning: A Nirvana song labeled as "Laminated Effect" has been spreading rapidly through the MP3 file sharing software Napster. THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT TITLE OF THE SONG! The song is in fact called "White lace and strange" and is a Thunder and Roses cover. It was done by Nirvana for their 4/17/87 Radio show. Someone incorrectly labeled it as "Laminated Effect", fooling people into thinking that this is Fecal Matter material. It is not. It is just mislabeled. Alternatively, it could be a track lifted from the fake Fecal Matter tape that started spreading in 1997. Upon listening to this, it should be obvious to identify it as a fake. On the contrary, "White lace and strange" is a very nice song, it's just not called "Laminated Effect" as the filename suggests. The file in question is 1,512,304 bytes and last 2:09 minutes. As for warnings about other crap floating on Napster, please refer to question #117 of the NFC FAQ. Speaking of Napster, the stupidity of people sharing (or worse: downloading) Nirvana songs from there is amazing. Thus, just today someone e-mailed me a 6 meg MP3 file of the Stone Temple Pilots classic "Creep", cause it had been labeled by some moron as a Nirvana track entitled "Half the man I used to be" ! And of course, when the file has the word "Nirvana" in it, it must be a Nirvana song - even if it sounds nothing like Nirvana. Wrong! Use your common sense people, or I'll lose my mind soon.
The latest NFC Poll; "Do you use Napster to get Nirvana MP3's ?" ended with a
result I had anticipated; out of the 2519 votes, 78% (1958) answered "Yes"
while only 22% (561) answered "No". So indeed, Napster is also being used by
many Nirvana fans. Check out the current poll question which is "Do you think
the September 2001 release date for the box is good?" The 'box' in question is
of course the forthcoming new Nirvana album, which is rumoured to be released
in exactly one year. Good or bad? Vote on the main page!
Today it has been exactly nine years since the groundbreaking album "Nevermind"
was released. The album, considered by many to be the best of the 90's, was officially
released in the US on this date - nine years ago. On March 24, 1999 it was certified
with the 'Diamond' award by the RIAA, honoured to albums selling more than 10 million
units. There is a rumour going that the Nirvana boxed set will be released on exactly
on year - to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Nevermind album.
I just finished an interview with Carrie Borzillo, author of the brand new Nirvana book "Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-By-Day Chronicle". Carrie is also the managing editor of the popular All Star News service, which is a part of the online music store CDNow. The interview gives some more insight on the book, and Carrie's opinions on current topics such as MP3 file swapping and the Nirvana boxed set. Thanks a bunch to Carrie for doing this and for her prompt answers. This is actually my 5th interview with a journalist/book author. You can check out the other ones here. An Interview with Carrie Borzillo.
Here is some more info on that previously unreleased Kurt Cobain interview
that I mentioned last month; "A never-before-heard audio interview with Nirvana lead
singer Kurt Cobain, recorded six months before his death, is being made available for
download in a novel multimedia file that includes audio, video, photographs and text.
The audio, which comes from a 90-minute interview between Cobain and Chicago Sun-Times
pop music critic Jim DeRogatis, is being released by Berkeley, Calif.-based Sobent and
Johnson City, N.Y.-based multimedia company ThrottleBox Media as a way to showcase the
latest version of ThrottleBox's 3.0 Player. ThrottleBox's 'Box file' technology lets
people download to their desktops a single file that contains audio, video, photographs,
text and hyperlinks. In the past, an individual would have to separately download an MP3
music file, AVI video file, JPEG photo file and so on." - "In its current promotion,
ThrottleBox is featuring an interview that took place in 1994 in Cobain's home on Lake
Washington in Seattle shortly after the release of Nirvana's 'In Utero' album. DeRogatis
spoke with Cobain in the singer's living room, decorated with just a couch, a playpen, a
guitar and the dummy from 'In Utero.' The journalist said Cobain talked about his new album,
his new baby and other topics, including guns. DeRogatis said in an interview with CNET
News.com that there were no indications Cobain was having problems. 'This was a guy who was
really proud of his record, and he was happy with the state of his band, and he was starting
to get comfortable with the idea that a lot of people cared what he had to say.' Pieces of
DeRogatis' interview were published in the Chicago Sun-Times and other publications, but this
will be the first time the actual audio of Cobain's voice has been released. In addition to
the audio interview, the download package will include exclusive photographs taken during the
'In Utero' tour, photos of the Meat Puppets, who opened on that tour, and photos of Cobain's
wife, musician Courtney Love. The trailer from the controversial documentary 'Kurt and Courtney'
will be included as well as a trailer for the independent film 'The Vigil,' in which a group of
fans travel from Canada to Seattle for Cobain's 1994 vigil. DeRogatis is also featured in the
package, describing what it was like to interview Cobain." Story courtesy of CNET and Yahoo!
News. Full
story.
In the October issue of the movie magazine Premiere, there is an interesting
string of articles about the Internet's impact on the movie industry; "Premiere
delivers a status report on how the Internet revolution has changed movies and
movie stardom forever. Our exclusive survey reveals the 20 most popular movie
stars on the Web." The mag also features an interview with Buffy star
Sarah Michelle Geller, who graces the magazine cover in a beautiful pose, in
which she reveals her plans for an upcoming official site. " 'I don't think we'd
be here if it wasn't for the Net [referring to the net fueling the popularity of the
Buffy show]', she says. 'It was the Internet that really kicked us off, because
that's where this loyal fan base could get together and spread the word.' " The
interview also mentions how most of the 8x10's being auctioned at eBay with her
autograph are in fact fakes; "... when she checked out the Gellar memorabilia
that was up for auction, she was distressed to discover that on every item
purporting to sport her autograph, the signature was counterfeit." This is
an interesting statement, considering how many of those autographed images
trade hands every day. If we put our Nirvana glasses back on, this problem is
very evident, as eBay is flooded with counterfeit 8x10's supposedly signed by
Nirvana's members. The problem is that it can be very difficult to spot these
fakes. Basically, it is a good idea to check if the seller has a high feedback
rating; if the COA (Certificate of Authenticity) is legitimate (and not just
some note the seller crafted together in 2 minutes) & if the signature(s) on the
item being sold can be compared to the signatures that are known to be authentic.
As for the Premiere feature, you can find some of it on their official website
here. The newsstands in the US are
probably displaying the January 2001 issue at this point, so you'll have a
better chance of finding the October one in Europe :) The picture of Sarah
Michelle Gellar was shot by Cliff Watts. Article courtesy of Steve Pond and
Premiere.
Something I got in the e-mail today that some of you out there might be interested
in; "Biting Bullets is a feature length documentary celebrating death by rock excess!
Fatal Impact Productions is calling on fans to attend the grave/memorial sites at the
times listed to discuss each of the following artists; Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Keith
Moon, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Bon Scott, Sid Vicious and Michael Hutchence.
The allegiance of fans many of whom still frequent the grave/memorial sites of their icons,
maintain vigils etc are invited to discuss their passion, elements of attraction and insights
whilst touching on biographical details on the artists from their own unique perspective. The
documentary is intended to be a tribute and celebration of these artists lives, not an expose
or exploitative tabloid exercise. The dates and locations are: Kurt Cobain Sunday OCT 1ST 2000
Seattle Centre Seattle." - "Aaron Stevenson the films writer/director and producers Laurie Basten,
Dean Scherger and Brett Sharpe will be present at these sites from Midday. Anyone interested is
invited to attend and discuss their attraction/respect/admiration for any of the featured artists.
The intention of the filmmakers is to present a documentary that celebrates the lives of these
people, associated myths and their status as icons." More details and the dates/locations for the
other artists can be found here. Thanks to Aaron for
this one. If you can attend, don't forget to tell 'em who sent ya :)
"In the current issue of Entertainment Weekly , its feature is the top 100 greatest entertainers from 1950-2000. Kurt Cobain is on the list, ranked #72, while the Beatles were ranked #1." Thanks to Patrick for this one. Ben sent in this little story; "Ok I was on my way home from my wonderful job at Six Flags New England late sunday night (about 10 p.m. est). I was flipping around the stations on my radio in my car to see if I could actually get something good. I then flipped it on Radio 104 WMRQ where I caught the second verse on of 'Love Buzz'. What caught me was the solo, it wasn't how it sounds like it does on their album Bleach, it was live! Then after it, people started cheering and they started playing 'Spank Thru'. Then I got home and jetted up into my living room and turned on the radio and 'Son of a Gun' had begun and it was still live. After 'Molly's Lips', there was a station identification 'On a Plain' began, but it wasn't from the same concert, it was from their amazing MTV Unplugged performance. After that one, there was another station identification after that song the studio version of 'Rape me' began. No mention of why they played all those NIRVANA songs in a row but it was truly nice for all the people who listen to that station and adore NIRVANA. I'm guessing that those live songs (excluding 'On a Plain') were from a European show from 1989 because most European shows have good recordings and the rarity of those songs." If you, like me, are a fan of the show "Buffy - The Vampire Slayer" you might want to know that over in the US, the new season premieres on September 26 at 8/7c. You can view a sneak-preview of the episode at the official Buffy website. The star of the show, Sarah Michelle Gellar, also did an interesting interview recently that you can read here.
They do polls on everything these days. A sick example of this is E! Online's
latest poll of 'The Top Ten Dead Celebs' ! Here is E! Online's introduction to
this weird poll; "In life, they had, well...presence. And they still do. Oddly,
being dead hasn't slowed their careers. They're the musicians, actors and comedians
whose bodies may be in compost production, but their celebrity is still heating up."
- "Although the competition was--er, is--stiff, the 10 who follow are those very
special performers whose absence has given them even more presence." Our very own
Kurt Cobain made it to the number one spot; "It's nearly impossible to achieve rock
'n' roll immortality in the '90s. It's a mature genre now, and much of the cool stuff,
if you'll pardon the expression, has been done to death. Leather pants and incoherent
warblings won't gain you a Jim Morrison-like mystique anymore (just ask the Cult). Kurt
Cobain is one deceased modern rocker who has ascended into the Lizard King's pantheon.
And he did it the old-fashioned way--going supernova just as his career was kicking into
high gear. The Nirvana singer-guitarist helped introduce the rough-edged 'grunge' sound.
But his songs were more than just a big noise from the Northwest. Cobain's ingeniously
expressed cynicism toward all things, including himself, was real. And his nihilism burst
forth just as young, recession-era audiences were yearning for it. When he finally, fatally
wasted his talent, well, that was too much. We may not be mad at Tupac, but we're still a
little steamed at Kurt. Whatever, nevermind. Cobain still has the power to inspire and anger,
as the proliferation of fan sites and tribute pages shows. And there are more than a few
Morrison-esque theories floating around that place him alive and well in his hometown of
Aberdeen, Washington. We wish it were true, but the best we can do is give Cobain the primo
spot in our online graveyard." Uhm ... interesting. Thanks to 'Riot Grrrl' for the link.
Other people on the list include Hank Williams, the guy from "Weekend at Bernie's", George
Burns and Jerry Garcia. Story 'They're Stone Cold, But They're Still Red Hot!' courtesy of
Daniel Frankel and E! Online, LLC, copyright 2000.
I just got some interesting information about a movie called 'The Vigil';
"My name is Justin MacGregor, I'm a Canadian filmmaker who wrote and directed
an independent feature film called 'The Vigil' which was shot in British Columbia.
The film is about a group of young people drawn together by their love of music
who drive from Lethbridge, Alberta to Seattle for Kurt Cobain's vigil. The film
received two grants from the British Columbia Arts Council and was an official
production of the Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society." The film has just
been released on video in Canada. Justin sent me a bunch of interesting press info
about the film that you can now read here; press
release, Rogers Video press release,
production notes and filmmaker's timeline,
reviews of 'The Vigil', including festival
guides. Thanks a bunch to Justin for this information. Now go check out his movie!
Note that you can find more info about the film at
thevigil.com. You may also e-mail questions about it to: thevigilfilm@hotmail.com
Yet another new Nirvana domain opened to the public today (at 1 AM to be
exact!). This one is quite interesting though. Labeled "Live Nirvana", the
site offers a ton of original material and a great design to present it, made
by Katie of 'Obituary Birthday' fame. Among other things the site offers; rare
Nirvana concert photographs; a detailed list of bad traders; the Nirvana first
and Last Performance Guide (originally by Alex Bender and Chris Blaney); the
Nirvana fakes guide; concert statistics; lifetime achievement award and much more.
My favorite section of the site is a Trader Database, powered by a script I wrote :o)
The script allows you to search through the base, for example to find a trader in
your country, one that trades your favorite format, or your favorite artist for that
matter (Nirvana ??) - with more search options available. Of course, you can also register
for the database yourself, edit your current information, or remove your profile. Well,
try it out for yourself if you are a trader.
Thanks to the main forces behind the site - Franklin Morris and Matt Reeder - for giving us
this great resource. Check out Live Nirvana here.
Jeff over at novoselic.com put up a little info about the forthcoming
Nirvana boxed set; "We also talked about Nirvana.com, which he has no plans
for at the moment. Krist is also working on the 10/31/91 video to be released,
possibly with the box set. The box set information he gave me was very vague, he
still 'hopes' it will be finished in time for September 2001." My best theory at
this point is that the box will contain at least four CDs and probably 2 videos.
As far back as 1998 I speculated that it would contain the 10/31/91 video which
seems to have been more or less confirmed now. It wouldn't surprise me if they
also included the Amsterdam 11/25/91 video. Thanks to Jeff and Krist Novoselic
for some of this info.
As mentioned in the news section yesterday, the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards
was aired last night. The Foo Fighters didn't win any of the two awards they
were nominated to, but lost to Blink 182 and Eminem. One funny moment of the
show was when Carson Daly and the creator of the MP3 file-sharing software
'Napster' introduced a Britney Spears live performance. The Napster creator,
Shawn, walked out on stage wearing a Metallica T-shirt saying he borrowed it
from a friend. Lars Ulrich, who was in the audience, didn't look pleased!
Though, a little later in the show there was a funny sketch with Lars Ulrich
raiding the room of a guy downloading Metallica files off Napster. I would
have put up an MP3 of the sketch here, but Mr. Ulrich would probably have me
arrested if I did :o) You can find a full list of the winners along with more
information about the show at MTV.com.
Alex Coletti who produced this gigantic show did a short interview with me a few
months back about Nirvana's Unplugged show (which he also produced). You may read
the interview here if you haven't already.
Don't forget to tune into MTV tonight, as it is once again time for the annual MTV
Video Music Awards. The show will air live from New York at 8 PM Eastern Time (2 AM,
Central European Time). The show features live performances and appearances by some
of the currently best selling artists in the music business. The Foo Fighters are
nominated in the category 'Best Group video' for their hilarious video to "Learn
to Fly". The same video is also nominated in 'Best direction in a video' For a full
list of the nominees, go to the MTV website.
An employee of the music television channel VH-1 sent in some interesting information;
"I am working on a 5 hour show for VH1 about the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The
show is broken down into five one hour shows that will air from Monday, November 13
through Friday November 17. I am sure the guests that visit your site would enjoy this
program and see where their favorite artists are on the list. The artists were voted on
by other hard rock musicians, critics and others in the know about hard rock music. The
artists on the show range from heavy metal, punk, alternative and more so its sure to hit
on everyone's favorites." - "Basically the show lists off 20 bands or singers per one hour
show in what I feel is best described as 'mini tribute' form." That Nirvana is included is
not conclusive but more than likely. Thanks a bunch to Kelly for this information. Keep an
eye on the VH-1 website for more details on the show.
A British "Top 1000 albums of all time" chart was recently published;
"LONDON, England -- The Beatles' musical crown is under threat, according to a
new ranking of the greatest albums of all time. Radiohead's 1995 album 'The
Bends' is ranked second behind The Beatles' 'Revolver' in a new survey of
the 1,000 greatest albums of all time. In fact, between them, Radiohead and
the Fab Four hold the list's five top spots, with 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band' third, Radiohead's 1997 disc 'OK Computer' fourth and The Beatles'
1968 'White Album' in fifth place. The placings are revealed in a new book,
'Virgin All Time Top 1,000 Albums,' which compiles more than 200,000 votes
cast by record buyers, music enthusiasts and journalists." - "Other bands have
been a victim of changing times. Nirvana's 'Nevermind,' ranked No. 4 in the
1998 edition, has slipped to 17, while The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' has dropped
from 6 to 18." Story courtesy of CNN Online
"In the latest issue of SPIN, they published the 100 Sleaziest Moments, and at #34, they write;
'Dylan Carlson of Seattle group Earth goes shopping with troubled friend Kurt Cobain for the gun
Cobain would use to kill himself.' Also at #13, 'Courtney Love's infamous public and private
shenanigans.' Meanwhile, at #1; 'Led Zeppelin's Seafood Fetish: Led Zeppelin are the undisputed
gods of rock 'n' roll perversity. Their most infamous moment: a disgusting 1969 incident at Seattle's
Edgewater Inn involving fornication with fresh seafood. The event remains the standard by which all
rock debauchery has been measured.' For the full list, go here."
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