Posts Tagged ‘Krist Novoselic’

The first video clip taken from the DVD of Nirvana’s concert filmed on Halloween in 1991 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre has been released online this week.   The footage has been transformed from 16mm film and multi-track audio and is one of 19 songs recorded at this show.   These tracks will be available in the deluxe versions of the ‘Nevermind’ release in 1080p high-definition picture, uncompressed 5.1 surround sound and stereo on stand-alone Blu-ray, DVD and digital long form video formats.   The track ‘ Breed ’, as captured on film at the aforementioned Seattle show.

In related news 100 Nirvana fans have a chance to be involved in this week’s special playback event at the In Bloom Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition this Thursday 22 ^nd September. Kicking off the evening’s proceedings will be a panel discussion chaired by DJ, Classic Album Sundays founder and massive Nirvana fan, Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy.  Panellists confirmed thus far include Keith Cameron (Mojo, formerly XFM) and James ‘Jam’ McMahon (Kerrang! Magazine editor) with more to be announced over the next two days.

The evening will culminate with ‘Nevermind’ taking centre stage, as guests are invited to open their ears and take part in a truly unique listening experience.  Played on vinyl from start to finish, through Linn ’s finest system featuring the iconic Sondek LP12 turntable, expect to hear the album as never before. With only 100 tickets available, this event is set to sell out fast. Book your tickets online now for £15 at http://territorialmusings.eventbrite.com/   or, if you want to avoid the booking fee, tickets can also be purchased from reception within the exhibition at The Loading Bay Gallery, Brick Lane, London E1 6QL.

Nirvana Nevermind’s release is embodied in a brand new website launched this week at www.nevermind20.com where Nirvana fans can share their thoughts on the album, post pictures and artwork.   A number of musician fans of the band and album including Alex Turner, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam have left their own messages on the website.   The site also features a timeline that tells the story behind ‘Nevermind’, complete with photos and videos.

Former Nirvana member Dave Grohl writes: ”All of that success happened so quickly. The funny thing is that Nirvana were still playing places that held 700 to 800 people by the time we had a gold record. We were still touring in a van when we had a Platinum record. I was still living in my friend’s back room by the time we’d sold ten million records.”

The multi-format reissues of Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ are scheduled for release on Monday 26th September via Universal Music Enterprises featuring dozens of rare and previously unreleased performances.

It was always going to be inevitable that Nirvana’s commercial breakthrough would get reissued on it’s 20^th anniversary.  That said, now that we edge closer to it’s release it has still caught me off guard. 20 years? Already? I was TEN! 

When Nevermind was released my brother snapped it up straight away.  Not me though, I promptly stole his copy and recorded it on to a cassette because I didn’t even have a CD player back then.  Just like my RATM tale on the ‘When I Hit Rewind’ section of this site, this cassette soon took residency in my tape player.  It got played so much that wear and tear soon took hold and when ‘Breed’ kicked in with its furious intro the song slowed down for about 15 seconds before spluttering back to life.  ‘Lounge Act‘, at the same point of the ribbon on side B, was similarly affected.

It’s a relief, but hardly a surprise, that the 4 disc and DVD anniversary edition is much MUCH better than my old tape copy!  Many a Nirvana fan has picked up bootlegs over the years trying to capture a hidden gem of one of the greatest bands ever.  The ‘Outcesticide’ series of discs are widely available, but very hit & miss in quality.  Thankfully the bonus discs here offer quality and quantity in bucket loads.

Disc 1 is basically the album in all it’s glory.  It’s almost ‘uncool’ to play this album these days, such was it’s domination of the music charts and airwaves.  Kids walk around today wearing the smiley face t-shirt of a band that had been and gone long before their parents had even met.  This tends to cause a frown on the faces of those who ‘were there’ and admittedly I was only just about ‘there‘ but thank heavens I was!  The album almost became a symbol of everything that Kurt Cobain & Co. so seemingly despised.  But don’t go straight to disc 2.  Play disc 1 and just sit back and remember how great it used to be to play the album full blast!

Once the album is finished, we are treated to the B-Sides.  There are some familiar fan favourites here – ‘Been A Son‘, ‘Sliver‘, and the almighty ‘Aneurysm‘.  Also included are the some ferocious tracks such as the catchy up tempo ‘Even In His Youth’ and the simply fantastic ‘Curmudgeon’ which sounds like a band almost forcing punk and pop together to get one hell of a result!

Disc 2 ventures into what the purists will have been waiting for.  Starting off with the Smart Studio Sessions, you get 8 tracks being rehearsed.  Some ended up on the album while others such as the achingly beautiful ‘Sappy’ were left on the side.  There’s something about this song I love.  If only it was recorded properly… 

The Boombox Rehearsals follow and this also showcases the band rehearsing flat out for the album and features ‘Verse Chorus Verse’ and the effortlessly fantastic ‘Old Age’ – another song that I wish Nirvana had used to more effect!  Two songs from a BBC session wrap up disc 2, and while some of this disc is on the ‘With The Lights Out’ box set, it’s still a pleasure to listen to.

On to disc 3, and we are introduced to the ‘Devonshire Mixes’ of the album.  Each song from Nevermind with the exception of ‘Polly’ are thrust back under the spotlight.  These recordings are supposedly the album as mixed by Butch Vig before Andy Wallace clocked in to add his input and make the album ‘more commercial’.  I don’t think anyone will ever really know what went on with the whole mixing/remixing of Nevermind, so many versions of events are out there now.  Frankly I don’t really care and It’s this disc in particular that I’m really looking forward to listening to!

Disc 4 wraps up the audio side of things with a live show in it’s entirety.  With only 2 songs from Nevermind in the opening 6 tracks, it’s easy to forget just how much of a catalogue Nirvana had already amassed by this stage of their career what with ‘Bleach’ and pre-Bleach tracks as well as a few covers.  Opening up with a cover of ‘Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam’ will probably have a few people raising their eyebrows, but this is not the ‘Unplugged in New York’ version!  Half of Nevermind features in the set, along with songs from Bleach, an early outing of ‘Rape Me‘ from the then non-existent ‘In Utero’, and the set finishes fittingly with hidden track ‘Endless Nameless’.

Disc 5 is a DVD of the very same gig, and the music videos to all the Nevermind singles.  And that, Ladies & Gentlemen, is that!  A great package showing a great band embarking on the unknown world of superstardom.  What happened after this album is massively documented and laced with many an emotion as well as a healthy dollop of fact, foggy memories, and a fair amount of bullshit from some parties.  But forget about what happened to Nirvana after this album was born.  Forget about the individuals of the band and the meteoric rises and tragic falls.  Just shut your door and play this spectacular anniversary edition and remind yourself of why Nirvana are just as important now as they ever were.

Kev says…

Visit the Official Nirvana website HERE to find out more.