Nirvana
24 November 2004, lunch time
I’m listening to Nirvana’s Unplugged CD. I remember when they did the MTV performance people were griping about how it was so unlike Nirvana to do an acoustic set. People can be stupid; this performance is excellent. I remember I didn’t have a very high opinion of Nirvana when Nevermind came out. Or In Utero for that matter. I guess I wasn’t particularly impressed with grunge music; I was all about Brit Pop around that time. I think I changed my opinion on the band when they did this performance. It is really only in the last 4 or 5 years that I became a really big fan of the band. I own In Utero and Nevermind now, which are both great albums.
Kurt Cobain really was a very talented person. It’s a real shame he shot himself in the head.
Nirvana’s new box set comes out shortly. I think it will be really good; Interesting at the very least.
I would have to agree. I never appreciated Nirvana until I saw their unplugged performance. I didn’t make me start listening to them, but it certainly opened my ears to their music.
by rishi on November 24 2004, 2:02 pm #
I’m gonna get the box set, NME was saying its 81 tracks with some videos and other bits….Thurston From Sonic Youth is doing the liner notes…so it should be interesting to see what he writes…and yes, it’s a great shame he died, cus if he were still alive, the whole Pop thing of the late 90’s probably wouldn’t of happened…grrr
by ahilan on November 24 2004, 11:12 pm #
I think the pop thing was already well on its way to happening by 1994. The man was definitely a great artist, but it’s not like he was the one-man opponent of the major labels.
These things do tend to go in cycles. Kurt is celebrated (mythologized?) for killing off the age of Poison and Warrant. And when his age was over and done with, the pendulum swung back over to Ace of Base and what not.
Speaking of which, that pendulum can swing back over to our side any time. Seriously, let’s get to work on that.
by Matt on November 25 2004, 5:15 am #
The box set is out… came out yesterday i believe… and it retails for $60… i was pretty close to picking it up but my budget is pretty tight this week
by Gary on November 25 2004, 7:33 am #
I agree with Matt. In music, everything comes and goes. Regardless of how talented the bands may be, no one genre has consistent staying power in the top 40. I remember there was a time when the only hip hop song I heard pumping out of a car was by House of Pain. Things change.
I’ll miss you minimal techno. :(
by rishi on November 25 2004, 11:24 am #
Well said. I think the growing popularity in Electronica in the mid-90s is what put grunge music to rest, and when it was replaced with ‘alternative’ music I was a little bit sad. I love how they still referred to it as ‘alternative’ when it was pretty mainstream.
I think a lot of people thought Nirvana just made music that was quiet, then loud, then quiet then loud. I guess that is a pretty standard recipe for grunge music. I am sure I mocked the genre saying as much. Of course there is subtly to everything which you don’t appreciate unless you give the music a chance.
Except for most top-40 pop music, which is crap.
Except for Toxic by Britney Spears which is wicked.
And Wait? Did I miss minimal techno’s moment in the sun?
by ramanan on November 25 2004, 12:09 pm #
You did indeed. Minimal techno is still around, but it has taken elements from the synth-laden electroclash revival to evolve to a richer form of dance/head music.
One of the things I liked most about minimal techno (and other minimal music) is the silence that fills the gaps between the programmed sounds. With the addition of synths and melodies, this calm is lost.
On a brighter note, with the resurgance of more complicated melodies amongst the simple beat structures, I can easily see a return to detroit techno in the coming years, which would be a pleasant turn of events.
by rishi on November 25 2004, 2:57 pm #
hmmm, well I’ll pick up the album at some point…I wanna see some of their early performances and demo’s…..Alternative music wasn’t so bad, we got the Smashing Pumpkins out of it…
by ahilan on November 25 2004, 6:34 pm #
I thought alternative preceeded the electronic boom, which led into the pop daze. Not like it matters; they’re all dead now.
by rishi on November 25 2004, 6:48 pm #