I had a dream last night that I made a video for a relative’s birthday. It was being screened in a large auditorium where the family on my mum’s side was gathered and I was so embarrassed of the video because it was tacky and irrelevant so I ran out of the hall. My late grandfather now eleven years passed, was playing an acoustic guitar by a gutter. My cousin, Shanaz, and I sat beside him and the three of us sang ‘Wild Horses’ together. I harmonised but wasn’t very good. I think we sang the whole song then I laid on the grates of the gutter and my grandfather laid on top of me till I pushed him off. He was so heavy. I don’t remember if he said anything to me.

The photograph above is of the family plot in Keningau. I’m one of those people who would rather take photos on film rather than digitally most times. I didn’t do too well with this roll of film but of the six that came out, they were all taken at the cemetary. It wasn’t eerie.

To me, ‘Wild Horses’ will always be about death. Some people think of it as a break up song but I think the song has to be about death. It’s about a separation whilst talking about a reconciliation that will happen in a distant future (let’s do some living, after we die). When Mick Jagger sings “childhood living is easy to do” it resonates that we are young whenever we are alive. ‘Old’ is only age by comparison. ‘Old’ is when you can’t do anything for yourself and people want you to retire too. It’s when your body’s got no more life to live and your childhood programming is so outdated you couldn’t cope in this era if you tried.

I think ‘Wild Horses’ by the Rolling Stones and ‘Something in the Way’ by Nirvana would be my death songs. ‘Something in the Way’ because Cobain vividly depicts this permanent space where things are upside down or made unimportant. I think that’s what death would be like, the opposite of life. In life, things are always the right way up and everything is very very important. Also in a lot of ways, doesn’t life often get in the way of life?

I never really got to know my late grandfather but he was always a figure that hovered above in life. In death, he looms just as high above me. It was the first death I’d ever experienced and till today, I don’t think of him as dead as much as I do, dying. He’s not alive and he’s not gone either. He’s constantly existing in a realm of death therefore he is ‘dying’ as opposed to living. The logic is that when he was alive, when I didn’t see him, I’d think of him. Now that I don’t see him I still think of him. He comes back in my dreams from time to time in different characters and different ways, taking up space in my subconscious, personifying guilt, nostalgia and goodness. It’s always a comfort to see him. I don’t know if he would really approve of me if he knew me intimately, hence the guilt. I think that in real life he would find me odd or wayward but in my dreams, he likes me because I’m like him. Every time I find someone I like or can look up to I find that they describe me in some ways. Darwin was right. Attraction is narcissism.

After my grandfather finished playing the guitar in the dream, some of my friends were a few feet away, trying to fish agave worms out from tequila bottles so I went to help them. When I turned around, my grandfather had gone. I asked Shanaz where he was and she told me he was drunk and had gone off to the mosque to marry ‘Aunty Yuz’ and said that as a joke, he was going to change her name to ‘Fuck Yuz’ after they got married. Erm, yeah. The irony is my grandfather had three wives. I guess one more wouldn’t hurt.

Me and my strange dreams. I was getting shot at with a nail gun by someone’s schizophrenic father the night before. Sheesh.

La storia racconta che alla fine degli anni ‘80 il rock non graffiava più (anzi molte star dell’epoca tenevano moltissimo alla loro manicure), in America l’hip hop sembrava rappresentare  la nuova rabbia della strada finché, a chi cominciava a chiedersi: “Il rock è morto?” la più semplice delle risposte, ossia Nevermind, arrivava da Seattle (la città del grande Jimi) ed era firmata Nirvana. Era il 1991 e con questo album il mondo riscopriva il piacere di una musica che lacerava dentro, dal suono distorto e dai testi diretti: il rock tornava a essere sporco, incontenibile nell’apparenza e nella sostanza e Kurt Cobain era il nuovo idolo maledetto, disperato e bellissimo.
Ma se Nevermind ha rappresentato l’alba di una nuova era, non si può ignorare che l’avventura dei Nirvana è iniziata il 15 giugno del 1989 con Bleach: un disco incredibilmente puro e semplice, nella sua sincera violenza e nella ingenua immaturità. Registrato in tre sessioni fra dicembre 1988 e gennaio 1989 ai Reciprocal Recording Studios di Seattle e prodotto da Jack Endino (che aveva lavorato con loro fin dai primi demo l’anno precedente), come tutte le opere diventate col tempo cult, è ricco di aneddoti. Fra questi, forse il più divertente riguarda il chitarrista Jason Everman che figura nei crediti, nonostante lo stesso Cobain abbia dichiarato in seguito che Jason non aveva suonato una nota in tutto il disco e l’invito a far parte della band fosse stato fatto solo per raggiungere i 600 dollari necessari a pagare le registrazioni.
Anche se alla sua uscita Bleach ha venduto solo quasi 40mila copie (oggi ha superato i 2 milioni), è stato il seme da cui la leggenda Nirvana ha potuto crescere. È un lavoro autoprodotto e di conseguenza il budget non permetteva i ritocchi e i ripensamenti tipici di una grande produzione: il risultato è quindi diretto e immediato, sia nei suoi momenti più illuminati che in quelli più confusi. Questa ripubblicazione rimasterizzata non modifica essenzialmente il suono originale, non l’ha trasformato in un bel compitino ordinato, ma saggiamente ne ha mantenuto lo spirito grezzo che aveva la band all’epoca.
In questa edizione deluxe è stato aggiunto il concerto inedito che i Nirvana hanno tenuto il 9 febbraio 1990 al Pine Street Theatre di Portland, con Chad Channing alla batteria: dentro, oltre a molti brani dell’album, c’è anche una versione di Molly’s Lips dei Vaselines (già precedentemente ripresa dai Devo). Se Bleach non brillava di perfezione, soprattutto questo concerto evidenzia i loro limiti tecnici, ma al tempo stesso porta in primo piano la potenza della loro musica, così cruda e viscerale e lo rende un documento imperdibile.
Angelo Vaggi

Este artigo sobre Kurt Cobain e os Nirvana, no caderno Ípsilon, do Público.

What the hell happened last night at the American Music Awards? When did they become the new shock-you-silly awards show to replace the now-vanilla MTV Video Music Awards?

The new recipe for an awards show is this:

*Taylor Swift wins everything; no fewer than five statues.
*Lady Gaga performs in a weird getup after arriving in a weird getup.
*Someone does something shocking, either Lady Gaga or a surprise…like an “American Idol” channeling old Bowie/Madonna stuff.
*All hip-hop performers keep it clean and classy.
*Janet Jackson shows no skin. Ever. Again. America still hasn’t healed from the nipplegate backlash, although after Adam Lambert last night, we’ve moved on to Crotchgate.

Speaking of Crotchgate…

I understand Adam Lambert’s need to distance himself from the squeaky clean-ness of “American Idol.”  But is that really a need? I also understand the need to do something to keep his name prominent in the headlines today–the day his album “For Your Entertainment” drops.  There’s no such thing as bad press, after all.  Even if you mash a male dancer’s face into your crotch, caress a female dancer’s crotch, and make out with your male keyboard player–all after playing the sadomasochist part with two dancers on leashes–you still get press.  I get it; you’re playing both sides of the fence, trying to court both female and male fans with bisexuality and a cheesy but androgynous album cover.

But shouldn’t it be about the music?

I’m a fan of both Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga.  After last night’s AMA performances from both, I am SMH today.  Both artists can stand on talent alone.  Both can sing, both have a flare for performing.  I’m all for outrageous when it fits.  But when it becomes about being outrageous for the sake of being outrageous, that’s when it gets lame.  Contrived.  Fake.  Silly.  Annoying.

Don’t play the tortured artist bit on stage.  Gaga had gigs writing songs for others before she got her “Fame” and Lambert was doing pretty good for himself acting alongside Val Kilmer in the stage show of “The Ten Commandments.”  While either one was hardly pulling in millions, both were working artists.  I think that’s always the goal, right?  Both could have still been serving meals during their first showbiz gigs for all I know.  But hey, a gig’s a gig.

Just go on stage and perform.  Just show me your talent and remind me why I’m a fan.  Even a simple performance can be captivating.  It doesn’t always have to be outlandish.  I thought Jennifer Lopez’s performance of “Louboutins” was great.  It was creative and she pulled it off, except for the fall…  If I even think about Louboutins I fall down, so I totally understand.

You want simple?  Captivating?  Something that stands on the strength of the music alone?  Try watching Lady Antebellum’s performance at the Country Music Awards.  Has “Need You Now” not been the top single on iTunes (or near the top) every day since?

Or, from the AMAs last night, how about Whitney Houston singing “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.”  That was amazing!  She was flawless.

Or Jay-Z and Alicia Keys who were just classy.

Look, I don’t need flames, crazy outfits, and controversy.  What I do want is music.  I’d love to have music with opulence.  Flash is OK, but just keep it in good taste.  We’re in a recession (duh).  People want less bullsh!t during a recession.  Flashiness and perky music isn’t popular during a recession.  Remember the 1990s?  It was a crap financial time that birthed Kurt Cobain and flannel shirts.  Remember the late 1990s as things turned around?  It was poppy, perky Britney Spears and N’Sync.  Glam rock?  New wave?  That was during the glory of the 1980s.  Artists should take a cue from the times we live in, maybe be inspired by…reality.

The say, “write what you know”. While I’m sure I’m not the first, I tend to agree. On the surface – of course – this seems quite obvious as writing about something you know nothing about would be a tremendously difficult task. But as with any great pearl of wisdom, the true meaning is tucked away.

For me, “what you know” is not necessarily what you know, but rather what you feel and who you are. To me, if you’re not writing – or less specifically, creating – “what you know”, then you don’t stand a chance of creating anything of great meaning. It is from this “what you know” that great art is spawned and that unique voices are born.

And it doesn’t matter what you’re creating: music, sculpture, dance, math and advertising all require that unique voice to be heard. What sets the masters apart in any of these fields is that at one point it was like they were speaking their own language.

Sometime in the ’60s, (I say sometimes because it’s nearly impossible to get exact times with this guy, but I digress) Jim Morrison wrote:

I wanna tell you about Texas Radio and the Big Beat
Soft-driven, slow and mad, like some new language

These words have stuck with me since I first heard the songs, but it wasn’t until I read Ignore Everybody, by Hugh MacLeod, that I really found the right context for them. One of the many topics that MacLeod explores in this brilliant book is the idea of a new a language from the point of view of the young artist, creating, without pressure or expectation, and establishing “a new language that other people could also speak to the world with”.

What Morrison is describing is a feeling that I’m sure most of us have experienced. That feeling when you hear a song for the first time and something about it stops you in your tracks. It’s happened to me countless times, but one of the most vivid was hearing Kurt Cobain perform “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” on Nirvana’s Unplugged record (see below for the clip). It was a tape at the time, so I had to stop and rewind again and again because I couldn’t get enough. There was intensity and pain in his voice that I’d never before encountered. His somewhat-flawed vocals spoke to me and yet I couldn’t really understand them. It was truly like as if he was speaking a different language.

And in a sense, he was. Like him or not, Cobain changed the way the language of music is spoken. Just like Lennon & McCartney and many others did before him. And the way the Simpsons writers changed comedy, the Google guys chaged search algortihms and Lee Clow changed advertising.

They didn’t, necessarily, do it by being better than their competition. They did it by writing what they knew in a language that was all their own, but would soon become the language that the audience – and the world – spoke with them.

Please, take the time to check out this clip of Nirvana’s performance, as you can watch the transformation occur in Cobain. Pay close attention at around 4:46. It’s as if he slips out of the trance for a second. When he opens his eyes, either he’s looking at your soul or you’re seeing his. Either way it’s a very intense moment.

Click Away

I’ve been listening to a lot of Nirvana’s “Reading Festival” and “Bleach’s 20th edition”, both albums are amazing as Nirvana always is. After listening to these albums, I’m sure everyone wonders what it will be like if Kurt Cobain is still alive.

If Kurt was still around today, Nirvana will still not be together ’cause before Kurt’s death, Nirvana was about to break up anyways.

You just wonder what Kurt would think of the Foo Fighters music. Do you think he would love it or would he hate it?

Me? Knowing Kurt Cobain’s musical style, of the type of music he likes. He mostly liked dark punk music, stuff like the Meat Puppets to the Pixies. Mostly stuff that we never heard of back in those days.

I would think Kurt would hate the Foo Fighters. He might think they are too pop and silly for Kurt to listen to. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Foo Fighters, I think they are great. The Foo’s are different from Nirvana. Kurt would feel uncomfortable with Dave’s songwriting. Sorry Dave, but I think Kurt is rolling in his grave about the Foo Fighter’s music.

It’s just something I can’t see Kurt getting into and can’t see him enjoying it.

I think Kurt would like Courtney’s music with Hole and her solo stuff, ’cause I believe Kurt helped launched Courtney’s career. Hole was already formed way before Kurt’s death. I also read that Kurt collaborated with Courtney in Hole on a few songs for the single, “Ask For It”. Knowing Kurt Cobain’s sense of humor, I’m sure he would make fun of  the Foo Fighters.

Kurt was an amazing singer and songwriter. Even though all of his songs in Nirvana had a few easy chords for each song, they were still amazing to listen to ’cause Kurt had his own style writing these simple songs.

Nirvana deserves to be Hall of Famers, definitely, but their first single “Love Buzz” still has four more years to go to be eligible. They are getting close to 25 years, don’t worry, they’ll be inducted soon.

Kev

In this Special Collector’s Issue (!) I spend 3x the space speaking on only 1 person, place, thing, or idea, and the noun chosen can pretty much claim to be a person, for certain, a place, a disposition in life, a thing, too cool for school, and an idea, as in being the original rock star. Forget your whiny, flannel dressed Kurt Cobain, and don’t forget The King, Elvis Presley, but put him to the side for now- my most passionate pop culture crush and obsession of all time is lovely, gorgeous, and an icon…

Edith Minturn Sedgwick

The history: Born April 20th, 1943 (- November 16, 1971), to Alice Delano de Forest (1908–1988), a cowardly woman that would rather pretend unicorns exist and that her husband wasn’t a disgusting sexual deviant and abomination of life than do anything about it, and Francis Minturn Sedgwick, (1904–1967), a disgusting sexual deviant and abomination of life, in Santa Barbara, California.  Edie grew up to die to early, only then to make herself known to me and thus tormenting me with the fact I’ll never be nearly as cool as she was, that I’ll never get to make her my wife (I know I’m devastatingly lame, leave me alone).  Grand daughter of Revolutionaries, and personal friends of George Washington, she was born into privilege (if that’s the word) from the years of wealth connected to the Dutch West India Company, South Pacific Transportation Company (then the Southern Pacific Railroad), Williams College, and tons of other things.  The problems in her life stemmed from the same place most problems in life do, and that is family.  Francis, or Fuzzy as he was known, is said to have molested many of his 8 children, males and females, young Edie included.  Fuzzy, long believed by many to be a closet homosexual, may possible have been the cause of the homosexuality in Edie’s older brother Francis, affectionately known as Minty, who was even an alcoholic by the age of 15.  He attended AA meetings until admission to Silver Hill, then later to Bellevue after being seen in Central Park, standing on a statue and giving a speech to an audience of zero.  From there to Manhattan Psychiatric Center, then back to Silver Hill, where was found dead, hanging himself in his room the day before his twenty-sixth birthday.  To make the tragedy worse, brother Bobby, who had been to numerous hospitals himself, including some Minty had been treated at, crashed his motorcycle while not wearing a helmet into the side of a bus in NYC on the last day of 1964.  13 days later he died, and Edie was emotionally obliterated at the loss of two brothers.  Minty had once told Edie, according to a friend of hers, that “she was the only Sedgwick he could ever hope for.”  It wasn’t long until Edie was being institutionalized for anorexia, reaching 90lbs in Silver Hill before being transferred to Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum.  Near the end of her stay, on leave with a pass, she got pregnant and was forced to have an abortion.

That’s some heavy junk, huh?  Now, I don’t want to focus simply on the travesties she endured and lived through, which only get worse and include crippling drug addiction and dependence (drugs are what ultimately killed her), broken hearts via asshats Bob Dylan and Bob Neuwirth, a cold, uncaring, and devious “friend” and collaborator Andy Warhol who refused to help her ever, or even be fair in monetary matters.  Further hospitalizations, electroshock therapy, and anything else in the world you could imagine was endured by her with biting realism.  This tiny, madly artistic little girl was made of steel and stone, and to have glimmered so brightly in her life, in spite of her life, is a true testament that the kinda strength men pray to their gods at night for isn’t only real, but is unutterably beautiful.  Vogue magazine thought her the bee’s knees (aside from her identification as a drug user) and featured her a few times.  LIFE magazine did, too.  Assuming you’ve been clicking the links in this article, you should be well aware of what a presence she was.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I have to take my hat off to champions who live life by their own rules and personify our best traits and our best ambitions.  To clarify, I’m not saying hard drug use is good, cool, or healthy, but to focus on that aspect of her life is putting too much gravity in the surrounding details.

Her voice and the way her body moved put in me a sense of awe.  I can understand the difficulties one might have in seeing the grace in a party-heavy socialite, but what she had is old school, and probably extinct now.  I know this because I’ve experienced it first hand in a grandmother of mine, now deceased.  She had a high society sophistication in the shell of a cool, down ass chick that could play in the mud or drop jaws in a dress.  Well, she was old when I was born so not that I ever saw, but I could tell this about her.  It’s an aura that comes from a person, and even in photographs I feel a kinetic energy from Edie Sedgwick.  To be honest, it’s very difficult for me to put my feelings for her into cogent words, but I, simply said, feel a camaraderie with her.  And she was so sexy! It’s insane how attracted to Edie I am.  I ♥ her.  I know she was married and all when she passed away, but I totally got dibs on her in the afterlife.

PS: I will, of course, further discuss Edie, the history of her life, her modeling work, films, and how gorgeous she was in future posts.  It’s called a compulsion, and you have front row tickets.  You’re a lucky duck!

Aun muerto Kurt Cobain sigue armando polemicas

En lo que podria convertirse en la primera demanda judicial por el uso de la imagen de un músico de rock en un videojuego, los herederos de Kurt Cobain rechazaron la forma en que el cantante es retratado en el Guitar Hero 5. En el juego de Activision, Cobain es un personaje “unlockable”, lo que significa que se lo puede usar para cantar canciones de otras bandas, como Bush y Bon Jovi. Aunque sus herederos aprobaron el uso de dos canciones de Nirvana (“Smells Like Teen Spirit” y “Lithium”), el abogado de Courtney Love dice que la viuda cree que el avatar “denigra su imagen”.

Poco después del lanzamiento del juego, a comienzos de septiembre, Love recurrió a Twitter para expresar su desaprobación, refiriéndose al avatar como “vil” y “necrófilo”. “Esta mierda del Guitar Hero es una violación al contrato”, escribió. “Creo que Kurt detestaría el juego en sí, más aun este avatar. Vamos a demandar a Activision.” Dave Grohl y Krist Novoselic -ex integrantes de Nirvana- también expresaron su decepción y pidieron que se cambie el juego como para que Cobain aparezca sólo en las canciones de Nirvana disponibles para esta versión. “No sabíamos que los jugadores tenían la posibilidad de «unlockear» al personaje”, dijeron Novoselic y Grohl en una declaración conjunta. En un comunicado, Activision, que insiste que no hay base firme para una demanda, responde: “Guitar Hero se aseguró los derechos de licencia necesarios por parte de los sucesores de Cobain en un acuerdo escrito que fue firmado por Courtney Love”.

Love, en cambio, alega que la empresa sobrepasó ampliamente los límites del acuerdo. “A Activision no se le dio el derecho de hacer lo que quisieran con el nombre y la imagen del señor Cobain”, dice Keith A. Fink, el abogado de Courtney. En cuanto a Cobain, sus diarios sugieren que no le hubiese gustado nada la idea de que un juego lo muestre cantando “You Give Love a Bad Name” a los gritos. A fines de los 80, Kurt escribió en su diario una crítica sobre Bon Jovi de dos palabras: “El Mal”.

Fuente | Rolling Stone Argentina

On se fait chier dans la vie.

                                                     Putain, ça fait chier.

A few months ago, someone said to me that she had started the day in a terrible mood, but when she heard some cheerful music on the way to work, she felt much better.  It got me to thinking.  How much of our state of mind is influenced by our favorite music, and how does that change us?

For example, I find that I can no longer listen to Billie Holiday sing the blues.  She was always one of my favorites, but lately, I just want to ask her why she put up with that crap from some no good loser man.  When I was young, I found all that misery strangely romantic, but now I wonder . . . .   Did I put up with crap from loser men because Billie made it sound somehow noble, wonderfully tragic, or even normal?  Did I begin to think that was the way it was supposed to be?  Would I have been a different person if there had been songs that said, ” He insulted my dignity, so I socked him in the mouth and threw him out?”  I would probably have enjoyed a few songs like that.  I certainly could have found a use for them.

Then there’s my friend, who has been chronically depressed for much of his life and is inordinately fond of what I call the Neil Young/Kurt Cobain School of Suicide Rock.  The message in this kind of music can be summed up as follows:

                                   My friends all died.

                                    I’ll probably die, too.

                                    But I’ll sing you a song or three,

                                    So you can feel as rotten as me.

 There’s also a huge body of work by Leonard Cohen.  I grant that he’s talented, and that he has managed to make his life-long depression a useful career tool, but his attitude toward women can pretty much be described as, “I used to love you when you were young and beautiful.  Now you’re old and saggy, but I really need to get laid, so can I come in now,  anyway?”  A ringing esteem builder for women!

On the other hand, Flogging Molly’s rendition of Salty Dog always cheers me up. I’d like to tell you that I find some esoteric message regarding overcoming adversity in the lyrics, but actually, I think it’s the Irish fiddle music.

Oh, and one of those rare little moments of pure joy happened to me one day when I was racing down Mission Boulevard at three mph during rush hour, singing along with “Lady Marmalade” blasting from my iPod out into the world.  I looked over and this (other) little old lady in the next lane was grinning from ear to ear, giving me a big wave, and singing along.  We sang that song and laughed at each other all the way down the street.  Again, I could say lots about the empowerment of women inherent in the lyrics, but I think we just had a great time singing “moka toka laka ya ya” at the top of our lungs!

Tell me, what’s your favorite song and what has it done for you lately?

No HYVÄÄ ILTAA!

Joo, kuten kotkaveli J Shore jo postauksessaan kertoikin, eilen KOTKAT olivat pelleilemässä meriaiheisilla sitseillä. Oma iltani kului melko lailla saman kaavan mukaan kuin Shorellakin. Olin aika KÄNNISSÄ, soitin melodikaa, kerroin jonkun tyhmän vitsin, kirjoitin tyhmyyksiä jengin laulukirjoihin ja tein rumia robottimuuveja tanssilattialla. Merirosvoasuuni kuului olkapäälläni koko illan istunut ANKKA, joka käyttäytyi vielä meitsiäkin huonommin. Ilkka-niminen ankkani nimittäin haukkui ihmisiä natseiksi, huoriksi, homoiksi ja apinoiksi. Tosi lapsellista käytöstä. Salee sen takia kukaan ei halunnut hengata mun kanssa.

Tää ei oo Ilkka, vaan joku toinen ankka.

Tätä päivääni voisi kuvata sanoilla “tosi jäinen”. En ole tehnyt mitään järkevää. Söin KALAPUIKKOJA. Nukuin iltapäivällä neljä tuntia. Katsoin netistä Kiinan viisumeihin liittyviä tietoja ja kuuntelin Suedea (Dog Man Star on tiukka levy). Ihan kivaa varmaan joo, mutta oikeastaan mun olisi pitänyt tehdä proseminaariesitelmääni, joka pitää palauttaa sunnuntaina. Viikonlopuksi lähden Jyväskylään MUMMOLAAN. Ei bönttöä.

Olen ehkä maailman huonoin ottamaan kuvia juhlista. Eiliseltä otin ehkä 10 kuvaa, joista 3 oli täysin epäonnistuneita. Tässä pari julkaisukelpoista. Jee!

MIMMEIST EI OLLU PULAA! Kuvassa J Shore ja kotkahenkisiä mimmejä.

Kaverimme Jouni ja illan paras asuste: PULLO FISUA! MORJENS!

NO HEI JOTAIN RAJAA! VIINAA SUORAAN PÖYDÄLTÄ!

Antsakin tuli jatkoille boustaileen. Kuvassa myös kotkahenkinen Anni.

KOTKAA PÄÄLLE! Kuvassa oikealla ankkani Ilkka.

MAATA NÄKYVISSÄ!

Nojoo, kotkan elämä on välillä rankkaa. Toisaalta, kuten Kurt Cobain sanoi, I’d rather burn out than fade away.

Jag har märkt att jag skriver väldigt mycket om min musiksmak, men nästan ingenting om dom filmer som jag gillar. Så jag börjar med att skriva om en av mina favoritfilmer, som är en film från 1998, Velvet Goldmine.

Det som skildras i filmen är allt mellan upptäckter av nya artister, kärlek, sökande, musikframträdanden, sex, otrohet, drogmissbruk och glitter&glamour. Flera skådespelare som är stora namn idag är med i filmen – Jonathan Rhys-Meyer, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale och Toni Collette.

Filmen är en skildring av glamrock-eranunder 70-talet, och karaktärerna tycks vara inspirerade av David Bowie, Iggy Pop och Kurt Cobain. Ytterligare kuriosa är att mycket av dialogerna sägs vara taget från Oscar Wilde-citat.

Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Gründungsmitglied der Rolling Stones…
und nach einigem Recherchieren bin ich noch auf zahlreiche weitere Namen gestoßen. Was die alle gemeinsam haben?
Nun ja, zweifelsohne waren sie großartige Musiker. Aber noch etwas verbindet diese Menschen. Sie alle sind mit nur 27 Jahren gestorben. Janis Joplin erlag mit 27 Jahren ihrer Alkohol- und Drogensucht, Kurt Cobain steckte sich am 5. April 1994 eine Pistole in seinen Mund und drückte ab, der Grund für Jimi Hendrix‘ Ableben waren Alkohol und Schlaftabletten und um den Tod von Jim Morrison ranken sich weiterhin allerlei Gerüchte. Das auffällige an ihnen ist aber, dass sie alle – ausgenommen von Kurt Cobain – innerhalb von 2 Jahren gestorben sind.

Zahlenspiele
Lustig auch: die Quersumme aus 27 ist 9. Zieht man daraus die Wurzel ist es 3. Multipliziert man 9 mit 3 erhält man wieder 27. Weitere Beispiele für die Mystik dieser Zahl gefällig? Die Zahl 27 ist – genauso wie ihre Quersumme 9 – eine mythische Zahl. 9 ist 3 mal 3, Zahlen, die in vielen Erzählungen, Märchen und auch Religionen eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Die Wünsche, die man von einer guten Fee bekommt sind auch immer 3, ein menschliche Schwangerschaft dauert 9 Monate, jeden 27. Tag treffen sich Sonne und Mond zur Vereinigung. In der griechischen Zahlensymbolik bedeutet die 3 eine Vereinigung von Gegensätzen oder Wiedersprüchen.

Forever-27-Club
Oft wird in diesem Zusammenhang vom Forever-27-Club gesprochen. Sogar ein Poster dieser 5 Rock-Heroen gibt es. Manchmal wird auch von der Insel der toten Künstler gesprochen. Angeblich sitzen die alle gemütlich auf einer Karibikinsel und pfeifen sich hin und wieder den ein oder anderen Ofen rein. Manchmal schaut auch Elvis auf einen Whiskey in the Jar vorbei und Dee Dee, Joey und Johnny sind sowieso Stammgäste.

Und an dieser Stelle das heutige Kalendarium:

Am 19. November 1960 wurde Matt Sorum, Schlagzeuger von Velvet Revolver in Kalifornien geboren. Vor Velvet Revolver war der Musiker unter anderem – wie könnte es anders sein? – bei Guns N’Roses tätig (wie sowieso fast die ganze Band).

Eure Blutsschwester.

Click here to read this article from the Houston Press on the Top Rock Star Death Conspiracies.

This made me think of the conspiracy theorist Mae Brussell (1922-1988), the daughter of the “Rabbi to the Stars” Edgar Magnin and granddaughter of I. Magnin of department store fame, who, starting with a critique of the Warren Commission, wrote and broadcast tirelessly about an on-going Nazi conspiracy within the American government. I quoted a bit from an interview she did with Tom Davis in 1981 about John Lennon’s murder in CULTS, CONSPIRACIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES (though I am embarrassed to see that I mis-identified the interviewer in the book as Alex Constantine, who edited her speeches, interviews, and articles for the definitive collection FASCISM IN AMERICA: THE ESSENTIAL MAE BRUSSELL. Constantine is also the author of THE COVERT WAR AGAINST ROCK: What You Don’t Know About the Deaths of Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, etc.). Here is a slightly longer excerpt from the interview:

Tom: You apparently believe there was a government conspiracy to assassinate and silence John Lennon which was conducted by the same people who murdered other political figures and musicians in the past eighteen years?

Mae: Absolutely! The federal government has maintained active programs to eliminate rock musicians and disrupt rock concerts. Senator Frank Church’s Committee hearings in 1975 and the FBI Cointel-Programs clearly document the intent to break up any gatherings of the “new left”. Nothing brought anti-war demonstrators together with political messages more effectively than music festivals.
There is hard evidence the CIA assigned agents to “investigate the music industry.” After the murders of Tim Buckley, Jim Croce, and Mama Cass Elliot, more information surfaced about earlier mysterious deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin. Listed below, but not updated this past year, are some of the rock musicians who have died since the Huston Plan and the FBI Cointel-Program were activated. If these people had been taking any kinds of drugs, there is the distinct possibility that specific poisons were added to their drugs, enough to be fatal, to make it appear that they had died from a simple “overdose”.

John Lennon Paul Kossoff John Bonham
Elvis Presley Jim Reeves Steve Parson
Buddy Holly Berry Oakley Bob Marley
Otis Redding Tim Buckley Sal Mineo
Brian Jones Jim Croce Harry Chapin
Jimi Hendrix Richard Earina Brian Epstein, Beatles manager
Janis Joplin Lenny Bruce
Jim Morrison Larry Williams Michael Jeffery, Jimi Hendrix manager
Duane Allman Bon Scott, AC/DC
Mama Cass Elliot Richie Valens Rod McKernan, “Pig Pen” of the Grateful Dead
Gram Parsons J. P. Richardson
Phil Oakes Ronnie Van Zandt
Marc Bolan Steve Gains Donald Rex Jackson, Grateful Dead mgr.
Keith Moon Sid Viscious

The murder of John Lennon is the tragic finale to an entire era, the reminder that once an artist becomes as popular and as political as he was, his enemies will be waiting to make sure his messages never appear again to awaken the slumbering youth.

“Dock Of The Bay zinea da, musika da, dena batera”. Hala dio Donostian hastekoa den Dock Of The Bay 3 zine dokumental musikatuaren webgunearen aurkezpen idatziak.
Egitarauari erreparatuz, gauza oso interesgarriak aurkituko dituzue FNACen (Urbieta kalean, San Martin gune komertzialean, hiriaren zentroan), Ernest Lluch Kultur Etxean (Anoeta pasealekua, 7, Amara auzoan), Donostiako Antzoki Zaharrean (Kale Nagusia 1, Alde Zaharrean). Guk, begiz jota ditugun pelikulak azpimarratu nahi dizkizuegu:

Donostiako Antzoki Zaharrean, hitzordu hauek. Honez gero, jakingo duzue azaroaren 27an ostirala, Bide Ertzeanen “Leidor Sessions” eskainiko dela bertan, Raul Lopez gazteak zuzendutako lana Betacam digital formatoan eskainiko da lehen aldiz (zine euskarrian, alegia; duela hilabete Tolosan, DVDan eskaini zen). 19:45ean hasiko da Leidor Sessionsen sesioa. Sarrerak 6 eurotan daude salgai (Kutxaren saltokietan).
Azaroaren 28an larunbata, Donostiako Antzoki Zaharrean bertan baina 20:30ean, “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison” (Bestor Cram, 2008, AEB) pelikula eskainiko dute. Kontzertu historikoa, disko moduan argitaratzeko grabatua izan zena, eta orain doinuz eta irudiz gozatu dezakegun jaialdia, 2008an plazaratu zen dokumentalari esker.

Ernest Lluch Kultur Etxean, abenduaren 2an asteazkena eta 19:00etan hasita, guk bereziki maite dugun talde bati buruzko dokumentala: “End of the century: The story of the Ramones” (Jim Fields-Michael Gramalia, 2003, AEB). Ramones familiarekin ikasi genuen kantu bat egiteko hiru akorde nahikoa zirela. Biharamunean, abenduaren 3an osteguna eta 19:00etan, “Kurt Cobain. About a son” (AJ Schnack, 2006, AEB). 90eko hamarkadan ezinbesteko erreferentzia bati buruzko dokumentala, biografia moduan jasoa.

Yes, this post is about Kurt Cobain; no, it’s not about how grunge is coming “back in vogue” (and no, I don’t actually believe in that trend, either) or how it has been coming back in vogue or how the 90s are the new 80s; no, this is not about the story I wrote for my Advanced Fiction Class in undergrad called “KC,” about a woman who had a teenaged boy, and how she was afraid that her fey son was gay and in love with Kurt Cobain and how the boy ran away on April 8, 1994, and the trials and tribulations she goes through trying to find him; no, this post is actually about something that come up from the dark recesses of my mind, which was my once-fascination with the idea of finding photographs of Kurt Cobain in dresses, and the strange sartorial choices he would sometimes make when wearing said dresses.

I’m not going to get into Kurt Cobain and his proclamations about feminism and gay pride and how his wearing dresses was supposed to be a statement towards those ends, which is a post for another blog and also would require access to materials that I don’t have access to right now (e.g. all of my Nirvana stuff, which is at my parents’ house), but I will start this post by saying that Kurt would sometimes go to interviews or photo shoots wearing dresses. And some of them were definitely better-looking than others.

This one is probably my favorite out of all the dresses I’m going to show you. Not so keen on the massive amounts of eyeliner, but I would definitely wear this one; it’s girly and reminds me of some of my 40s dresses in a good way, plus all of the cute red buttons put a smile on my face.

I actually used to have a video tape of this interview, which happened on “Headbanger’s Ball” (MTV, remember?). Wearing this dress is like being eaten by a giant yellow flower, but it is kind of awesome in its ridiculousness. And no, it would not be nearly as awesome without the satiny peacock-tail thing going on in the back.

Is this a wedding dress? I also can’t tell what decade it’s from. But it does seem to fit him pretty well. Look at that I’m Wearing A Wedding Dress Grin! Happiest day of his life! Etc.!

Okay, so this isn’t a dress, per se, but COME ON. I had to include it. Tyra would be proud.

xo, mw

Fame can make anyone seem a bazillion times hotter than they really are.  Me, I like music.  If you can spill your heart out in a really awesome and moving song… you, my friend, are very very attractive indeed.

Here are a few guys who I find hot simply because of the music they make.

1. Jarvis Cocker

We all know “Common People” is a really awesome song.  And the way he sings it is just gorgeous.  Plus look at him, sure he kinda looks like a pedophile, but I’m a sucker for a skinny guy in a blazer.

2. David Bowie

Just look at those sleeves.

If it were at all possible, I would have sex with this mans voice.  Yes, the catsuits were bizzarre and, to borrow from Spinal Tap, his trousers were ‘quite intimidating,’ but this man is some kind of god.

3. Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures)

Josh Homme: Making smoking look sexy probably since he was 12.

He kind of looks like that weird kid in class who only speaks to make a snarky comment, but you’re pretty sure could fix your car or protect you from a mugger.  I’m all about a guys voice and, to me, Josh sounds like he’s threatening you and trying to seduce you at the same time.  And that is hot.  Oh, and did I mention his guitar skills melt my brain?

4. Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand)

In an interview in the Rolling Stone when Alex was asked about being considered ‘way sexy’ he told the interviewer that he was about the least sexiest person he knew.  Oh Alex.  How wrong you are.  If I saw him on the street, I doubt I’d really give him another glance, but I’ve seen him on stage and his presence is awesome.  His energy is boundless, his music is way way danceable, and his voice is super super sexy.

6. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)

Say it with me now, folks: "AWWWWW"

I don’t really think I need to talk about Billie Joe more than I already have.  Correct?

7. Matt Bellamy (Muse)

I was going to insert an awesome picture of Matt rocking out but... he's got a puppy on his head.

Now, Matt Bellamy is already quite an attractive guy, but Muse is like sex for my ears.

8. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)

Now, I’m really not the type of girl who’s attracted to scruffy, unkempt stoner-looking guys.  But when I read interviews with Kurt or watch them or whatever, there’s a depth there that you can sense.  And Nirvana Unplugged… just proves that depth can be very appealing.

That’s where I’m gonna end.  Because I’m at my parents’ house and I should be packing up my stuff and heading home.

Maybe, though, if making great music makes you attractive… maybe that explains why I want to be a musician so badly.

One does not have to look very deeply into the life of Kurt Cobain to see that the spirit that inspired him was not the Sprit of God.  Let the reader be forewarned, examining the life of Kurt Cobain is like lifting the lid off of a cesspool.  Amidst all of the glamour and fame that is associated with being a rock “star,” Cobain’s life was filled with utter hopelessness and despair.

Cobain the Devil Worshipper

For starters, Kurt Cobain made no qualms about who he was serving when he made it known publicly that his stated goal was to “get stoned and worship Satan” Cobain’s worship of Satan manifested itself in a multiplicity of ways.  Cobain, like other Satanists, also had a penchant for the desecration of churches.  Cobain, with his bass player Chris Novoselic, spray-painted “GOD IS GAY” on a church building (Ibid. pp. 57, 165).   Cobain, according to Rolling Stone, would also spray-paint “HOMO SEXUAL SEX RULES” on a bank.  Rolling Stone further reported that Other favorite graffiti included “GOD IS GAY” and “ABORT CHRIST” (Rolling Stone, Inside the Heart & Mind of Nirvana, by Michael Azerrad, April 16, 1992).

Cobain “decorated” his apartment as he explained, “with baby dolls hanging by their necks with blood all over them” (Ibid. p. 54).   Rolling Stone would further report that “Cobain made a satanic-looking doll and hung it from a noose in his window” (Rolling Stone, Inside the Heart & Mind of Nirvana, by Michael Azzerad, April 16, 1992).

Cobain’s interest in the occult would eventually lead him into a relationship with occultist William Burroughs.  Stephen Davis, the biographer of the Led Zeppelin saga “Hammer of the Gods”, compares Burroughs to Satanist Aleister Crowley, stating:

“Like Crowley, Burroughs was an urbane and genial human Lucifer, a modern magus, a legendary addict, and an artist whose influence extended far beyond literature to music, painting and film.” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods, Ballantine Books, New York, 1985, p. 237).

Burroughs also associated with Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and, ironically, it was Burroughs who first christened hard rock with the label “Heavy Metal” (Ibid.  p. 104).  Burroughs claimed that he first became demon possessed after killing his wife. Cobain would seek out Burroughs’ services seeking his collaboration on a music project (Op. Cit. Sandford, p. 255).  In a Rolling Stone interview, Cobain would later underscore as one of the highlights of his life that of “Meeting William Burroughs and doing a record with him” (Kurt Cobain: The Rolling Stone Interview, By David Fricke, January 27, 1994).  Such was Burroughs’ influence on  Cobain that, “William S. Burroughs received ‘special thanks’ on In Utero for being a cherished inspiration to Cobain (op. cit. Teen Spirit, Chuck Crisafulli, p. 84).

Besides William Burroughs, Cobain was “obsessed with Anton LaVey” (Mojo Magazine, Sept. 1999, p. 86). Anton LaVey was the founder of the Church of Satan and the author of the Satanic Bible.  So obsessed was Cobain with Satanist Anton LaVey that he sought to enlist LaVey by having him play cello on Nirvana’s Nevermind album!  Cobain’s involvement in witchcraft and Satanism is a fitting explanation as to the source of his inspiration and the uncanny ability he had for coming up with alluring and seductive hooks that so frantically enticed Nirvana’s fans.  Cobain is described as “stumbling on melodies by means he himself didn’t fully understand.” (op. cit. Sanders, p. 70).  In the occult, this is referred to as automatic writing is a process wherein a demonic being channels poetry or lyrics through a human being in an effort to negatively effect society.  This is surely what took place through Cobain, the willing and twisted medium for satanic forces.  Even the legendary guitarist Chuck Berry would exclaim, “he had a touch most guitarists would kill for” (Ibid., p. 71).  While “kill for” might be a stretch, sell one’s soul for is far more fitting.

Cobain the Drug Addict

Cobain had a special love for drugs.  Heroin was one of his drugs of choice.  BAM magazine noted that not only would Cobain nod off in “mid-sentence,” but also “the pinned pupils, sunken cheeks, and scabbed, sallow skin suggest something more serious than fatigue” (op. cit. Azzerad, Rolling Stone, p. 34 ).  Sadly, if Cobain hadn’t ended his life with a shotgun blast to the head, it would have most likely still ended with a heroin overdose.  After his death, the toxicology report confirmed that:

“along with traces of Valium, there were 1.52 milligrams of the drug [heroin] in his blood, three times the normal fatal dose” (op. cit. Sandford  p. 10).

Nick Kent claimed that those “strangely undiagnosable” stomach “Problems” that Cobain claimed to experience were “almost certainly” a result of Cobain’s years of drug abuse:

“… the years he spent punishing his intestines with all manner of cheesy pain pills washed down with most disgusting codeine—infected cough medicines available almost certainly provided the direct reason why his poor old guts ached so viscously” (Nick Kent, The Dark Stuff, DA Capo Press, New York, 1994, p. 341).

To support his drug habits, it has been alleged that Cobain “sold to the deadbeats on Heron Street, or at least engaged in a drugs-for sex traffic in order to support his habits” (op. cit. Sandford, p. 51).

Cobain the Homosexual

Cobain himself admitted, “I’m definitely gay in spirit”, as well as “I probably could be bisexual,” and admitted to a close friend that “he’d had sex with three or four men’ (Ibid. pp.268-269).  His widow, Courtney Love, indicated that his homosexual escapades went well beyond that of three or four men when she claimed that he’d “made out with half the guys in Seattle” (Ibid. p. 359).  Cobain would utilize his fame as a platform to showcase his perversity and influence others thereby.  Not only would he publicly French kiss his bass player on Saturday night live, but he would also publicly display his perverted penchant for cross-dressing.  Cobain carried with him perverted pornographic pictures of women in various poses with animals and displayed behavior that is too deviant and grotesque for this writer to further describe.

Cobain’s Murderous Heart and the Occult

Such was the enormity of Cobain’s ego that he would lash out at those sources that would question him.  Cobain wanted to murder a female journalist named Lynn Hirschberg who wrote of his wife unfavorably in Vanity Fair when calling into question her alleged use of cocaine while pregnant.  Cobain breathed murderous threats:

“I’m going to kill this women with my bare hands.  I’m going to stab her to death.  First I’m going to take her dog and slit its guts out in front of her and then [expletive deleted] all over her and stab her to death.” (op. cit. Sandford., p. 172)

Cobain would not end up killing Hirschberg with his “bare hands”, but would continue to nurse his murderous hatred toward her until the end of his life.  In fact, rather than killing her with his “bare hands”, Cobain sought to do her in by enlisting the forces of Satan to do his bidding by utilizing his black magic.  Sandford explains:

“At the very end of his life, Cobain was engaged in elaborate calculations, with the aid of a book on magic numbers, to determine a formula to ‘hex the journalist Lynn Hirschberg’ (Ibid. p. 172).

Cobain the Hater

Cobain’s murderous thoughts went far beyond that of murdering Lynn Hirschberg, but extended to his wife.  At one point he had to be persuaded not to kill Courtney Love (Ibid. p. 249).  Cobain also had a fierce hatred for humanity in general.  The Word of God tells us that Satan is a murderer and was such from the beginning.  Cobain, like his father the devil, held such a deep-seated hatred for humanity that he declared “ninety-nine per cent of humanity could be shot if it was up to me”, he maintained that only “one or two people” were worth saving (Ibid. p. 257).  In his suicide note found after his own self-murder, he wrote, “I’ve become hateful toward all humans in general” (Ibid. p. 333).  Cobain would demonstrate this hatred toward even many of his fans with both spitting upon them at concerts, as well as derogatory comments.

Cobain was pivotal in further undermining any residue of moral foundation that was left in many of those who were initiated into his style of music.  Sandford points out that Nirvana used their music as a tool of “subversion of traditional values”:

“Nirvana and the new fauna of Seattle rock shared a number of attitudes and taste, including a form of exoticism centered on punk, a public display of apathy, a disinterest in work, the cult of feminism, and the subversion of traditional values via music” (Ibid. pp. 104-105).

Even Cobain’s posturing as some kind of feminist was betrayed by his lack of sensitivity and the utter brutish way he treated women.  One woman describing her experience with Cobain stated:

“Kurt rammed his hand hard between my legs.  It was terrifying…He was panting like a dog, and there was a froth of spit around his lips.  I yelled at him to stop and he laughed at me.  With one hand he backed me up against the wall and the other he pushed into me.  If [the other couple] hadn’t come back when they did, he would have raped me.” (Ibid. p. 90).

This same woman goes on to state that, “as far as I’m concerned, all the stories about Kurt-the-feminist are a sick joke.  He hated women.  No one who does what he did has a right to any respect” (Ibid. p. 91).  Such reports of his demeaning attitude and brutal treatment of women are not isolated, but numerous.  Cobain was a devilishly wicked person who would often even torment his other band members.  Many of those who knew Cobain claimed that there was something incredibly evil about him that would sometimes manifest physically.  One of his peers who attended school with Cobain explained that there was,

“a kind of menace about him.  When he gave you that blinkered look, it was straight out of the exorcist or one of those Satanic-worship films.’’ (Ibid. p. 23).

Press Association reporter Graham Wright has stated that “Kurt went from Dr. Jekyl to Mr. Hyde in the space of a minute.” (Ibid. p. 246).  This kind of manifestation should have not been shocking, but expected from Cobain, who himself admitted as documented earlier that he had set out to “worship Satan.”

One of his band members describes him as one who could be transformed from a ball of indifference to a “little Hitler” in an instant.  Yet another described entertaining him as, “like living with the devil” (Ibid. p. 53).  That all of Cobain’s antics were not simply a charade, but truly part of a sad tragedy that was his life is evident from the fact that sometimes these demonic manifestations would end in tears and even suicide attempts.  Bruce Pavitt, co-owner of Sub Pop Records (Nirvana’s early label), stated that in Rome during a concert Cobain nearly committed suicide on stage:

“After four or five songs, he quit playing and climbed up the speaker column and was going to jump off.  The bouncers were freaking out, and everybody was just begging him to come down.  And he was saying, ‘No, no, I’m just going to dive.’ He had really reached his limit.  People literally saw a guy wig out in front of them who could break his neck if he didn’t get it together” (op. cit. Rolling Stone, Azzerad, April 16^th 1992).

Sandford further describes this rather bizarre incident wherein Cobain became like an animal on stage:

“For a quarter of an hour Cobain clambered through the rafters, clawed the curtains, swung from a chandelier and ape like, prattled at the crowd.  According to Azerrad, ‘He wound up backstage, where someone from the venue was arguing with their tour manager over whether Kurt had broken some microphones.  Kurt grabbed both mikes, flung them to the ground, and began stomping on them.  ‘now they’re broken,’ he said.  Then Cobain announced he was leaving the group, ‘shrieked like a beast’ at Channing, and burst into tears” (op. cit. Sandford, p. 134).

His widow, after his suicide, would state that “Kurt had a lot of personal inner [expletive deleted] demons, a lot of frailties and physical ailments.” Sandford would state in his biography, “He was a diffident, yet aggressive personality who struggled with demons that drove and tormented him” (Ibid. p. 97).  The sad irony is that the demonic forces he had opened his life up to more and more in his pursuit for fame and success were the very demonic forces that would later inspire him to take his own life.  Goldberg claims that “Kurt saw innumerable Doctors and therapists” (Cobain, A Rolling Stone Press Book, 1994, p. 87).  No amount of secular psychologizing could exorcise the demonic forces.  Had Cobain not been a rock “star” he probably would have long ago been committed to a mental institution.  Being the commodity that he was for his record label, he was used by them, as he was by the devil himself.  This, though, was a two way street as Cobain profited from both the devil and his record company, or so he thought.  Perhaps Cobain was deceived into believing that the only way he could escape the demonic world that so tormented him was by blowing his brains out.  Sadly, though, perhaps the only one he hated more than humanity itself was God, and he was not about to turn to the Lord.  Cobain had a supreme hatred for all authority, especially that of God’s.  This was demonstrated at the beginning of this article.

The Destiny of the Damned

Many would view it as a sad irony that the leader of a band called Nirvana would end his life with a horrific suicide.  But as Gina Arnold, author of Route 666: The Roads to Nirvana, admitted, “People talk about Kurt Cobain’s wonderful sense of irony.  There isn’t any irony.”  I would take it a step further and say there never was any Nirvana.  Nirvana was never really heaven in the first place.

Truly, there is no irony.  Cobain’s concept of Nirvana from the get go was actually a hell.  Crisafulli comments on Cobain’s concept of Nirvana in his song “Paper Cuts”,

“The subject seems to sing that he has found his “nirvana” and is in a contented state in a place where all needs are met and there are no outside worries.  But to any outside observer, the subject has simply gone insane in a filthy, one room prison” (op. Cit., Crisfulli, Teen Spirit, p. 23).

Although the subject of Cobain’s song had no choice as to his or her condition (the song was partly based on children who were tormented and confined to a closet), Cobain chose to live a hellish Christ rejecting existence filled with drugs, hatred, vandalism, blasphemy and devil worship.

This too was not ironic, you see, the concept of Nirvana includes the termination of existence.  Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary submits this definition of Nirvana:

“1.  In Hinduism, a blowing out, or extinction, of the flame of life; reunion with Brama.” (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, p. 1214)

Cobain, the leader of the Grunge movement, would sit down to write his suicide note in his home, wherein unlike prior times nobody would be around to coax him out of it.  He addressed the suicide note to “Boddah”, his invisible “friend” (op. cit. Sanders, p. 328).  One of the reasons it seems that he committed suicide was that the devil was no longer delivering the goods in regard to musical inspiration.  In his suicide note he would write, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing, for too many years now.”  Sandford has stated, “In his suicide note, Cobain despaired that his muse had flown south…” (Ibid. p. 361).  This has been Satan’s Modus Operandi from the beginning and certainly through the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll.  Satan seeks out those lonely hearts who are seeking fame, recognition, acceptance, affluence, power, or all of the above and uses such a one to his own perverse glory and then spits them and discards them for eternity.

As we can see, Satan has been on the scene inspiring self-mutilation and suicide long before Cobain, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols or Marilyn Manson came upon the scene.  Sadly, it just so happens that through mass media and rock music, Satan has been able to inspire millions of impressionable young people to the same destructive ends.  Satan also understands that he often gets more mileage out of a dead rock “star” than a living one by indelibly leaving his mark on an era.  Jimi Hendrix, who admitted demon possession, also was deceived by the satanic lie that it is better to burn out than to fade away.  Hendrix said before his premature death, “It’s funny the way most people love the dead…Once you’re dead you are made for life.”

Cobain was definitely tormented.  Sandford imagined the scene just before the suicide:

“a millionaire drug addict sitting alone in his room confronted by the demons and vestiges of his youth, and no way to exorcise them but with a gun” (Ibid. p. 11).

Cobain’s suicide is not only explicable by factors of his own admission, like a sense of desperation due to lack of musical inspiration, but other sinister factors as well.  Cobain’s suicide was a result of dying by the very sword he wielded so irresponsibly in his lyrics.  Cobain often glamorized and exposed young impressionable minds to the idea of suicide through his music.  Cobain would write a song on his last album called, “I Hate Myself and I Want to Die.”  On his album In Utero, Cobain would sing, “look on the bright side is suicide.”   Cobain would also sing, “Monkey see monkey do/I don’t know why I’d rather be dead than cool” (“Stay Away”).   The same demonic forces that inspired Cobain to take his life channeled lyrics through him to encourage impressionable and depressed youth to take their lives as well.  In Cobain’s suicide note, Cobain would echo the sentiments of another rock “star”, Neil Young, stating, “so remember—it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”   Are we so blind as to claim that lyrics do not influence fans?  In this case, a rock star died after penning lyrics glorifying early death by another rock star.  The first song Cobain would learn on guitar was Back in Black by the overtly satanic AC/DC.  Cobain would end his life and career with words from Into the Black by Neil Young.  Sadly, after Cobain’s suicide, many would remember Cobain’s words.  Just as he wrote, “Monkey see monkey do/ I don’t know why I’d rather be dead than cool”, a rash of copycat suicides followed as the youth he had long deceived followed in his foot steps.   Nirvana fan Daniel Casper, upon returning from Cobain’s vigil, ended his life with a bullet to the head.  Another 16-year-old fan locked herself in her room, and while she listened to Nirvana’s music, put a bullet into her head.  Sadly, such examples could be multiplied.  Andy Rooney, formerly of 60 Minutes, said succinctly, “When the spokesman for his generation blows his head off, what is the generation supposed to think?”(Andy Rooney, 60 Minutes, April, 1994).

Cobain lamented in his suicide note that he was turning into a “miserable, self-destructive death rocker.”  Not only this, Cobain also “expressed his terror that Frances Bean’s [his daughter] life would turn out like his own” (op. cit. Cobain, A Rolling Stone Book, p. 86

Cobain’s mother, Wendy O’Connor was a little closer to the truth when she lamented, “Now he’s gone and joined that stupid club.  I told him not to join that stupid club” (Newsweek magazine, April 18, 1994).  The “stupid club”, as Cobain’s mother refers to it, is in reference to Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and other dead rock “stars” who died at the early age of 27.

note : I’M A HUGE FAN OF KURT…my comments about this article is SO WHAT??!!

In a digital world, where celebrities’ images and recordings are easily manipulated, distorted, and distributed, it is refreshing to see musical group No Doubt take control of its representations.

No Doubt filed a lawsuit against Activision, the publishers of the popular Band Hero video game, Wednesday, November 4. No Doubt seeks an injunction and damages for fraudulent inducement and breach of contract.

In a statement, the band members claimed that it “agreed to place avatars containing their name and likeness performing three No Doubt songs in the upcoming Band Hero.” The band was “mortified” to discover that the avatars could be made to perform over 60 additional songs by other musicians, in what has been called “a virtual karaoke circus act.”

The band members were particularly outraged that their avatars could be made to sing gender-inappropriate songs. For example, the game allows “an unauthorized performance by the Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes” (the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman”). Activision would have been wise to remember that Stefani is “just a girl in the world.”

Upon discovering the capabilities of its Band Hero avatars, No Doubt approached Activision executives about its concerns. The band alleges in the complaint that the company refused to “correct its actions” because it would be “too expensive” and would “jeopardize their revenue.”

Activision vaguely maintains that the avatars are within its contractual rights. In a statement released last week, it claims:

Activision has a written agreement to use No Doubt in Band Hero–an agreement signed by No Doubt after extensive negotiations with its representatives, who collectively have decades of experience in the entertainment industry. Pursuant to that agreement, Activision worked with No Doubt and the band’s management in developing Band Hero. As a result, Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game.

Activision further contends that it is exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligation under that contract.

This suit is not the first time the music community has criticized the Band Hero avatars. Fans and musicians alike were outraged by the capabilities of Kurt Cobain’s Guitar Hero avatar. Fellow Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl publicly stated:

[They were] dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game. . . . It’s hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists’ music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.

Fans were particularly offended that Cobain’s avatar could perform Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” an 80s rock anthem that does not exactly jive with Cobain’s iconic grunge rock persona. Activision maintains that the deceased Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, approved the avatar, which is perhaps why no lawsuit was filed on Cobain’s behalf.

– Anne Goodwyn

Image Source

So, both Courtney Love and No Doubt aren’t too pleased with Activision.

It’s not really that much of a suprise, Kurt Cobain especially as seeing him playing some songs isn’t the most respectful thing in the world. Although I can see the fun side in this it kinda feels like I shouldn’t.