I Feel Stupid And Contagious / A Nirvana Thread

[Strat]

I'm as committed a Nirvana fan as they come, I don't think any band has been personally more important to me, and even I'm kind of repelled by the album.

The whole Montage of Heck project, film and soundtrack, have really rubbed me up the wrong way and I just don't want anything to do with it. I haven't seen it but I know enough to be certain I have no interest in the film and I doubt I'll buy the CD at this point either.

The only release after Kurt's death that I think was an unqualified slam-dunk was the In Utero reissue, the rest I could've done without.

Trust that instinct to not watch the movie.

It's basically the film version of the journals: invasive, lurid, and puts a big magnifying glass on the worst parts of KC.

and thank god. The man had been idolized and put on the biggest pedestal ever. If watching this movie can ruin your fandom, or your ideas of kurt, then i wonder why you are a fan/so inspired by him? Will it come as a shock or a surprise that he was human and a tortured soul?

PJ fans (the good ones!) didnt like PJ20 because it was a jerk off fest on EV and Company. They wanted more dirt.

Or am i missing why you guys didnt like this? I enjoyed the documentary and it didnt change my perspective on Kurt. Im not a super fan, but the mans voice can drag the feels right the hell out of a person...

[tragabigzanda]

[Birds in Hell]

I don't feel as though the film is going to ruin whatever concept I have of Kurt, it just strikes me as being exploitative and inaccurate in the narrative it appears to be seeking to create (see Buzz Osbourne's take on this). The release of Kurt's journals, the film, this release of his half-finished burblings - it all seems in exceptionally bad taste.

I find the focus on Kurt's personal demons generally pretty tiresome and disproportionate. He wrote some wonderful music, I'd rather talk about that.

[Strat]

I don't feel as though the film is going to ruin whatever concept I have of Kurt, it just strikes me as being exploitative and inaccurate in the narrative it appears to be seeking to create (see Buzz Osbourne's take on this). The release of Kurt's journals, the film, this release of his half-finished burblings - it all seems in exceptionally bad taste.

I find the focus on Kurt's personal demons generally pretty tiresome and disproportionate. He wrote some wonderful music, I'd rather talk about that.

Thats great. That is Strat Fanboi approach! I can respect that!

[Birds in Hell]

I don't know that I've ever felt that I have a greater appreciation of an artist's work through knowing the lurid details of their bad marriages, drug addictions, etc.

[Strat]

I don't know that I've ever felt that I have a greater appreciation of an artist's work through knowing the lurid details of their bad marriages, drug addictions, etc.

I dig that. Im just messing around here. Although, I really dont think Montage was a smear piece by any means. Its controveerisla for sure ,but as a non super fan i did not find it to be a smear campaign at all. Just another piece of music history adding to the narrative of one of the worlds last rock stars.

Although I will admit: Seeing some of that side of Kurt made me very curious about diving deeper into his music.

And also made me not want to pay any attention to any fucking interview he gave where he wanted to start some rock n roll fued of sorts.

[matt reeder]

I don't feel as though the film is going to ruin whatever concept I have of Kurt, it just strikes me as being exploitative and inaccurate in the narrative it appears to be seeking to create (see Buzz Osbourne's take on this). The release of Kurt's journals, the film, this release of his half-finished burblings - it all seems in exceptionally bad taste.

I find the focus on Kurt's personal demons generally pretty tiresome and disproportionate. He wrote some wonderful music, I'd rather talk about that.

They all seem to miss the point that so much of Nirvana was about taking the piss. They were the funniest freaking band of their generation and Kurt was a fascinating guy even without the drugs and messed up backstory.

One of my single favorite moments in the history of the band was almost the moment they challenged the entire structure of the music industry. I wish they would have gone for it, but I understand why they didn't:

[matt reeder]

Also:

[Birds in Hell]

Absolutely, one of the things that's striking about listening to Nirvana shows is how effortlessly funny they often were (Kurt included).

[epilogue]

I don't feel as though the film is going to ruin whatever concept I have of Kurt, it just strikes me as being exploitative and inaccurate in the narrative it appears to be seeking to create (see Buzz Osbourne's take on this). The release of Kurt's journals, the film, this release of his half-finished burblings - it all seems in exceptionally bad taste.

I find the focus on Kurt's personal demons generally pretty tiresome and disproportionate. He wrote some wonderful music, I'd rather talk about that.

Buzz nails everything that's wrong with this movie.

And, yeah, Strat, for me, it wasn't that they took Kurt off a pedestal, it's that they lied and manipulated facts and then when they were bothered with any kind of truth, they just presented one side. Ok fine, so it was the side people don't talk about as often maybe - MAYBE - but it was still exploitative and narrow-minded and joyless.

The Kurt Cobain of this movie fell out of his mother's vagina hating the world and waiting until the day he could afford to shoot himself in the face and other than having a baby that he seemed to like well enough, never cared much for anything else.

[epilogue]

Absolutely, one of the things that's striking about listening to Nirvana shows is how effortlessly funny they often were (Kurt included).

Exactly.

[matt reeder]

I also feel required to promote Everett True's book (just called Nirvana) again. It's far more detailed than a lot of the other biographies and delves deeper into the band's history than any other biography. ET inserts himself into the action on a regular basis, but that's just his style. To his credit, he was there, he was a friend of the band and he was exceedingly fair in dealing with everybody.

It's the only essential book on Nirvana. The continued prominence of the Charles Cross book disturbs me.

[epilogue]

I also feel required to promote Everett True's book (just called Nirvana) again. It's far more detailed than a lot of the other biographies and delves deeper into the band's history than any other biography. ET inserts himself into the action on a regular basis, but that's just his style. To his credit, he was there, he was a friend of the band and he was exceedingly fair in dealing with everybody.

It's the only essential book on Nirvana. The continued prominence of the Charles Cross book disturbs me.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll give that one a look.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Absolutely, one of the things that's striking about listening to Nirvana shows is how effortlessly funny they often were (Kurt included).

This fact seems lost on a lot of people, especially older folks.

[tragabigzanda]

[Leatherhead]

Kurt's suicide ever make it hard to listen to the music? It's sad shit.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Kurt's suicide ever make it hard to listen to the music? It's sad shit.

There's only a handful of truly "sad" Nirvana songs, with the "Unplugged" album being the saddest release overall. Cobain's early music (1984-1989) is pretty much just deranged heavy metal. The "Sliver" single in 1990 is when they went "pop" and the final track on "Nevermind" is probably their first foray into being truly miserable.

[bodysnatcher]

I sometimes find it difficult to listen to the Unplugged show. That last song... that last big exhale before the last note. Fuck, man.

[matt reeder]

I sometimes find it difficult to listen to the Unplugged show. That last song... that last big exhale before the last note. Fuck, man.

Have you ever heard the version from Paris on 2/14/1994? The Unplugged performance was a bit restrained. The Paris version is...not quite as restrained. It is incredible:

[i got bugs]

Is that montage soundtrack worth listening to or is it crap??

Just dl'ed it