Did you know that Kurt Cobain died?
A true story which we are all sad about… like, forevah. We are with his Mum on this one – “why did he have to go and join the stupid club”? But that’s drugs for you isn’t it?
Like all sales opportunities anniversaries the music business is hitting it hard. And everywhere for a minute is riffing on the greatness and perfection of NIRVANA. There are good bits and bad bits – we like the NME piece in their current mag which works through the acts that were on Kurt’s much published “favourite albums “ list and asks them what he meant to them.
And we particularly like Tracey Thorn’s (Marine Girls, Everything But The Girl) observation and honesty that:
“I didn’t love all of Nirvana’s music – I’d never turned into enough of a rock fan for that – but there was always something about Kurt”
because we think that would have made him happy – he wasn’t the sort that actually would have wanted people to like everything.
We think he’d have considered that a failure …
But one thing that has been clear to us is that he could write a good song, whatever production he chose for it (and, to be clear, we are still bitter about the Albini choice).
And so our tribute focuses on the beauty of Kurt’s writing as reimagined through five people who chose to make it about the song, and not the singer.
Tori Amos
Kathryn Williams/The Pond
Machinehead
Jay Reatard
Caetano Veloso Cantando
Songs are wonderful things, once you set them free in the world they float off and find other voices to reimagine them and provide new wonders.
-TH
[By the way, it doesn’t always work – here’s a concept we could have lived without … Sorry but not needed and not loved]