Post by Retrovirus Lab.
Once a band, now a blog... But for how long? The dead shall rise again! Someday. Maybe...
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The #1 Song on the Day I was Born: “Me & Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul
Yes. Messing around with Facebook apps.
“Show Me the Place” by Leonard Cohen & A lost Leonard Cohen album?
Spotted this on Flavorwire this morning, and it leads to the video above.
Flavorwire » 5 Potentially Amazing Records the World Will Probably Never Hear:
Leonard Cohen — Songs For Rebecca
This was to be Cohen’s fifth album, recorded with the same producer (John Lissauer) who made New Skin for the Old Ceremony. Apparently only half the record was completed, but the project was eventually shelved in favor of the Phil Spector-produced Death of a Ladies’ Man. Two of the songs from Songs for Rebecca surfaced on that record, and three more on 1979′s Recent Songs, but beyond that, Songs for Rebecca just “evaporated,” in Lissauer’s words. There’s more information in a fascinating interview with the producer (who seems like a lovely guy, and appears very philosophical about the whole thing) here.
It sounds like the actual recordings emerged, though. When I think of lost albums, I think more of actual recordings that never made it out to see the light of day. Not planned albums scrapped or ideas that were never completed.
I think I’ll just keep my eyes on the new, completed album, Old Ideas, coming out on the 31st. Looking forward to that!
Related Posts
Friday, December 16, 2011
Listen to the first recording of human voices…
Spotted by William on Facebook, translation by Google…
The first record of voices in the world in 1860 - Anecdote of the Day:
It is generally accepted that Edison was the first to reproduce recorded sound, with the invention of the phonograph in 1877. The first sound recording has kept him took place in 1860 and we owe it to a French scholar, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville . Scott invented the phonautograph , a device to translate sound waves on a roll of paper coated with soot. The special feature of the device is that it could record the sounds but not to reproduce . Scott filed a patent in 1857 for the phonautograph.
Follow the link to hear the recordings… http://www.anecdote-du-jour.com/le-premier-enregistrement-de-voix-au-monde-date-de-1860/
Related Posts
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Alternative meaninglessness…
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| Just Me… From 2011-11 (Nov) |
Blah… Sitting here waiting for my computers to do their thing instead of just beeping at me and freezing… Need to be doing some real work, but I need those picture files from my dying laptop first!
So, instead, a rant.
On the local “alternative” station, 94.7, a show called “The Bottom Forty” is featuring Peal Jam and U2 tonight…
I know, though I struggle with acceptance, that “alternative” does not mean what it used to mean 20 to 25 years ago. Still, it bugs me when two of the biggest bands in the world are tagged with that label.
To me, the word means “non-mainstream.” Pearl Jam was once there, for a few minutes. U2 might have spent a few minutes there back in 1980 when Boy first came out.
Today, I suppose, for most people alternative is a genre (which will never completely make sense to me). But, not long ago, I glanced around the radio and it started making some sense.
There are hard rock/metal stations, there are Top 40/pop stations (which includes hip-hop and rap), there are country stations (which, let’s face it, is just pretty much rock with southern accents these days)… There’s oldies stations and adult contemporary stations (slightly less old oldies)… There’s jazz and classical… There’s latin stations and many others.
But regular current, contemporary rock music? Not metal, not country rock, just music, essentially, with a guitar as the lead instrument? Well, that is what they call “Alternative Music” these days, it seems like. Sure, these bands have top selling albums and they reach the Top 40 charts, but the Top 40 stations are not playing many songs that feature lead guitars these days.
And about the only rock bands that are not included in the “alternative” tent these days are the hard rock and heavy metal bands; the descendants of the big hair 1980s bands that the original grunge revolution was a rebellion against.
So all these bands end up on the “alternative” stations, and because of that are thought to play a genre called “Alternative Music.” At least, that is how it seems to work from my perspective.
Back in the day, though, to me alternative meant “outside of the mainstream,” with punk, metal, industrial, and, eventually, grunge all being some of many sub-categories. It meant songs that you would never hear on the radio. It meant bands that most people had never heard of before.
It, inherently, could NOT mean Pearl Jam (in 2011) and U2.
Now I am not saying that I wish we could go back to the days before all these great musical genres found widespread, mainstream commercial acceptance. I am glad people are listening. It is great music, which I why I was listening to it in the first place.
I just wonder if there isn’t a better label for it. Like rock, perhaps? That’s what we used to call it back in the olden times. If the Rolling Stones came out today, they would be considered “alternative.” So would the Beatles.
One of the ways we ended up here, I know, is because of “alternative” radio stations like 94.7 here in Portland and The End up in Seattle.
I first heard The End, just after it started, while driving home from the first Lollapalooza.
Let me describe that experience for a moment…
Nirvana had not hit yet. Grunge was not a fashion defined by Vogue magazine yet. Alternative bands were bands you saw in small venues and clubs, not in the big concert halls, and definitely not in arenas or stadiums.
But then came along Lollapalooza, where a bunch of indie/alternative bands got together and put on a big show, a festival, taking it on the road. Now, there are plusses and minuses to big shows, of course. But it was great seeing these “small” bands in a big environment, with the huge crowds and towering light and sound systems.
The best part, though, was that all of us punk, metal, goth/industrial, and grunge misfits finally had a big show of our own. Thousands of US all gathered in one place at one time. The BIG cheers for the bands we loved that sounded like cheers in the videos for the BIG bands. That was a new experience for all of us, a first time thing. It was a big touring festival of non-mainstream bands for non-mainstream people. Only the first Lollapalooza was like that, but it was a remarkable thing.
People from The End, which had just gone on the air, were handing out flyers as we were heading back to the car after the show. We put the station on the radio, and lo and behold here were the bands we all liked to listen to on a real radio station (not one of the little college channels that you could only receive on your tuner if the wind was blowing just right and the barometric pressure was just so).
The End called themselves “alternative” radio. And they were back then, even by my definition. They were playing the songs no one else was (not counting those tiny college stations).
It was very cool. All of it.
But, when the grunge thing made it big, so did these stations, so did events like Lollapalooza. Suddenly, the songs these stations were playing actually became Top 40 songs. Suddenly, middle aged housewives were buying the CDs of those bands and listening to those new “alternative” radio stations. The second Lollapalooza had a serious infestation of the jocks who were all listening to Warrant and Winger the year before.
“Alternative” didn’t feel very alternative any more. “He’s the one that likes to sing along” was singing along right next to me. And punching people in the slam pit and calling it “moshing.” Asshole.
I guess the final change that happened, though, was where “mainstream” radio and popular music went from there. Basically, rock died. R&B, hip hop, crappy pop music, these took over. Alternative stations that were always throwing a little U2 or R.E.M. (a band that had ceased to be alternative by this time) into the mix were suddenly the only ones playing them. So, those sorts of bands, more and more, were through of as “alternative” bands. Or, in R.E.M.’s case, were once again thought of as an alternative band.
And I suppose that really sums it up for me. Alternative was a state that bands used to be able to graduate from. And, if they still sounded good, that could be a fun and rewarding experience for the fans who were with them from the early days. It was a validation of us as much as them. At the very least, we had fun with the inevitable debates with our more jaded friends about whether the bands had “sold out” or not.
Because of these experiences, “alternative” as a genre has never made a lot of sense to me. Alternative was a condition, not a sound. Today, it still is not a sound, but it is a genre. And that doesn’t make any sense to me. But it is what it is.
And it is still the music I like. Sure, I spend more time listening, still, to bands that few people have ever heard of, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still listen to Pearl Jam or U2 from time to time. And the show I mentioned, “The Bottom Forty,” does spend a lot of time playing bottom 40 bands. I’ve heard a lot of great, new music on that show.
Which is why I was a little surprised to see who they were featuring tonight, but I have to live in the world the way it is, not the way I wish it could be.
I may have a functional laptop by now. If not, I’ll just have to leave those files behind. It is time to wrap up my work for the day so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour.
Good night!
Related Posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
100th Post! What I am Listening To Now: "Sub Pop Rock City" by Soundgarden
100 posts! Wrapping up my Sub Pop 200 review the only way I can.
What I Am Listening To Now: "Come Out Tonight" by Steven Jesse Bernstein
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #99)
What I Am Listening To Now: "The Rose" performed by Mudhoney
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #98)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Swallow My Pride" performed by The Fastbacks
Covering Green River. Soundgarden played this one too, played it very well... Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #97)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Dead Is Dead" by Terry Lee Hale
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #96)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Sex God Missy" by TAD
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #95)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Spank Thru" by Nirvana
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #94)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Underground" by Chemistry Set
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #93)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Hangin' Tree" by Green River
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #92)
What I Am Listening To Now: "Got No Chains" by The Walkabouts
Coming up on the 100th Post for this blog... Think I'll roll it across with a Sub Pop 200 review. (Post #91)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
An ancient artifact washed ashore, remnants of lost times...
 |
| From 2011-11 (Nov) |
Found this in my desk the other day. It is from about ten years ago, at least, since I have not been since I moved to Portland ten years ago... Wonder if it would still work?
I don't think I actually got a card until close to the end of my time in Seattle. Always used to be a bit too late into my evenings, so to speak, when I landed there (and in the previous, nameless locations...) and I could never quite sort out the membership process. Usually just wandered in with everyone I was with since everyone I knew, pretty much, were "legit" members.
But there were some good times... And even more interesting times. The few memories out of many that linger and remain.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
What I Am Listening To Now: "The Fly," "Zoo Station," & "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" by U2
Everything You Know Is Wrong...
So, another album that is 20 years old... Maybe I shouldn't be as surprised as I am by all those grey hairs in my beard?
Oh, Bono and the boys... (sigh). Y'all don't make it easy on us, do you? Thirty years of tweaking the dials, sometimes getting them right, quite often getting them very wrong, and, on one or two occasions, hitting brilliance.
About once a decade the band has a nervous breakdown, throws everything out the window, and comes up with something completely different. In the 1980s, after Live Aid, they freaked out, almost broke up, and then decided to do one more album before breaking up.... The Joshua Tree.
At the end of the decade, having reached a point where they felt the hype was completely out of control, they had another breakdown. I remember reading in Rolling Stone that the insane level of hype surrounding the band was brought into sharp focus for them when they realized the Olympic Torch at the LA Colosseum had only been lit, at that point, four times. Twice for the Olympics themselves, once for Pope John Paul II, and... yep... once for U2 on The Joshua Tree tour.
Becoming fascinated by their own hype, coupled with The Edge's new found love of industrial music, the band hit their high point in 1991 with Actung Baby. This album, and the tour that followed, probably single-handedly, in my opinion, changed music as much as the whole grunge thing that was happening at the same time. From the sound, the look, the attitude through to the marketing and to what audiences expect from a live concert... the mainstream was changed by what U2 did in 1991. You must remember, while watching these videos, nothing looked or sounded like this on mainstream radio or TV (MTV was still playing music back then, sometimes) when this came out.
Because of this one album, industrial elements were pushed into mainstream pop music, and the tour? Well, nothing ever, ever had been done like that before. I saw the Zoo TV tour twice, once in Tacoma in its smaller indoor arena version and then, later, in Vancuover B.C. during the Outdoor Broadcast stadium leg of the tour. No video can really capture the sensory overload. It was amazing. This was the first time a band really figured out how to make a performance in these larger venues really work for everyone in the house, not just for those lucky few within the first 25 yards or so of the stage.
But for me, the music was really what hooked me at this point. U2 had been one of my favorite bands since The Unforgettable Fire. But, they were something of an anomaly in my tastes. For the couple years leading into the release of Auctung Baby, like The Edge, I'd been spending a lot of time listening to the Chicago Wax Trax bands (Ministry, KMFDM, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult), and when I heard the first opening riffs of "The Fly" (first single) and then, later, "Zoo Station" (first album track), well... they just sounded perfect.
Of course, this moment of perfection was short lived. The mocking of their own hype that worked so well at this point in their career was turned up a notch for the follow up album, Pop, and the Popmart tour. Turned all the way up, too far, to eleven. It no longer felt like they were making fun of themselves and the media, but actually taking themselves too seriously again. Plus, the album sucked. Bad.
They've been up and down ever since. But for a brief ride in 1991 and 1992, they had it all nailed down into perfection.
So, they've thrown down a Deluxe Edition of Actung Baby today. Meh. Nothing new. The second disc has a couple high points (the b-side track "Salome" and the covers of "Satelite of Love," "Paint It Black," and "Fortunate Son") and a lot of unlistenable crap (the re-mixes). The most interesting track is them getting their Kubrick on with "Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk / Korova 1." The second disc, though, is definitely released by the current band, not the band that was getting it so right back in 1991 and 1992.
Listen on Spotify, if you wish... That is what I did. Here is my playlist, featuring the decent tracks (and the original album in its entirety): U2 - Actung Baby Deluxe Tracks
Very fittingly, the last track on the bonus disc is "Where Did It All Go Wrong?"
Yeah, I think Bono and Co. get it.
So, another album that is 20 years old... Maybe I shouldn't be as surprised as I am by all those grey hairs in my beard?
Oh, Bono and the boys... (sigh). Y'all don't make it easy on us, do you? Thirty years of tweaking the dials, sometimes getting them right, quite often getting them very wrong, and, on one or two occasions, hitting brilliance.
About once a decade the band has a nervous breakdown, throws everything out the window, and comes up with something completely different. In the 1980s, after Live Aid, they freaked out, almost broke up, and then decided to do one more album before breaking up.... The Joshua Tree.
At the end of the decade, having reached a point where they felt the hype was completely out of control, they had another breakdown. I remember reading in Rolling Stone that the insane level of hype surrounding the band was brought into sharp focus for them when they realized the Olympic Torch at the LA Colosseum had only been lit, at that point, four times. Twice for the Olympics themselves, once for Pope John Paul II, and... yep... once for U2 on The Joshua Tree tour.
Becoming fascinated by their own hype, coupled with The Edge's new found love of industrial music, the band hit their high point in 1991 with Actung Baby. This album, and the tour that followed, probably single-handedly, in my opinion, changed music as much as the whole grunge thing that was happening at the same time. From the sound, the look, the attitude through to the marketing and to what audiences expect from a live concert... the mainstream was changed by what U2 did in 1991. You must remember, while watching these videos, nothing looked or sounded like this on mainstream radio or TV (MTV was still playing music back then, sometimes) when this came out.
Because of this one album, industrial elements were pushed into mainstream pop music, and the tour? Well, nothing ever, ever had been done like that before. I saw the Zoo TV tour twice, once in Tacoma in its smaller indoor arena version and then, later, in Vancuover B.C. during the Outdoor Broadcast stadium leg of the tour. No video can really capture the sensory overload. It was amazing. This was the first time a band really figured out how to make a performance in these larger venues really work for everyone in the house, not just for those lucky few within the first 25 yards or so of the stage.
But for me, the music was really what hooked me at this point. U2 had been one of my favorite bands since The Unforgettable Fire. But, they were something of an anomaly in my tastes. For the couple years leading into the release of Auctung Baby, like The Edge, I'd been spending a lot of time listening to the Chicago Wax Trax bands (Ministry, KMFDM, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult), and when I heard the first opening riffs of "The Fly" (first single) and then, later, "Zoo Station" (first album track), well... they just sounded perfect.
Of course, this moment of perfection was short lived. The mocking of their own hype that worked so well at this point in their career was turned up a notch for the follow up album, Pop, and the Popmart tour. Turned all the way up, too far, to eleven. It no longer felt like they were making fun of themselves and the media, but actually taking themselves too seriously again. Plus, the album sucked. Bad.
They've been up and down ever since. But for a brief ride in 1991 and 1992, they had it all nailed down into perfection.
So, they've thrown down a Deluxe Edition of Actung Baby today. Meh. Nothing new. The second disc has a couple high points (the b-side track "Salome" and the covers of "Satelite of Love," "Paint It Black," and "Fortunate Son") and a lot of unlistenable crap (the re-mixes). The most interesting track is them getting their Kubrick on with "Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk / Korova 1." The second disc, though, is definitely released by the current band, not the band that was getting it so right back in 1991 and 1992.
Listen on Spotify, if you wish... That is what I did. Here is my playlist, featuring the decent tracks (and the original album in its entirety): U2 - Actung Baby Deluxe Tracks
Very fittingly, the last track on the bonus disc is "Where Did It All Go Wrong?"
Yeah, I think Bono and Co. get it.
U2Station.com | U2 News | U2: Turn off the decline:
And then, suddenly, U2 lost its way.
Pop was the turning point, not just because that oft-maligned 1997 album was the first truly weak entry in the U2 catalogue but because it marked the beginning of U2 pulling its punches. After the electronically enhanced excursions of Zooropa, the band crowed long and loud about making a full-tilt dance record the next time out, enlisting such electro-savvy chaps as Flood, Howie B. and Nellee Hooper to bring those aspirations to life. Yet the work that eventually surfaced from those sessions sounded every bit like the "compromise project" guitarist the Edge would later call it; it sounded like a record by a group that had gotten cold feet midway through the recording process and then hastily backtracked to behaving more recognizably like itself out of fear of alienating its audience.
That's the way I heard it, anyway -- and I think I was right, given the unsubtle retreat to its "classic" sound that the band would make three years later on All That You Can't Leave Behind after Pop's perceived commercial failure -- and I've never forgiven U2 for it.
'via Blog this'
Ten Rock-Star Stunts Even More Ridiculous Than Flying to Antarctica -- Vulture:
4. U2 Trapped in Lemon (1997)
When U2 decided to go ironic with their Popmart tour, they literally found themselves stuck inside of a 40-foot, malfunctioning, mechanical lemon multiple times. Bootleg video footage of the ironic lemon that was, ironically, a lemon, is widely circulated among cultural-studies graduate students.
'via Blog this'
Saturday, October 22, 2011
How Franz Liszt Became The World's First Rock Star : NPR
How Franz Liszt Became The World's First Rock Star : NPR: When you think of rock n' roll, Franz Liszt might not be the first name that comes to mind. But the classical pianist, born 200 years ago today, was in many ways the first rock star of all time.
In the mid-19th century, Liszt was tearing up the polite salons and concert halls of Europe with his virtuoso performances. Women would literally attack him: tear bits of his clothing, fight over broken piano strings and locks of his shoulder-length hair. Europe had never seen anything like it. It was a phenomenon the great German poet Heinrich Heine dubbed "Lisztomania."
"We hear about women throwing their clothes onto the stage and taking his cigar butts and placing them in their cleavages," says Stephen Hough, a world-renowned concert pianist.
'via Blog this'
In the mid-19th century, Liszt was tearing up the polite salons and concert halls of Europe with his virtuoso performances. Women would literally attack him: tear bits of his clothing, fight over broken piano strings and locks of his shoulder-length hair. Europe had never seen anything like it. It was a phenomenon the great German poet Heinrich Heine dubbed "Lisztomania."
"We hear about women throwing their clothes onto the stage and taking his cigar butts and placing them in their cleavages," says Stephen Hough, a world-renowned concert pianist.
'via Blog this'
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Punk isn't dead. It just goes to bed at a more reasonable hour.
I was trying to be productive this morning and to not get too distracted by them, there intarwebs when this happened. On Facebook, inspired by this...
...a frenzy of punk videos were posted.
Bonus points for recognizing the young men in the photo. Hints below. This first one has one of the greatest comments in its description that I've seen in a bit: "The camera (unfortunately) pans over to try to catch the fight that broke out."
My own contribution... Pretty much my theme song these days.
Now back to my regularly scheduled programming.
...a frenzy of punk videos were posted.
Bonus points for recognizing the young men in the photo. Hints below. This first one has one of the greatest comments in its description that I've seen in a bit: "The camera (unfortunately) pans over to try to catch the fight that broke out."
My own contribution... Pretty much my theme song these days.
Now back to my regularly scheduled programming.
Bands Lost In The Foggy Wastes Of My Memory: Nirvana & Nevermind turning 20, making me feel old and jaded
UPDATE (October 15, 2011): Changed the headline. Okay, it's not like I forgot about Nirvana, of course. But for years I though little of them. The anniversary of Nevermind's release dredged up a lot of old memories for me and, of course, made me feel very old.
Originally posted on Rubble (September 24, 2011):
Some memories... Growing up in the Seattle area, my friends and I were all into the local music scene. Nirvana came along relatively later than everyone else (and no, I am not counting you, Aliz-N-Chainz! It's not selling out if you are buying in!). As Bleach made its rounds, one by one everyone I knew was buzzing about how great the album was, but it took me awhile to take a listen. (Remember, this is the pre-internet days when you actually had to physically posses a cassette or a CD to listen to music.)
Finally, a bunch of us went to go see them play a show with The Derelicts, The Dwarves, and The Melvins in an old garage in Seattle, and I was convinced.
Sometime during my senior year, we published a two page spread in our high school newspaper in Issaquah, Washington about Sub Pop and the local music scene. The other writers and I were met with open hostility in the corridors of our high school for "wasting everyone's time with that crap." They asked us, "How come you guys don't write about bands that we've heard of and like?" We told them that, in our opinion, the bands they liked were crap and, jokingly, said that soon everyone would be hearing about these bands, but we didn't really believe it.
At the time, the big hair bands dominated popular music. All those damn "W" bands, the Wingers and Warrents and a lot of songs about thorny roses. While my favorite t-shirt was a Sub Pop "World Domination Regime" shirt, no one could imagine what was soon to happen...
September 1991 marked one of the most significant record release dates in years. Guns-N-Roses was releasing not one, but two long awaited albums, the Use Your Illusion records. This was their first real follow up to the mammoth Appetite For Destruction, which came out over four years earlier. Many, many record stores were staying open after midnight to sell these albums and it was, at the time, the biggest record release event in history.
At the time, I was living in a dorm at Seattle University and one of the record stores on Capitol Hill, down the street from me, was, pretty much as a joke, staying open late to sell another record, Nevermind. Sure, we all loved Nirvana and were excited to hear their new album, but not midnight excited. Orpheum Records was open until midnight anyway, though, and they decided to stay open until 12:30 and had a funny sign out front for a couple days pretty much mocking all the hype about the new Guns-N-Roses releases.
I was up anyway so I wandered down at midnight and bought the album. I was the only one in the store and the clerk and I joked about all the Use Your Illusion hype.
I went home and took a listen. It was very good. Another benefit of showing up at midnight is that I got one of the first printings, the only ones with the hidden track (Endless, Nameless) on it. Within a year, all those people at my old high school were growing goatees and dressing in fashion magazine grunge wear. I grew disgusted and moved on, not even buying the the next Nirvana album until about five years ago. And, of course, at some point during the lost years of the 1990s, I lost the CD with the hidden track on it.
But that was a pretty amazing time and place to be alive, back in Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Here is a video of Nirvana playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" live for the first time. I was at this show and think I even spotted myself in the audience on this tape. The audio isn't that great, but it is fun. Before they made it big and other issues started taking their toll on Kurt, their shows were a lot more energetic than what most people are familiar with.
Nevermind: The memories of KEXP DJs and staff: "Yesterday, KEXP’s DJ Riz shared a crazy story about DJ’ing Nirvana’s infamous food fight CD release party at Rebar (read it here). Today, as we play all local and Nirvana-related music, you can read about the memories KEXP DJs and staff have regarding the band’s landmark album, Nevermind, which was released 20 years ago tomorrow."
DJ Riz remembers Nevermind: "KEXP’s DJ Riz was the DJ of the infamous “food fight” CD release party at Rebar. Here’s his account:"
And, of course, so as not to feel left out, another record had the 27th anniversary of its release today...
Originally posted on Rubble (September 24, 2011):
Some memories... Growing up in the Seattle area, my friends and I were all into the local music scene. Nirvana came along relatively later than everyone else (and no, I am not counting you, Aliz-N-Chainz! It's not selling out if you are buying in!). As Bleach made its rounds, one by one everyone I knew was buzzing about how great the album was, but it took me awhile to take a listen. (Remember, this is the pre-internet days when you actually had to physically posses a cassette or a CD to listen to music.)Finally, a bunch of us went to go see them play a show with The Derelicts, The Dwarves, and The Melvins in an old garage in Seattle, and I was convinced.
Sometime during my senior year, we published a two page spread in our high school newspaper in Issaquah, Washington about Sub Pop and the local music scene. The other writers and I were met with open hostility in the corridors of our high school for "wasting everyone's time with that crap." They asked us, "How come you guys don't write about bands that we've heard of and like?" We told them that, in our opinion, the bands they liked were crap and, jokingly, said that soon everyone would be hearing about these bands, but we didn't really believe it.
At the time, the big hair bands dominated popular music. All those damn "W" bands, the Wingers and Warrents and a lot of songs about thorny roses. While my favorite t-shirt was a Sub Pop "World Domination Regime" shirt, no one could imagine what was soon to happen...
September 1991 marked one of the most significant record release dates in years. Guns-N-Roses was releasing not one, but two long awaited albums, the Use Your Illusion records. This was their first real follow up to the mammoth Appetite For Destruction, which came out over four years earlier. Many, many record stores were staying open after midnight to sell these albums and it was, at the time, the biggest record release event in history.
At the time, I was living in a dorm at Seattle University and one of the record stores on Capitol Hill, down the street from me, was, pretty much as a joke, staying open late to sell another record, Nevermind. Sure, we all loved Nirvana and were excited to hear their new album, but not midnight excited. Orpheum Records was open until midnight anyway, though, and they decided to stay open until 12:30 and had a funny sign out front for a couple days pretty much mocking all the hype about the new Guns-N-Roses releases.
I was up anyway so I wandered down at midnight and bought the album. I was the only one in the store and the clerk and I joked about all the Use Your Illusion hype.
I went home and took a listen. It was very good. Another benefit of showing up at midnight is that I got one of the first printings, the only ones with the hidden track (Endless, Nameless) on it. Within a year, all those people at my old high school were growing goatees and dressing in fashion magazine grunge wear. I grew disgusted and moved on, not even buying the the next Nirvana album until about five years ago. And, of course, at some point during the lost years of the 1990s, I lost the CD with the hidden track on it.
But that was a pretty amazing time and place to be alive, back in Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Here is a video of Nirvana playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" live for the first time. I was at this show and think I even spotted myself in the audience on this tape. The audio isn't that great, but it is fun. Before they made it big and other issues started taking their toll on Kurt, their shows were a lot more energetic than what most people are familiar with.
Nevermind: The memories of KEXP DJs and staff: "Yesterday, KEXP’s DJ Riz shared a crazy story about DJ’ing Nirvana’s infamous food fight CD release party at Rebar (read it here). Today, as we play all local and Nirvana-related music, you can read about the memories KEXP DJs and staff have regarding the band’s landmark album, Nevermind, which was released 20 years ago tomorrow."
DJ Riz remembers Nevermind: "KEXP’s DJ Riz was the DJ of the infamous “food fight” CD release party at Rebar. Here’s his account:"
And, of course, so as not to feel left out, another record had the 27th anniversary of its release today...
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