andPOP » Nirvana

Lil Wayne Was A Fan of Nirvana

andPOP Staff — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:48:14 +0000

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Lil Wayne was a big fan of Nirvana when growing up.

“I was a real big fan of that,” Weezy told MTV News’ Sway after his MTV “Unplugged” taping earlier this year.

“Because I was young and I actually listened to the lyrics, and I probably felt at that time that I was rebelling and I could associate myself with that and relate to the things [Cobain] was talking about and speaking about in the song,” Tunechi remembered. “I probably couldn’t, but I thought I could.”

Interview: Manchester Orchestra On ‘Simple Math,’ Touring with Blink-182

@coltondaniel — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:19:47 +0000

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Overlooking the Toronto skyline from backstage at the Molson Amphitheater, Manchester Orchestra’s rhythm-guitarist and singer-songerwriter Andy Hull took in a drag and the scene.

“It’s pretty awesome to wake up in the city that you grew up in,” confessed Hull, moments before opening for My Chemical Romance and Blink-182 as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour. It would almost seem that, other than sharing a stage, lyrical honesty and vulnerability is about all that these three bands have in common.

“It’s fun man, they’re all really kind people,” says Hull about being on the road with MCR and Blink. It’s been a sleepless summer for Hull and company, leaping between a plethora of festivals from Montreal’s Osheaga to Chicago’s Lollapalooza. “It’s been quite an experience to play these venues. It’s definitely this casting vision tour to really see how big a band can get. It’s kind of crazy. And [Blink-182] is definitely a band that represented a huge part of our childhood.”

“I used to hide [Blink-182's] ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’ from my mom all the time,” adds keyboardist Chris Freeman, dawning a black MacBeth Footwear t-shirt, a company owned by Blink-182′s singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge.

Manchester Orchestra was founded by a 16-year-old Hull in 2004 with his buddies: bassist Jonathan Corley, Freeman, guitarist Robert McDowell and drummer Tim Very. Their suburban Atlanta walls likely plastered with posters of the English city Manchester, a city that has spawned musically rich children from Joy Division to Oasis to Stone Roses.

“Growing up at 16, we pretty much named the band after the Smiths,” reminisces Hull as he looked to Freeman’s smile. “It was a band we were all really, really into.” He also cited the range of musical influences to be “anything from Pavement, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Granddaddy, the Weakerthans, and the Flaming Lips.”

The five grew to produce arena-worthy anthems that hinted at an intimacy of an “indie rock” mix-tape. This signature sound was honed in 2005, while playing over 200 shows behind their first release: “I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child.” A massive sound emerged that rippled exploration into issues of life and the human condition, essentially shredding the chains that age and experience wrapped around him.

Inspired by classic nineties efforts like Nirvana’s “In Utero” and Weezer’s “Pinkerton,” the band shifted their distorted textures to create their sophomore album, “Mean Everything to Nothing.”

After opening for their friends Kings of Leon at Madison Square Garden in 2010, the band went into the studio to patch together a musical vengeance of emotion. Almost like Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” responded to his carnage of relationship, Hull painted a comparably darker and more modern picture of the lover’s debris. Its melodies sound like enlightening promise, yet the undercoated lyrics protest distraught and failure (check “Virgin”at the band’s website).

Their third full-length album, “Simple Math,” surfaced in May and critics have praised its intimacy and Rolling Stone magazine found it “tough to look away”. It debuted at No. 21 on The Billboard 200 and at No. 8 on the magazine’s Rock Albums chart. A mixture of spiritual and marital confessions, it’s not just a few good songs; it’s an album.

“We made a strong commitment to each other that we wouldn’t make any records that were a step backwards or even a step on the same plain,” Hull looks at Freeman, almost like reaffirming a non-verbal agreement. “So that was pretty simple. We just wanted to step it up and make something that was grand, potentially better. But, still have it feel like a counter-piece to our record before.”

Freeman notices that, “the writing process was kind of easier on ['Simple Math'] and it felt natural.”

For the first time, the band recorded without former drummer Jeremiah Edmond, who parted ways with the band in January 2010 to focus on his family and the band’s record label, Favorite Gentlemen. “He was such a power drummer,” Hull says. “It was cool to work with guys who had a different feel, finesse and pocket to their vibe. We were playing outside of what we were used to doing when it came to recording and writing. It allowed us to explore different areas.”

This fall, the band will be dedicating their time by embarking on a 25-city tour in the U.K. and across the States. Aside from their hometown, the band is looking forward to playing their namesake.

“It’s one of the coolest cities we play, the people are so appreciative of us,” says Hull, cracking a Jack Nicholson-esque smirk.

Imagining the scene, Freeman chuckled to himself, “those Manchester crowds are crazy.”

“They’re just ready to get it on.”

Miley Cyrus Covers Nirvana On Tour

andPOP Staff — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:16:45 +0000

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We didn’t personally know Kurt Cobain, but we can’t believe he would be okay with this. Cyrus kicked off her “Gypsy Heart” tour April 29 in Ecuador with a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” reports PopEater.

The former Disney darling introduced the song to the crowd, saying, “For this tour, I want to be able to do the music that inspired me and made me want to be on this stage tonight.”

She continued, “It’s hard being on the road because you miss your family back home, and this song is something I always sing with my little brother who can’t be with me on tour, so this song is also for him.”

Nirvana inspired Miley Cyrus? We guess it was really an eye opener for the singer to see an artist with genuine talent. Think about it – that’s a hugely foreign concept for her.

Foo Fighters Play ‘Everlong’ In Milton, Ontario Garage

@coltondaniel — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:49:14 +0000

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Stadium tours and big venues are so last album.

Dave Grohl and co. have been touring through North American suburbs playing in Foo-Fan garages in support of their new album, “Wasting Light”.

Fresh off their appearance at SXSW, the Foo Fighters started the tour on April 8 in New York and touched down in a small Toronto suburban garage yesterday.

The inspiration behind the “Foo Fighters Garage” tour was that their seventh album was recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage in San Fernando Valley. The nostalgic experience goes even further as it was recorded entirely on analog and produced by Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana’s Nevermind two-decades back.

“We don’t want to keep on making the same record or doing the same things over and over,” Grohl said in an interview for Spinner. “So rather than make an album on a big commercial studio, we were like, ‘Fuck it, let’s do it in our garage.’”

Garages were chosen through a contest on the band’s website, which had fans submitting 25-word essays on why they should host an intimate show for 50 of their friends. Eight fans in cities including New York, Toronto and Seattle were chosen. In 2008, Foo Fighters played 86,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium on two back-to-back sold out nights.

“When you are confined into a tight space, you are forced to really listen. These shows in little rooms are only making us tighter. We are not ready to play a big arena rock show — so why not get warmed up in someone else’s garage?”

The One to Play Kurt Cobain Is…

Sam Rashid — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:46:43 +0000

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Last month, an announcement was made that a Kurt Cobain biopic was to be filmed, and according to CHARTattack, this has resulted in a flood of suggestions as to who should play the late front man of the legendary grunge group, Nirvana.

Cobain committed suicide in April of 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko) is the most recent actor to be added to the list of possible “Cobains.” Jokingly, it was pointed out that since he’s got long hair now, for his new role in Prince of Persia, he could fit the role.

“I don’t know if I’d be the right choice – but the hair from Prince Of Persia could translate somehow,” Gyllenhaal told NME. “We could just bleach it!”

The rumours last month were that Robert Pattinson (Twilight) would play Cobain, but Courtney Love, Cobain’s widow, squashed those hopes. Love said that she would rather see Ryan Gosling (The Believer) or James McAvoy (Atonement) play the role.

Gosling has got great acting skills and has proven himself to be able to pull off a wide variety of roles.

Although McAvoy is only just beginning to gain recognition on this side of the pond, he is also great. He’s won BAFTA (British Academy Of Film And Television Arts) Awards … meaning he is good.

There is also Heath Ledger. But seeing as he is dead, this is not going to happen. But he would have been fantastic as Cobain. He was deep, dark, and a little troubled in his own right. He also displayed top quality acting chops, and while he was alive, Ledger could pretty much take on any role thrown at him.

And why not Emma Watson? Cate Blanchett played Bob Dylan and got nominated for an Academy Award. There is no reason why Hermione Grainger can’t turn into the grunge rocker. And she could also bring a whole new audience to appreciate Cobain.

From here, the list goes on and on. But it’s all in the hands of Courtney Love now, more or less. Hopefully this turns out OK.

Kurt Cobain Biopic in the Works

Sara Harowitz — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:35:01 +0000

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It seems that biopic is the new black, as yet another film about an iconic musician is in the works.

Universal Pictures is moving forward with their long-time-running Kurt Cobain biography film, reports rollingstone.com. The film is based partly on the 2001 book Heavier than Heaven by music journalist Charles R. Cross. The studio is reportedly in negotiations with Oscar-nominated director Oren Moverman (The Messenger) to direct the film and work on its screenplay. Moverman would replace original screenwriter David Benioff, whose previous films include X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Kite Runner.

Cross, who is part of the movie production as a “factual consultant,” is looking forward to Moverman’s involvement.

“It’s not like he wrote The Hangover,” he told Rolling Stone. “He’s worked on some serious projects, like the Dylan biopic I’m Not There, so that’s probably a good thing when it comes to doing a movie on Cobain’s life.”

Cross said that despite the fact that Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl have argued over the band’s publishing rights with Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, Universal Pictures has secured the rights to use Nirvana music in the movie.

“Everything I know is that the people at Universal have everything tied up, so whoever gets cast as Cobain will be able to sing these songs in the movie,” he said.

No Nirvana songs were featured in the film About a Son, which told Cobain’s story in his own words.

This news of the film’s progression comes just days before what would have been Cobain’s 43rd birthday; he was born Feb. 20, 1967.

Dave Grohl Admires His Led Zeppelin Band Member

Sara Harowitz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:50:47 +0000

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Dave Grohl is admired by many. The Nirvana drummer, turned Foo Fighters lead singer, and most recently, Them Crooked Vultures drummer, has had quite the music career. Still, he has his idols too. And one of them is in his new band.

Playing with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones in his new super-group Them Crooked Vultures is a dream come true for Grohl, reports rollingstone.com.

Grohl’s Led Zeppelin love goes all the way back to when he was just a teenager. He’s got three Led Zeppelin-inspired tattoos – the John Bonham three-circle Led Zeppelin IV logo in three places – the first of which he did himself when he was just a teen.

“I did the first one myself when I was 16,” said Grohl. “I tried to get different coloured ink to make it seem pro, but now it looks like someone put a cigarette out on my fucking arm.”

The second tattoo was a bit more professional: he had it done at an illegal squat in Amsterdam.

“It was done by an Italian guy named Andrea whose tattoo gun was made out of a doorbell machine,” he said. “When my mother saw it, she was like, ‘David!’ I was like, ‘Mom, I’ve done a lot worse shit than this, believe me. Look at my other arm.’”

And Grohl paid for his third and final Led Zeppelin tattoo with his first cheque, $400 U.S., from being in Nirvana.

“Kurt and I were living with each other in Olympia,” he said. “The place was so depressing.”

“I took the $400 and bought a Nintendo, a BB gun – mind you, I was 21, not 12 – and got that tattoo,” Grohl continued. “One of my fondest memories of living in that rat-shit-hole apartment was buying a dozen eggs at the A&P, bringing them to Kurt’s backyard, and me and Kurt and Buzz [Osbourne] from the Melvins shooting at the eggs. Those were the days.”

Grohl says that playing with Them Crooked Vultures is like “being in the most incredible luxury car, driving on the Autobahn, flying by the seat of my pants.”

Their self-titled debut album is now out.

Grunge Rock Pioneer and Icon Kurt Cobain to make his Video Game debut in Guitar Hero 5 this September!

Elliott Rudner — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:33:58 +0000

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In a move sure to delight and anger plastic instrument enthusiasts everywhere Kurt Cobain has been included in Guitar Hero 5 alongside living rockers Santana, Matt Bellamy, Shirley Manson and deceased Johnny Cash.

The addition of Kurt Cobain gives us two never before used Nirvana tracks in a Guitar Hero or Rock Band video game, “Lithium (live)” and the holy grail *drum roll* “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

One has to wonder how much money Courtney Love made off this little foray but in any event I’m excited to take my flannel jacket out of the closet and rock out come September 1st.

Activision unveils entire Guitar Hero 5 Setlist!

Elliott Rudner — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:46:56 +0000

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Finally the last 15 songs have been revealed for Guitar Hero 5, and September 1st is fast approaching. Included in the list is the coveted “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that Rock Band couldn’t seem to get for their Nevermind DLC, Dire Strait’s “Sultan’s of Swing” a highly requested classic song with an amazing call and response guitar solo sure to delight people everywhere, a Muse song which isn’t just fast strumming the majority of the time, and a Megadeth song which has a relatively tame solo.

Of course this game isn’t just about guitar anymore so vocalists get ready to be destroyed by Queen & David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” along with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and drummers prepare to fail Arctic Monkey’s “Brianstorm” over and over.

One thing is for sure September is going to be a big month for carpal tunnel and future arthritis.

Final Released Tracks:

3 Doors Down – “Kryptonite”

Arctic Monkeys – “Brianstorm”

Blink-182 – “The Rock Show”

Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing”

Jimmy Eat World – “Bleed American”

Johnny Cash – “Ring Of Fire”

Megadeth – “Sweating Bullets”

Mötley Crüe – “Looks That Kill”

Muse – “Plug In Baby”

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure”

Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”

The Killers – “All The Pretty Faces”

The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes”

TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”

Previously announced tracks include:

A Perfect Circle – “Judith”
AFI – “Medicate”
Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”
Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”
Beck – “Gamma Ray”
Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”
Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”
Blur – “Song 2”
Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”
Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”
Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”
The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”
Bush – “Comedown”
Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
Coldplay – “In My Place”
Darker My Love – “Blue Day”
Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”
David Bowie – “Fame”
Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”
The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”
Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”
Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”
Elliott Smith – “L.A.”
Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
Face To Face – “Disconnected”
Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”
Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”
Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”
Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”
Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”
Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”
Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”
King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”
Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”
Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”
My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”
Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”
No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”
Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
The Police – “So Lonely”
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”
Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
Rammstein – “Du Hast”
The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”
Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”
Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”
Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”
Scars On Broadway – “They Say”
Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”
Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
Sublime – “What I Got”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”
T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”
The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
Thrice – “Deadbolt”
Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”
Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
Weezer – “Why Bother?”
The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”
Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”
Wolfmother – “Back Round”

Guitar Hero 5 releases on September 1st for Xbox360, Playstation2, Playstation3, and Nintendo Wii.

Courtney Love Sued for Not Paying Up

andPOP Staff — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:53:27 +0000

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London & Co., a business management and accounting firm is suing Courtney Love for failing to give them profits from the sale of a portion of Nirvana’s publishing catalogue.

According to CTV.ca, the company claims that Love agreed orally to split five per cent of her earnings or those from her company when she sold a portion of Nirvana’s catalogue.

The company alleges that Love sold a portion of Nirvana’s publishing catalogue for $19.5 million but did not give them their share of the sale.

The company alleges that they should have received $975,000 from the sale.

Love became a widow in 1994 when her husband and Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain committed suicide. She owns most of the rights to both Cobain’s and Nirvana’s work.

Kurt Cobain’s Ashes Stolen?

andPOP Staff — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:22:35 +0000

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According to Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain’s ashes have been stolen from her Hollywood home, leaving her suicidal.

The remains were stored in a pink bear-shaped handbag and hidden in a wardrobe, leaving Love to suspect a former friend of the theft.

“I can’t believe anyone would take Kurt’s ashes from me,” Love told News of the World. “I find it disgusting and right now I’m suicidal. If I don’t get them back I don’t know what I’ll do. They were all I had left of him.”

Much of Cobain’s ashes were scattered in a New York Buddhist temple and in the Wishkah river in Washington state.

Nirvana’s ‘Unplugged’ Comes To DVD

Eva Lam — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:33:04 +0000

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It was a raw, moving performance that revealed another side of Nirvana to the world.

Fourteen years after the Seattle band’s landmark “MTV Unplugged” taping, the show is finally making its way to DVD on Nov. 20.

“Unplugged in New York” will show the unedited 66-minute concert in its entirety, including two tracks that weren’t in the original 44-minute television broadcast: “Something In The Way” and “Oh Me.”

The DVD will also feature previously unreleased behind-the-scenes footage and four songs recorded during Nirvana’s pre-show soundcheck at Sony Music Studios.

The band opted to perform some lesser-known album tracks and six covers during their Unplugged performance on Nov. 18, 2003, including David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” and the traditional folk song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”

The show, which aired a month later on Dec. 14, was also made into an album. It was released 12 months after the taping, making it was the first Nirvana album following the suicide of frontman Kurt Cobain.

James McAvoy First In Line To Play Cobain

andPOP Staff — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:12:31 +0000

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Scottish actor James McAvoy is reportedly the first choice to play Kurt Cobain in a new biopic that will be produced by Courtney Love.

According to a source, “James is making a big impact in Hollywood at the moment. Hollywood bosses are convinced he is the perfect choice to play Kurt Cobain.”

The film, written by David Benioff (“The Kite Runner”) will be based on both Cobain’s personal unpublished journals and the biography “Heavier Than Heaven.”

McAvoy will next be seen in the Ian McEwan adaptation “Atonement” with Keira Knightley. He broke out as Mr. Tumnus in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and garnered critical acclaim in the Oscar nominated “Last King of Scotland.”