Three Imaginary Girls - Nirvana

Imaginary Watch This: Cellos + Nirvana = Smells Like Classical Teen Spirit (what)

Imaginary Amie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:37:28 +0000

Remember those cute Croation cellists who had a musical duel with Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal"? They're back at it again, busting out their adaptation of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by our beloved Nirvana. I gotta say, I really, really, really love these guys. I wonder what's next...

Photoessay: Nirvana exhibit at the EMP, Head and the Heart at Easy Street

imaginary victoria — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:18:41 +0000

Between the star-studded opening of the Nirvana exhibit at the EMP, and the 800 different kinds of awesome that took place on Record Store Day, we could barely keep up. However, we did manage to sneak a few shots off at the EMP, as well as at The Head and the Heart's evening set at the Queen Anne Easy Street, both of which are below for the viewing. Enjoy!

Friday night's opening of the Nirvana exhibit:

Nirvana exhibit opens this weekend: EMP members prefunk tonight with Kurt Bloch, Steve Fisk, Charles Peterson, and more!

imaginary victoria — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:37:32 +0000

Based on all current internet reports, tonight is going to kick some serious ass.

EMP members, press, and invited guests are being beckoned down to Seattle Center to check out the prefunk for the opening of Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses. It's just the beginning of a weekend full of grand-opening events, but we're particularly excited about this evening's affair -- because some legendary folks will be taking to the turntables (!!) and spinning hits for the night, including Kurt Bloch, Steve Fisk, Charles Peterson, and Mark Pickerel. No shit.

You know. Just another Friday night in Seattle.

Here's the whole rundown of the weekend, if you're out kicking some Record Store Day activities and want to take break to peek at the EMP's happenings. Please note that tonight's event was closed for RSVP replies last week, so the first chance you'll have to view the exhibit is tomorrow morning (for members, at a family-friendly pre-opening) or tomorrow afternoon (for non-members, starting at noon).

Bleach

Chris Estey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:27:44 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Bleach-20th-Anniversary-Deluxe-Nirvana/dp/B002JN74VY/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

bleach.jpg

Are you a Bleach fan or into In Utero? This question, not exactly worded like that, has sort of replaced the "Beatles vs. Stones" dumb-ass everyone-has-an-opinion question in every rock-loving bar from Portland to Portland. The truth is, someone out there must have loved Nevermind, because copies of it are everywhere. But attaching yourself to the band's debut for indie Sub Pop or their second full length for a major label seems to be as good a way of branding yourself as a circular cigarette burn on your hand made you a Germs fan.

If you're a fan of Bleach it usually means You Were There, or at least imagined yourself so, when Nirvana's first full length came out twenty years ago. Sub Pop has reissued the Platinum Certified album as a deluxe CD with mostly-photo booklet, or in 180 gram white vinyl (as was the original run), and now of course in download versions. The big news, besides discovering the actual great album for yourself if you never have before, is that all the formats include Live at Pine Street Theatre from a February 1990 show in Portland. The seventh track in that set list is the cover of "Molly's Lips," played to a crowd that probably knew who the Vaselines were in the first place.

The main difference between a Bleach fan and an In Utero fan is this, basically: The former is perfectly fine with Chad Channing's drumming on most of the tracks (the Melvins' Dale Crover plays on "Paper Cuts," "Downer," and one of Nirvana's best early songs, "Floyd The Barber"), and feel it more punk than rock. In Utero featured a band with a very gifted frontman figuring out a new language for popular music, expressing marginalized feelings and very peculiar observations about the world, the flesh, and the pride of life. And Dave Grohl, who slammed the drums into complete rock and roll submission (trained from his days as a D.C.-era metal-inclined workhorse).

But Bleach is when a misfit just found that voice, and it wasn't just Cobain's, it was Channing's and bassist Krist Novoselic's too. It had no real vocabulary yet, save for Bowie-into-Badfinger pop culture collages ("About A Girl"), faux butt rock guitar noodling (on the cover of "Love Buzz," a joke that gets weary fast when listening to it now), and a deep love for John Cale-era sounding Velvet Underground almost wordless transgression (I will never tire of "Floyd The Barber," an ode to the sadism of conformity still not bested since by any rock group). Bleach is not a perfect album, and so is best appreciated by people who like their music to always be forming. The sequence is the best you can imagine, and yet there are some dull spots just because of the expected amorphousness of its college rock-period creation-time.

Bleach sold 40,000 copies initially, which sounds like nothing compared to their next two albums' first runs. But then they didn't seem like they were perfect for lightening the mood between Jesus Lizard and Big Black, or in a long block with Red Kross and early Echo & The Bunnymen, on KCMU in 1988, the year when Nirvana began recording it. I don't think the fan backwash from Nevermind and In Utero actually swallowed up Bleach, even if it did eventually sell nearly two million copies. Its reputation has always seemed as fearsome and depressing to the casual listener as a casual walk to the Vogue through a not yet gentrified Belltown would have been in the late 80s: All art-damaged punks, once famous junkies, grad school dominatrixes and new crack hookers, welfare-scamming thieves, longshoremen no longer good for shore, and the shadow of the law so far away you can't even hear the sirens closer to downtown.

Nirvana were ripping off plenty of groups at this time, from the chunka riffs of their beloved metal bands (on the poppier side like KISS, though), to the dark glam of the aforementioned Red Kross and bigger beat others in the Los Angeles scene. However, even a musical nod to Mudhoney on "Negative Creep" seems to translate the underground drive into a whiff of taking over the rock world FM joyfulness that would end up in Queens of the Stone Age and others within a couple short years. Jack Endino's production seems as spare and powerful as usual, but it's also easy to imagine he and Crover were filling in some gaps to a young, frenzied three piece's Chevas dreams and methedrine wishes.

The verdict? I've always meant to buy In Utero, because a lot of my favorite writers fall on its side (Gillian Gaar, Everett True, etc.). But I heard it enough in cars and at house parties and in bars and overheard in clubs when it came out that I knew Bleach was going to remain the one Nirvana album I wouldn't sell back to Wall of Sound for food money when the stamps ran out before the end of the month. With the delicious live set included, it remains the essential one for playing when I get back from the food bank now.

Some things never change, and some things get even better with age (not food bank food). Bleach has grown up better the past twenty years than I have, that's for sure.

Legendary NW rock band D.O.A. release DVD autobiography

Chris Estey — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:11:23 +0000

When old school Seattle punk-metal icon Duff McKagan wrote about punk rock at the Seattle Weekly a couple of weeks ago, he gave a little list of bands he considers essential to the canon. Though it wasn't specifically numerical in importance, the phenomenon-by-response stack of heroes began with The Ramones (good choice), then The Clash (a little more arguable, but who can resist?), and then -- D.O.A.

To quote McKagan:

"D.O.A., Something Better Change: If you grew up in the Northwest in the late '70s or early '80s, D.O.A. were a larger-than-life example of how brilliant a live rock band should be. They were as important as any band in history, as far as I'm concerned."

The actual word "hardcore" as applied to latter period North American punk rock is most likely taken from a D.O.A. album title -- Hardcore '81. Note the year of its release, and that there really wasn't a musical genre with that name before D.O.A. nailed their hard, fast, no compromise sound.

Kurt Cobain memorial show

imaginary stella — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:06:55 +0000

Personally, I'd love to see something like a mini Nirvana museum or something similar installed in the sleepy former lumber town that Cobain used to call home -- something to draw a bit of business to the place. Or a fancy Cobain statue erected on the streets, ala the Hendrix one on Cap Hill.

Own a piece of Seattle music history

imaginary stella — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:09:52 +0000

The starting price is steep--but what do you expect for a piece of Seattle music history?

Happy birthday, Sub Pop! Fave 20 releases of all time

imaginary stella — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:00:31 +0000

Here, in tribute to the Seattle label's 20 years of not going out of business, are my favorite 20 releases from Sub Pop from the past two decades. I encourage you to check out their catalog and provide yours, too.

Kurt, Sid, Hunter rolling in graves

imaginary dana — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:09:51 +0000

As if we all needed another reason to buy No Sweats...

Win a copy of the About A Son DVD!

imaginary liz — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:52:55 +0000

February 20th marks Kurt Cobain’s 41st Birthday, and to mark this we're giving away a Kurt Cobain About A Son DVD.

To enter to win your very own copy of the DVD: email us at this link (to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "Cobain DVD") before midnight on Wednesday, February 20th, 6p PST.

Mashed Trucks

Deborah Barnard — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:11:32 +0000

A delectable mashup to distract you from last night's fading hangover.

Take a stroll down memory lane (that is, if you're old enough)

Erik Gonzalez — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:24:18 +0000

Krist looks like a down-and-out math teacher rather than the former bassists of the most influential bands of rock and roll.

Krist Novoselic jumps on blogging bandwagon

imaginary stella — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:26:22 +0000

Krist Novoselic has joined the local media, blogging for Seattle Weekly.

Kurt Cobain the Scot

Erik Gonzalez — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:32:13 +0000

Actor James McAvoy may get the roll of Kurt Cobain in the upcoming biopic of the Nirvana frontman.

Album art child stars: then and now

imaginary char — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:33:03 +0000

Ever wondered what the baby from Nirvana's Nevermind cover looks like today?

"About a Girl" by Nirvana

Erik Gonzalez — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:48:05 +0000

What can I write about Nirvana and specifically "About a Girl" that hasn't already been written? Has any band formed since 1990 had as much written about it as Nirvana has? I would venture to guess that the answer to that question is a hardy "No." So, what can I really add to the Nirvana legacy? Well, I did get to see Nirvana live once, in a hockey rink in north central Massachusetts. Those were the days when real bands played real terrible venues like beat-up old hockey rinks that were packed with real youth and ruffians. Now, my memories of that evening aren't as distinct as I'd like them to be - and no, it wasn't due to any chemical influences, it was during the hey day of my "straight edge" phase - but it was due to a large, rather heavy boot being moved rapidly into my head. This is why I don't go near mosh pits, because back in those early 1990's days, people moshed to everything, heck I went to a They Might Be Giants where people were moshing.

Well, this night, the Breeders opened for Nirvana, and sure enough, MOSH PIT! And things led to things where I happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and suddenly blood was all over my face and generally I was a bit disoriented. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the show on the sidelines avoiding repeated blows to the head, but I do remember that Kris attempted to beat up a guy in the crowd for groping a girl and that Kurt left his guitar - smashed - producing "end of time" style feedback at the end of the show that left me with no hearing whatsoever. Ah yes, those were the days where a good show left you deaf, bleeding, and staggering incoherently!

nirvana.jpg

What can I write about Nirvana and specifically "About a Girl" that hasn't already been written?

Barsuk Records to release the Kurt Cobain About a Son soundtrack

imaginary liz — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 21:28:57 +0000

Wow, I haven't heard mention of this up until now... but it's official Barsuk Records will be releasing the soundtrack to the motion picture Kurt Cobain About A Son on September 11th, 2007.

Ben Gibbard, All Apologies

Joseph Riippi — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:29:43 +0000

As anyone who knows me can attest, I love Death Cab for Cutie. I think they're an amazing, wonderful band. And those same people will tell you I think the same of Nirvana, but for very different reasons. But Ben Gibbard covering Kurt Cobain was like listening to an utter castration of all that makes Nirvana great.

Greatest Indie Anthems

imaginary liz — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:04:09 +0000

Just because it is now officially NME Thursday, how about we talk about the Greatest Indie Anthems ever... and what NME / Xfm and the general UK public think they are.

Courtney: As pleasant as ever

Erik Gonzalez — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:25:29 +0000

If you've ever wanted to own a "garbage bag full of [Kurt's] flannel shirts" here's your chance to bid on them as Christie's. (And that noise is Kurt spinning in his grave, yet again.)