3 Comments:

 Anonymous said...

"Do Re Mi" alone is worth the entire set...

For anyone who has not gotten the new 3CD/1DVD box set "With The Lights Out" from Nirvana... This set is absolutely amazing. Many of the songs and demos that are on the set I have had for years now on cassettes that have found their way to me but on this set they have been cleaned and mastered fantastically. Then there are the songs and demos that have never seen the light of day... They speak for themselves.

There is some great humor here starting right off Disc 1 with the band at their very first gig about to launch into Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" and Kurt can be heard yelling in the background "I don't know this song!" Kurt's trippy demo of "Beans", with his harmonized vocal is hilarious. There are great "Bleach" era demos ("If You Must", "Pen Cap Chew"), to some killer sessions with Mark Lanegan doing Leadbelly covers. But here is where it hits the hardest...

The very last song (rumored) to have ever been recorded is a demo included here called "Do Re Mi" (sometimes referred in the past as "Dough, Ray and Me"). This demo (along with the acoustic "You Know Your Right") is the clear example of where Kurt was about to go musically... The melody is breathtaking, and the beauty of the composition is absolutely devastating knowing what was to come. The recording is Kurt himself with an acoustic guitar (probably at home, Courtney can be heard talking to him in the background as the song finishes) and the starkness of his voice with his lone acoustic sets up a landscape of undefinable melodic beauty. This song is worth the price of the entire set.

All you need to be reminded of the value of this set is to turn on the radio... Today's rock music genre is a a soul-less desolate landscape of 4th and 5th generation imitators of previous forms. This box set historically shows the most important band since the Beatles before and during the most important time in musical history since the fab four walked off the plane at JFK airport. Who else came along, sent a music genre before them to the graveyard, defined a generation, opened the gates for a whole new genre of musicains, and left a void in it's wake a generation wide? Exactly.

The bullet that killed Kurt Cobain didn't just kill a person, it blew a hole thru a rock n roll in a way that no one could have ever imagined, even more so than John Lennon. Imagine if Lennon or McCartney had died at the height of their skills? You don't have to, it happened in Seattle in 1994.

When you listen to "Do Re Mi" the "What could have been" is absolutely heartbreaking...

4 December 2007 at 08:56  

 Anonymous said...

sell the kids for food (and then buy this box set!!)

"With the Lights Out" is unlike any box set I've EVER purchased. Unlike Led Zeppelin or Billie Holiday, this is not the complete collected works; these 81 tracks are true oddities culled from B-sides, compilations, home demos, and live shows. And even if you're an obsessive bootlegger, many of these tracks are going to be completely new to you.

"Do Re Mi" is going to be the highlight of this set for many people. Recorded only weeks before Kurt's death, "Do Re Mi" belongs in the same sainted pantheon as "About a Girl", "Sliver", "Lithium", or "All Apologies." This is Kurt Cobain at his most musical and introspective. It's sweet, maudlin alt-country. In fact, it sounds more like Elliott Smith than Nirvana. There's an arpeggio of slackly tuned guitar strings, scaling downward like the chimes on a British clock, and the vocals are performed in a crooner's warble. Kurt's voice is on the verge of breaking, but it just manages to sustain this ethereal melody, as he keens "Do re mi..." over and over again in a bluegrass falsetto, playing the acoustic guitar alone into his tape recorder.

Admittedly, many of these tracks are available elsewhere, but only if you put in the effort. Sure you could buy the Australian-only release "Hormoaning" EP, the "Beavis and Butthead Experience" soundtrack, a half-dozen singles, the Jesus Lizard/Nirvana split, the Velvet Underground tribute album, the charity "No Alternative" compilation, and the frequently bootlegged five "Outcesticide" albums, but even then, you've spent $250 and you're only HALFWAY towards owning everything present here on this boxset. And unlike bootleg compilations, most of these tracks are in PRISTINE condition. In the past, frequently bootlegged songs like "Anorexorist", "White Lace & Strange", "Clean Up Before She Comes", "Beans", and "Verse Chorus Verse" were sourced from sixth generation copies of audiotapes, frequently sunk in walls of tape hiss and audience chatter. The songs that appear here are taken from soundboard, not audience recordings, or from studio demos and radio sessions, and they sound fantastic.

And some of these songs are revelations. "Verse Chorus Verse" was previously only known from a bootlegged soundcheck rehearsal; here, we get it as a "Nevermind" outtake, recorded by Butch Vig in the studio, and it sounds AMAZING. "Old Age" was only known from a one minute and seven second real audio stream of a boombox recording posted onto a website seven years ago; here again, we get it as a "Nevermind" demo, in perfect quality with a catchy chorus and infectious hook that makes you wonder how Nirvana could throw away such an AWESOME song.

I know some people might be put off merely because there appear to be many alternate versions of songs they already know, but trust me, they would not include these alternate versions if they were anything like the versions we already know. Especially effective is the NINE minute version of "Scentless Apprentice" which begins with Dave Grohl in the background, barely audible, given instructions on how the riff should be played. The band kicks in, just playing the riff over and over, and at this point, there are no written lyrics, no structure to the song. But the band just jams away for nine solid minutes, and by minute six, the song has already begun to take the shape and sonic form of the song we know from "In Utero." It's fascinating to watch the creative process occur, and see the fully formed song take shape before our eyes.

If I had any complaints, it would be the minor omission of a few various excellent B-sides like "Do You Love Me" and "Spank Thru", but both are readily available on other Sub Pop compilations, and you can certainly seek them out. Also, the inclusion of "You Know You're Right" from the greatest hits compilation would have been nice. As it is, it requires one to purchase a whole CD for ONE song, which doesn't sound much like the punk ethos of Nirvana (but it does sound like Courtney Love).

As for the other elements of the box set, the packaging and the DVD are both excellent. The face plate is made of metal, embossed with the image of the band in their Brooks Bros suits, and the box itself is made of some sort of heat sensitive temper material that reveals tracklistings and other notes when you press your hand to it. The 60 page booklet is full of photos, quotes from the band, reproduced artwork from show bills, demo tapes, and recording session sheets, and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth writes an articulate and thoughtful analysis of Nirvana's strange dichotomy as heroes of both popular and alternative culture.

As for the DVD, it is perfect and fascinating. Considering that most of this material was shot with a home video camera and was never intended for any sort of official release, it just looks incredible. You get a full show from Krist's Mom's living room, full of songs that would later appear on "Bleach" and "Incesticide", and you get a perfect electric version of "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam", which appears to be from the same concert where the Lithium video was filled. The three songs from the OK Hotel, including the first ever performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and a embrionic "Pennyroyal Tea" are riot inducing. And post-fame performance of the unreleased "Talk to Me" is awesome. Here's hoping that one day we see "Talk to Me" released on CD.

The DVD and box set ends with a studio performance of "Seasons in the Sun", with Kurt on drums, Dave on bass, and Krist on guitar. Spliced together with clips of the band goofing around in happier days, it'd be emotionally manipulative if it didn't actually leave a lump in my throat. If you cry, I wouldn't blame you; it's sad and sweet and hilarious all at once.

4 December 2007 at 08:57  

 Anonymous said...

"Lights Out" turns on

It's been ten years since Kurt Cobain's tragic death, but his voice can still be heard in "With the Lights Out." This is something of the Holy Grail to a die-hard Nirvana fan -- three CDs packed with previously unreleased material like B-sides, demos, early work and rough recordings. With its grit and genius, this is a must have.

After years of wrangling, fans finally get to hear stuff that wasn't even bootlegged, like early versions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or solo Cobain performances. There are also rarities that fans have heard before, like the Velvet Underground tribute song. The first disc is perhaps the most intriguing, with its Led Zeppelin covers and rough-edged rock songs -- they are of awful quality, but that is not surprising. Nirvana was still stumbling into its sound, like any other young band.

Then we hear Nirvana starting to edge into their brand of polished grunge, followed by the acoustic demos. We have Kurt, we have a cassette recorded, and a guitar. It turns out that for a demo, that's all you need -- a few familiar songs, with Kurt puttering around on some short musical experiments. Split singles, covers, mixes and uncovered bootlegs -- they all are jammed on here.

The DVD is a perfect accompaniment to the boxed set. It has an oddly intimate quality, taking fans who may not even have been born at the time into Krist Novoselic's living room for rehearsals, or for an incongruous "Seasons in the Sun" recording in Brazil (yes, THAT song!). As an added bonus, there is a thick, photo-intensive book and essay by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore. Moore's perspective is pensive and insightful, as he studies Nirvana's influence.

Admittedly, there is nothing earthshattering in this boxed set. Rather, what makes it special is a sort of Nirvana collage -- listen to it a few times, and you can hear them growing from one song to another, one disc to the next. Some of the songs stink, particularly at the start. Some are merely okay. But quite a few are little nuggets of brilliance, forming right before your... ears.

Cobain's vocals in the acoustic tracks are a special surprise -- he sounds positively sweet, almost like he's doing a rock-country thing. The material that was done shortly before his tragic death is both poignant and insightful. Backing him, excellent musicians like Dave Grohl (once Chad Channing was gone) and Krist Novoselic grow into their musical prowess.

Let it be known: This is NOT really a new Nirvana album. It doesn't even compile the previousn works they did. Rather it's the bits and pieces left behind them as they grew, patched together in a colorful collage. "With the Lights Out" is worth turning on.

4 December 2007 at 08:58  

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