VARIOUS – KURT’S
CHOICE (NME)
Kurt Cobain always
expressed impeccable taste in music when referencing influences and heroes. For a cover mount CD
Appearing in 2004 to
mark the tenth anniversary of Cobain’s death, the NME accompanied a cover piece with
this thirteen-song collection of the good and the great. The considered with care selection ranges
from the obvious grunge
co-conspirators Mudhoney
then digs out the blues inspiration of Leadbelly through to the proto-punk of Iggy Pop
to the actual punk of Bad Brains
and the hardcore of MDC
to the emo mutation of Dischord
hardcore in Rites Of
Springs (and a future Fugazi) into
the birth of the alternative nation and grunge precurse of Butthole Surfers and Melvins with a side step to acknowledge
strong female acts in The
Slits and PJ Harvey and kitsch
oddball in The Vaselines. In other words the disc displays a wide field
of quality in independent acts.
It was always such
references and gestures that made Nirvana more
than a mere Kerrang! band. In many ways it was what kept them indie as
they became the biggest act on the planet.
I genuinely believe in the term The
House That Kurt Built because were it not for his reference I would only
have heard of two or three of these acts at best/most.
Any record that opens
with “Touch
Me I’m Sick” is likely to be a good one.
Then it feels quite perverse to hear such mucky sentiments placed next
to the optimistic emo straight edge motions of Rites Of Spring and “For Want
Of” which quite frankly has aged very well.
Key to the construct is the urgency that retains.
Remaining on Dischord, Faith
follows with their more straight ahead hardcore coming from the point things
were becoming more melodic on the label.
Ensuring Iggy Pop is included, a live
version of “Louie Louie/Hang On Sloppy” from 1980. Obviously this isn’t prime Osterberg and while the audio
cuts in and out subtly there is still clear fire and fury in the performance.
Opening up modern
wounds the Melvins next
launch a fifty second assault on proceedings as sometimes that is just as much
is required from King
Buzzo and co. Then in more measured
and jarring manner “Sweat Loaf” by the Butthole Surfers
arrives screaming “Satan! Satan!” while revolving like carousel round one of Black Sabbath’s best riffs. The drugs do work.
MDC pops up next with
the pointed “John Wayne Was A Nazi”, a song title clearly appreciated by Cobain and his
objectionable, anti-establishment attitude.
John Wayne really
didn’t do very well out of punk rock all considered as it was in Repo
Man that Tracey
Walter suggested he was a “fag”.
An appreciation for
post-punk and angular invention is represented by the inclusion of Gang Of Four then The Slits. Both provide tracks that pulse and jiggle,
decide on directions against anything expected.
Continuing a “Typical Girls” theme, The Slits move onto “Dress” by PJ
Harvey and he original acts of jarring effigy.
As the collection
colludes towards conclusion it offers two tracks Nirvana covered but could not have
been more different. The original
bubblegum version of “Molly’s Lips” by The Vaselines fiercely displays and
expresses the manner in which Cobain would construct his songs and frequently
insert repetitive lines both in chorus and verse. The real wonder however is whether Cobain
knew that the song was about actress Molly Weir who played Hazel
The McWitch in the kids TV show Rentaghost.
With this we arrive at
the original of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” by Leadbelly. Even though Cobain tried to make it his on
the Unplugged
performance, the overriding angst exhibited by Huddie Ledbetter is something
than can not be bettered or broken.
Following in a flurry
the hardcore classic “Banned In DC” by Bad Brains closes the compilation with a
time change and sense of reckless abandon all coupled with a guitar solo that sounds
like a police siren. Anyone with ears
likes Bad Brains.
Whether this actually
what Cobain would listen to in one sitting is open to debate but there definite
elements in each track that you can see filtered into his own material and
being. And it’s a better set of
influences than most acts scale.
All that’s missing is Sonic Youth.
Thesaurus moment:
presume.
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