The Days of Lore

Can you feel my love buzz?

Monday, September 14th, 2009 | musiX | 5 Comments

Of all Kurdt Kobain’s issues—the self-loathing, the heroin addiction … those unhealthy obsessions with Frances Farmer and The Vaselines—the thing that perplexes me most to this day is how he ended up with Courtney Love.

I bring this up in light of Love’s most recent attempt (and certainly not the last) to make a buck off her deceased husband’s name in what is probably the last thing Kobain would ever want to be associated with—a video game. Guitar Hero 5 was just released, and with it a digitized version of Kobain sporting his ratty cardigan and Daniel Johnston T-shirt performing two of Nirvana’s hits “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Lithium.” Creepy enough. But you can also toggle Kobain’s likeness (whose face sort of resembles a young Stephen Baldwin) to strike B-Boy poses along to Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise,” or perform (guitarless) songs by Bon Jovi, Billy Idol and—of all bands—Bush. Geez, might as well throw him into a pair of assless chaps while performing a Guns N’ Roses song (Maybe “One In a Million”?). Of course, Love is now denying she gave the game’s publisher Activision permission to use Kobain’s image and is threatening to sue. Kobain, meanwhile, is looking at all of this probably wondering, “What the fuck was I thinking?”

But I’m here to talk about happy things. Sub Pop is set to release a remastered reissue of Nirvana’s Bleach—you know, their first record … most people don’t own it. It’s been 20 years (to put it into perspective, Bleach came out the same year Milli Vanilli released Girl You Know It’s True). I am We are old.

If In Utero is Nirvana’s best album, Bleach is the most compelling and raw, taking the extremes of punk rock, pop and even metal (double-bass on “School” and “Scoff”!). It’s a rather unsettling and ugly record where melodies miraculously emerge from beneath an unruly tangle of riffs and feedback. Kobain’s vocals are more often slurred than sung, and lyrically he was at his most esoteric (even for him) and wrote a lot of the lyrics the day before recording. With Jack Endino manning the board, the album’s 13 songs were recorded over the course of 30 hours for about 600 bucks.

The Sub Pop reissue, which was overseen by Endino and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, will be released Nov. 3. The first run will come on white vinyl (like the original) and will include an unreleased live recording from 1990 of a performance at Portland’s Pine Street Theatre.

It’s interesting to think that when Bleach was released on June 15, 1989, the members of Nirvana were just a bunch of young punks in their early-20s probably wondering if the band would even make it three years—let alone change the world. Am I naive to think I will never see the day when Kurdt Kobain’s face is plastered on a lunchbox, or “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle” appears in a Chevy commercial? At least I can sleep soundly knowing that Love, in fact, has got everything to do with it.

“Blew” - Nirvana

“Love Buzz” - Nirvana

Tags: Bleach reissue, Courtney Love, Jack Endino, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Sub Pop

TDoL has a Melvin …

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | No Comments

… not the kind I used to get from seniors in gym class … an actual Melvin. Buzz Osborne has fronted the Melvins for the past 25 years, bashing it out heavy and weird while influencing floods of bands over the years of the stoner metal ilk. Without the Melvins, there’d be no Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age.

The band has not-so-quietly recorded 20-some albums with core members King Buzzo and drummer Dale Crover, who had a brief stint as skinsman for Nirvana during the Bleach years. Not much has changed, save for the fact that they finally added some consistent members a few years back in Big Business’ Coady Willis and Jared Warren.

The Melvins were one of Kurt Cobain’s favorites (Cobain had actually tried out for bass in the early days), which no doubt helped get the band signed to Atlantic Records in the early ’90s. In 1993 the Melvins released their Atlantic debut Houdini, a classic among the band’s followers that brought the slow and weird meat-and-potatoes sludge of songs like “Hooch” and, my personal favorite, “Teet” to a wider audience.

Almost a decade later, the Melvins were asked to play the album in its entirety at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in England. They obliged, and continue to play it today. But it’s not a case of a band resting on its laurels—the Melvins released Nude With Boots last year and, according to the outspoken Osborne, have no plans of stopping. Why should they?

The Melvins are playing a string of shows this month, including in Portland at the Roseland Theater on May 24—expect Houdini in its entirety as well as a few surprises. King Buzzo obliged to answer a few questions in his lovable, curt way—which I liken to a wedgie with words.

You’ve been playing Houdini live since performing it at All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2004. Wasn’t the album requested by someone at that festival?
Buzz Osborne: Yes this is true. They requested we play the Houdini record all the way through.

Is there an album of yours that you’d rather play live?
Not really, I guess. It’s a pretty good record for us to play all in one go. Lots of variety.

Someone else’s album you’d like to play in its entirety?
Tommy by the Who.

What do you think it is about Houdini that makes people return to it?
Do people return to it? I know we have but that’s because we know it now. Lots of our records have songs we had no intention of playing live.

Why did you choose to cover KISS’ “Going Blind” of all songs?
It’s a good song. I’ve always thought KISS had some good songs and some that were less than good. “Going Blind” is one of the really good ones.

I agree. What are you listening to these days?
Bobby Darin and Lou Reed.

I’ve read that you collect toys, but not records, which I found interesting. What’s your most prized possession?
Why is that interesting? Should I collect records? I have a ton of music and I listen to a ton of music all the time … just not on record. I don’t care what format music is on. No one should. My most prized possession would be my dogs.

Do you find that some people concentrate on the Melvins’ place in a certain time in music rather than the fact that you’re still making relevant, creative music today?
Actually, I find most people are interested in our new stuff as well as our old. I suppose some people only recognize the older elements of what we have done, but they are usually not fans of our band … so who cares what they think? I couldn’t be bothered worrying about things of no consequence.

Twenty-five years playing music … great? Surreal? Just what you do?
Of course it’s great. Doing anything for 25 years is a little surreal. What do I do? I go go go until it’s gone gone gone.

“Teet” - Melvins (Houdini)

“Going Blind” - Melvins (Houdini)

“The Kicking Machine” - Melvins (Nude With Boots)

Tags: Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, Houdini, Kurt Cobain, Melvins, Nude With Boots

The Vaselines enter The Days of Lore

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 5 Comments

Like many, my introduction to The Vaselines came via Nirvana’s Incesticide record in 1992. “Molly’s Lips” and “Son of a Gun” were cheery pop songs that sounded a little less Nirvana-like than the rest of the album. Of course, Nirvana would later cover “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” for its Unplugged album and, as with the brothers Meat (who incidentally have a new record out May 12), The Vaselines were soon on everybody’s cool-and-hip radar.

The Vaselines weren’t even a band by that point. Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee (for whom Cobain would name his daughter after) broke up—personally and professionally—in 1989, only three years after they formed. The band have only a pair of EPs and one full-length—Dum-Dum—released a few months before they called it a day. Ever since Mr. Cobain professed his undying love for the Scotland duo’s jangly garage pop, The Vaselines have maintained indie-rock cult status, and in 1992 Sub Pop re-released The Vaselines’ first two EPs and Dum-Dum as The Way of The Vaselines.

On May 5 Sub Pop re-released the re-release with a much more grandiose title Enter The Vaselines. And with that Kelly and McKee will also play a few U.S. dates, including one here in Portland at the Doug Fir on Wednesday, May 13. The show, no doubt, will be packed. Gee, imagine a world where Kurt Cobain didn’t endorse bands. Who could blame him? The Vaselines are everything I like about music: Sweet, catchy, naughty, ramshackle, strange, beautiful.

Eugene Kelly took some time to talk to TDoL about the upcoming tour and his first encounter with his biggest fan.

TDoL: When you formed The Vaselines in 1986, how did you think it would end up?
Eugene Kelly: We just wanted to write songs and play gigs. We were lucky that we released a single soon after we’d formed, but we didn’t have any plans. It was one day at a time and we were both at college so it wasn’t a full-time job being in The Vaselines.

Is it strange performing songs you wrote over 20 years ago, considering the fact that The Vaselines could have just as easily ended up long-gone and forgotten?
We could’ve been dead and gone and no one would’ve missed us if it wasn’t for Nirvana then Sub Pop introducing us to a new audience. It’s not strange to play these songs after 20 years at all. They feel new and fresh to us. We didn’t perform many of them live 20 years ago as we split soon after the Dum-Dum album was released.

Kurt Cobain asked you to reform in 1990 to perform with Nirvana in Edinburgh. It was obviously before Nirvana broke. What made you decide to do it?
I was interested in meeting these guys from far over the ocean who seemed to be fans of ours. It was a positive thing in my life at a time when—post-split, post-break up, post-college—I didn’t have much to be cheery about.

How did Kurt react to meeting you two?
We were introduced and chatted before the show; he seemed very shy and introverted.

You’ve both been involved in projects post-Vaselines. Does The Vaselines still satisfy a musical part of you that hasn’t been tapped into since?
I’ve played mostly folk-based acoustic music for the last few years and played solo shows, so playing electric guitar again is fantastic. I’ve missed making a racket.

What are you most looking forward to with the tour?
Simply getting to go to places that The Vaselines haven’t been before and seeing who is waiting to see us play. I can’t wait.

“Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam” - The Vaselines

“Sex Sux (Amen)” - The Vaselines

“Molly’s Lips” - Nirvana

Tags: Doug Fir, Enter The Vaselines, Eugene Kelly, Frances McKee, Incesticide, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Sub Pop, The Vaselines

Black Friday: Dylan Carlson … of this Earth

Friday, February 27th, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | No Comments

Guitarist/sometimes-vocalist Dylan Carlson has been the only consistent member of Earth since he started the band in Seattle back in 1990. But even Carlson disappeared for a stretch—OK, almost a decade—from 1996 to 2005, as he quit music and battled his own demons, namely a heroin habit he picked up from his longtime friend and one-time roommate Kurt Cobain. In fact, it seemed like at one point Carlson was destined to be forever known as the guy who bought the shotgun for Kurt (and talking about it in Nick Broomfield’s 1998 documentary Kurt & Courtney).

But Carlson re-emerged, and when he did Earth was bigger than ever, thanks in part to a couple of Earth fanatics who kept the name alive with their own band Sunn O))). Earth returned in 2005 with Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method—it was Earth’s first record in years, and marked a noticeable departure from the band’s glacial doom metal. Things got even more arty and weird in 2008’s The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, a glistening, instrumental space-rock masterpiece that is as slow and heavy as the band’s name implies. The album featured ax-work work by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and was the most critically acclaimed of the band’s career.

Earth is gearing up for a European tour before the members—Carlson, drummer Adrienne Davies (and Carlson’s girlfriend), bassist Don McGreevy and touring guitarist Steve Moore—head back into the studio to begin work on the followup to Bees. Earth will play a U.S. show tonight in Portland at Dante’s before heading across the pond on March 26.

Carlson took some time to talk to The Days of Lore about the idea of doing soundtracks and why he is such a fortunate man.

TDoL: Have you ever been approached to do a soundtrack?
Dylan Carlson: We haven’t been approached to do a soundtrack, but one of our songs is going to be in the new Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Coffee and Cigarettes) film. So, that’s going to be the first movie with one of our songs in it. But no one’s asked us to do a full soundtrack unfortunately. [Note: The Limits of Control is due out May 22 and stars Isaach De Bankolé, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton]

It sounds like something you’d like to do …
Yeah, definitely. It is something I’d really like to do at some point.

Are you writing any new music right now?
We’re gonna be doing a European tour at the end of March and all of April, and then when we get back we’re going to be looking at studios. Hopefully within a couple of months of getting back we’ll be working on the next record.

What kind of songs have you been working on?
It’s going to be kind of a different style in some ways like, the the bass and the piano are going to be the main [instruments] … I kind of want to move away from the guitar being dominant. Everyone follows the guitar and the guitar riff. I want the guitar to be more melodic, or doing little stuff in between. Kind of an atmospheric approach or coloring approach rather than “OK, here’s the riff,” and everyone’s hanging on that.

Will there be any vocals?
No, I still don’t foresee any vocals. Maybe if we do a cover.

What are you listening to right now?
Right now I’m really into this band from Mali called Tinariwen. They’re like my favorite thing in the world right now. I’ve been listening to a lot of that one Sly Stone record There’s a Riot Going On. A lot of King Sunny Adé. And then I’ve also been listening to a lot of Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple and Rainbow. John Abercrombie. He came out of Berklee [School of Music] around the same time as Bill Frisell.

Are you going to work with Bill Frisell again?
I don’t know. There are no plans right now, but who knows. Usually I base that kind of thing on who I think would do something cool. Right now there’s no one in particular in mind.

I read that you’re constantly playing the guitar. Are you still pretty disciplined?
Yeah, I’m fortunate enough as of March of last year to not have a day job. So I’m able to devote more time to guitar and working on music.

You’re excited about making new music …
The new record has done really well. It’s our biggest selling album. Yeah, everything is going really well.

Is it interesting to look back at the fact that you stopped for years, and when you returned the band was bigger than ever?
It’s weird. You know, a lot of people go away and no one gives a shit. While I was gone people were still into it, and Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley kept the name alive. We’ve also been fortunate in that we’ve attracted a whole bunch of new people, too. And we’ve been lucky to include a bunch of new people without losing the original fans. I’ve been really, really fortunate.

“Omens and Portents I: The Driver” - Earth

Tags: Bill Frisell, Black Friday, Dylan Carlson, Earth, Kurt Cobain, Sunn O))), The Bees made Honey in the Lion's Skull