The 11 Best Seattle Bands

  Today is the Super Bowl. The day when we celebrate what it means to be American.  We eat, drink, watch sports and pass out.  Here's our pre-game warm-up for all you Seahawk fans. Here are the 11 Best Bands from Seattle (or close by):

1. Nirvana
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Pearl Jam
4. Soundgarden
5. Modest Mouse
6. Alice In Chains
7. Death Cab For Cutie
8. Foo Fighters
9. Heart
10. Sunny Day Real Estate
11. Mother Love Bone

   

The 11 Best Songs By The Faint

With Coachella launching this weekend, the most talked about musical reunion wasn't that of Outkast or Neutral Milk Hotel, it was that of Nirvana.  Being inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, an accomplishment in itself, brings with it the  pseudo-obligatory live performance.  The surviving members of Nirvana have rarely played together over the past 20 years.  And when they do, they avoid Nirvana songs.  But at the ceremony, in tribute, they embraced their legacy head on.

Finding a replacement for Kurt Cobain would be practically impossible.  And no, Dave Grohl is not an adequate choice (in that role).  Maybe Mark Arm...maybe Frank Black.  But then you're battling with whether those singers can put in a respectable performance.  There's too much judgement.  I liked that they went with all women.  It's out of the box cool.  Instead of trying to replace Kurt, they took a 90 degree turn and actually re-invented what Nirvana meant in the most awesome way possible.  I loved Joan Jett jamming with them.  I'm not a huge Kim Gordon or Annie Clark fan, but I respect the choices.  Lorde did feel out of place and not because of her pop sensibilities...she just didn't bring the emotion in the right way.  Not that she was too new (remember when Eddie Vedder fronted the Doors) it just felt the choice was forced; more dictated than selected.  She was certainly worlds better than most of her pop cohorts.  At the end of the day, it was a nice feeling to see the guys jamming together again.  It was a tribute worthy of Kurt's legacy.

Nirvana is one of those few bands where the surviving members actually like (love) each other.  It's respectable that they don't want to trample on the career of Nirvana by carrying on with the band but I would love to see them play together more.  They have great chemistry. They're super talented in their own right.  I love the Foo Fighters, but damn, do I miss Grohl slamming the skins.  And Krist on bass, plays sludgier and grimier than anyone.  Throw Smear in there, with punk core roots and that's a bad ass band in need of singer.  Maybe throw Chad Channing on drums...and...?  Coachella...are you listening?

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Faint:

1. Worked Up So Sexual (Blank-Wave Arcade)
2. Agenda Suicide (Danse Macabre)
3. Call Call (Blank-Wave Arcade) 
4. Southern Belles In London Sing (Wet From Birth)
5. Glass Danse (Danse Macabre)
6. Casual Sex (Blank-Wave Arcade)
7. Let The Poison Spill From Your Throat (Danse Macabre)
8. The Geeks Were Right (Fasciination)
9. Sex Is Personal (Blank-Wave Arcade)
10. Mirror Error (Fasciination)
11. Your Retro Career Melted (Danse Macabre)

Buy The Faint's new album, Doom Abuse...now!!!

Don't forget to check out our blog's awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s.  Available now! (featuring The Faint)

The 11 Unknown Tracks By Kurt Cobain

Twenty years have passed since the death of Kurt Cobain.  That's four times longer than the ever brief career of Nirvana.  In that period of time, Kurt Cobain's legend has grown.  His antics have been intensified.  His creative vision has become iconic.   As they say, Immortality is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.  In 1991, Nirvana was the right band at the right time. 

As legendary as Cobain has become in the lore of rock n roll, there remains a strong resistance against him and the quality of his music.  He's been called overrated, generic, and untalented.  I don't think any other artist out there who is loved and admired by millions is as hated as much as Cobain is.  The question I always wonder...is why?

It's one thing to not like the music of Nirvana.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Music is a personal journey and everyone's journey takes them somewhere different.  What I don't understand is how many people will flat out deny that Nirvana is influential, groundbreaking or an important part of rock history.  I think most people's adversity to Cobain is because everything about him was the complete opposite of what a rock star should be.  He dressed like he was broke.  He sang out of tune.  His lyrics were abstract.  He championed Boston and Black Flag in the same breath.  He did all the wrong things to become a rock star, yet, he became the biggest of his generation.  He refused to conform and by being an individual, he rose above the masses.  

To those who stand in the way individualism, who scream that the path most traveled is the path to success, that conformity is comfort, they will never understand why Cobain belongs next to John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix or Bob Dylan.  But because they don't understand is the reason they will never have the power to decide.

Below is a list of some songs you may not know featuring Kurt's presence.  But Kurt's influence is heard everywhere.  From Green Day and Tori Amos to The White Stripes and Weezer to of all people, Miley Cyrus.  Whether we like it or not, Cobain shaped our world and his spirit lives on in all of us.

Here are 11 Unknown Kurt Cobain Tracks:

1. Down in the Dark - Backing Vocals & Guitar (Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet)
2. Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Guitar (Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet)
3. Bikini Twilight - Guitar (Go Team - Scratch It Out)
4. A Bureaucratic Desire For Revenge Part 2 - Guitar (Earth - Extra Capsular Extraction)
5. Divine And Bright - Vocals & Guitar (Earth - Extra Capsular Extraction)
6. Sky Pup - Guitar & Co-Producer (Melvins - Houdini)
7. Hooch - Drums & Co-Producer (Melvins - Houdini)
8. Spread Eagle Beagle - Drums & Co- Producer (Melvins - Houdini)
9. The Priest They Called Him - Guitar (William S Burroughs - The Priest They Called Him)
10. Asking For It - Backing Vocals (Hole - Live Through This)
11. Softer, Softest - Backing Vocals (Hole - Live Through This) 

Buy Nirvana Music...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Nirvana

Last night I saw Paul McCartney perform live on Hollywood Blvd.  It was a surreal event with the streets closed down and a giant stage in the middle of the road.  This was the first of two live concerts for the Jimmy Kimmel show.  Monday night featured Sir Paul while Tuesday night would host Justin Timberlake.  I was the only one in my office who made the walk down to see Paul perform live.  Everyone else in the office chose to wait and see Justin Timberlake the next night.  When talking about Paul, there was even one girl in my office who said, "I don't even know any of his songs."  It wasn't until we had to explain to her that he used to sing for the Beatles that she finally acknowledged that she "guesses" she knows who he is.  After squeezing my way onto a balcony overlooking the street I was treated to one of the greatest rock n roll artists of all time...for free.  Perks of working in Hollywood.  One of the most amazing moments of the night was during "Hey Jude."  Now if you've never been to Hollywood Blvd. then let me explain to you that it's an amalgam of tourists, Angelenos, amateur hip hop artists trying to sell their rap CDs, bums, crazy drug addicts, and street people dressed up like your favorite movie personalities like Marilyn Monroe and Chewbacca. When "Hey Jude" started playing, everyone was singing along: the rich, the poor, and the guy dressed like Jack Sparrow. This one song transcended every era, every nationality, every walk of life.  It is bigger than iconic.  It defines iconic.  This ordinary man wrote a song that every man, woman, and child knows.  This song is a piece of our lives.  It is a piece of us.  It is a part of the tapestry of our universe.  This is the power one song has to bind us together.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Nirvana:

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nevermind)
2. Lithium (Nevermind)
3. In Bloom (Nevermind)
4. Serve The Servants (In Utero)
5. Heart Shaped Box (In Utero)
6. Lounge Act (Nevermind)
7. Pennyroyal Tea (In Utero)
8. All Apologies (In Utero)
9. Aneurysm (Hormoaning Version)
10. Sappy (No Alternative)
11. Rape Me (In Utero)

Buy Nirvana's In Utero 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition...now!

The 11 Best Songs With Dave Grohl That Are Not Nirvana or Foo Fighters Songs

As difficult as it was to narrow down David Bowie's career to 111 songs, this list might actually be harder.  I honestly believe Dave Grohl has been featured on more albums than David Bowie.  Though many of his appearances may be simmered down by some to a mere session drummer guest spot, there's a distinguishable energy on many of the songs where Grohl leaves his mark.  The new album is no different...not to mention...he directed a movie.  I was talking to my friend about the new album.  For some reason, he didn't realize who he was...finally after five minutes of explaining he said, "Oh, you mean the guy from Nirvana."  No wonder he does as much shit as he does.  Go Dave.

The 11 Best Songs With Dave Grohl That Are Not Nirvana or Foo Fighters Songs:

1. How Do You Do (Dave Grohl - Touch Soundtrack)
2. Every Day is Exactly The Same (Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth)
3. No One Knows (Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For the Deaf)
4. Against The 70s (Mike Watt - Ballhog or Tugboat?)
5. Bad Boyfriend (Garbage - Bleed Like Me)
6. Shake Your Blood (Probot - Probot)
7. Go With The Flow (Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For the Deaf)
8. Mind Eraser, No Chaser (Them Crooked Vultures - ST)
9. Good Golly Miss Molly (Backbeat Band - Sountrack)
10. Your Shoes (Taylor Hawkins - Red Light Fever)
11. It's All About The Benjamins Rock Remix (Puff Daddy - Been Around the World)

Buy the Sound Track to Dave Grohl's documentary, Sound City...now!!!

Free Music Friday: Newermind - A Tribute To Nirvana

I didn't post for the week since I've been out of town, traveling.  I was down in the south for a bachelor party.  We went to a hip-hop club that was supposedly the hottest club in town.  I personally thought the music was terrible and I may not have been the only one.  For the first two hours that we were there, no one danced except the occasional drunk girl looking for her friends as she crossed the dance floor.  I'm rather familiar with the popular rap music out there...and this DJ wasn't playing any of that.  This was some obscure southern crunk crap.  Supposedly this is what was hot in the area...but no one was dancing to it.  Then...in the middle of this hardcore rap set, the DJ switched it up.  He threw on a modern rock classic:  "Smells Like Teen Spirit."  Suddenly, every person of every age...every nationality...and every sex...jumped on the dance floor and went crazy.  This song by a dead white kid from Seattle...turned a dead hip-hop dance club into a bumping party.  People who say Nirvana and Nevermind are overrated have no idea what they are talking about.

Spin has put up a tribute album to Nirvana's classic album "Nevermind" that turns twenty this year.
Get it here free (just like their page on Facebook).

Below is the track list:

01 Meat Puppets: “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

02 Butch Walker & the Black Widows: “In Bloom”

03 Midnight Juggernauts: “Come as You Are”

04 Titus Andronicus: “Breed”

05 The Vaselines: “Lithium”

06 Amanda Palmer: “Polly”

07 Surfer Blood: “Territorial Pissings”

08 Foxy Shazam: “Drain You”

09 Jessica Lea Mayfield: “Lounge Act”

10 Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band: “Stay Away”

11 Telekinesis: “On a Plain”

12 JEFF the Brotherhood: “Something in the Way”

13 EMA: “Endless, Nameless”

The 11 Best Krist Novoselic Songs (post-Nirvana)

Okay Nirvana week wouldn't be Nirvana week if all three members (sorry Chad) didn't get some of the spotlight. And we're forgetting one of the most important members, bassist Krist Novoselic. Krist has had no where near the success that Dave has had in his post-Nirvana career...but that doesn't negate his importance while in the band. Come As You Are would not be the hit it was if Krist hadn't ripped off The Bauhaus...okay, just kidding.

But Krist has trudged along...putting out some listenable material over the years. From the mexican lounge of Sweet 75 to the granola jams of Eyes Adrift to the mini-Nirvana reunion with Dave on the Stinky Puffs to the seattle supergroup No WTO Combo with Jello Biafra and Kim Thayil to joining his idols and playing on the most recent Flipper album.

Here are the 11 Best Krist Novoselic Songs (post-Nirvana):

1. What I Said (Eyes Adrift)
2. Lay Me Down (Sweet 75)
3. Love Fight (Flipper)
4. Alaska (Eyes Adrift)
5. Electronic Plantation (No WTO Combo)
6. Dogs (Sweet 75)
7. Triple Mass (Flipper)
8. Telescope (Eyes Adrift)
9. New Feudalism (No WTO Combo)
10. Buddies Aren't Butts (Stinky Puffs)
11. Pasted (Eyes Adrift)

Buy Nirvana's new albums, Live at Reading, and Bleach 20th Anniversary.

The 11 Best Nirvana Covers (you've never heard)

With this being Nirvana week...I wanted to try and do something special.

Typically, I would do a "best of" list. But that's been done to death. Or I would do a B-sides list. But again...most of those have been released. So what would be a unique list that might get everyone salivating? Obviously unreleased material is always at the top of everyone's list. Now I could do a list of original songs that have never been released. Some refined...some just fragments of songs. But it seems almost typical. So...how about a list showing where Nirvana came from...a list of what they listened to and made them what they were. That's right. Covers. Everyone loves covers. And here's a sampling of some of Nirvana's best...worst...and just weird.

The 11 Best Nirvana Covers (you've never heard and not really in order):

1. My Best Friend's Girl (The Cars)
2. Bad Moon Rising (CCR)
3. Seasons in the Sun (Terry Jacks)
4. More Than A Feeling (Boston)
5. Baba O'Reilly with Krist singing (The Who)
6. Man Who Sold The World (David Bowie)
7. The End (The Doors)
8. Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (Ledbelly)
9. Love Buzz (The Shocking Blue)
10. Here She Comes Now (The Velvet Underground)
11. Do You Love Me? (Kiss)

Buy Nirvana's new releases....Live at Reading Fest...and the 20th Anniversary of Bleach Deluxe Edition.

The Unknown: Nirvana at The Off Ramp 1990 2

I grew up listening to Nirvana. From an indie rock band to the biggest band of the decade. I owned everything they ever put out. I never thought Kurt Cobain was a voice of a generation...he was the scream of our generation. So for today...here's a little bit about myself.

Here are the 11 Biggest Nirvana Moments of my Life:

1. Attending to the 1992 MTV Music Awards and watching Krist hit himself in the head with his bass.
2. Buying Bleach on cassette in 1989 and having all my friends tell me the band sucked and would never amount to anything.
3. Waiting in line at midnight to buy In Utero
4. Videotaping MTV Unplugged and watching it over and over for months
5. Getting my first Outcesticide at Fingerprints in Long Beach
6. Using Napster to discover rare unreleased copies You Know Youre Right.
7. Feeling special that my copy of Nevermind has the bonus Endless Nameless hidden at the end and everyone else in my dorm didn't have it.
8. Having a big party to watch Nirvana on SNL after In Utero's release
9. Getting 3 copies of Incesticide for Christmas even though I had purchased it two weeks earlier.
10. Spending hours holed away listening to With The Lights Out.
11. Watching the Live at Reading DVD while my daughter danced along to the music

Here's PART TWO to Nirvana's performance at the Off-Ramp in Seattle.

Buy Nirvana's Live at Reading and their 20th Anniversary of Bleach...now!!!

The Unknown: Nirvana at The Off Ramp 1990

There's not 1...not 2...but 3 Nirvana-related releases this week. Nirvana's epic performance at the Reading Festival (which comes out on both CD and DVD). Nirvana's 20th anniversary re-issue of their debut album Bleach (which includes a full concert from 1989). And...the Foo Fighters greatest hits. The three releases make for an interesting retrospective on the career of the band...from its beginnings (Bleach) to its apex (Reading) to its after-life (Foo Fighters).

Now, I've had most of the Reading festival performance for years on cassette. Yes...cassette. So to finally get it in video and CD quality is a nice pick-up. But despite everyone claiming this is the band's best performance...I'm going to have to disagree. It's a great one...one of their bests...but the best show I've ever heard is from the Off-Ramp in seattle. This happens at a time right when the band is on the verge of breaking out. Their songwriting has just taken a major step forward...yet they still are clinging to their punk sensibilities. It's an epic show that goes so long...the owner of the club has to close his doors...then re-open them after curfew so the band can continue playing. Only a band that had no rules could have pulled this off.

Here is Nirvana's Performance at the Off-Ramp in Seattle 1990:

1. Aneurysm
2. Oh, The Guilt
3. Mr. Moustache
4. Pay To Play
5. Breed
6. Floyd The Barber
7. About A Girl
8. Verse Chorus Verse
9. In Bloom
10. Swap Meet
11. Been A Son
12. Stain
13. Blew
14. Sappy
15. Lithium
16. School
17. D-7
18. Here She Comes Now
19. Sliver
20. Dive
21. Outside Banter
22. Dumb
23. Polly
24. Something in the Way
25. Negative Creep
26. Love Buzz
27. Where Did You Sleep Last Night
28. Spank Thru
29. Molly's Lips
30. Son Of A Gun
31. Sifting
32. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter

Here's PArt One. I've divided the show up alphabetically...just to mess with people. The rest of the songs will be posted tomorrow.

Buy Live at Reading and Bleach's 20th Anniversary...right now!!

The Unknown: Nirvana - The Live B-Sides

It was 15 years ago today...

Here are the Live Nirvana B-Sides:

1. Drain You (Live in Seattle, 10-31-91) - Come As You Are
2. School (Live in Seattle, 10-31-91) - Come As You Are
3. Polly (Live in Del Mar, 10-28-91) - In Bloom
4. Sliver (Live in Del Mar, 10-28-91) - In Bloom
5. About a Girl (Live, 2-9-90) - Sliver
6. Spank Thru (Live, 2-9-90) - Sliver
7. Been A Son (Live) - Lithium

Missing some Nirvana...complete your collection here.

The 11 Hard-To-Find Nirvana Songs

I know I'm a few days late with the post. I blame it on this terrible cough/cold that's been running around. I've been stuck in bed all weekend unable to move. How bad was it? Well, I was so tired...I couldn't even gather enough energy to change the channel on my TV's remote control. I ended up watching all five hours of The Ten Commandments...and LIKED it. Heston was one sexy man...wait, did I just say that out loud? Anyway...13 years ago...Kurt Cobain supposedly killed himself. But most of us know that he is really off on some island in Fiji with Tupac, Bradley Nowell, and Eazy-E helping Axl Rose write the mythical "Chinese Democracy." A few years back, a collection of Nirvana unreleased tracks was officially released. Though exhaustive...it left out a few gems.

Here are the 11 Hardt-To-Find Nirvana Songs:

1. Paper Cuts - Ed, Ted, and Fred Demos
2. Talk To Me - Unreleased Live
3. My Best Friend's Girl - Outcesticide 5
4. Spank Thru - Subpop 200 version
5. Seasons in the Sun - Rio Session
6. About A Girl (Live) - Sliver E.P. UK
7. Spank Thru (Live) - Sliver E.P. UK
8. Turnaround - John Peel Session
9. Divine and Bright - Earth and Kurt Cobain
10. Down in the Dark - Mark Lanegan and Kurt Cobain
11. Opinion (with intro) - same song as the box set only this include the infamous intro

I've just realized I have scores of other Nirvana gems that I've never uploaded to my computer...so more to come.

The 11 Best Unreleased Nirvana Cover Songs

What many people don't know is how prolific Nirvana was. Not only did Kurt Cobain write incredible original songs, he was also astute at taking other people's songs and making intense but unique versions of them. There are supposedly thousands and thousands of hours of tapes of Kurt just sitting around the house covering other people's songs. Rumor is, he would turn on the radio and cover the song on the radio at the moment, whether it was Tupac, Pearl Jam, or Madonna. The guy could do anything. A few years ago, I stumbled on a great bootleg that had some of the better covers. Hope you enjoy them all...

The 11 Best Unreleased Nirvana Cover Songs...

1. Fortunate Son (CCR Cover)
2. Welcome To The Jungle (GNR cover)
3. More Than A Feeling (Boston Cover)
4. For All The Cows (Foo Fighters Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
5. This Is A Call (Foo Fighters Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
6. I'll Stick Around (Foo Fighters Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
7. Doll Parts (Hole cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
8. Violet (Hole Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
9. One Step Closer (Linkin Park Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
10. Last Nite (The Strokes Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
11. I Fell In Love With A Girl (The White Stripes Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)