On December 15, 1992 (December 14 in Europe) Nirvana released its compilation album Incesticide. Too often considered an underdog in Nirvana discography, this album is an excellent work by the band.

After the astonishing success Nevermind acquired with its release in 1991, expectations on Nirvana were set very high. The work on the band’s next studio album In Utero was taking quite long, so Nirvana offered the fans a compilation of tracks, most of which were already circulating in bootleg versions among the fan community. According to Charles Cross’ book ‘Cobain Unseen,’ Kurt Cobain agreed on releasing the compilation only after he was assured to have complete control over the art cover, which was entirely drawn by him.

1992 was a relevant moment for the band, which reached the top of the music world in 1991, changing music history forever; moreover the entire grunge movement had become a huge deal. This was reflected on the industry in a pushing need for a new Nirvana album, playing as a bridge between Nevermind and the announced In Utero: here comes Incesticide. The tracks contained were mostly outtakes, demos and covers, accompanied by some unreleased songs.

Incesticide turned out to be a pearl in Nirvana discography. It surely did not have the impact Nevermind had on masses, nor on the industry, nevertheless it is a very good mirror of who Nirvana was. The album in its entirety describes the complex spirit behind Nirvana. With its mixture of different momenta in music inspiration, Incesticide has a unique soul expressing the Seattle band’s geniality. Kicking off with Dive, a hard and straightforward amazing song, it also contains catchier tracks with a more popular oriented spirit, such as Sliver and Molly’s Lips. Punk is well defined by the amazing covers of Turnaround and Son of a Gun; the last song of the album, Aneurysm, is a strong, energetic track that can hardly be defined by words. Big Long Now is an obsessive repetitive song which results in perfection, and deeply touches the spirit of the listener; Beeswax has a peculiar construction and is probably the real pearl of the album, just to name a few.

The variety of the tracks well represents the multiple personality shades that Nirvana was able to express. Incesticide goes back and forth between the singular components of the complex musical mind created by Cobain and Co.. In every album, the band’s poetry is modeled through a selection of soul and inspirational movements, which are able to take form through simplicity. Putting together something so complex and passing it through with the kind of simplicity Nirvana was able to achieve in composing is surely one of the highest levels the music craft can reach. Incesticide explains exactly that.

The anniversary was celebrated on Record Store Day on November 23, with the release of double LP limited to 4000 copies. The anniversary edition features recompiled and remastered tracks from the original analog master tape and recording sources by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios. It was pressed on two 180 gram virgin vinyl discs and cut at 45 RPM vinyl.

No fancy celebrations as for last year’s Nevermind 20th anniversary and it is comprehensible. Nevertheless, big excitement should be expected for the piece of excellence that Incesticide is. A must have for all Nirvana and grunge fans of course, but also for those who are interested in understanding the many faces this band had.

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Satellite capacity offered by Eutelsat Communications will enable television networks and operators across Europe to broadcast in High Definition the exceptional 12-12-12 live concert to be held tonight in New York City to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The musical line-up performing at the “12-12-12″ concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City includes Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters, Kanye West, The Who and Paul McCartney. Celebrity presenters will include Chelsea Clinton, Billy Crystal, Leo DiCaprio, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kristen Stewart and Quentin Tarantino.

The live concert will cross the Atlantic via the EUTELSAT 12 West A satellite (downlink frequency 12.638 GHz, horizontal polarisation). The Free-to-Air signal will be received by Telefonica at its facilities in Madrid and reuplinked to the EUTELSAT 9A satellite (downlink frequency 12.054 GHz, horizontal polarisation) for Direct-to-Home reception as well as for cable and IP network distribution across Europe.

“12-12-12″ will be distributed worldwide to nearly two billion people through television feeds, radio and online streaming and available to 114 million television households in the US and to more than 400 million television households internationally via networks and feeds in North and South America, Europe, Africa,Asia and Australia.

The concert is being produced by James Dolan, Executive Chairman of The Madison Square Garden Company; John Sykes, President of Clear Channel Entertainment Enterprises; and Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founder and Chairman of The Weinstein Company.

Every single penny from ticket purchases and donations will go to serve the victims of Hurricane Sandy through the Robin Hood Relief Fund.

For the most up to date information on “12-12-12″ see http://www.121212concert.org.

Image Courtesy : Netfalls – Remy Musser / Shutterstock.com

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The final word about Sound City Documentary’s release has been given: the documentary will premiere in February at Sundance Festival. Taking place in Park City, Utah, the film festival yearly features the work of international independent filmmakers.

The long awaited and promoted documentary about one of the most famous recording studios of the world, the Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, CA, is a project conducted and directed by rock musician Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana). Grohl decided to immortalize the recording studio that made the history of rock’n’roll, after it closed in May 2011. The Studios witnessed the recordings of several rock’n’roll milestones, including albums by Tom Petty, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, as well as Nirvana’s Nevermind.

In his latest press release about the documentary Grohl said, “As a first time director, I am humbled to be able to share my passion for songwriting and storytelling with this incredible cast of legendary musicians, as seen through the extraordinary story of America’s greatest unsung recording studio, Sound City. Being included in this group of artists is a true honor, and the Sundance Film Festival is the perfect place to premiere a film about craft, integrity, and passion for art. I am over the moon!”

The tribute will, indeed, feature a large amount of musicians and producers who recorded at the studios, telling stories and sharing their memories about what Sound City used to be and what it meant for them and for rock’n’roll. Among others, the documentary will feature Tom Petty, Butch Vig, Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Josh Homme (Queens of The Stone Age), Mick Fleetwood, and Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails).

What Grohl has made clear since the beginning of this project is the willingness of portraying the spirit of pure and true rock’n’roll and its development. Dave Grohl is well known for having expressed more than once during the past year his concern about music losing its real soul and meaning, due to the over-digitalization taking place in the industry, which would homologate the sound and empty the feelings behind playing music. Some months ago, Grohl defined this vision behind the documentary, ending one of his press releases about the movie with the sentence, “Sound City is a film about the truth, the craft, and the integrity of Rock and Roll. Like the dark hallways of Sound City Studios itself, it might not be pretty…but it’s for fucking REAL.”

Foo Fighters’ frontman has also been hosting, for satellite radio provider SiriusXM, a series of radio shows dedicated to the studios’ history. The series started on November 29, and will air on different channels until the end of January. See the full schedule here.

Another important piece of this project will be the fans’ long-dreamed soundtrack. Some months ago it was announced that Grohl was working on it with former band mate Krist Novoselic and Nevermind’s infamous producer Butch Vig.

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Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer, is well-known to be involved in a wide number of side projects, besides his main activity in the rock band, the Foo Fighters. Recent history saw Foo Fighters announce an indefinite hiatus to their fans, but only after serving them with more than a year of astonishing live performances. The tour ended in September with the charity performance at Global Festival in New York, and it promoted the band’s  seventh studio album ‘Wasting Light,’ which had great success and won the band 5 Grammy Awards in the latest edition of the event.

Foo Fighters take a break then, Dave Grohl does not. Not only is he busy with the development of his long announced Sound City Documentary, a film about the infamous recording studios located in California which closed in 2011 after giving birth to some of the most influential albums in music history, he has also recently confirmed his presence on the drums of Queens of the Stone Age’s new album. Talking about the rock band, Grohl seems to be extremely excited, defining Queens of the Stone Age as the baddest rock and roll band in circulation. It is not the first time Dave Grohl participates to a Queens of the Stone Age album; in 2002 he banged the drums on the album ‘Songs For The Deaf.’

He recently talked about his feelings for the band in an interview with  BBC Radio 1′s Zane Lowe, saying:

“With Queens of the Stone Age, like, there were no boundaries with that band, there were no limits with them, it was like if you did something insane, you’d do more, if you did something that seemed too ridiculous– and honestly the new Queens of the Stone Age record, I’m playing drums on that, and I’ll do something so completely ridiculous, I’ll just, like, ‘There’s no way that Josh [Homme, Ed.] isn’t going to let me do that,’ and he’ll say, ‘Do that for forty-five seconds, over and over again, that’s become, like, part of the song, that is a big part of the song,’ and that’s the way they work.”

He then added about the general feeling of being part of this band:

“When you walk into a festival backstage with Queens of the Stone Age, it’s like, the record stops. People stop and they stare, and it’s like, Queens of the Stone Age are, without question, the baddest rock and roll band in the world! And they still are, and when ‘Songs For The Deaf’, when that came out, it blew people’s minds, man, for real.”

Dave Grohl and Josh Homme are also both involved in another project, the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which also features Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones at the bass.

Image Courtesy of Ant217

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Foo Fighters joined The Black Keys and Neil Young with Crazy Horse to perform at the Global Citizen Festival on September 29. The festival took place in New York and was organized as part of the Global Poverty Project, which aims to raise awareness and political interest towards the poverty issues currently afflicting the world.

Around 60,000 people had the chance to win a ticket to attend the five hours long show; they earned the right to win an entrance through different actions, mainly taken in social networks, directed to spread the word about poverty issues and projects.

Foo Fighters played a long set, with the performance of some of their major hits as reported by Today Online. In this framework, Dave Grohl took the chance to announce what seems to be a long hiatus coming for the rock band.

“Without making a big deal out of it, we don’t have any shows after this. This is it, man,” Grohl said. “This is the show where we come out and we play as many songs as we can in a short period of time, because, honestly, I don’t know when we’re gonna do it again and this is the perfect place to do it, right now, tonight.”

Rumors about a possible hiatus coming for the Foo Fighters, who toured massively after the release of their album “Wasting Light” in 2011, were spread over the internet about a month ago, after the Foo Fighters’ performance at Reading Festival, UK. During the Foo Fighters’ performance at the Reading Festival Grohl said “You guys realise we’ve got a lot of songs to play. It’s the last show of the tour and it’s the last show for a long time.”

After the strong reaction of fans worldwide, Grohl reassured everybody with a statement published on the official Foo Fighters facebook page, which read “Jeesh! Relax…..I was only talking TO England!! ABOUT England..Stop eavesdropping internets! xoxo Dave.”

The nicest man in rock seems to have re-changed his mind though. The words pronounced at the Global Festival seem to confirm the fears of Foo Fighters’ lovers, who will have to wait an indefinite time in order to enjoy once again the adrenalinic live shows the band usually serves to its fans.

Dave Grohl is currently busy with his main side project, the Sound City Movie. The film is a celebration of the infamous Sound City Studios in California, which were shut down in 2011, and where some of the most influential albums of all times, such as Nirvana’s Nevermind, were recorded.

The Foo Fighters hiatus might also serve well for the development of some new material on Grohl’s side for his other musical side projects. Over the others, the long awaited second album of the super-band Them Crooked Vultures might be a pleasant surprise for rock lovers.

Image Courtesy of   Foo Fighters

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“Jeesh! Relax…..I was only talking TO England!! ABOUT England..Stop eavesdropping internets! xoxo Dave.” This is the message Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters facebook page to reassure fans who got agitated after rumors of the Foo Fighters ending their touring activity for a long time after the performance at Reading Festival on August 26.

During the show in Reading, frontman Dave Grohl defined the night as special, then adding “Well, well, well. The f**king Reading festival. You guys realise we’ve got a lot of songs to play. It’s the last show of the tour and it’s the last show for a long time.” The anxiety traveled rapidly through fans, who thought about possible cancellations of the forthcoming shows schedule by the band. As reassured by Grohl, the Foo Fighters will instead go on playing a bunch of shows in September in the U.S., including the benefit concert “Global Festival” taking place in New York.

According to NME’s report, Foo Fighters’ show in Reading kept the spectacular features that usually characterize the band’s live performances. Foo Fighters typically engage in long sets for their fans, playing tracks that go through their entire career, enriching the performance with the distinctive energy and interactions with the audience that define Dave Grohl. Concerning the band’s performances Grohl told NME “We don’t do those little shows, we do those big shows, where everybody goes home saying, ‘I can’t believe they played that many f**king songs.’”

Foo Fighters’ performance in live shows was not always satisfactory to Grohl though. The frontman says they have improved with time. “We used to suck, but now we are pretty good.” During the performance in Reading, he also recalled the first time his current band played there ‘‘First time we ever played here, we played in the tiny tent and it was the hottest show we ever played. They asked us to headline and we said ‘No! We don’t headline the first time we ever play in England’. This was the first song we ever played,” introducing then the track Winnebago.

2012 is a special year for Grohl to be playing at Reading, aside from the tour he is undertaking with his current band. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous Nirvana’s performance at Reading Festival in 1992, defined by many as one of the best live performances in music history. Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl decided to homage his historical band in a very personal way. He dedicated Foo Fighters’ song These Days to his former band mates, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, telling the audience “I’d like to dedicate this song to a couple of people who couldn’t be here tonight. This one’s for Krist and this one’s for Kurt.”

Image Courtesy of   Foo Fighters

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Dave Grohl gave us another clue about his very own Sound City movie. The project was started by Grohl last year after the infamous Sound City Studio, where albums such as Nirvana’s Nevermind were recorded, was closed in May. A piece of the history of American Rock and Roll risked fading away, and Grohl decided to immortalize the spirit of the Californian studio through a documentary.

For the celebration of the Sound City studios, Grohl aimed to gather many musicians and producers who recorded there; Dave Grohl promises the documentary will be full of surprises. Meanwhile, he has apparently been working on the soundtrack for the documentary with Krist Novoselic and Butch Vig, with whom he recorded Nevermind in 1991, together with the late Kurt Cobain. No release date is given yet for the Sound City film, but the work is going on, as is reminded in the new teaser.

In the new teaser Tom Petty, Mick Fleetwood, Butch Vig, and Trent Reznor talk about the studio and one of its historical pieces, the analog recording console Neve 8028. Fogerty says that with the Neve 8028 “The bass sounds better, the human voice sounds better,” and Butch Vig adds “The Neve has incredible character, probably too much character.”

In a handwritten note made public in May by the official Sound City page, Grohl explained his project and the feelings behind it. “Sound City is a film about America’s greatest unsung recording studio. Deep in California’s Sun Burnt, San Fernando Valley, tucked away behind the train tracks and dilapidated warehouses, it was the birthplace of legend. It was witness to history, it was home to a special few, intent of preserving an ideal […] Sound City is a film about the truth, the craft, and the integrity of Rock and Roll. Like the dark hallways of Sound City Studios itself it might not be pretty…but it’s for fucking REAL. ”

The excitement for the upcoming film is growing among fans, who are following the updates the ex-Nirvana drummer makes available for the public from time to time on the official Sound City webpages. Dave Grohl is gaining a lot of appreciation by Rock and Roll lovers, who seem to particularly like his project; one of the comments in the web reads “Can’t wait for this documentary. Kudos to Dave Grohl, the last bastion of hope for Rock n roll.”

Here is the new teaser:
http://youtu.be/F_xSj739-Uk

Image Courtesy of  Rongyos 1997

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Tenacious D, the self-proclaimed “Greatest Band On Earth,” is back with a new album, ‘Rize Of The Fenix.’ It will be released on May 15, six years after the latest studio album ‘The Pick of Destiny’. The rock duo, composed of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, uses the ironic approach, in this album, that has always characterized Tenacious D.

Black and Gass demonstrate with this album that they can make fun of pretty much everything, themselves included, nevertheless playing some very serious and solid rock ‘n’ roll. Furthermore, the drumming of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), who serves as drummer for the studio recordings of this album, is unmistakable. After all, Grohl is one of the best drummers in the world.

The album opens with the song ‘Rize of the Fenix’, which re-establishes the presence of Tenacious D in the music scene. The listener will move in the album within funny lyrics, roaring guitars, and blooming drumming. Everything is enriched by the presence of a couple of skits, which give a strong sense of rock opera, recalled by the entire structure of the album. Every track, as well as the album cover (it features a penis), is full of sexual references which have to be taken for what they are: not offensive, just classically silly.

The best songs of the record are ‘Rize Of The Fenix,’ ‘Roadie,’ ‘Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage,’ ‘Throw Down’ and ‘Rock Is Dead,’  capturing and enhancing the whole approach used by”The D”, both musically and in terms of attitude.

The album is really enjoyable, easy to listen to, goes on smoothly, and does not get boring after few listens. It catches the listeners with great rock sonorities, and entertains them with comedy. Black’s voice sounds rougher than in the previous records, more old-school-rock and blues-style oriented.

The message that Tenacious D sends is a genuine one: don’t take everything so seriously. This does not prevent them from addressing, in the song ‘Rock Is Dead,’ one of the main issues of the current state of music and rock ‘n’ roll.

When Peter Travers, of Rolling Stones, asked about the thoughts behind the song, Jack Black said that he feels like the only great rock acts left in the industry are the Foo Fighters, Jack White, and the Black Keys.

“When you think about rock, at its origin, you think of the Beatles and millions of kids screaming as loud as they can and running as fast as they can toward the Beatles. There is no one that is that kind of lightning rod. I contend that the last band to really have that kind of power was Nirvana,” says Black.

Rize of The Fenix is probably the best work by Tenacious D so far, with a sound that is completely mature, and an attitude that never matured instead.

Rating:
SUPERB 4.5/5

Image Courtesy of    Tenacious D

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Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters frontman and ex-Nirvana drummer, and Krist Novoselic, ex-Nirvana bass player, have been working with infamous producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig, on the soundtrack for the Sound City Movie, the documentary project that has been carried on by Grohl.

Recently, Vig, who produced both Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ and Foo Fighters’ ‘Wasting Light,’ tweeted “The last 24 hours have been surreal! Had a great gig at the El Rey last night, and spent today recording with Dave, Krist and special guest!”

This was enough to create big excitement in the web about the nature of the work, also generating all sorts of guesses about the special guest who could have possibly participated in the recordings. It was then soon clarified that the project the three musicians have been working on is the Sound City Movie soundtrack.

Butch Vig gave an update to NME.com, about the work and the time of the future release “We’re not really sure how it’s all gonna end up at this point but its been fun. There’s still quite a bit more work to do and we hope to finish up in the next three or four months, and try get it all mixed and completed some time in the fall.”

The Sound City documentary will feature the glorious studios of Los Angeles, CA, where some of the greatest rock masterpieces, including Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind,’ were born.

After its closure as a commercial studio in May 2011, Grohl decided to pay tribute to the place where many of the most famous rock albums were recorded. Grohl told Rolling Stone some time ago “When Sound City closed last year, it was a very sad day. That place was like a church. The list of people that recorded there reads like a virtual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame… We recorded Nevermind there back in 1991. That funky old place had the best drum room in world. The drum sound at the beginning of Smells Like Teen Spirit – that’s Sound City.”

Some jam sessions and co-operations for the documentary, with several artists, have already been announced by Grohl himself(read Toonari Post’s article on the Sound City Movie), and we are sure the rock star is working on surprising fans even more. The collaborations, also expected in the album, are one of the reasons why the soundtrack of the documentary has been much awaited. The now-announced participation of Novoselic in the project spices things up even more.

After Kurt Cobain’s death and the subsequent Nirvana break-up, Novoselic has not been very active in the music scene, dedicating his efforts mainly towards politics, although he played bass on Flipper’s latest album, released in 2009. Grohl and Novoselic recently got back together for recording a track, ‘I Should Have Known,’ for the latest Foo Fighters’ album ‘Wasting Light,’ released in 2011, which has already become a milestone of rock.

What is sure is that Grohl, Novoselic and Vig are a great musical combination, since whenever they have been together, they created musical masterpieces, first with Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind,’ and recently with Foo Fighters’ ‘Wasting Light.’ Very high expectations are then set for the Sound City Movie soundtrack.

Image Courtesy of   ant217

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After the success of the ‘Nevermind’ commemorative editions released in 2011 for the album’s 20th anniversary, Nirvana fans around the world are wondering about a deluxe edition of ‘Incesticide,’ the album which was released by the band in December 1992, turning twenty this year”.

Although no indication is given yet about the ‘Incesticide’ commemorative release, Nirvana fans will soon have something else to keep them entertained. Smokin’ records will, indeed, release a new Nirvana live album on March 12 in Europe, and March 20 in the U.S..

‘Feels Like The First Time’ is a compilation of some of the live performances played by Nirvana in 1992 and 1993, and broadcasted by different TV and radio stations. The performances of twenty one tracks originally included in ‘Nevermind,’ ‘In Utero’ and ‘Bleach’ are contained in the album.

The most notable feature of the record is part of the set that Nirvana played on December 13, 1993, at Seattle’s Pier 48 warehouse. The band played on that day a concert for MTV, well known as the ‘Live And Loud.’ The concert also featured The Breeders and Cypress Hill.

The ‘Live And Loud’ performance became legacy for Nirvana, being one of the most notorious live shows of the band, along with the ‘Live At Reading,’ ‘Unplugged In New York’ and the ‘Live At The Paramount,’ the latter recently released as part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of ‘Nevermind.’

The second live set included in the ‘Feels Like The First Time’ album, is the Triple J Broadcast of the band’s performance at The Palace, in Melbourne, Australia, held on February 2, 1992. At the time, the band had recently released their masterpiece ‘Nevermind.’

To complete the Nirvana live experience, the album features four tracks performed during two appearances of the band at the Saturday Night Live show, in 1992 and 1993.

The album is available for pre-order. Here is the full track list:

1. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
2. Drain You
3. Breed
4. Serve The Servants
5. Rape Me
6. Heart Shaped Box
7. Pennyroyal Tea
8. Scentless Apprentice
9. Lithium
10. Endless Nameless
11. About A Girl
12. Come As You Are
13. Breed
14. Polly
15. Lounge Act
16. Love Buzz
17. Lithium
18. Smells Like Teen Spirit
19. Territorial Pissings
20. Rape Me
21. Heart Shaped Box

Tracks 1-10 Live And Loud Broadcast, Seattle, December 13, 1993
Tracks 11-17 Triple J Broadcast, The Palace, Melbourne, February 2, 1992
Tracks 18-19 Saturday Night Live, January 11, 1992
Tracks 20-21 Saturday Night Live, September 25, 1993

Watch the ‘Drain You’ performance at MTV ‘Live And Loud’

Image Courtesy of   http://www.myspace.com/nirvana

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Here is the second part of the interview with Scream, one of the core bands of the hardcore punk scene that developed in Washington D.C. during the ‘80s. After their split in 1990, they recently reunited, releasing, in 2011, the EP ‘Complete Control Session’, and touring both the U.S. and Europe. Toonari Post met Scream in connection with their concert in Vienna, Austria.

Scream’s music is available for purchasing in the major digital platforms.

Toonari Post (TP): The name of one of your records is “No more Censorship”. There has been much talking lately about laws and agreements like ACTA, which are presented to protect intellectual property rights, but that indeed restrict the possibility of expression of people, as well as their general privacy, due to strict control: what is your opinion about that?

Pete Stahl (PS): well those are pretty complicated issues, and I’m not familiar with the legislation. They should protect people’s art, finding a balance, without giving governments access to people’s information and be able to track them. I don’t mind someone using our songs to create something else, but I wanna be credited, and if they’re gonna make money out of it, I wanna be paid.

Our music is like a picture that you can cut out of a magazine and make a poster out of it, it’s fine. I think there are some other things that could be done out of a legislation. So I’ll leave it up hopefully to politicians.

TP: So your position is against free music downloading.

PS: I come from that era when we traded tapes, but it’s different now. It’s much more disposable. I think there is a whole generation of kids that doesn’t even value music the way we did. Music is not treated with the respect that should be. I don’t think the whole downloading thing is good for artists.

It’s hard enough for a musician to make a living, and now it’s even harder. Now the only way you can make a living is by touring, or by selling your music for commercials, and something like that. You could make a little bit of money out of selling your music, but now this generation doesn’t feel like they have to pay for music, even though it costs money to make it. You spend your whole life doing it. Now people are going online and try to raise money for it. I think people should be paid for their art.

TP: You said that you think a lot of kids nowadays do not respect music…

PS: I don’t think the new generation values music the way we did, it is just a different timing.

Kent Stax: There are people that do, just not in general.

PS: It’s not just music, I just don’t know if the kids of today are as much involved; I don’t know if there’s interest in the world, politics, art, as there was in our generation and the generation before. They’re more interested in wearing that kind of hairstyle. It’s cool to go to a protest just because your friends are there. They’re not really doing anything.

TP: Don’t you think that if a band, or an artist, makes a good record, people will buy it anyway?

PS: I think that people that care about music would feel obligated to pay for it, but I just think in general it is not like that. People grow up expecting music to be free; “I don’t have to pay for that, I can just get it here, why would I pay for it?” It just creates a culture like that; that might change. We don’t have much; all we have is music.

Skeeter Thompson: I’m with Pete in this. It’s bad that the industry is doing this to artists. A lot of people are taking music, and musicians, for granted. It’s not like we play for being the best or something, we play because it is a passion. It’s different when you’re doing things out of necessity, or you’re doing it just for whatever; and that’s how it goes now, like downloading.

People now don’t even wanna play the whole song, they just play a part and then skip to the next song. Back in the day we would be like “check this, man!” put on the music and listen; now when people put music on, they start talking, texting…

TP: Do you think that the music industry respects music?

PS: I think there are a lot of people involved in the music industry that are the same people involved back in the days, come from the old school, and have respect for music. They treat music as a craft. Ultimately it is a business. Every era has like top 40 and pop music that is for everybody.  Most people that are in the music business are there because they love music.

TP: But we are the first era with talent shows…

PS: I don’t think there is much difference now. It’s just that today’s media is integrated in our lives in every minute. Before there was not like ‘Euro vision’, the entire world was not watching these. There are just more people watching TV, and now TV is like the church. It’s so crazy, because kids wanna be like that, and what’s more important to the people that want to be in the show is, like, losing weight, or dancing, or whatever. They don’t wanna be that fat person on TV, and that is sad. All you wanna do is be that one on TV. This keeps everyone kind of medicated.

TP: Where do you see Scream in three years?

PS: I don’t know, I really don’t know. I hope we’ll make another record. The most important thing was to get back together, make some music, and say something now. During the shows we play the old stuff and the new stuff. I wanna keep playing music for the rest of my life, in one way or another, that’s for sure. Music is my life.

Clint Walsh: I think there’s a really good reaction to the new songs, and to all the songs. There is a broader range of age; there are more kids than, speaking for myself, I would have thought.

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The Washington D.C. hardcore seminal band Scream recently returned to the music scene, after breaking up in 1990. Considered one of the benchmark bands in the history of the D.C. hardcore music movement, the band told Toonari Post that they thought about reuniting for a long time, but due to organizational problems, as the band members are dedicated to their families and live in different parts of the U.S., the project was on hold.

Finally, in 2009, Scream came back together with a live performance in D.C. and in 2011, the band released the amazing EP ‘Complete Control Sessions’, produced by Side One Dummy; they then started touring the U.S. and Europe.

Scream expressed the hope of releasing a new album, in ‘LP mode;’ although they have already started working on new material, there is no time frame for the release of a new album yet.

The band is now composed of the original line-up, frontman Pete Stahl, guitarist Franz Stahl, bassist Skeeter Thompson, and drummer Kent Stax, with the addition of a new guitarist, Clint Walsh.

Toonari Post had the chance to meet with Scream in Vienna, Austria, during their European tour.

The show brought on stage the spontaneous energy and positive attitude that has always characterized the band; the set-list mainly focused on the first two albums, ‘Still Screaming’ and ‘This Side Up’, both released in the ‘80s, with the addition of the new material from 2011.

Scream’s music is available for purchasing in the major digital platforms.

Toonari Post (TP): Your lyrics have always had strong political and social connotations. What is the bottom line message you hope to send with your music? Has the way you see the world changed in the last 30 years?

Pete Stahl (PS): Ah well not really, as a lot of songs right now have still kind of the same themes and subject matters. In a way, our music is always about being positive about life, being aware of what is going on around, and then having a good time in your life.

TP: In one of the songs of the new EP, “The Year Bald Headed Singers Were In”, you have a line about punk rock being dead again in 2011. What do you think about the state of rock in general in this moment?

PS: I think there is a lot of great music out there, but I don’t think there are a lot of bands that really care about what they stand for, or that really have anything to say, other than be really musically talented. They express it that way, which is fine; it’s just not where I come from as a singer. ‘The Year Bald Headed Singers Were In’ is a funny song, but it means something too, in a humorous way, and it is a good hardcore song.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s really important to music today. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it, but I think that the amount of ways available to people to communicate to each other seems to make things more superficial, less important. It is unfortunate, because I think that all the powers that control this world like people to be more preoccupied with something else; like that, the world can turn the way they want to.

TP: Which role do you think music covers nowadays in the society?

Skeeter Thompson (ST): Well, it has always been a cry for freedom. It has always been awareness, and communication.

PS: I think the main thing about music is communication. People communicate with each other; it’s a way for musicians to communicate their feelings and their ideas to people. It brings people together. It’s a language that goes from the musicians on stage and back.

ST: It’s how people actually see things; I mean their feelings, their emotions, and people’s problems.

TP: The last Rock ‘revolution’ took place 20 years ago, with the raise of grunge. Do you feel that nowadays there is a community growing with a strong identified approach to rock, as happened for you in D.C. in the 80s with hardcore punk, and as happened for the last time in Seattle, with grunge, 20 years ago?

PS: I think you always have new explosions here and there in music. I mean it’s not like grunge was some new way of playing rock and roll. It was more a reaction to hair metal, and a new access to rock; but it suddenly turned into Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains, which is kind of the same thing, just dressed down.

I’m sure there will be one, you just never know where it comes from. I mean, people are making music these days by exchanging files, and I don’t think music is made by exchanging files. Rock ’n’ roll is basically three chords, and melody, and melody; I think there will always be someone who will reinvent it, and touch people’s hearts and minds. That always happened.

TP: Being Dave Grohl’s first professional band, you are often associated with Nirvana and Foo Fighters. How do you feel about that, as you play a different kind of music?

PS: It’s just the way it is. We were very lucky that we found Dave, and he played drums for us, and he was very lucky to play with us, or he wouldn’t have had Nirvana. I don’t have a problem with that; it also helps us out, like people know about Scream out of their success. We come from a very small scene, a very small gender.

The D.C. hardcore scene it’s a very cool scene; I’m proud of being part of it and Dave is part of it. The only thing that bothers me is when people just don’t know anything about us, and just want to hear of Dave when talking to us. We were a band before Dave was in the band, and he would be the first person to tell you that.

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Foo Fighters frontman and Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl, reached out to his fans to talk about music and its meaning and to clarify some of his statements at the 54^th Grammy Awards show.

Foo Fighters had an exceptional night on February 12 at the Grammy Awards; the band took home five awards: Best Rock Album with their ‘Wasting Light,’ Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance with ‘Walk,’ Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for ‘White Limo’ and Best Long Form Music Video with their documentary ‘Back and Forth.’

While accepting the award for Best rock song, Grohl gave a speech about Foo Fighters latest album and the importance of the human element in music, explaining how this issue was addressed in the making of Foo Fighters ‘Wasting Light.’ He said:

The human element of making music is what’s most important. Singing into a microphone, and learning to play an instrument, and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct; It’s not about what goes on in a computer, it’s about what goes on in here [heart] and what goes on in here [head].

When the speech time finished, the musician was clearly not done talking; he tried to say something and ended up screaming ‘Long Live Rock ’n’ roll!’ when it was clear Foo Fighters had to leave the stage.

His speech has caused a host of reactions, going from those who got very excited about the statement about his recording approach and Grohl’s attitude, to some electronic music fans and artists who interpreted Grohl’s speech as an accusation that their style of music is insincere.

To clarify, Grohl got back in touch with his audience through the Foo Fighters facebook page, explaining what he really meant and what was left to say on Sunday night.

In the message, he talks about his love for all kinds of music; “Electronic or acoustic, it doesn’t matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with.”

He then specifies: ‘The ‘human element’. That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became “bad” things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily “fixed”.

The end result? I my humble opinion…..a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place. And, unfortunately, some of these great advances have taken the focus off of the actual craft of performance.”

After making clear he does not think of himself as the best musician ever, he goes on saying; “I try really f***ing hard so that I don’t have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song. I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that’s what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real.”

He concludes by mentioning Skrillex, an electronic musician who makes a real craft out of his music in Grohl’s opinion, even if he uses different tools in respect to rock‘n’roll. Dave Grohl explains; “if it were that easy, anyone could do it, right? (See what I did there?).” His last hint refers to the well-known criticism of Grohl’s former band Nirvana, whose technical simplicity has been considered a negative feature by some, albeit never succeeding as a conclusive argument against enjoying Nirvana’s music.

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Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters frontman and ex Nirvana drummer, has presented another of his projects, revealing to the world the first teaser of his upcoming documentary. The documentary will feature the glorious Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, CA, where some of the greatest rock masterpieces were born.

Lately Grohl seems to have made a special connection with screen entertainment; after the release of Back and Forth, the Foo Fighters documentary, and the musician’s appearance in movies, such as ‘The Muppets’ last year, it has been announced that Grohl will be the executive producer of an upcoming rock-band-based sitcom for the FX channel.

Since its beginning in the early seventies, the Sound City Studios has witnessed the creation of infamous albums such as Nirvana’s Nevermind and Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled album, before its closure as a commercial studio in May 2011.

Artists of the caliber of Neil Young, Tom Petty, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, System of a Down, Johnny Cash and Motorhead have entertained the world with recordings that took shape at the Sound City Studios. That is probably the main reason why Dave Grohl was interested in directing a documentary on this piece of rock‘n’roll history.

“When Sound City closed last year, it was a very sad day. That place was like a church. The list of people that recorded there reads like a virtual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame… We recorded Nevermind there back in 1991,” Grohl told Rolling Stone magazine in a recent interview. “That funky old place had the best drum room in world. The drum sound at the beginning of Smells Like Teen Spirit – that’s Sound City.”

Although not many details on the specifics of the documentary are available, the musician from Virginia recently explained in an interview with Rolling Stone: “I decided to make a film about that feeling when you put five guys in a room, hit “record” and the hair on the back of your neck stands up. Expect some epic jam sessions.” This should giving an idea of the documentary’s mood.

Besides pre-announced jam sessions with Corey Taylor, Cheap Trick, and members of hair metal band RATT, it can be extrapolated from the teaser that interviews with artists who experienced the magic of the Sound City Studios will be featured, including Krist Novoselic and Tom Petty.

The teaser also lists a series of musicians who contributed to the history of Sound City, without giving any further indication of what to expect from their contibution. Some of the mentioned artists are Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures), Butch Vig (musician for Garbage and notorious producer), and Frank Black (The Pixies).

No release date is given for the documentary yet, but according to the Sound City Movie website it will be ‘coming soon’.

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Rock band Foo Fighters won five Grammy Awards in occasion of the 54th edition of the music event, being second only to Adele, who won six, in number of awards. The band got awards for Best Rock Album with their ‘Wasting Light,’ Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance with ‘Walk,’ Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for ‘White Limo’ and Best Long Form Music Video with their documentary ‘Back and Forth.’
Foo Fighters were further nominated for Best Album; the award was instead assigned to Adele’s record ’21.’

The success of Foo Fighters was preceded by an incredible year. In April 2011 the band released the album ‘Wasting Light,’ produced by infamous Butch Vig, which debuted as number one in the Billboard 200 chart, selling 235,000 copies only during the first week. After the release of the album, the band toured the world during the whole second half of 2011, and is about to start the second leg of the tour. Furthermore Dave Grohl recently announced that Foo Fighters will be back soon to record their 12th album.

Foo Fighters performed at the 54th 2012 Grammy Awards show bringing on stage their pure rock soul. Their first performance was introduced by a thrilled Jack Black – comedian, actor and musician – who defined the outdoor stage as ‘the place to be,’ because of the raw Foo Fighters’ energy. The band showed up on stage with the excited eyes of the winners.

A jumping crowd enjoyed the band’s performance of the hit ‘Walk;’ a Dave Grohl wearing a Slayer t-shirt seemed particularly energetic, giving a passionate performance while cheering on the crowd. At the end of the performance the frontman clapped the audience, showing once again the sense of gratitude towards fans that has always characterized Foo Fighters.

When later awarded for Best Rock Performance for ‘Walk,’ frontman Dave Grohl expressed the band’s feeling of honor for being a part of the event and defined ‘Wasting Light’ to be a very special album for them. He explained that rather than go to an expensive studio and use fancy computers to create the record, they recorded the mentioned album in Dave Grohl’s garage, using only ‘some microphones and a tape machine.’ He thanked producer Butch Vig, who joined them on stage, and who was defined by Grohl as ‘the best producer in the world.’

The frontman then thanked a number of people involved in the creation of the record, right before stating that the success the band is having with their recent record ‘Shows that the human element of making music is what’s most important. Singing into a microphone, and learning to play an instrument […] that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct; It’s not about what goes on in a computer, it’s about what goes on in here [pointing to the hearth] and what goes on in here [pointing to the mind].’ Then Dave Grohl screamed in front of a standing ovation ‘Long live rock ‘n’ roll!’ while producers tried to play him off the stage.

Later in the evening Foo Fighters also performed together with Deadmau5. The beginning of performance saw Foo Fighters playing their single ‘Rope’ with a later introduction of the electronic beats of Deadmau5 at a certain point of the track. Deadmau5 then finished the performance alone, with Dave Grohl enjoying it together with the crowd.

On the day preceding the February 12 show, Foo Fighters talked about their music stating that, with their ‘Wasting Light,’ they already won in their own hearts. Dave Grohl then ironically added ‘f–k the heart, I want the Grammy.’ With five Grammy Awards, it seems that Foo Fighters frontman’s desires have been pleased.

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Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters frontman and ex-Nirvana drummer, will participate in a TV project involving rock music. Some may think this is not big news. However, something new is about to happen in Grohl’s career. According to Deadline Hollywood, Grohl is going to be executive producer of an upcoming sitcom for the FX channel.

It will be a 30-minute show, created by and starring Dana Gould, who also produced and starred in the 2010 ABC pilot, ‘Nolan Knows Best’. The comedian is a Foo Fighters fan and decided to approach Dave Grohl for the project due to his being known as a very funny guy and the fact that Grohl is friends with several comedians. The musician’s particular sense of humor can easily be found in some of the music videos by his band, like Learn to Fly and the latest White Limo.

The plot of the comedy-to-be will feature a rock band struggling to stay together just when they are about to reach huge notoriety, leading the components to seek professional help in order not to break up. Unfortunately, they will find a misanthropic therapist who specializes in couples therapy, who is himself about to divorce his wife.

There is no indication whether or not the nicest man in rock will make an appearance in the sitcom or if the latter will feature some of his music released by the Foo Fighters or by any of his side projects.

Dave Grohl surely has a predisposition to exploration. As a matter of fact, besides currently being the Foo Fighters frontman, he also has developed different side projects during his career. The most influential one is the recent superband, Them Crooked Vultures, which features John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age together with Grohl.

He also participated in a variety of collaborations with Tenacious D, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, The Prodigy, Paul McCartney, and Cage the Elephant, just to cite some. Singing and playing has not been the only activity for the 43-year-old artist; he has also given voice to some television and movie characters in ‘The Muppets’ (2011), ‘Metalocalypse’, and the animation movie, ‘Daria-Is It Fall Yet?’.

The movie, ‘Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny’, features Grohl playing Satan. He has also played an uncredited role in the episode ‘Pusher’ of the X-Files TV series.

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Fans of the nicest man in rock must be thrilled knowing that Dave Grohl is back in the studio. Butch Vig, the man who infamously produced Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” wrote on Twitter a while ago that he and Grohl spent an entire day together at studio 606 in late December listening to some of Grohl’s new material.

From being the drummer of Them Crooked Vultures to collaborating with glam metal band RATT, Foo Fighters’ frontman has never shied away from side projects during his career. So the question is; where does this upcoming work belong?

In 2011, the release of “Wasting Light,” another production by Butch Vig, proved a successful start on the new decade. The April album release was followed by a world tour, international recognition and six Grammy nominations, and its successor is supposedly on its way so it would not be a long shot to assume that the new material could be destined for Grohl’s primary project Foo Fighters.

The announcement of an upcoming record came from Dave Grohl himself; he wrote a note to the fans, thanking them for their support in late December and letting them know a new album would come out soon. The note read, “And to all of you…..we’re not finished yet. There are still more shows to play, more songs to write, more albums to record, for years to come. I mean… If you would have told me 17 years ago that, in 2012, I would be writing songs for our eighth studio album… well…”

On the other hand, fans of Them Crooked Vultures, with Dave Grohl on drums, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on bass, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age as lead vocalist and guitarist constituting a super band, are also very excited. After a successful self-titled album released in 2009, the band has not released anything else.

Since 2010, there has been much talk about a second album, which was supposed to be release in late 2011, but never made it, according to some sources. One of the main reasons for the delay has been Grohl and Homme having been too busy with their respective bands. So with the news of Dave Grohl working on new material, and considering the timing, there is a real chance that Them Crooked Vultures are the benefactor and will be releasing their second album soon.

However, as mentioned, Them Crooked Vultures is not Grohl’s only side project. Recently, a collaboration between RATT, and the Foo Fighters frontman was announced by RATT themselves.

This is bound to be an interesting project as Nirvana, Dave Grohl’s former band, is considered to be responsible for the ‘defeat’ of glam metal in the 1990s through their introduction of grunge. RATT singer, Stephen Pearcy, has said that the song they will release together, “will not be a new RATT song, but just something cool Dave wants to do.”

Hence, the new material could turn up in any direction, from his Foo Fighters base to any of Grohl’s side projects, even new ones. After all, he is a music explorer. What is certain is that Grohl’s choice of Butch Vig as a collaborator is destined to create a musical firestorm and keep interest soaring for his new project.

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Foo Fighters is one of the most popular Rock bands in the music scene since years, being active since 1994. The band is led by Dave Grohl (ex Nirvana drummer), and composed of Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, and Pat Smear.

Although Foo Fighters’ success is not new, what this band accomplished this year is unbelievable. Their 7th studio album “Wasting Light” debuted as number one in the Billboard 200 chart upon its release on April 12 this year, sold 235,000 copies only in its first week, becoming soon a Gold record in the U.S., as well as in other countries. In some others it even became Platinum record. As Dave Grohl declared, although they were big before, mainly in some parts of the world, this album made them huge.

The record comprises other artists’ participations, including the ones of Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar). The album has been recorded in Grohl’s garage completely analog to tape, and was produced by Butch Vig, the same producer of Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. As Dave Grohl recently declared referring to the producer “Together, we made the album of a lifetime. Again.”

The record sound is raw, powerful, loud, aggressive, sweet, melancholic, and angry, it explores all of the aspects of Rock. It is the heaviest record belonging to the band so far as well as the “grungiest” one. The lyrics come as emotional waterfalls on the perfectly melt sounds. It goes from the screaming hard rock of “White Limo” to the deep and intriguing “I Should Have Known” where Novoselic’s performance gives goosebumps due to its perfection.

Besides the album release, the documentary “Back and Forth,” which explores the development of the band, came out in April; in the same month the band released the limited vinyl “Medium Rare,” a covers album, for Record Store Day. Furthermore this year their video for the track “Walk”, which is a parody of the movie “Falling Down,” won the prize as Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.

After recording the latest album in Grohl’s garage, the Foo Fighters also started touring in some garages. The band, indeed, performed from New York to Seattle in garages belonging to their fans who participated to a dedicated contest. Moreover the band played secret gigs in small clubs. Then, they started the world tour, touching Europe, North America, South America and Australia. Japan and other countries are coming next year. They played in arenas, festivals, stadiums. In July they played two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in the U.K to over 140,000 fans. The band just owns it all.

Foo Fighters started in 1994 as a solo project by frontman Dave Grohl, after the death of the late Kurt Cobain and the consequent disappearance of his band Nirvana. What Grohl had for Foo Fighters at the time was only a tape, not even a band. During those seventeen years a lot happened to Foo Fighters. Musicians have come and gone, motivation seemed to be lost for a moment, but what always stayed was Grohl’s determination.

The guy who gained the title of “The nicest guy in Rock,” due to his particularly considerate and respectful personality, seems to be also the toughest guy in Rock, in the best sense of it. He had a dream and did not let anything corrupt it. He did not just try, he did it. Not even when Foo Fighters gained the big scene he let the business corrupt the music. He came back to his garage with a finally solid and sound group which expressed its cooperation in the highest level possible, recording the album on tape where everything sounds just real.

Foo Fighters’ history shows that probably the most remarkable characteristic of Grohl’s personality is his respect to music, and to Rock in particular, beyond any boundary. Let’s not forget this guy, twenty years ago, changed the music scene forever together with two friends of his. Listening to Foo Fighters one can feel the same attitude is still all there in Mr. Grohl.

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In 1991, a band belonging to the counterculture changed music forever. On September 24 of that year, Nirvana, the band composed by Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl, released its second album (first one with Grohl as a drummer) ‘Nevermind’. What was, and what is ‘Nevermind’?

Nirvana started playing in 1987, developing within the grunge scene taking shape in the Seattle area at the time, where several bands experimented this enhancement of punk rock. Nirvana was shown to have that little more, which led them to change music history. With the release of their first album ‘Bleach’ in 1989 with Sub Pop Records, Nirvana sold a decent amount of records and started touring, getting the success that pertained to good bands of the grunge scene.

Then, in 1991, something changed. The musicality of the group, although keeping that honesty that has always characterized Nirvana, had been slightly modified. They mixed strong sounds with pleasant melodies, screamed anger, pain, and pure irony. Many think that the most popular records cannot be a piece of art, except in this case. ‘Nevermind’ has been the most meaningful record ever since its release in 1991. Its biggest power was the ability to reach everyone, while saying something meaningful, something true, something deep, and playing hard.

The sound of ‘Nevermind’ explodes very strong, yet very fragile. The power of Grohl’s drums, the perfection of Novoselic’s bass, along with the lyrics and the extraordinary voice of the late Kurt Cobain, a voice which instantly reaches the deepest part of an open soul, created something splendid. The deepness of the record is hard to explain; it has to be lived.

The band was able to send a message using unusual sonorities along with good melodies, expressing what nobody had before or has done afterwards. This created a phenomenon that ran all over the world and seemed impossible to catch, leading an underground band to be one of the most important and relevant creations of music history and surely the most significant change in the music scene in decades. As Krist Novoselic once said, “Nirvana didn’t go to the mainstream; the mainstream went to Nirvana.”

The enormous success of ‘Nevermind’ made it possible for bands from the counterculture to play on MTV, to be heard on mainstream radios, and to sign with major record labels. Nirvana changed the rules in the game with an album that contains very differentiated tracks, each one able to play every single chord of that dark inner soul Nirvana has.

Nobody was prepared for the huge success of ‘Nevermind’ back then, not even Geffen Records, the major record label with whom Nirvana signed before the final production of the album. The record label initially pressed 40,000 copies of the album, which instead sold a million within six weeks. Geffen had to stop pressing any other record in order to meet the demand.

In a music scene dominated by hair metal and superficiality, Nirvana was able to break through that thick peel of an uncaring society and give voice to all those people who were feeling forgotten by the world. Those people had been waiting, and Nirvana gave them what they needed and what they probably still need. Nirvana has often been said to be the voice of a generation, but this is not precise, and it is very reductive.

They have always given voice to the people who feel rejected, disappointed, hurt, frustrated, abandoned, and as Everett True said in his book about the band, the ones who know how it feels not to be loved. Those people unfortunately do not belong to a single generation, they belong to our society.

This is as well demonstrated by the fact that after twenty years from its original release, the reissue of ‘Nevermind’ hit the UK Top 5 right after its release. ‘Nevermind’ has been reissued in several formats, including a limited super deluxe edition. All of the formats received significant success and created a lot of excitement within the people who still feel represented by grunge and Nirvana, and the ones that are simply passionate about good music.

All around the world, there has been a lot of celebration on the twentieth anniversary of the album, starting from the opening of the exhibition “Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses“ in Seattle, as well as “In Bloom: The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition“ in London, which was accompanied by “Territorial Musing: a Nirvana Q&A and Album Playthrough” by Classic Album Sundays and Linn.

The website www.nevermind20.com conquered the net. There was also a screening during this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals of the recorded 1992 Nirvana performance live at Reading, a tribute concert at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, a night tribute with artists performing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ 144 times in a row in Toronto, and magazine special editions, just to cite some.

What made Nirvana and ‘Nevermind’ so special back in 1991, besides the peculiar characteristics of the music, was that the band and the record had a lot to say and said it with pure honesty. Given the reaction to the anniversary and the reissue of the album after 20 years from the release of the record and 17 years after the passing of the late frontman Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and ‘Nevermind’ still have a lot to say.

Twenty years later, indeed, ‘Nevermind’ appears to have done exactly the same thing it did back in 1991: hit big all over the world and unify outsiders and music lovers, who currently have to face a music scene which too often seems to forget what music is really about.

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The summer festival Rock en Seine, was held in Paris on the last weekend of August. The 9th edition of the Rock en Seine festival took place on the Park of Domaine National de Saint Cloud, asuburban area very closed to Paris, from August Friday 26 to Sunday 28. This eclectic music manifestation welcomed around 108,000 visitors who enjoyed the art of 63 bands.

During these three days, the audience was able to appreciate numerous styles of music. Each category of bands/singers were performing on 4 different stages. Each stage represente d a type of artist. The bigger stage (Grande Scène), with a most important audience and usually for the most popular bands, the Scène de l’Industrie, the Scène de la Cascade and the Scène Pression Live.

Every year, this festival presents a programme of various performers that always tend to outdo the ones of the previous years. The concerts were composed of rock music, folk, groove, hip-hop and electro. For many years, Rock en Seine kept some kind of balance between top of the bill bands and others which are willing to be known, mixing both type of bands on the same stage.

Plus, the Parisian festival remained faithful to the idea of having a show with French and international performers. We can say that the festival has come a long way from the first edition, nine years ago, which used to last a day. The festival back then only took place on two stages.

The festival started on Friday, with Biffy Clyro, an alternative-metal band from Scotland. We also had the pleasure to see Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters, The Kills, CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy: fed up to be sexy, an electo-pop band), Kid Cuddy, Herman Dune (folk), Death in Vegas and many others.

Saturday included music from the Arctic Monkeys, The Streets, Hushpuppies, Keren Ann, CocoRosie, BB Brunes, The Wombats, and Blond Redhead. The last day included a 30 musician orchestra which amazed the audience. Fans of neo metal were more than delighted to prove that they remember the Deftones’ songs.

My Chemical Romance, Simple Plan, Tinie Tempah, Lilly Woods and the Pricks and many others performed to make this week end unforgettable. A specificity of the festival is Mini Rock Festival for children, to teach them how to be the rock stars of the future, with games and fancy clothing.

If you want to see more of French music festival, look forward to La fête de l’Huma, which has great importance and will be in September.
Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabionascimento/

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