I Fell Asleep And Watched TV

Over the years of doing this blog, I've probably not done an awful lot of posting about Nirvana. Most likely cause of that is that I don't have an awful lot, so when this arrived, before it even went on the turntable I quickly grabbed a few photos of it and this is where we're up to today.

This is the 1st UK 12'' press on the Tupelo Recording Company. There was also a Second UK Press of Blue vinyl. There are no pressing numbers available, and to my knowledge there is no US 12'' press on Sub Pop. 

Back Cover with this great live photo with a Tupelo label on the centre label. The Live version of About A Girl on the B-Side is definitely worth digging out too. It's a lot faster than the studio version and by the second verse all this distortion kicks in. 

Kurt comes under as Kurdt here and Krist comes under as Chris. Jane Higgins has done a lot of design work for Nirvana and other Sub Pop bands like Mudhoney, Dwarves and some others. 

Finally, here is the text along the record. It doesn't sit on the spine, but rather the bottom of the sleeve. The sleeve also opens from the top as opposed to the side. There is no insert or dust sleeve with the record. 

You Know You're Right

Okay so recently I got my first car. After having a license for a little over 4 years, I've finally got round to buying a vehicle. This is cool for many reasons, most notably being able to get out and about to visit friends and go to / play gigs more. Another cool thing (well I think it's cool) is that my car is super old and therefore has a cassette deck. This means that I've had a solid rotation of Unplugged In New York and Incesticide by Nirvana among some other classics. With this in mind, I'm going to be talking about  a record that I got quite a while ago, but just never got to talking about! 

Nirvana - Nirvana (Best Of) - Geffen Records // Universal Music Group - 1st Press - Black /? (2X12'')

There's really not an awful lot I know about this record, and not through lack of trying! It just seems to be one of those records that came along at a weird time for vinyl and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Despite 2002 not being a huge time for vinyl, I do like the metallic ink on the sleeve. The lettering is embossed too. Fancy as you like. 

16 Classic Songs

This is stuck in the top right hand corner of all vinyl copies supposedly, although I really haven't seen that many of them. I know that Nirvana collector nerds get all weird about this sticker (on the CD version) as it can indicate where the release came from. That's a whole new level of weird for me, but I do get where it comes from. 

Weirdly enough, I'm not going to spend a crazy amount of time on the vinyl and focus a little more on the packaging. If anyone is wondering why, it's because it's 2 LP's on black with nearly identical centre labels. The only thing that changes is the Side designation at the top of the label and the track-listing on the right hand side. However, I do have photos of all the centre labels so if anyone really wants to see them then I can add them in at a later date? 

The record comes with a 2 page gate-fold booklet, entirely in black and white and with a little story to tell. Half the fun of getting a Nirvana record is opening it out, looking at all the photographs and reading what everyone has to say. I don't quite know why, but Nirvana are just an interesting band even when they look to be doing nothing remotely interesting. 

Inside Part 1 

The images here are decent enough quality that should you want to read all of this, it should hold up by saving and enlarging it. 

Sunday, January 30th 1994 is the story being told for the most part. That was the last recording session Nirvana ever had, and it was the session that laid down 'You Know You're Right' which is only available on vinyl here (aside from a Bootleg 7''). Apparently this was their first time recording in almost a year and that one song was all that came from the session. I was about 16 months old at this point. Damn. 

Inside Part 2

The rest of the text goes through a very brief Nirvana history, explaining the background of some of the hits and grabbing odd quotes here and there from Dave and Krist about who Kurt Cobain was as a person. More importantly, it focuses on the brighter side of life, which is a difficult point to get across with the small text on a colourless background. 

The text to the right is a rundown of the tracks. Recording and Mastering credits are provided here, along with musician credits (for example Chad Channing is credited on About A Girl and such). Some tracks featured here are alternate mixes (the Scott Litt mixes of Heart-Shaped Box and Pennyroyal Tea are on this release) and all the tracks were mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. Some things I notice in these recordings that I don't notice on the respective LP cuts, others I can't tell the difference. Remasters are for more sensitive ears than mine most of the time. 

For anyone interested, here is a track-listing with credits. Sub-Pop logos are on the centre labels due to 3/4 of the tracks of Side A. I still don't own the Sliver 7''// 12''(?) or the Blew EP; all in good time I guess? I am missing more Nirvana record than I own though. I still don't own Nevermind. Truly slacking at times. 

Back of the booklet. 

Robert Fisher handled the art direction here and everything is pretty on point. In ways it feels like a eulogy, in ways it seems completely about the music and nothing else. It's hard to explain without sounding like an idiot. 

Back Cover 

This could well be a Univox guitar that Kurt is playing. I guess it's not that important. It could also be a Gospel. Someone out there is bound to know. 

Finally 

Track-listing. 

The weird thing about the track-listing is that most versions had 14 or 15 tracks; the last two tracks were either fully or partially omitted from other versions.

Something In The Way was only available on vinyl and the Japanese CD release. 

Where Did You Sleep Last Night was not included on US or Canadian issues of the album. 

So there we go, a strange story about a strange record. 

There was no US issue of this record. It was only ever made in Europe, with most sources indicating that it is from a UK plant. I'm not sure if this effected pressing numbers or not as I can't seem to find pressing information anywhere. Honestly I'm just glad to own it. This is again another amazing Nirvana record that Alan over at Different Kitchen let me buy from his personal collection. This one isn't mint by any means, it looks like it has been played and loved and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Pallas Incesticide

Nirvana are one of those bands that I will forever love unconditionally, which is funny in a way. I spent most of my youth completely detesting this band. I grew up in a small town with a small town mindset, and for a while you couldn't move for kids in oversized Nirvana hoodies, all talking about how sweet that Teen Spirit thingy song was. So I chose the high road and dismissed this band outright. Only in my mid teens when a friend bought me In Utero was I really turned on to how incredible this band was. Since then I haven't looked back for a second. 

Nirvana - Incesticide - DGC/ ORG Music - 2011 Re-press - /? 

As with most Nirvana records. Most of the pressing information is pretty difficult to track down, so I'll not spend too much time dwelling on that. 

Back Cover // B-Side. This copy came out in 2011 and was pressed by Pallas in Germany. The vinyl is pressed on 180 gram audiophile grade wax, and sounds absolutely incredible. My turntable probably doesn't do it justice. Not to say that I have a Crosley all in one or anything, but this record would probably lend itself to an audiophile set up. It still sounds perfect to me either way. Bernie Grundman Mastering also handled all the mastering for this re-press, and it was all done from the original analog tapes. 

Due to the awful lighting on these photos, we're going to go through things one by one, starting with the cover art. The cover art was painted by Kurt Cobain, credited Kurdt Kobain in the inner sleeve. I'm not sure who handled the typeface or band logo. 

Back Cover // Track-listing. Again, these photos came out really terrible and so everything is a little hard to read. Below the track-listing there is an ORG Music label too, as they handled the re-press and distribution for this. They also re-issued In Utero a couple years prior to this. I had that copy until a year or two back when I traded it for an early press with good guy Alan Beningfield. The layout for both re-presses is pretty much the same, and come with largely the same extras. 

Oh, apparently this rubber duck also belonged to Cobain. I did some reading up on this album, and ended up trawling through page after page of Nirvana nerd fan pages. Is there any way to really prove or disprove that this was his? Either way, cool story bro. 

On to the insert. This is such a great photograph, and I have no clue what guitar he is using here. I bet it sounded exactly as it should. The text is a letter of sorts from Cobain (signed Kurdt - The Blond one) and it deals with quite a few fairly hairy issues. Most notably there is an open address to homophobic, sexist and racist fans asking them to leave the band the fuck alone; to not attend their shows and to not buy their records. Also, there is a paragraph that deals with the sexual attack of a girl at the hands of two males singing a Nirvana song whilst raping her. These are some fairly heavy topics, and it's cool to see that these were out there in everyone's face, for everyone to pay attention to. Below that is a list of thanks. 

On the other side of the insert are the credits. Six people are photographed here. The first 3 images are of the most memorable Nirvana lineup, and the others are the previous drummers that featured on these recordings. This is essentially a compilation of 3-4 years of recordings that featured an unstable lineup. It's cool that everyone is credited, and it kind of helps to piece together where these songs fell in to place. 

Something that was also in the In Utero ORG Press I had is this postcard, advertising the Nirvana albums that had been remastered and re-issued from ORG. Completely useless and you wouldn't even think about using it, but I guess it's something to sit in the sleeve and be kind of inoffensive. 

Centre labels. Kurt is credited as Kobain as opposed to Cobain on this recording, but considering through the various spellings of his name through the Nirvana catalogue it's nothing too surprising now. 

These were photographed as they include some information as to the inclusion of so many labels within the release of this record, and it's easier to show that than it is to try and explain it.

Finally; a sticker on the poly sleeve including some information on the release. Again, the ORG In Utero had a similar sticker. 

I got this version for my birthday a few weeks back. It came sealed (in one of those poly sleeves that you have to rip the top off to get in to, Southern Lord sometimes use them?) and didn't stay that way for long. As I am picking Nirvana stuff up as and when I see it, it turns out that the only full length I am still yet to own on vinyl is Nevermind. Is it just me that thinks that is a little backwards? Probably should pick that up. 

Cheers!

Give Hormoaning the boot.

Sometimes I am incredibly overwhelmed by the generosity of friends. This is a record that I have been after for quite some time, in any wax form for a few years. Recently, great dude Alan Beningfield parted with this so I could have a copy for my collection, and for that i'm incredibly grateful. I felt bad taking it off his hands, but i'd like to think we both walked away happy. Again, thanks bud!

Hormoaning by Nirvana. Obviously this is a bootleg, and I don't have any problem with that. The original copies are rumoured to be of 4000-6000 copies, but most state 4000. Also, the 1st press is the only variant consisting of red and blue swirled vinyl. As far as anyone can tell, it has never been booted/ replicated on the original colourway to any realistic degree. There was a later (2011)Record Store Day press on brown marbled vinyl, with again rumours of 4000-6000 pressing numbers. But if your copy is not brown or red/blue swirl, it's a bootleg. But come on, 8000-12,000 max of a Nirvana release just isn't enough to spread the wealth, it was obviously going to get bootlegged. It's just cool to have a copy. 

I kind of love that despite the obvious bootleg nature, this copy still contains some sketchy photocopied Geffen labels and contains similar matrix numbers (though not identical, numbers vary for the second side between the official press and this particular boot. Also, the RSD press has completely different matrix numbers so I am told). Oh, and a barcode! 

When held up to the light, this sucker comes out in quite a nice marbled effect that you don't really see otherwise. After doing a little reading on the various bootlegs around, it turns out that this surfaced out of Germany somewhere in 2005. This 2005 press also came on green, which is marbled when held to the light also, but pressing info is non-existent as far as I know. Apparently, although an obvious bootleg, there are some upsides to this particular press than others, such as higher print quality on the text/ covers and some minor cover details to differentiate from the original press. 

This back cover differentiates from certain boots and the official pressing(s) in a couple of ways. On the original, the text is sharper (obviously, my iPhone camera doesn't help things) and the stars along the edges are different. Also, some bootlegs contain a staggered flag that looks incredibly dodgy, and misplaced stars again. I'm not getting precious at all at this point, a bootleg is a bootleg regardless of quality I guess, but at least this copy looks nice? 

Finally, the cover has some minor detail changes from the original/ other boots. The obvious telltale is the missing shower head in the top right corner (although some bootlegs still have this). But there are details that vary over pressing to pressing, such as the blurry nature of the bottom left corner (the bottle on the shower ledge) and the staggered look of the black tile to the right side of the sleeve, along with the blurred area above it. I mean, every press contains similarities and defects to the original, but in picking up and looking at it, you can tend to guess it almost. 

It was important for me to own a copy of this, although you can find the tracks elsewhere; it just felt right to have them together in one place. Hearing those Vaselines covers on wax is a fairly wonderful. Another thing; this sounds incredible. Original press or not, it sounds really great and has been played a bunch of times. There's an RSD press in my local store, that I have made offers on countless times but the owner won't budge. He's keeping it, and I get that as it must suck owning a storemand never being able to get in on the RSD morning queue action. But damn just take it home, play it and stop me gawping over it every time I go in the store. It's still in shrink. This shouldn't be a thing. Definitely glad to finally own a copy after that one staring at me for so long.