Kurt Cobain: About a Son

One certain thing about nearly every posthumous Kurt Cobain tribute is that he would have hated them. For a guy who didn't care much for himself or his own art, the recent sight of the horrendous statue memorializing him in the town he detested would probably have appalled him at least as much as Fred Durst's chest tattoo, or Cobain's private journals on display at every Barnes & Noble in America. At the bottom of it all, Cobain's opinion doesn't matter--he's not around to express it, and we shouldn't judge a About a Son on his standards any more than we should judge Raging Bull on how much Jake LaMotta agrees with it. Still, Cobain was possibly the most famously sensitive artist to ever strap on a guitar, and it's hard to not take that into consideration when reviewing the art he inspired.

Possibly the most respectful tribute to the man is Kurt Cobain: About a Son, a documentary made up of Cobain's interviews with Michael Azerrad for Azerrad's book Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Set to footage of Seattle and Aberdeen, with a mostly ambient soundtrack, About a Son goes the 2pac: Resurrection route by letting its deceased subject tell the story. As a narrator, Cobain doesn't offer much insight into his music, but he's also revealed to be the sweet, unassuming and even confident man you hoped he'd be when you first heard Nevermind. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would inspire more devotion than any other rock star of the '90s, but maybe that's part of how he did it.

Our Bands Could Be Your Life

Jenny has never read Our Band Could Be Your Life.



Our Bands Could Be Your Life

1. Black Flag, "Nervous Breakdown"
2. Black Flag, "Rise Above"
3. Black Flag, "Gimme Gimme Gimme"
4. Minutemen, "History Lesson - Part II"
5. Minutemen, "This Ain't No Picnic"
6. Mission of Burma, "That's When I Reach for My Revolver"
7. Mission of Burma, "Academy Fight Song"
8. Minor Threat, "Straight Edge"
9. Minor Threat, "Minor Threat"
10. Hüsker Dü, "Don't Want to Know if You are Lonely"
11. The Replacements, "Can't Hardly Wait" (Tim Version)
12. Sonic Youth, "Teen Age Riot"
13. Sonic Youth, "100%"
14. Sonic Youth, "Kool Thing"
15. Butthole Surfers, "Human Cannonball"
16. Big Black, "Kerosene"
17. Dinosaur Jr., "Freak Scene"
18. Dinosaur Jr., "Start Choppin'"
19. Dinosaur Jr., "Feel the Pain"
20. Fugazi, "Merchandise"
21. Fugazi, "Repeater"
22. Mudhoney, "Touch Me I'm Sick"
23. Mudhoney, "You Got it (Keep it out of My Face)"
24. Beat Happening, "Indian Summer"

Jenny, who reads more than nearly anyone I know and loves punk rock enough for me to wish I knew her in high school, has never read Michael Azerrad's terrific account of punk and indie in the 1980s. Now that she has a birthday coming up (and is coincidentally visiting New York City this week,) I'm getting her a copy, plus a corresponding mix tape.

Rather than make a generic Best of Our Band Could Be Your Life, I tried to sculpt something more Jenny-centric. She probably already has Zen Arcade and You're Living All Over Me, but maybe not Candy Apple Grey or Bug. I hate to boil the entire Butthole Surfers' discography down to one song, but I'm guessing she'd enjoy "Human Cannonball" more than "Sweat Loaf." For some bands, like Sonic Youth, I'm providing the standard intro tracks, but for the Replacements, whom Jenny loves as much as I do, I had to dig deep and find a rarity. I like how "Can't Hardly Wait" sounds without a horn section.

Happy birthday, Jenny. Maybe the next mix will have "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave."

Rungs in a Ladder

If you have twelve free minutes today, watch Rungs in a Ladder, the Ian McFarland-directed film about Jacob Bannon of Converge.



Here we get a short but revealing look at one of hardcore's fiercest figures, talking about his craft as thoughtfully as any painter or writer would. Articulately both self-assured and insecure, Bannon seems to consciously value his art and music over his own stability. "I'm not ready to find that peace yet," he says at one point. "The fact of the matter is that I'm almost 35 years old and I still yell as part of my living."

At times, Rungs in a Ladder brings to mind About a Son, the other loner musician documentary with a soft-spoken voiceover, sparse score and artfully selected footage. But in this case, unlike Michael Azerrad's Cobain movie, you don't need to have an interest in the film's subject in order to appreciate it. Hopefully you will by the end.