Amor Estúpido e Louco é uma grande comédia sobre o que está para além da tradicional "guerra dos sexos" – este texto foi publicado no Diário de Notícias (25 Setembro), com o título 'A nova comédia dos sexos'.
A imagem que ilustra esta crónica corresponde a um dos momentos mais insólitos, e também mais subtis, daquela que ficará, por certo, como uma das melhores comédias americanas deste ano: Amor Estúpido e Louco, da dupla Glenn Ficarra/John Recqua. De pé, Jacob (Ryan Gosling) vai dissertando sobre a sua “especialidade”, isto é, a conquista de mulheres e mais mulheres: ele é um implacável predador que, a par do progresso da sua contabilidade sexual, se mostra empenhado em transmitir o seu saber, “colorindo” a vida do angustiado Cal (Steve Carrell), à beira de um divórcio mais ou menos doloroso. Estão a conversar depois de uma sessão de exercício físico e Cal, perante a nudez de Jacob, pergunta-lhe se ele tem de estar mesmo naquela pose...
Há, aqui, um inteligente entendimento das nuances que uma imagem pode envolver. Por um lado, somos confrontados com a perplexa candura de Cal, tentando contrariar a eventual confusão entre a cumplicidade que entre eles está a nascer e qualquer outro género de intimidade (inequivocamente sexual); por outro lado, o ponto de vista da câmara decorre de uma forma de ambíguo pudor: nada é explícito, mas vemos a situação como se essa intimidade estivesse, de facto, à beira de ser explicitada.
É esse, afinal, o singular poder do registo cómico tal como praticado por Ficarra/Recqua, aliás prolongando a lógica do seu trabalho anterior, o magnífico Eu Amo-te Philip Morris (2009), com Jim Carrey e Ewan McGregor interpretando um par homossexual. Para estes cineastas, a dimensão sexual de cada comportamento remete sempre para outra “coisa” que fica por dizer ou que, em boa verdade, ninguém sabe como dizer. Eles filmam menos a tradicional “guerra dos sexos” e mais um estado de incerteza (cómica, justamente) em que a acção de cada um reflecte as ambivalências de qualquer identidade sexual, desde as meramente geracionais até às misteriosamente simbólicas.
Daí que este não seja um filme sobre a sexualidade enquanto factor... sexual. Ficarra/Recqua recusam liminarmente a violência moral de telenovelas, reality TV e seus derivados: a sexualidade não é uma espécie de adorno “pitoresco” ou “escandaloso” de cada personagem, mas sim um elemento fulcral do seu ser e do seu estar. Daí também um paradoxal efeito de distanciação, afinal genuinamente freudiano: a sexualidade está em tudo, mas não esgota a totalidade de cada ser.
É um excelente filme para lidarmos com a saturação “sexual” dos nossos dias. Num tempo tão carregado de mensagens “erotizadas”, desde a publicidade até ao patético imaginário jornalístico que envolve os “famosos”, esta é uma atitude que, para além da visão critica de usos e costumes, decorre da precisão muito política de quem não abdica de pensar a paisagem plural das relações humanas. Não há nada mais sério do que uma boa comédia.
We Were Here é um documentário formalmente muito pouco distinto de tantos outros documentários, feitos para cinema ou mesmo televisão.
A estrutura de relato cronológico por meio de entrevistas - aqui e ali pontuado com material da época - é inversamente atraente para o público ao que é prático para os realizadores.
Mesmo assim o filme destaca-se dessas peças de formalismo limitado e a razão para tal é o percurso objectivo traçado pelos realizadores que não despreza as emoções necessárias ao cinema.
Ao escolher um grupo de cinco "sobreviventes" ao surgimento da epidemia da SIDA em São Francisco que tiveram perspectivas priveligiadas e complementares dos eventos daquela época.
Estiveram todos no centro do que acontecia, mas diferiam em orientação sexual, na forma de envolvimento, na motivação para agirem e no grau de entrosamento com a comunidade homossexual. Daí que, tanto pela visão de cada um como pelas noções de que partem, o documentário seja lúcido e não acabe contaminado com uma presença visível de um discurso dos realizadores.
Talvez o mais notável do filme seja a forma como os realizadores recuperaram um modelo de documentário que continua a ser comum mas que tem perdido a consideração dos cinéfilos perante trabalhos mais criativos. E recuperaram-no, não só de forma a manterem a característica principal de um documentário, mas de forma a explorarem a questão humana individual no seio da imagem maior que estão a filmar.
A seriedade objectiva do filme vem da sua forma que acaba por deixar que os próprios intervenientes revelem as suas emoções sem ser necessário montar uma narrativa que explora (de forma oportunista) esses mesmos intervenientes.
À medida que contam a história, os cinco intervenientes deixam vir à tona o sofrimento que tomou conta deles e que ainda ressurge.
A história, já de si pouco agradável de suportar ou não houvessem comparações da calamidade aos campos de concentração nazis, torna-se ainda mais intensa no coração do público quando a objectividade não se desvia dos soluços choramingosos. Porque a dureza daquele período pode entender-se contada mas só se pode sentir vista e isso é que o documentário tem para dar ao público.
Mais do que o tema da SIDA, o filme é um poderoso retrato do abismo a que pode ser submetida uma comunidade e a força que ela encontra para preservar a sua própria humanidade. Um retrato feito por uma mão cheia dos que resistiram até hoje mas que perderam um número incontável de amantes, amigos e conhecidos.
California Condors are a blast of west coast flavor. The four-piece tout infectious melodies and memorable lyrical quips containing a bevy of nostalgia, making it hard to stop listening after one song. Their album Calm Carnivorehovers between contemporary indie rock and classic rock influences. The soaring, reverb-filled guitar solos often conjure the feeling of a show at the Matrix Club in San Francisco in the late ‘60s, where bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Doors played. While the California Condors focus on cultivating a full rock sound, they also portray elements of a softer nature – like glimpses of folk and orchestral music. Their foray into alt-rock is very reminiscent of R.E.M., masters of both somber ballads and hard-rocking anthems in the style. The unsigned California Condors have variety in their music while maintaining an overall rock base, assuring probable future success.
The introduction and title track, “Calm Carnivore”, is an interesting infusion of rock with a slight reggae-inspired rhythmic progression. After the chorus, the lead slowly dips into a relaxed subsidiary rhythm guitar reminiscent of recent reggae-inspire rock trips, like Jens Lekman’s “So This Guy at My Office”. The reggae influence turns swiftly into a chorus that relies heavily on guitar. Here, the chords are played with tighter ferocity, more rigid than the reggae style, but with enough flexibility in the song structure to maintain the potential for spontaneity. The pungent rock style of the verses highlights the vocals. The song slowly collapses onto its reggae beats at the ends and transitions.
“Calm Carnivore” progresses quickly but cohesively into “What We Both Know”, which starts out with a fluid harmony livelier than its antecedent. This contains shades of both Teenage Fanclub-oriented power-pop and an R.E.M. jangle. Tension in the chord progressions is built up slowly before each chorus and released seamlessly before each verse. The guitar solo at the end reminds the listener that California Condors have a heavy classic rock influence. The blaring microphone sound at the end reinforces the concert feel of the album, bringing just the right amount of lo-fi into the picture without sacrificing the quartet’s lofty emulation of ‘60s rock.
“Leave No Mark,” infuses rock with pop and follows the style of Beatles. The bouncy lyrics jive well with the clean drums and simple guitar progressions. The song is by no means plain, but pleasant and easy flowing. It is a gentle break in an album that places an emphasis on prominent drums and guitar.
Calm Carnivore is a cohesive album that offers a substantial amount of quality material for fans of folk, contemporary, and classic rock. The album is cheerful without being overly agreeable, both in regard to its compositions and lyrical disposition. The slightly familiar melodies are paired with slight variations in style. This approach allows California Condors to take risks with new music styles while ensuring that their listeners will enjoy the experience.
Calm Carnivore can be downloaded for free on the group’s Bandcamp.
RIYL: R.E.M., Cass McCombs, Girls, Supertramp, The Beatles, Teenage Fanclub, Eric Clapton, Bright Eyes, Bob Marley, Death Cab for Cutie, Malajube, O.A.R
Foi há 20 anos. Depois de uma série de datas no Japão, e com uma agenda de concertos ainda pela frente, Dean Wareham deixava os Galaxie 500, colocando o ponto final a uma das mais belas obras quenos chegaram de cenário indie na América de finais dos oitentas e início dos noventas. Damon Krukowski e Naomi Yang tinham já temas gravados, que editaram ainda esse ano como Pierre Etoile. Logo depois, ao mesmo tempo que Wareham fundava os Luna, Damon e Naomi juntavam-se num duo em nome próprio, pela sua música passando a herança folk e dream pop, com ocasional contagio psicadélico, referências que os três álbuns dos Galaxie 500 tão bem haviam explorado. Após quatro anos de silêncio, eis que regressam com o seu sétimo álbum de originais, disco que em tudo segue o seu caminho e em nada (ou pouco) parece dado a encetar novas demandas... Nem precisam, convenhamos. False Beats and True Hearts é em tudo mais um herdeiro da linguagem elegante, suave, onde as guitarras com e sem electricidade desenham melodias que as vozes acariciam, que conhecemos desde os dias dos Galaxie 500. O álbum é um conciso conjunto de nove canções, com duração conjunta abaixo dos 40 minutos. O certo em dose certa, numa mão cheia de composições que acolhemos com o sabor da novidade, mas que transportam aquele conforto que a familiaridade com as coisas vai definindo ao longo dos anos. Estas são canções elaboradas, de arranjos onde não faltam acontecimentos, todavia bem arrumados, as guitarras de Michio Kurihara (da banda japonesa Dusk) assinalando uma quarta colaboração com a dupla norte-americana. Melancolia talhada através de belas canções para reencontrar num regresso que reafirma o valor de um lugar que os Galaxie 500 (e sua directa descendência) inscreveram na história indie rock.
A Fnac Chiado acolhe amanhã mais uma edição do Sound + Vision Magazine. A partir das 18.30, João Lopes e Nuno Galopim falam sobre os discos, os filmes e os livros que fizeram a história do último mês e das semanas que se seguem.
Vinte anos depois de ter marcado uma geração e de ter dado visibilidade a «uma nova interpretação do que é o rock», o álbumNevermind, do grupo norte-americano Nirvana, volta a ser editado numa versão de luxo.
Para assinalar a efeméride, na próxima semana são lançadas em todo o mundo quatro edições remasterizadas deste álbum dos Nirvana, editado a 24 de Setembro de 1991.
Além das 12 canções, como Come as you are e Smells like teen spirit, a reedição inclui faixas inéditas, raridades, gravações ao vivo e um DVD com um concerto inédito.
Nevermind, segundo disco dos Nirvana, que apresenta na capa um bebé numa piscina a olhar para uma nota de dólar, vendeu mais de 30 milhões de cópias nestes vinte anos.
O álbum foi produzido por Butch Vig e interpretado por Kurt Cobain (vocalista e guitarrista), Krist Novoselic (baixista) e Dave Grohl (baterista, hoje líder dos Foo Fighters).
Kurt Cobain morreria três anos depois, aos 27 anos.
Hoje, vinte anos passados e depois de muitas bandas rock terem surgido influenciadas pelos Nirvana, o baixista do trio de Seattle, Krist Novoselic, que ajudou a organizar esta reedição de luxo, vai juntar-se na terça-feira a músicos daquela cidade para tocar ao vivo o álbum.
No concerto, além de Novoselic, irão actuar também os Fastbacks, Long Winters, Vaporland, Visqueen, Campfire OK, Valis (de que fazem parte membros dos Screaming Trees) e Ravenna Woods, entre outros.
Em entrevista à revista Billboard, Krist Novoselic disse que em 1991Nevermind foi editado «no lugar certo, no momento certo. Foi o disco certo».
«Deu cabo daquilo que se chamava 'música alternativa', que é um rótulo que nunca gostei. Mesmo 'grunge' é melhor do que 'música alternativa'. Não havia alternativa. Era uma nova onda do rock. Era uma nova interpretação e estilo da música rock», disse.
Em 2005, o álbum passou a fazer parte oficialmente dos registos fonográficos dos Estados Unidos a preservar, pela importância «cultural, histórica e estética» para as gravações do século XX.
"Os relatos da minha morte foram largamente exagerados", diz Peter Bishop numa carta à imprensa americana. "Onde estou exactamente, não o posso dizer com precisão... e com isso não quero dizer que NÃO direi, apenas não consigo ver ou ouvir nada. Contudo, os argumentistas e produtores juram-me que irei voltar a Boston em breve, e até agora eles não fizeram nada para me fazer desconfiar deles."
Ainda sobre o assunto, o produtor Jeff Pinkner disse ainda que Peter será um enorme componente do arco principal da próxima temporada e J.J. Abrams promete ainda uma temporada centrada na mitologia e não nos stand-alones.
O que é que se pode, então, esperar da quarta temporada? Muito poderia ser inferido a partir dos posters individuais desta temporada. A principal questão que se levanta será o significado da bolha (ou globo de neve) que aparece por detrás de todas as personagens. O primeiro pensamento que nos ocorre é que se refira à sala que serve de ponte entre os dois mundos, mas poderíamos explorar também o facto de que a "bolha" de Peter é a única que é diferente de todas as outras, a única sem dois caminhos que se cruzam (sem dois Peters, talvez).
No dia em que estreia a quarta temporada de Fringe, recapitulamos as três primeiras através da web-série "Fringe: Past + Present + Future", composta por 12 vídeos narrados por John Noble, que interpreta Walter Bishop. Os vídeos foram divulgados ao ritmo de 2 por semana no canal do Youtube da FOX.
"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M.
In their own words: The guys share their thoughts on why now.
MIKE
"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'what next'? Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.
"We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this--there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart. The time just feels right."
MICHAEL
"A wise man once said--'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it.
"I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way.
"We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."
PETER
"One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M. was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you.
"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world."
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READ Warner Bros. Press Release below:
ATHENS, GA--(Marketwire - Sep 21, 2011)
"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective; we started to ask ourselves 'what next?'," commented Mike Mills. "Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together. The time just feels right."
R.E.M. is unique in that they are very much still the group of friends from Athens, Georgia that they've been since the band formed in 1979. While their career has spanned 15 studio albums and huge global success, the band itself only ever comprised the four original members. The one person to leave this tight-knit group was drummer Bill Berry, who retired two years after suffering a brain aneurysm on-stage during 1995's "Monster" tour. But not before extracting a promise from his band mates that they would continue on as R.E.M.: "Bill insisted he would stay, if his leaving meant breaking the band up," remembers Michael Stipe.
Mills adds: "We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love and respect each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this -- there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart."
"A wise man once said -- 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave," agrees Michael Stipe. "We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it. I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end; and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way. We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years, our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."
Buck picks up on his thoughts: "One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M., was the fact that the records we made and the songs we wrote, meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by them. Being a part of their lives has been an unbelievable gift.
"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone that has followed and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of a club; watching a group of 19-year-olds trying to change the world."
R.E.M. will release a career-spanning Greatest Hits album through Warner Brothers in November. More information to follow.
Photo: Richard Johnson/NMEPeter Hook is set to play Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' and 'Closer' in their entirety for two homecoming shows in November.
The former New Order bassist will perform both of the albums each night at The Lowry Theatre with his band, Peter Hook's The Light, in Salford on November 18 and 19.
Former Happy Mondays singer Rowetta will also perform with the band at both shows. For more information about the gigs go to Thelowry.com.
The gigs, which are booked to take place atBrussels Ancienne Belgique on October 17 and Paris La Bataclan the following night, are taking place to help with medical expenses for sick friend Michael Shamberg.
Relations between the remaining members and their former bassist have been bitter since Hook left for the final time in 2007, following the album 'Waiting For The Siren's Call'.
Eis o primeiro teaser trailer de Wuthering Heights, nova versão do clássico "O Monte dos Vendavais", de Emily Brontë, pela britânica Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank) que continua a filmar no formato 4:3:
Wuthering Heights venceu o prémio de Melhor Fotografia no Festival de Veneza 2011, tendo sido considerada uma adaptação «livre e nada académica», sendo que a realizadora filma de uma forma «selvagem», investindo numa «sensibilidade contemporânea», ao mesmo tempo que o filme é «primitivo e sensual». A história centra-se na relação entre Heathcliff e Catherine Earnshaw e o seu amor tempestuoso (e quase demoníaco) que acabará por afectar as vidas de todos aqueles que os rodeiam como uma maldição. As personagens principais são interpretadas por Kaya Scodelario e James Howson.
No Reino Unido, Wuthering Heighs estreia a 11 de Novembro.
Melhor Actriz de Série Dramática: Julianna Marguiles - The Good Wife Melhor Actor de Série Dramática: Kyle Chandler - Friday Night Lights
Melhor Actor Secundário de Série Dramática: Peter Dinklage - Game of Thrones Melhor Actriz Secundária de Série Dramática: Margo Martindale - Justified Melhor Realização de Série Dramática: Martin Scorsese - Boardwalk Empire
Melhor Guião de Drama: Friday Night Lights Melhor Comédia: Modern Family
Melhor Actriz Secundária de Comédia: Julie Bowen - Modern Family Melhor Actor Secundário de Comédia: Ty Burrel - Modern Family Melhor Realização de Comédia: Michael Spiller - Modern Family Melhor Argumento de Comédia: Jeffrey Richman e Steve Levitan - Modern Family Melhor Actor de Comédia: Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory Melhor Actriz de comédia: Melissa McCarthy - Mike & Molly
Melhor Mini-série ou Filme para TV: Downtown Abbey
Melhor Actriz numa Mini-série ou Filme para TV: Kate Winslet - Mildred Pierce
Melhor Actriz Secundária numa Mini-série, Série ou Filme de TV: Maggie Smith - Downtown Abbey Melhor Actor numa Mini-série, Série ou Filme de TV: Barry Pepper - The Kennedys
Melhor Actor Secundário numa Mini-série ou Filme de TV: Guy Pearce - Mildred Pierce
Melhor Argumento de Mini-série, filme ou especial de drama para TV: Downtown Abbey Melhor Realização numa Mini-série, filme ou especial de drama: Brian Percival - Downtown Abbey
Melhor Reality Show: The Amazing Race
Melhor Argumento num programa de variedades, musical ou comédia: The Daily Show Melhor Realização num programa de variedades, musical ou comédia: Don Roy King - Saturday Night Live Melhor Programa de variedades, musical ou comédia: The Daily Show
Quatro anos depois do Oscar por The Departed/Entre Inimigos, Martin Scorsese ganhou o seu primeiro Emmy, pela realização do episódio-piloto da série dramática Boardwalk Empire. A 63ª cerimónia da Academia das Artes e Ciências da Televisão consagrou, nas séries, Mad Men (drama) e Modern Family (comédia), e aindaDownton Abbey (mini-série ou telefilme). Kate Winslet foi também distinguida com o seu primeiro Emmy (actriz em mini-série ou telefilme), graças a Mildred Pierce, de Todd Haynes.
A lista completa de vencedores está disponível no site da Academia. Aqui em baixo, fica o registo da magnífica peça de abertura (quase um sketch de filme musical), protagonizada por Jane Lynch (Glee).
Twenty years ago an album that wreaked havoc on the conventional music industry was released. Lauren Spencer, who was among the first to hear Nevermind, reminisces with the surviving band members, and returns to Seattle to hear how Kurt Cobain changed music for ever
Twenty years ago on a hot, smelly mess of an August day, the kind New York City does so well, I crossed the lobby of a swanky hotel in Manhattan to interview a band. They were in town to promote their first major-label release, Nevermind, and because I worked for Spinmagazine, I'd been sent an advance of the music. It had caused me to miss my stop on the subway so confused and smitten was I by the soft and hard edges of the tunes and lyrics coming through my headphones. So I was heading up to meet these guys who called themselves Nirvanaand find out for myself how they put heaven and hell into each of the songs.
When I stepped into their closet-sized room – twin beds, one chair, one table – I was met by Kurt Cobain, singer- songwriter, guitarist, and David Grohl, the man of drums. Bassist Krist Novoselic had a prior engagement and was not able to join us. That they looked not so much like up-and-coming rock stars as kids whose parents had left them to their own devices – and whose activities may have included bouncing on the beds and making prank phone calls – was heartening, as I was thoroughly sick of the slick interviews I'd been encountering with top-40 rock outfits. Our conversation encompassed homemade tattoos and why Cobain chose the K symbol for his, representing the Washington indie label of the same consonant; that night's free-for-the-fans Metallica party at Madison Square Gardens that they were eager to get into; and how much they loved the trailblazing Sonic Youth.
The fact that within the next few years Nirvana would pave the way for Sonic Youth and other like-minded alternative groups to find a larger audience, as Nevermind toppled pop giant Michael Jackson from his number one spot on the US Billboard charts, was impossible to forecast from this early 90s vantage point, where Bryan Adams's "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" had been dominating both British and American airwaves for weeks. There was something in this Seattle-based band's songs, live performance and attitude that quickly set the rock 'n' roll industry on its ear, so that what had once been considered an underground sound would emerge to wreak havoc on conventional record chart rankings and traditional music business models.
When I left to go on holiday to Greece the next week, I took Nirvana's music with me. The band imprinted my vacation with incongruities: the clear blue beauty of the Aegean sea and the fuzz-fest mayhem of "Territorial Pissings", a hot shimmering Mediterranean sun infected with the chilling strains of "Polly". It all clashed so beautifully that it woke me up from the Guns N'Roses/Mötley Crüe-like torpor I'd been sunk into of late.
I certainly wasn't alone in responding to that call, as I witnessed on 24 September 1991, the day of Nevermind's release, when I went to Boston to see Nirvana live for the first time. The show was at a club called the Axis, which was apt, since the earth really did seem to shift during their performance. The energy was palpable from the first notes of their cover of the Vaselines's "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" and through to their own single "Dive". The notes screamed and bounced off the walls, sweat flew from onstage and off, all combined with incredible melodies while hundreds of kids shook the foundation of the building in their abandon.
There was a sense that the wall separating so-called mainstream music from what was real and raw was being pounded into rubble in front of our eyes by Nirvana's aural celebration and rage. That it all blew completely apart three short years later on 5 April 1994 when Cobain put a shotgun to his head was both inconceivable and, strangely, almost inconsequential, because though both his life and the band came to a tragic and much-too-early end with that trigger pull, Nirvana's legacy had lodged deeply in the public's consciousness and changed music for ever.
In between Nevermind's release and Cobain's death, a diverse and voracious stream of fans and sycophants turned up in Seattle looking for all things grunge, a word that had been given new purpose by the record and fashion industries. They used it to fold into one saleable mass all the varied sounds and stylings of the myriad Pacific Northwest bands, removing it from its original meaning as the stuff that gets underneath your fingernails. No matter what a band's sound, if they came from Seattle, they were categorised as grunge. The term was supposed to describe the lo-fi rumblings and sonic churn of bands such as the Melvins, one of the original groups on the scene that Nirvana admired, yet for every Melvins there was a Posies, a pop outfit whose clear and crystal melodies were anything but muddy. Bassist Dave Fox remembers that when he was on tour with the Posies, "We were always The Posies From the Town of Grunge, but we were so far removed from that scene."
Another of Seattle's nicknames was even more telling. Emerald City was meant to reference the area's surrounding evergreen forests, but it could also have described the tinge of record company currency that had begun to roll in, and the hue of innocence with which the city faced the oncoming masses. "I remember talking about how weird it was that all these [local] bands were getting signed to major labels," says Megan Jasper, vice president of Nirvana's first official label Sub Pop records, describing the aftermath of the 1991 release of Nevermind.
"Suddenly, the clubs didn't feel so empty," she says, "because people were coming in from other parts of the country since they'd heard something was going on here. You'd be walking to a club and someone would pull over and ask, 'How do you get to the Croc-o-dial café?' You'd think, 'Oh, fuck,' because that's where you were going and you didn't know who these people were."
Seattle rock photographer Lance Mercer remembers being amazed when he realised how the scope had changed. "I knew it when Pearl Jam opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana at the Cow Palace in San Francisco [New Year's Eve, 1991] and I realised two things: one, there was something big going on that I hadn't really noticed; and two, I'd need a much larger lens to capture the action. I had no idea that other people knew Seattle existed. But suddenly I saw the music had all the elements for success. When I first heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' on the radio I said, 'Oh man, this is gonna be huge.'"
And the gospel of Nirvana was spreading fast, much more quickly than their record company figured – by using Sonic Youth as their guide they had substantially underestimated how many copies of Nevermind to release. It was clear that the industry would need a new template. Across the country, young people, or at least the young at heart, began to find a muse in their music. Whether Cobain liked it or not – and he frequently made it known how little he did – he was becoming the voice of a generation. Both Nirvana's music and their attitude were beginning to pierce the ultra-slick, airtight container that had up to now held 90s commercial music.
Cobain's often disturbing visual and melodic artistry, mixed with the band members' sense of humour, created a musical model vastly different from the carefully crafted careers the music industry usually constructed with the aid of marketers, stylists and managers. Nirvana were messy. They wore their own clothes and rolled around in their own musical mayhem, giving interviews that often bordered on the absurd, or at least un-checkable, as I found when my researcher attempted to confirm Kurt's last-known address as under a bridge in the logging town of Aberdeen, Washington.Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, ‘who could start a war in an empty room’. Steve Pyke/Retna Photograph: Steve Pyke/Retna
Troy Nelson, singer-songwriter, guitarist for Seattle band the Young Evils and DJ at KEXP radio, was a metal-loving teenager in South Dakota when he first encountered Nirvana's music. He couldn't quite make sense of why the band affected him the way it did. "I have a vivid memory of watching MTV and 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' came on," he says. "I was trying to piece together what the hell I was watching. I was completely struck by Cobain's style. They seemed like the stoners next door… like total dorks. But when you're 15 or 16 it felt like they were your friends and they were wreaking havoc. To me Kurt Cobain was the Wizard of Oz. He unveiled the phoniness of so many things. It actually kind of ruined a lot of music for me. But I loved it."
The songs were powerhouses for sure, but the whole package is what counted. "Bands come in and say I want my drums to sound like Dave Grohl's," says producer Butch Vig, who was responsible for the sound of Nevermind. "No matter what I do to this drum kit it's not going to sound like him unless he's the one playing. Maybe that's why there aren't any Nirvana tribute bands – I mean the songs are simple to play, but to pull off their attitude and talent would be hard. It would be easier to pull off a Journey tribute band."
Twenty years almost to the day from when I first entered that New York City hotel on my journey to find Nirvana, I'm standing in another lobby across the country. It's been over a decade and a half since Cobain killed himself and the surviving band members moved on to other projects: Grohl formed the Foo Fighters, Novoselic played bass in the bands Sweet 75, Eyes Adrift and Flipper, and began the non-profit organisation Joint Artists & Music Promotions Political Action Committee. My journey has brought me back to the OK Hotel, a former all-ages club where Nirvana first played "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to a passionate crowd on 8 April 1991. I'm desperate to find something that may smack of the teen spirit that in the early 90s propelled the band into the wider world of music with their raw power, fuck y'all attitude and pop-meets-punk tunes.
But I'm coming up short. I can't find one whiff of the delirious disorder and abandon I used to inhale back in the days when I'd fly out to cover the Seattle scene. There's no sound of music – not even any speakers to pipe it through – no smell of sweat from bodies moving en masse in a too-tiny room. Though the place is practically empty, I'm rooted in the same spot where I'd watched Nirvana, the Fastbacks, Mudhoney and Tad while losing my voice and having my feet stomped on. And now, many years later with Cobain dead and the scene moved on, I find myself instead having an altogether civil and well-modulated conversation about square feet. Because the OK Hotel is now a residential building offering apartments and artist suites, with a gallery planted where the stage and bar used to be.
But there's a perverse sense in this scenario – in light of what transpired, both in Seattle and beyond, in the three years between Nevermind's release and the decorating of the Cobain memorial bench in Viretta Park near the house where he ended his life. Cobain's suicide mummified the band, encasing Nirvana in a layer of nostalgia and removing them from active duty as the agents of change in an industry that seemed to be just opening up to the idea that all shapes and sizes could rock mainstream music. What had made the band so exciting was their attitude, suggesting anyone could experiment in the musical playground and maybe even achieve more than underground success, if that's what they wanted. And it seemed the industry was starting to buy it. But once Cobain was dead, commerce trumped art.
"The thing about Nirvana is that they changed the whole game," says Kurt St Thomas, a DJ at Kroq radio in Los Angeles, who was the first to play Nevermind end-to-end on WFNX in Boston. "Before that album came out there were only a handful of 'alternative' radio stations, and within two years of the record there were more than 100. It should have been a victory, finally good music was getting exposed to more kids who'd never heard stuff like Nirvana, but the radio stations were not really passionate about the music, they were passionate about making a buck, and they started playing Nirvana wanna-bes and watering it down. Once record companies jumped on the bandwagon, it just reeked of business. The image of Spencer Elden [the baby on Nevermind's cover] reaching for that dollar bill is so symbolic to me because that is exactly what it felt like."
After the overindulgence of record companies came the inevitable hangover. Musicians who had been scooped up in the sign-anything-wearing-flannel frenzy found themselves shaken off and having to choose between, as photographer Mercer observed, the blue, the green or the orange apron, signifying a job at either Starbucks, Kinkos or Home Depot.
"So much changed so quickly in the first half of the 90s," says Grohl. "People will tell me how really good that music was, and I agree – a lot of really good music became popular. There was a much more open musical environment and atmosphere. But then it ended up choking itself in a weird way. There were so many bands getting signed from garages and basements from around the country. It was like you left school and had three options: you could either go to college, backpack across the country or start a band and get a record contract – and if it didn't stick, that was when you'd have to go out and get a real job."Kurt Cobain fronts Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert in New York City in 1993. Photograph: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
It seems Nirvana could have only happened then and there; a tight-knit community of local talent had been developing in Seattle for years, out of the spotlight where they had room to grow. Then a perfect storm combining record company budgets with expanding media outlets like MTV hit Seattle's musical shores, dragging more than a few bodies out to sea. Novoselic points out that, "We were the last musical phenomenon before online took hold. In 1999, Napster happened and nothing's been the same since. Now you have to pull people into the music, whereas before everything was pushed out toward the people. The playing field was levelled but now it's so vast that people have to work harder to be heard."
Wandering around the clubs to see what the Seattle kids are up to today, I was happy to find nothing sounded the least like Nirvana. There were the trance-like, Bolly-rock beats of Rose Windows, followed by Wayfinders, who sound like the thick, rich results of Uriah Heep combined with the Smashing Pumpkins. Later I happened upon Troy Nelson's band, the Young Evils, whose harmonies with Mackenzie Mercer are pop gems with an indie beat. Not once during these shows did the word grunge cross my mind. And yet they might not have been heard but for Nirvana. Nelson admits he moved to Seattle because Nirvana put it on the map, "and I'm still to this day trying to write a song as important as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'."
"I think of it as a forest fire," says Sub Pop's Megan Jasper. "It just felt like everything went up in flames in Seattle so fast, but once it was out, time passed and there was new growth underneath. It makes room for people to come in and do new things. There was something about being in the shadows of grunge and Nirvana. There was a mindfulness because it was so close, and whatever you do, it needs to be different. I think enough time passed that it was OK to emerge and make things happen again. It's respect on one side and rebellion on the other.
"Most people in Seattle don't live in the past," Jasper continues. "Most people are more excited about the here and now. And thank god for that mindset otherwise this place would just be a ghost town." Though if you're into that kind of thing, there is a museum sitting in the shadow of downtown's Space Needle that's dedicated to preserving and sharing Seattle's musical legacy. It's the Experience Music Project, funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and right now there's an exhibition running until April 2013 where all things Nirvana are on display. Called Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses, it's an ambitious collection of, according to the programme, "rare and unseen artefacts and photography from the band, their crews and families". Larry Reid, punk promoter and manager, says it feels a bit like they've "fetishised" the grunge scene, though, as Novoselic points out, it's better than seeing Cobain's guitar hanging off the wall at a Hard Rock Café while you're eating chilli fries.
I had pangs of déjà-vu as I stared into the glass case that held the sweater Cobain wore for the cover photo that accompanied my story inSpin; but I was heartened to see that one of the main attractions was a dry-erase board where museum-goers could connect any Seattle band, six-degrees-of-separation style, to Nirvana. The board was packed with the names of bands who appeared to be carrying on the very thing I'd imagine Cobain would have wanted if he'd had a chance to choose a legacy. Namely: We're all in this together, let's make some noise.
The Super Deluxe Edition of Nirvana's Nevermind will be releases on 19 September. The multi-format reissue is schedules for 26 September via Universal Music Enterprises featuring dozens of rare and previously unreleased performances
BANKSY - PINTA A PAREDE! [Exit Through the Gift Shop]
um filme de Banksy
Na era da comunicação em que vivemos e em que todos os dias somos confrontados com excesso de informação e publicidade, o olhar de Banksy oferece 87 minutos de uma visão distinta sobre o verdadeiro valor da arte no território da "street culture". Sem desvendar identidades, o documentário segue vários artistas de reputação internacional demonstrando a grandeza dos graffiti enquanto arte real. Apresentado fora de competição na edição de 2010 Festival de Berlim, foi premiado no festival de cinema independente de Sundance e nomeado para o Óscar na categoria de melhor documentário.
Festival de Sundance 2011 - Melhor Documentário ÓSCARES 2011 - nomeação Melhor Documentário
‹‹ Como é que um artista que ninguém sabe quem é, que ninguém alguma vez conseguiu capturar em imagem sem estar mascarado, faz um filme que sem ninguém dar por nada é um pequeno milagre. (...) "Pinta a Parede!" é algo de raro e inexplicável: um documentário que se vê como uma comédia e onde nunca percebemos o que é verdade e o que é ficção, um filme em constante estado de fluxo cujas mudanças de tom, estilo e género nos surpreendem e deliciam constantemente. Como é que alguém que nunca fez cinema na vida (ou será que fez?) acerta na mouche deste modo, estimulante, provocador, inteligente, logo ao primeiro ensaio? ››
Jorge Mourinha, Ípsilon
Título original: Exit Through the Gift Shop Ano: 2010 Realização: Banksy Origem: Grã-Bretanha Duração: 87 min Classificação: M/6
Melhor Drama: Mad Men
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, ‘who could start a war in an empty room’. Steve Pyke/Retna Photograph: Steve Pyke/Retna
Kurt Cobain fronts Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert in New York City in 1993. Photograph: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images