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Review: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
Reviews
Kurt Cobain: About a Son
A cough-syrup trip through the myth of Cobain
By
JAMES PARKER
|
October 31, 2007
KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON
" alt="photo of 'KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON'">
3.5
Stars
EVOCATIVE IMAGES OF DEAD BIRDS: Interesting melancholia.
Now
this
is interesting. AJ Schnack has taken the interview tapes that journalist Michael Azerrad made with Kurt Cobain in 1992 and 1993, added some evocative images of dead birds, moody high-school kids, and disease-covered Puget Sound, and made a sort of amphibian non-movie: a slow cough-syrup trip through the myth of Cobain, as narrated by the man himself. Azerrad already got a book out of these tapes (2001’s
Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana
), but this is something else: undiluted on-the-phone-at-3-am Kurt, with one awful prophetic moment where Courtney is heard moaning feebly at him from an upstairs room. Once again we are reminded of the mistiness of the Pacific Northwest and the thorniness of K. Cobain. On dogs: “I dislike them.” On average people: “I just have to confront them and tell them that I hate their guts.” Nothing happens exactly, but melancholia seeps from the screen, producing a silvery smog in which to sit quietly and drink one’s pennyroyal tea.
Related
:
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,
Scene and heard
,
State of Nirvana
,
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Kurt Cobain
This article originally appeared in the April 15, 1994 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
Scene and heard
Entertainment companies are pumping out music DVD titles by the hundreds, and 2008 will see a deluge of releases across all genres.
State of Nirvana
This article originally appeared in the March 11, 1994 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
Nirvana | Live at Reading and Bleach
Here in the Internet Age, we tend to think that we made possible the overnight transformation from blog-buzz baby to arena-rock idol.
The Big Hurt: Jammin’ with Nordstrom
“I am stoked to collaborate with Nordstrom,” said Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz in a recent press release.
Playlist: May 25, 2007
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991, Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, Songwriters on Songwriting, and more.
Unpopularity contest
I’d like to commend David S. Bernstein for pointing out that the mayor could have many promising challengers.
Just the Fax
This article originally appeared in the August 13, 1993 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
Nirvana versus Foo Fighters
Are Foo Fighters more important than Nirvana? Such a thought might have been considered heresy even five years ago.
Crossword: ''Hidden strength''
Yes, we can solve this puzzle
Greatest video-game tragedies of the last decade
Here are some of our favorite anti-victories of the past 10 years, in rough chronological order.
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,
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[
02/19
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Bubonic Bear + Banned Books + Ultra//Negative + Death Cloud + Heavy Breathing
@ 131 Washington
[
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]
Circle Mirror Transformation
@ Theater Project
[
02/19
]
Jozef van Wissem + Robbie Lee + Arborea
@ The Oak and The Ax
ARTICLES BY JAMES PARKER
BLACK SABBATH ARE BACK — IN PRINT AND ON FILM
| November 14, 2011
The literature on Black Sabbath — already extensive — will continue to grow, as we try, try, try again to wrap our poor noggins around the irreducibly cosmic fact of this band.
REDISCOVERING METALLICA WITH A NEW BIO
| August 26, 2011
Write the Lightning
REDISCOVERING METALLICA WITH A NEW BIO
| August 24, 2011
That the biggest metal band in metal history should be called METALLICA — it's just so frigging metal .
REMEMBERING HÜSKER DÜ WITH TWO NEW BOOKS
| June 09, 2011
"Readers of this book will be disappointed," declares Andrew Earles, rather sternly, in the introduction to his Hüsker Dü: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock (Voyageur Press), "if they hope to be rewarded with the gritty details of any band member's drug use."
A POET FACES THE ABYSS
| June 08, 2011
Depression: the mind grapples — the culture grapples — to frame it. Serotonin hiccup? Existential banana-skin? Anger blow-back? Fall from grace?
See all articles by:
JAMES PARKER
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