Perhaps the unspoken “elephant in the room” is the production work, which seems a little too ’90s for their own good. Maybe I’m being too presumptuous, but put Darstar in the hands that polished the most recent albums by Harlem or Best Coast, and one might hear this record fully maxed out to its potential.

Nonetheless jams ensue. When you listen to tracks like “Bonneville Salt Flats” and the slickly named “Defenders Of Quality Rock N’ Roll,” a loud and electrifying live show is not hard to imagine. Ultimately, Tiny Darkness does solid work on the fringe of grunge and pop. Their future endeavors should be eagerly anticipated.

(Idol Records, PO Box 140344, Dallas, TX 75214 )

In 1988, they gained immediate credibility with their debut, the Steve Albini-produced Star Booty.  Although all three of their releases are good, this EP is the high-water mark.  The 1989 follow up Umber LP strays away from the sound a bit, getting darker and slower.  1990’s LP Ben Hur stays in the same artistic vein.  After their dissolution in 1990, all the members went on to other musical projects.  Most of these projects were critically acclaimed, but, like Bitch Magnet, not commercially successful, including Seam, Bastro, Gastr Del Sol, and Don Caballero.

The Deluxe Reissues release is worth a listen for anyone unfamiliar with Bitch Magnet’s work who enjoys grunge, math rock, or late ’80s alternative music.  Star Booty is a good starting point.

(Temporary Residence Ltd., PO Box 60097, Brooklyn, NY 11206-0097)

After spotting a fan holding a photo of her late husband, Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, Love went off, stating, “I don’t need to see a picture of Kurt, asshole, and I’m going to have you fucking removed if you keep throwing that up…I’m not Kurt — I have to live with his shit, his ghost, his kid every day. Throwing that up is stupid and rude and I’ll beat the fuck out of you if you do it again.”

Love left the stage briefly, returning after guitarist Micko Larson led the audience in a chant of “Foo Fighters are gay.”

This is, of course, the same Courtney Love who recently said she’d “kill Kurt if he came back from the dead.”

Video from the incident in Brazil is below. (via RS)

Pearl Jam Twenty is out now on DVD.

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “About a Girl” by Nirvana

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Scoff” by Nirvana

Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth have separated after a 27-year marriage. The couple have played in Sonic Youth since 1981, and were married in 1984. They have a 17-year-old daughter, Coco.

Matador Records released the following statement:

“Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment.”

With that in mind, here are what could be Sonic Youth’s final dates:

11/05 Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Personal Fest 2011
11/08 Montevideo, Uruguay @ Festival Primavera
11/10 Lima, Peru @ Explanda Monumental
11/13 Santiago, Chile @ Maquinaria Festival
11/14 Sao Paulo, Brazil @ SWU Music and Arts Festival

It takes a pretty sick person to say she’d kill her dead husband if he were to come back from the dead…it takes a sicker person to say she’d “fuck him and then kill him”…and then you have Courtney Love, who seems to have selective memory issues.

Hey, Courtney — fixed that for ya! (via The Marquee Blog)

However, it would seem wrong if we failed to acknowledge this milestone — so we have compiled a list of the five best mashups using Nirvana’s biggest hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

While typically not a huge fan of mashups, the Wugazi “album” made me realize that, when well-done, mashups can breathe substantial new life into music that has been over-played, making the parts of the sum newly listenable.

The Dance Track: Nirvana vs Dead or Alive

If you hate tracks fit for a dance club, this might not do much for you — still, this is remarkably well done (and really bizarre), and the creator FAROFF has a slew of mashups on his Youtube page worth checking out (including a mashup The Beatles, Joan Jett, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, and Rage Against the Machine!).

Smells Like Billy Jean: Nirvana vs. The King of Pop

While perhaps not the most impressively executed mashup on the list, this one still holds special significance. In January 1992, Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson’s Dangerous off the number one spot in the Billboard charts. Never mind (see what I did there?) that the media was already heralding Nirvana as ringing the death knell for hair metal — now they were dethroning the King of Pop, and redefining popular music.

This mashup, though, just proves that Nirvana and Michael Jackson are two tragic tastes that taste great together.

The Riff: Nirvana vs. Biggie Smalls

The opening riff of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is probably one of the most recognizable in rock music history. Simple and understated, this mashup utilizes it well, looping the six-second riff for four minutes, letting the Notorious B.I.G.’s words carry the track.

Woo hoo! Nirvana vs. Blur

Featuring two of the biggest hits of the alt-rock decade, this “Nirvana vs. Blur” mashup is like the heavyweight boxing match of ’90s radio rock. Also, this is the only track on the list that utilizes Kurt’s vocals but none of the instrumentation from “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Rickrolled: Nirvana vs. Rick Astley

Yeah, sorry if you thought I was going to pull some obscure mashup out of my ass, but this is it: the number one Nirvana mashup. It succeeds on two levels, the first being that it makes Rick Astley listenable.  More interestingly, though, it features literally no tweaking or remixing of the instruments or vocals — this is merely Astley’s vocals replacing Cobain’s, exposing just how simple and brilliant the pop formula is for creating a memorable, catchy song.

What do you think? Any memorable “Smells Like Teen Spirit” mashups we left out? Leave us some comments!

Click below to watch the video or stream the studio version of the track.

Chris Cornell – The Keeper by chriscornell

The lineup includes members of Fucked Up, Tokyo Police Club, Buck 65, Woodhands, Gallows, One Hundred Dollars, the Flatliners, and Junior Battles, as well as Buck 65 and D-Sisive. More will be added as the date grows closer, and audience members are also invited to participate.

I hope they invite Weird Al.

Via Reuters: “[Stewart] will grill Nirvana drummer Grohl and bassist Novoselic, as well as Nevermind producer Vig, about recording the landmark album with frontman Kurt Cobain…Attendees and SiriusXM subscribers will also be able to to ask the panelists questions…

“Along with the ‘Town Hall’ event, the channel will air music from the band’s entire catalog and recordings of celebrities offering their thoughts about the band’s legacy.”

Additionally, from September 23rd to September 28th, SiriusXM will run a Nirvana-only channel entitled “Nevermind Radio.”

Below is a video of Jon Stewart interviewing Dave Grohl on “The Daily Show” in 2001.