Today would have been Kurt Cobain's birthday, and when previously revisiting the musician's life and death, we've looked at how people have celebrated him; we've checked in with MTV man John Norris to discuss where he was when he heard Cobain died; we revisited that tragic and iconic photo of his lifeless body; we checked out the original video for "In Bloom" (filmed in downtown Manhattan!); we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Nevermind; and so on. We've even talked to producer Steve Albini:
One of the most well-known casualties of the music industry was Nirvana, who are in the ether once again, as it’s the 20-year anniversary of Nevermind. You recorded their follow-up to that album, In Utero. I realize I’m probably the millionth person to ask you about them but I was wondering, now that all this time has passed...I’ll take the over on a million by the way.
Well maybe not as much these days? It’s like any other sort of touchstone band. Every year another big brother goes off to college and leaves his records to his little brother and another generation of fans find out about every band that sort of survives the slush pile. Nirvana is a classic example of a band that’s gonna continually find a new audience for itself until that kind of music no longer resonates with people, and that might be a very long time.
So, this time around, let's take a look at where In Utero was recorded. It wasn't recorded at Albini's Electrical Audio studios in Chicago (where our favorite cat Pip lives)—instead, he flew out to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota. We happened to be invited along to spend some time there back in 2008, and the owner showed us around the grounds. Fun fact: he told us that when Nirvana booked studio time there they did so under the name the Simon Ritchie Bluegrass Ensemble—so you can imagine the surprise when the intern was sent to pick the band up at the airport. Click through for a look at the Cannon Falls, Minnesota studio, which has a very Last Days feel to it.
Here's some video from the session:
And now, arguably one of the best songs from the album:
