In Utero recently celebrated its twenty-second anniversary—an occasion that’s less a cause for celebration than for mourning, but an occasion nonetheless, as the span of Nirvana’s legacy nears the same number of years that Kurt Cobain actually lived. The retrospective releases and reissues have been exhaustive, but also somewhat jumbled and confusing; thankfully, the upcoming companion release to the documentary Montage of Heck should offer you a cohesive collection of Cobain solo recordings to pore through in one emotional sitting.
The full release, known as Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings, is out November 13, and a special 7” single from the collection will appear a bit later on December 4. The A-side of that single is a cover of The Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” and the B-side is an acoustic demo of the multifarious Nirvana rarity “Sappy,” recorded here by Cobain on a four-track at home in Olympia, Washington, in 1988. Oft-bootlegged, this particular solo version is shockingly stripped down from the pop landslide that eventually manifested itself in 1993.
Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings is out November 13 and the “And I Love Her” 7” is out December 4 via Universal.
(via Pitchfork)
Originally published October 6, 1:55 p.m.
Updated: October 7, 10:08 a.m.
And now we have a full track list for Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings, as well as cover art. As Pitchfork notes (and as the release itself implies), the album sticks solely to solo recordings of Cobain. While there are no unearthed Nirvana gems here, there’s plenty more to look forward to, including early demos of “Been a Son” and “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle.”
Montage of Heck: The Early Recordings track list
“The Yodel Song”
“Been a Son” (Early Demo)
“What More Can I Say”
“1988 Capitol Lake Jam Commercial”
“The Happy Guitar”
“Montage of Kurt”
“Beans”
“Burn the Rain”
“Clean Up Before She Comes” (Early Demo)
“Reverb Experiment”
“Montage of Kurt II”
“Rehash”
“You Can’t Change Me/Burn My Britches/Something in the Way” (Early Demo)
“Scoff” (Early Demo)
“Aberdeen”
“Bright Smile”
“Underground Celebritism”
“Retreat”
“Desire”
“And I Love Her”
“Sea Monkeys”
“Sappy” (Early Demo)
“Letters to Frances”
“Scream”
“Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” (Demo)
“Kurt Ambiance”
“She Only Lies”
“Kurt Audio Collage”
“Poison’s Gone”
“Rhesus Monkey”
“Do Re Mi” (Medley)
Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings is out November 13 via Universal.
(via Pitchfork)
