Matt Margolis

Okay, anyone who has read this blog knows I am a fan of Nick Hornby. Hornby, as it turns out, is in the process of collaborating with Ben Folds on an album (nicknamed “The Foldsby Project”). Despite my knowledge and that Ben Folds was coming to Buffalo last week, I never even thought about getting tickets for the show.

Looks like I should have gone.

Folds also shared a pair of songs from a new album in progress, which will feature lyrics by novelist and established music geek Nick Hornby. One of these, a tale about a fictional aging rock star who had a hit in the ’70s called “Belinda” and can’t stand singing it every night for the memories it dredges up, was fantastically clever.

Oh well. I guess I’ll wait for the Folds/Hornby album to come out next year, which will hopefully be promoted in part with another tour. In the meantime, I’ll settle for listening to the Foldsby demos that hit the internet.

Regrets aside, Hornby’s collaboration with Ben Folds has brought me to rediscover Folds’ music (old and new) which will probably start occupying my iTunes Library in increasing numbers.

Why did it take so long for Nirvana Unplugged In New York to be released on DVD? I have no idea. Perhaps the best performance that has ever come out of MTV’s Unplugged.

As a longtime fan of Nirvana, I remember anxiously
awaiting the CD release of Nirvana Unplugged In New York. For die-hard Nirvana fans, to own the uncut video of Nirvana Unplugged is something of equal significance. And the DVD is more than just the raw footage of the performance – though that would have been enough satisfy.

Included in the DVD as bonus material are Nirvana’s rehearsals for their Unplugged performance. Perhaps the most significant gem from the five songs from the rehearsal is “Pennyroyal Tea,” which was rehearsed as a band arrangement, with Pat Smear doing backup guitar and vocals, and tried again with Dave Grohl doing backup guitar as Pat did backup vocals. This was clearly not working, which explains why Kurt Cobain ended up performing the song entirely by himself for the actual performance.

Seeing the uncut performance offers a new glimpse of Nirvana’s rare acoustic concert. While most fans were familiar with the MTV broadcast and/or the album release, the raw footage offers more chatter between songs by the band, video of songs “Something In The Way” and “Oh, Me,” as well as some short comical cover of “Sweet Home Alabama.” Other comical moments occur throughout the DVD, including a call for requests where one fan yells “Rape Me,” to which Kurt replies “I don’t think MTV will let us play that,” an obvious reference to Nirvana’s appearance at the 1992 MTV Music Awards when he started playing the controversial song in protest, then switching to Lithium just before MTV was about to cut them off.

Even if you’re a fan who taped Nirvana’s Unplugged performance back when it was first broadcast, you’ll have to get this DVD. The old VHS tape recorded off the TV can officially take the backseat to this superior DVD loaded with all it’s goodies.