Festwca

I meant to say that the L.A. scene had quite an impact on what's known as grunge. Cobain was a fan of the Los Angeles SST (and who isn't?). And "My War" by Black Flag is perhaps one of the most influential records on grunge, period. Anyway, yeah for underground rock! I believe that with the arrival of Nevermind, which brought a lot of stuff to the surface, the preciousness and, why not, the fertile secrecy that characterized that scene kind of went down the drain...

Very big Vitus, isolationists even within a label that is already niche! I preferred them with Scott Reagers on vocals; Wino (great man) has done better with Obsessed and Spirit Caravan.

Sure, grunge is a minefield, as Donjunio says; a bit like post-rock, everyone perceives different facets of it. I've always seen it as "sound" rather than "mood"; maybe it’s hard for me to separate the word grunge from the word Nirvana. Grunge as a "record label"? SubPop. Yes, but also Amrep and Touch&Go; and SST, why not? Grunge as a city? Seattle. MMM, and Minneapolis? (the Cows from Orphan's Tragedy were undoubtedly grunge!). Grunge as a "summary of rock history" and as the "death of the genre"? Naaaa. Grunge as a banalization and homogenization of the fertile underground of the '80s in Los Angeles and surroundings? Maybe...

Sure, I usually don’t comment (and don’t read) film reviews. But "After-Hours" is one of my absolute favorites, and I only like Scorsese at this level in "Bringing Out the Dead" (translated poorly as "Al Di Là Della Vita"). Saludos

What doesn't convince me? "they had in common that disillusioned, bitter, discouraged, depressed feeling, which sometimes risked falling into the most serious self-pity." Look, right off the bat, the Melvins come to mind, playful and incredibly tough, determined and stupid at the same time. Yet, they were grunge too; I would say they're the quintessential grunge band (and, if nothing else, they're the most creative among the groups that emerged from the Seattle scene). Or I think of certain covers from SubPop, like those of Bleach or Superfuzz Bigmuff: grunge as chaotic, instrument-smashing garage punk. In the end, it wasn't really a music movement; rather, there was a city (Seattle) from which some bands emerged that had fun together at night and liked the Stooges and 60s garage, as well as punk. Then there are the 100,000 clones of Nirvana that sprang up in the 90s, which is another story... City of long faces? In late 80s Seattle, they were having a blast; there were only a few of them, but they made a hell of a racket!

Mmm, I’m not entirely convinced by your non-analysis of grunge. Anyway, great review (as usual). And I’ll look for these...

OK. Which is better, this one or the other?

I don't read the rece. The album is essential but truly difficult.

You say that the Pond is connected to Faust? I don’t really feel it. Rather more kraut stuff like Guru Guru, Ash Ra Tempel, and the other psychedelic ones. Faust weren’t very psycho, were they?

So I'll get it. I have the entire original discography, except for that one (and Chrono.Naut, which is impossible to find - and beautiful), so I'm not exactly a novice :). I took advantage of the remastering they did in 2006.