|
|
ROIO of the Week [Recordings
of Indeterminate Origin]
Click on the panels to download artwork
Nirvana
Fire Extinguisher
[Laura/1CD]
Live at
Nakano Sunplaza, Tokyo, Japan, February 19, 1992.
The year Punk broke,
Nirvana came to $ingapore knowing their debut mainstream album, Nevermind,
was No. 1 in America. This was their first and only trip to the "Far East"
and management had decided the only civilised nation to visit in South-east
Asia was $ingapore. The only thing an insular Kurt Cobain knew about this
mysterious geographical theatre was recorded in a journal entry, "(I)
found myself realising that I wouldn't be able to get drugs when we got
to Japan and Australia." There was something else he found when he arrived
in $ingapore. He would need a government permit to play there.
No one in the Geffen
office in $ingapore had the presence of mind to ask Nirvana, before they
arrived, whether they would like to play a promo concert here. Instead
a contest was organised and the prize was a trip to Japan to watch Nirvana
play. But when Cobain was accosted by fans at Changi International Airport
and went through the routine of being chased to his tour bus, he wanted
to play.
Unfortunately, Nirvana's
stay was far too short. An entertainment permit could not be rushed out
in time for America's No. 1 band to play here. There were rules to be
followed. A list of the songs had to be submitted to the police and the
lyrics provided for inspection. The venue had to be safe and properly
policed to prevent rioting. It was 1992, the Dark Ages of $ingapore pop
culture. Fire Extinguisher is a bootleg of Nirvana's final show in Tokyo
at the Nakano Sunplaza on February 19, 1992, after leaving $ingapore.
It was also the last time Kurt Cobain would set foot in the Far East.
For the hundreds of Japanese who sensed an event and bought tickets, they
would be the envy of friends having seen Nirvana live.
The set itself was
trimmed of the slower numbers like Something In The Way, Jesus Wants Me
For A Sunbeam and the new Rape Me. Japanese audiences are polite and quiet.
Kurt preferred to turn on the punks in the audience with a brief but stormy
show. The band is on auto-pilot in the first half with uninspired versions
of Been A Son, Come As You Are, Lithium and About A Girl. But just when
you think, nothing's going to happen, Kurt finally says something from
the stage by way of introducing the next song, School: "...about two days
ago, I got really sick. I got this really bad cold...," he tells the audience.
"Like a flu, like illness, whatever." Did his Japanese fans understand?
"And ah the doctor,"
he continues, "gave me this stuff to drink." Cobain's voice is as innocent
as an angel's when he tells them just what's in the drink.
"I think it's Chinese
herbs and it has cow sperm in it and it's got like lizard penis scrapings
and ahh... I feel really sick but it just makes me feel real good to know
that I've been drinking cow semen..." His voice trails off as he allows
the last words to make its impact. "It makes you feel good." The sarcasm
is pointed at an unknown target - doctors, officialdom, record company
execs, the man?
The version of School
they play tonight is perhaps the most intense. "Won't you believe it,
it's just my luck?" Cobain starts, referencing some unhappy recent event.
Then comes the reply in the chorus of "no recess, no recess, no recess."
Cobain changes it coming in the second time. Now he sings with a sinister
tone changing the lyrics to, "drinking cow sperm again... drinking cow
sperm again..." He repeats it over and over and then slams the breaks,
screaming "no recess, no recess" for the final time. Something has obviously
touched an inner chord in him to release the energy. School has always
been a song about stultifying conformity. Tonight it's not only the lack
of a recess break but the punishment of drinking "cow sperm again" that
angers him.
For the rest of the
show, the other members are like demons behind their singer. Aneurysm,
Love Buzz, Polly, Territorial Pissing and the grand finale of Smells Like
Teen Spirit unite the three into one single unit, pounding out pure punk
- disreputable, antagonistic, iconoclastic and raging full on. But from
all accounts when Kurt Cobain was in Japan, he was happy. He reportedly
was quite taken by the outpouring of gifts from the Japanese and requested
that they give him only Hello Kitty gifts. He was playful and bought himself
new pajamas which he wore on stage. He also met his friends, the Shonen
Knife, a trio of Japanese girls whom he had dinner with and later went
to see them play.
Earlier, Kurt was
reportedly unhappy in Australia where he had stomach pains, possibly a
symptom of drug withdrawal. When he visited a hospital there, he was upset
when he overheard a nurse describe him as a "junkie." But Kurt Cobain
adored Japan for its unique culture. It's fitting that the only document
from his Far East tour is this final concert in Japan. - Michael Cheah
Note: The Fire
Extinguisher supercedes the now-deleted Last Show In Japan (KTS).
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality,
stereo MP3s - sample rate of 192 kibit/s). As far as we can ascertain,
these tracks have never been officially released.
These tracks are no longer available for download. Kindly email us at
singbigo@singnet.com.sg if
you want to download these tracks at a later time.
| |
|
| Track
01 |
Negative
Creep |
| Track
02 |
Been
A Son |
| Track
03 |
On
A Plain |
| Track
04 |
Blew
|
| Track
05 |
Come
As You Are |
| Track
06 |
Lithium
|
| Track
07 |
Breed
|
| Track
08 |
Sliver |
| Track
09 |
Drain
You |
| Track
10 |
About
A Girl |
| Track
11 |
School |
| Track
12 |
Aneurysm
|
| Track
13 |
Love
Buzz |
| Track
14 |
Polly |
| Track
15 |
Territorial
Pissing
|
| Track
16 |
Smells
Like Teen Spirit |
Click
here to visit Allofmp3.com to order Nirvana albums.
For more... email singbigo@singnet.com.sg
with the message, "Put me on your mailing list."
|
|
|
FOR
MORE:
Radiohead
Berlin, Sept 11, 2001
click here
(open)
The Clash
Hong Kong 1982
click here
(open)
John Zorn's Masada
Taipei 1996
click here (open)
Neil Young
Living With War Live
click here (open)
Deep Purple
Jakarta 1975
click here (open)
New Order
Wellington, NZ, 1982
click here (open)
Michael Jackson
Brunei 1996
click here
Peaches
Toronto 2006
click here
Mike Oldfield
Tubular Bells Live
click here
Van Der Graaf Generator
The Killer Lives
click here
Klaus Schulze
Dune Tour Rehearsals 1979
click here
Stomu Yamashta's Go
Europe 1976
click here
Kraftwerk
Bremen Radio 1971
click here
Erika Stucky's Low Life
Bremen 2006
click here
The Flaming Lips
Stockholm 2006
click here
Camille
Black Session 2006
click here
Slow Music Project
Largo 2006
click here
Roger Waters
Verona 2006
click here
Kyu
Tokyo 2005
click here
Anna Ternheim
Hamburg 2006
click here
Green Zone
Tokyo 2006
click here
Dave Gilmour
Manchester 2006
click here
Keren Ann
Artrock Festival
click here
Bruce Springsteen
Sold On Song
click here
Black Sabbath
San Jose 1999
click here
Branford Marsalis
Live At Ronnie Scott's
click here
Various
A Coltrane Serenade
click here
David Murray Octet
Plays Trane
click here
Death/Voor
Demos
click here
Dark Tranquillity
Hultsfred 2005
click here
Turbonegro
Hultsfred 2005
click here
Rolling Stones
Live'R Than You'll Ever Be
click here
Nikki Sudden
Berlin 2006
click here
Pink Floyd
Best Of Tour '72
click here
Led Zeppelin
For The Benefit Of Anyone Who Was Making A Bootleg
click here
Various
Coca-Cola
Commercials
Part 2
click here
Various
Coca-Cola Commercials
click here
Santana-John McLaughlin
A Live Supreme
click here
Pearl Jam
World Wide Suicide
click here
Neil Young
Tonight's The Night Demos
click here
Robert Wyatt
Un Certo Discorso
click here
Jackson Browne
Jabberwocky Club
click here
James Taylor
Fillmore East 1971
click here
James Blunt
Mermaid Theatre
click here
John Denver
KRHM, Los Angeles
click here
Arctic Monkeys
Koeln 2006
click here
Linda Ronstadt
Keeping Out Of Mischief
click here
Keiji Haino & Coil
Play The Blues
click here
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Complete Machina2
click here
Derek Bailey/John Zorn
Tonic 2001
click here
Shinobu Goto
Sampler
click here
Ryan Adams
Destroyer
click here
Lou Reed And Zeitkratzer
Metal Machine Music Live!
click here
Arcade Fire
First Avenue
click here
Derek Bailey & Ruins
London 1997
click here
Jill Sobule
Nashville
click here
Peter Gabriel
Passion Outtakes
click here
Joni Mitchell and James Taylor
Royal Albert Hall 1970
click here
Laura Nyro
Fillmore East 1970
click here
Wilco
Montreal 2005
click here
John Lennon
You Should'a
Been There
click here
Anthony Braxton Standards Quartet
click here
Charlie Haden
Liberation
Music Orchestra
click here
Black Sabbath
Asbury Park 1975
click here
The White Stripes
Glastonbury
click here
Iron And Wine with Calexico
click here
The Magic Numbers
Hultsfred Festival 2005
click here
Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
John Peel's Top Gear
click here
Pink Floyd
BBC Archives
click here
V Fest 2005
(The Magic Numbers, Doves, Zutons)
click here
Laura Veirs
Railway Inn
Winchester, UK
click here
Devendra Banhart
Live @ France's Inter White Session
click here
Bruce Springsteen
Singin' Our Birthday Song
click here
Pink Pumpkins/Smashing Floyd
A Comfortable Hum
click here
Sufjan Stevens
Live At The Triple Door
click here
Douglas Ewart, Wadada Leo Smith, Jeff Parker, Hamid Drake
12th Guelph Jazz Festival, Canada
Sept 10, 2005
click here
The New
Pornographers
Live At The Triple Door
click here
The Band
Tombstone: The Lost Album
click here
The Bee Gees
A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants
click here
Steely Dan
The Lost Gaucho
click here
Grateful Dead
At Soldier's Field
(July 9, 1995, Chicago)
click here
Elvis Presley
A Stranger In My Own Home Town: The Other Side Of Elvis
click here
Led Zeppelin
Pb
click here
Pink Floyd
Time In London
click here
Coca-Cola Commercials
click here
Secret Machines
Chicago 2005
click here
Mirror/Dash
Tolbooth, Stirling, Scotland 2005
click here
Coldplay - Koko Camden, London 2005
click here
Lambchop - Tanz-und Folkfest Rudolstadt, Germany 2004
click here
M.I.A. - Radio Show
click here
Various - Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds
click here
Jimmy Page's Lucifer Rising
click here
Brian Eno's Music For Glitterbug
click here
Jon Anderson's Lord Of The Rings: The Unreleased Yes Songs
click here
Mal Waldron's The Cool World Soundtrack
click here
The Fearless Freaks, feauring the Flaming Lips
click here
Vangelis - The Complete Blade Runner Soundtrack (selected tracks)
click here
Sonic Youth - Plays Stan Brakhage
click here
R.E.M.'s Ahoy Rotterdam 2005
click here
Bright Eyes - 9.30 Club Washington DC (Jan 29, 2005)
click here
Led Zeppelin And The Bombay Orchestra's Led Zeppelin In India: The
Lost Sessions Vol 2 - Bombay Magic
click here
Neil Young's Chrome Dreams (Rust Edition)
click here
The Who - Orchestral Tommy; The Who - Tommy At The Metropolitan
Opera House; Calexico - Lee's Place; Prince - Fillmore; Ian Dury
- Rare Boots & Panties; Eric Clapton - Philadelphia 2004
click here
Patti Smith's E-Werk, Cologne, Germany, July 17, 2004
click here
Elvis Presley's Finding The Way Home
click here
The Carpenters' More Offerings
click here
Dave Douglas' Speaking Truth To Power Modern Music Protest
click here
Neil Young's Last Album
click here
Elvis Presley's Desert Storm
click here
Frank Sinatra's Historic Oakland Concert
click here
Radiohead's Black Tuesday
click here
Neil Young's I'm Happy That Y'All Came Down
click here
Beck, Bogert & Appice's Good Bye Lady
click here
Wilco's The YHF Demos
click here
David Bowie's The Rise And Rise Of Ziggy Stardust
click here
Miles Davis' The Complete Live At The Cellar Door
click here
Pink Floyd's Brain Damaged Empire
click here
|
|
