The auction for a private plane ride and lunch with Krist Novoselic, as mentioned here earlier, is now up. The auction ends in 5 days and the current bid is about 600 bucks. If you win the auction, you will be taken for a plane ride in Krist's own Cessna 182 Skylane and flown to a restaurant in a city of your choice for a lunch with the politician and former Nirvana bassist. Check out the auction here. The auction is part of a fundraiser for the organization People for the American Way. They have a couple of other interesting auctions up as well. View them here. Thanks to Rob for the link to the Krist auction.

Apparently the new Nirvana box set is selling quite well; it is currently #7 on the amazon.com sales rank for music. A few days ago it was #4. Indeed, as the current NFC poll also shows, most people are very happy with this release. Check the WTLO section for lots of information about this release, including a list of the 'hidden' tracks on the DVD and much more. Or go here if you'd like to buy your own copy of this Nirvana box set.

Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan commented on the new Nirvana box set and the whole aspect of royalties: "The new Nirvana box set With The Lights Out is going to provide a payday for more than just the members of the band. Velvet Revolver's Duff McKagan, who watched the formation of Nirvana as a Seattle native, told The Fox that other musicians who are on the box set -- such as former members of the band and original Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel -- will be seeing royalty payments, which will help some of them quite a bit: 'You know, there's some guys who got cut in on this. The original drummer from Screaming Trees, for example -- he owns a record store, he lives in a little, little town in eastern Washington. He's just about to go under, (and) some lawyer called him and said, 'Well, you know, you're getting such-and-such percentage of this record,' and it's gonna change his life. These guys have been musicians all their lives, and never made a dime. That alone is a great aspect of this box set coming out.' " Story courtesy of 99.3 The Fox. Thanks to Daniela. Duff's current band, Velvet Revolver, did a cover of Nirvana's Negative Creep. Go to the 'misc files' section to check it out.

The documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke will be shown at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA as part of a tribute to L.A. Punk filmmaker David Markey. The film is shown on December 9 at 7:30 PM. Apparently, Markey will be there to present the film himself, and it will include some previously unseen footage. For the full press release with detailed information, click here.

Sony Connect are currently offering the Nirvana box set for purchase online; each song is 99 cents. They are giving away exclusive Nirvana posters for the first 300 that buy the box set from their website. The whole box is priced at just $29.99. You can also buy Nevermind: It's An Interview. Click the banner below to visit the Sony Connect music store. This promotion is for US customers only. Thanks to Ashley.

A laywer for Courtney Love comments that a 'best-of-the-box' release is coming out in a few years: " 'I'm personally delighted to see it out,' said Love's lawyer, O. Yale Lewis. 'Between the greatest hits, released earlier, and this box set ... it will provide the fans forever (with) a good mosaic of the music of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.' Universal's Geffen label recorded close to 400,000 advance orders of the box set, which officially listed at $60 but was selling at about $40 at many music stores. Another 100,000 copies were expected to sell by the end of the first week." Read the complete story here, courtesy of AP and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Thanks to GGG.

The prizes for the latest NFC Competition are just about ready to be shipped to the winners. Notice, however, that it may take up to two months for your prize to arrive. One of the prizes had to be cancelled: The "NFC Compilation Best Of" CD as it is not yet finished. Also, I haven't heard back from 4 winners yet: Westley Ford (at msn.com), Ben De Wilde (at hotmail.com), Natisha Gleeson (at rock.com) and Chad Buck (at hotmail.com) If you've changed your e-mail address please let me know. A new competition will be up soon.

People, please stop e-mailing me about the song Suffocation. This song is fake. It has NOTHING to do with Nirvana. The site offering this song has nothing to do with the official box set website.

According to MTV, eBay will soon launch an auction where you can bid on a dinner with Krist Novoselic! Here's the story: "Nirvana fans can bid on a lunch with Krist Novoselic on his private plane as part of People for the American Way's annual Auction for the American Way. Beginning Sunday and ending December 5 on eBay, the auction will also include autographed memorabilia from Madonna, the Pixies, Green Day, Maroon 5 and John Mayer." Story courtesy of MTV. Thanks to Ben and Nicky for the link.

Gillian G. Gaar who served as project consultant for the new Nirvana box set wrote an interesting article for the Seattle Times, talking about working on this release: "On April 1, 1998, record producer Jack Endino and I were sitting in Hanzsek Audio as Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic played tapes from the band's last recording session in January 1994 at Robert Lang Studios in Shoreline. Most numbers were jams Novoselic and Nirvana's drummer, Dave Grohl, recorded before lead singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain showed up. Cobain only sang on one song, a haunting number the tracking sheets called 'Kurt's Song #1.' In 2002, the song was officially released on the 'best of' compilation Nirvana, retitled You Know You're Right. But our mission in 1998 was different. We were beginning work on a then-unnamed Nirvana box set. Three years after its original release date in the fall of 2001, the box set, With The Lights Out, is finally being released today." Read the complete article here.

The Tacoma News Tribune did an interview with Aaron Burckhard who was briefly Nirvana's drummer and appears on a couple of the songs included with the box set. Read more here.

I've added some more reviews of the box set to the new section of this site. Check it out here and let me know if you can add any reviews not listed on this page. Thanks.

With The Lights Out is officially released in the U.S. and Canada today.

In a new interview, producer Jack Endino speculates that a Nirvana live album could be next. He also talks about how he helped track down recordings for the new Nirvana box: " 'There could have been a CD of live stuff. There could have been a CD of acoustic stuff. There could have been a CD of demos and outtakes. There could have been a CD of B-sides. Just B-sides alone, you can make a full CD of that,' Jack Endino says of the new Nirvana box set. While the band has been heavily bootlegged, the box set pulls things out of the vault that no one has ever heard before. 'There's a fair bit of this stuff that has been bootlegged, but a hell of a lot of it hasn't', says Endino, Nirvana's original producer in the early days and the project consultant for With the Lights Out. 'Stuff turned up when we really started digging that had been closely held by various people who didn't want it bootlegged. Once the word got out we were doing the official box set, people became a little more open about sharing stuff - 'Oh, this isn't going to a bootleg. This is the real thing. The family is involved. Courtney (Love) has given it the OK. Krist (Novoselic) is involved.' That's a different story.' He first discussed the box with Nirvana bassist Novoselic back in 1998. 'Basically it was a lot of detective work,' Endino says. 'I kinda knew where a lot of this stuff was in the course of my work and being at the epicenter of things here for years.' He told Novoselic that 'I have copies of a lot of this stuff on cassette that nobody has heard that I've been hoarding because I didn't want it to get out.' 'I basically said 'Let me make you a tape of some of this stuff so you can start thinking about what might be on the box.' Of course, Krist didn't have any tapes. He lost everything. A lot of this stuff he knew existed, he didn't have copies of.' Thus began a six-year process of tracking down rumors and weeding out tapes. Sometimes they had to turn to cassettes and VHS because the songs existed nowhere else." Read the complete story here, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain News. Read a similar interview with Endino here, courtesy of Playlouder.

Over at bandbuilder.com they have a preview of 7 songs from the box set and a couple of videos. Check it out here.

In a new special issue of Q Magazine, they have made a list of the 100 Greatest Icons. Kurt Cobain is #5 on the list which is topped by John Lennon. Thanks to Sean.

A couple of articles about the box set: Toronto Star, Stuff and Sunday Times.

With The Lights Out is officially released internationally today.

An interesting story from Billboard: "With numerous releases flowing through stores in the next several weeks, many retailers are most excited about the Nirvana boxed set, 'With the Lights Out', which comes out Nov. 23. The defunct grunge trio's Geffen Records collection 'could be the biggest boxed set of all time', says Bryan Everitt, director of music purchasing for Amarillo, Texas-based Hastings Entertainment. 'I don't think there is a more dedicated fan than the Nirvana fan.' Musicland senior music buyer Scott Faragher also smells a hit. 'Nirvana's boxed set will be the most sought-after boxed set this year,' he says. 'It will appeal to the original Nirvana fan and also (to) the legions of new alternative rock fans, since Nirvana, to most people, was the beginning of the genre.' 'Stocking stuffer' is what Jerry Kamiler, music divisional director of purchasing for Trans World Entertainment, is thinking, although he suspects many people will buy it for themselves. 'Everybody who ever bought a Nirvana album, who is a fan, will want this. Those people want this music. The key is its unreleased material, and the DVD is very interesting.' " Full story here.

Chad Channing will be on Andy Savage's morning show on K-ROCK 96.5 in Seattle this coming Tuesday (November 23). Check out this website for more info.

HYPE! - a movie about the 90s Seattle music scene will finally come out on DVD. It is scheduled for a December 21, 2004 release. Thanks to Mika. Order it here.

Despite the fact that the Nirvana box set wasn't supposed to be released officially until next week, several fans have already obtained their copy. Apparently, stores around Europe have been selling it from the 19th - one fan even reported buying it from a store on the 18th. Particularly The Netherlands and Ireland seem to be operating with a November 19th release date for some reason. In any case, the box should be available in most of the world on Monday and in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday (November 23, 2004). Click here to read my review of it.

I recently got a copy of East of the Equator's debut album, Technology Nursery (to be released on December 6) and received permission to put up a couple of songs from it here. The band features former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing on drums, Travis North on vocals, Erik East on guitar, Mike West on bass and Ric Autumn on guitar. The album was produced by Jack Endino.

A short intro to the band from Chad himself: "As many of you may know, I've been in a number of bands since Nirvana and for one reason or another things didn't stick. However, the situation and people I play with now are a very dedicated bunch, and it just over-all has a different feel going on. Everything I've done has been very different from one band to the other. EOE (East of the Equator) is another direction for me in music. We all have fun together and enjoy what we do. Hopefully you will to. Take care all!"

Channing, of course, is prominently featured on the upcoming Nirvana box set, i.e. in the 1990 In Bloom video. Visit the East of the Equator website for a bio and a link to use to pre-order the album for just $9 USD.

In a special edition of Rolling Stone Magazine to be published tomorrow, they list the top 500 rock songs of all time. At spot #9 is Nirvana with Smells Like Teen Spirit - the only song in the Top 10 written after 1971! In fact, only 3 current hits made the Top 500. The list was compiled by a panel of recording artists, producers, label execs, critics and songwriters. It is topped by Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone from a 1965 album. Click here for the full story. Speaking of Rolling Stone, their April 1992 cover story on Nirvana can be found online here. Thanks to Michael for the link.

Earlier this month, a sampler CD was sent out to select radio stations in the US promoting With The Lights Out. It contains a selection of 7 songs from the box set and they are:

Friday Nov 26th: Andrew Collins (1600-1900)

Plus, if you're unlucky with our on-air competition, we got a very special prize to give away online all week. Just click here from Monday to be in with a chance of winning a rare gold disc for Nirvana's Greatest Hits album!

Another competition just ended. I have now given away three pairs of tickets for the upcoming Nirvana tribute show in Manchester. The lucky winners are: Jeff Extine, Lyle Christine and Kurt Higham. Thanks to the 105 folks that entered legitimately with the correct answer.

I've just launched a comprehensive new section dedicated to With The Lights Out, the Nirvana box set coming out soon. Check it out here. If you have anything to add (i.e. reviews from the media), please contact me.

The official website at www.nirvanabox.com was updated again. Interestingly, it now allows you to listen to "Nightly Nirvana", a special feature that will be broadcast on radio stations in the coming week. It includes clips from a bunch of Nirvana's songs mixed with interview segments. Also available on the website now is some more reviews and the song "In Bloom" is playing when you enter the site.

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November 16, 2004

I recently ended the 11th NFC Competition which offered no less than 40 prizes, including several Nirvana-related books signed by the authors; CDs; posters; magazines and much more. The lucky winners have all been contacted. They come from all corners of the world - i.e. Ireland, Finland, Denmark, England, Belgium, Holland, the US, Australia, Canada, Hungary and Germany. The winners are: Mads Pedersen, Bernard McKeever, Tiina Roiha, Garry Driver, Charlie Miller, Gilles Van Schuylenbergh, Westley Ford, Jeroen de Wit, Aaron Hood, Marc Massar, Ben De Wilde, Rhys Potter, Natisha Anne Gleeson, Kasper Nielsen, Lasse Jensen, Mette Hessøe, Jeppe Kristensen, Greg Roberts, Shawn Cothern, Elijah Jones, Jussi Kallio, Trevor Howlett, Chris Stapleton, Neil Jaramillo, Ronni Foged, Dmitry Kichenko, Kevin Sinclair, Michael Salzer, Boros Vera, Patrick Brock, Esmer Paul, Rich Raynor, Kent Bendall, Chad Buck, Scott Reifinger, Cassandra Burgess and Robin Panattoni. You will all receive your prizes as soon as possible. Notice that the "NFC Compilation: Best Of" prize was cancelled as the CD is not yet finished. A new competition will be up soon.

As mentioned in yesterday's update, a BBC Radio One show played the acoustic version of You Know You're Right from the upcoming box set. Today, on the same show, they played the 1990 acoustic version of Lithium. This track was previously made available by Apple's iTunes service for 99 cents.

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November 15, 2004

Today on the BBC Radio One show Zane Lowe they played a previously unreleased song taken from the upcoming Nirvana box set: the 1994 acoustic version of You Know You're Right. The track is simple at best, but an interesting glimpse at what the box has to offer and what Kurt worked on during the final few weeks of his life. Zane Lowe promises to play another track from the box during tomorrow's show which airs at 7 PM in the UK (on BBC's Radio One). For the time being you can listen to Monday's show here. You Know You're Right is about an hour and 47 minutes into the stream. You can also listen to the song here.

The Nirvana box set will go for just $39.99 at Easy Street Records in Seattle, WA. They are having a midnight sale on November 22 to mark the release. At this event, you will also get a free poster and t-shirt when you purchase the box! While supplies last, anyway. Quite a deal indeed. The store is located at Queen Anne, 20 Mercer Street and West Seattle, 4559 California Ave SW. Thanks to GGG. Check out their website here for more info.

A letter Kurt Cobain penned to his wife is up for auction: "Written during Nirvana's 1991 British tour, the letter is expected to fetch between £6,470 and £7,550 at a sale of rock memorabilia on December 17. Headed 'Courtney Love Breakfast Fax', Cobain wrote the note in a Sheffield hotel room in black ballpoint on lined 8 x 11-inch paper and complains about feeling unwell after hallucinating on LSD." To read the full story, including excerpts from the letter, click here. Story courtesy of NME. Thanks to Suze for the link.

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November 14, 2004

Jack Endino (who engineered Nirvana's debut album and worked with them a number of times) updated his Nirvana FAQ. He says that If You Must and Pen Cap Chew were not remixed for the box set; he was given a chance to hear the fabled Fecal Matter Demo which was not included on the set for some reason (he doesn't know why); the box includes three tracks from the 1987 KAOS show; Blandest will be on the box; Ain't It A Shame will be on the box 'along with an unfinished intro from the same session called Grey Goose and a Kurt solo (vocals/guitar) version of a traditional song called They Hung Him On A Cross'. Check out the complete FAQ here.

The Observer reviewed the Nirvana box set today. Read the view here. Please let me know if you come across any reviews of the box in the media.

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November 13, 2004

Last night, MTV2 in the US aired an interesting special with clips from the DVD that is included with the forthcoming Nirvana box set, as well as clips from some of the CD's. Some of the highlights included Don't Want It All (home recording), Immigrant Song (Krist's Mom's house 1988), Blandest (studio session 1988), School (Seattle, WA show from September 1990 with Dan Peters on drums), Love Buzz (Olympia, WA show from October 1990 - first show with Dave Grohl on drums), Drain You (demo 1990), Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam (Seattle, WA show from October 1991), Smells Like Teen Spirit (Seattle, WA show from April 1991 - first ever live performance of this song) and finally some clips from the 1993 session in Rio, Brazil. Very cool indeed! The show will air again today at 10:30 AM (ET).

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November 11, 2004

The official website for the new Nirvana release at www.nirvanabox.com has been updated. It now offers the trailer that MTV put up a few days ago as well as the 1990 In Bloom video - taken from the DVD that is included with the box set. The website also offers a couple of new photos and a review. Check it out here. Thanks to Dinesh, Kevin, Greg, Andrew and David for the news.

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November 10, 2004

Some people have been unable to view the trailer that MTV put up a couple of days ago, promoting With The Lights Out. In particular, people using Macintosh computers were apparently unable to view the trailer. Here are links to the trailer in different formats which will enable everyone to view it properly (courtesy of Universal)