The year 2014 has been pretty monumental in celebrating the life of the late and great Kurt Cobain.
April 5th marked 20-years since his tragic passing that revisited heartache and spurred an endless sea of tributes to the iconic ’90s grunge star. In addition to this, Nirvana took over headlines again in April when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for 2014, which saw four rockin’ females stand-in for Cobain performances at the awards. And now as Consequence Of Sound ( via Dangerous Minds) has just revealed, a mixtape created by Cobain back in 1988 has been unearthed, propelling the sorely missed artist straight back to the spotlight.
The mixtape entitled Montage of Heck is a creepy 36-minute production from the young mind of Cobain, which was pieced together a full year before Nirvana’s debut release Bleach.
The cut’n’copy mix features snippets from radio shows, distressing sounds of human suffering, toilets flushing, his favourite Daniel Johnston obsessively ranting about the devil, bone-chilling distortions as well as a whole mix of extremely disparate music from Cobain’s long, eclectic mix of adored artists including The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Butthole Surfers, Queen, The Velvet Underground and so much more.
Cobain created the mix on a four-track cassette recorder and upon the initial listen, it honestly feels like one is thrust into the disturbing depths of hell, Kurt you’re fearless whacked-out Willy Wonker-esq pilot, you, the terrified, unprepared passenger who has no idea of their fate.
Despite such an insane adventure through sonics that aren’t what one would deem as “comfortable”, listeners really gain a further appreciation of Cobain’s aptitude for sound and mixing.
Take a listen to Dr. Frankenstein Cobain’s taped experiment below but be warned, this mind-bending head-fuck is not for the light hearted, but boy, it is damn fun.
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Montage of Heck Mix List:
“The Men In My Little Girl’s Life” by Mike Douglas
“The Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” by The Beatles
“A Day In The Life” by The Beatles
“Eruption” by Van Halen
“Hot Pants” by James Brown
“Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” by Cher
“Go Away Little Girl” by Donny Osmond
“Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver
“Everybody Loves Somebody” by Dean Martin
“The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“In A Gadda Da Vida” by Iron Butterfly
“Wild Thing” by William Shatner
“Taxman” by The Beatles
“I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family
“Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?” by The Barbarians
“Queen Of The Reich” by Queensryche
“Last Caress/Green Hell” covered by Metallica
“Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin
“Get Down, Make Love” by Queen
“ABC” by The Jackson Five
“I Want Your Sex” by George Michael
“Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden
“Eye Of The Chicken” by Butthole Surfers
“Dance of the Cobra” by Butthole Surfers
“The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave” by Butthole Surfers
“New Age” by The Velvet Underground
“Love Buzz” by Shocking Blue
Orchestral music from 200 Motels by Frank Zappa
“Help I’m A Rock” / “It Can’t Happen Here” by Frank Zappa
“Call Any Vegetable” by Frank Zappa
“The Day We Fall In Love” by The Monkees
“Sweet Leaf” by Black Sabbath (intro)
Theme from The Andy Griffith Show
Mike Love (of The Beach Boys) talking about “Transcendental Meditation”
Excerpts of Jimi Hendrix speaking at the Monterey Pop Festival
Excerpts of Paul Stanley from KISS’ Alive!
Excerpts of Daniel Johnston screaming about Satan
Excerpts from sound effects records
Various children’s records (Curious George, Sesame Street, The Flintstones, Star Wars)
