If you were a certain kind of 13-year-old girl in the mid-’90s — and rest assured, I was — few things are more exciting than seeing Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Melissa Auf der Maur, and Patty Schemel together. So, my inner child was in a pretty good place last night, when Hole’s best (living) line-up took the stage at MoMA for a Q&A after a screening of Hit So Hard, David Ebersole’s documentary about Schemel.
We will never cease to be amazed by Robyn, even though we have kind of lost track of how many albums she released last year (15? 32?). Now, she’s found the time to work with Savage Skulls and Douster on a wonderful video for the song “Bad Gal” (which was a bonus track on Body Talk Pt. 2). It is weird and great and we love it.
“Bad Gal” got us thinking about all the other immortal bad-girl anthems we’ve rocked out to over the years. There are many. But the ten we’ve listed after the jump are our favorites. Leave your picks for what we left out in the comments. If we get enough great suggestions, we’ll round up ten more songs next week.
[Editor's note: For the next two Fridays, Flavorwire will be counting down our 20 most popular features of 2010. This post, which originally ran on July 13, 2010, comes in at position number 12.] We always knew to expect great (or, at the very least, interesting) things from the daughter of two of rock’s darkest legends, and Frances Bean Cobain‘s burgeoning art career has not disappointed. The 17-year-old offspring of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love (pseudonym: Fiddle Tim) just put up her first gallery show Scumfuck at L.A.’s La Luz De Jesus Gallery. Cobain’s art is gritty and visceral (kind of like her dad’s), depicting androgynous, obese, or malnourished characters and fringe public figures like punk provocateur GG Allin and cult leader Jim Jones. Oh, and there’s one piece with the caption “Treat me like your mother or I’ll eat the sun.” From what we’ve seen, young Frances Bean’s artwork promises to be as controversial as her parents’ musical legacy. After the jump, check out some images from the show and let us know what you think of the alterna-rock scion’s creations.
For those of us who are actually rooting for Courtney Love, tonight’s Behind the Music was an ordeal (yes, we teared up) but also a vindication. We heard people who know for sure confirm that Kurt didn’t write Live Through This, learned the true extent of her childhood family problems, and, most importantly, saw present-day Love talking coherently and insightfully about her life. She was smart, sincere, and even, at times, funny. Of course, haters are already hating, but those of us who have actually been paying attention know that this is the most promising Courtney we’ve seen in the 21st century. Our 12 favorite C-Love quotes are after the jump.
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This is an exciting week for Smashing Pumpkins fans. Billy Corgan and, um, whoever else is in his band these days, have released the first volume in their 11-EP Teargarden By Kaleidyscope series. To be totally fair, the group is generously allowing its fans to download all songs from the project free. But if you want a physical version, be ready to shell out some major cash for a painstakingly crafted special edition. Insound notes that the debut installment “is packaged in a silk-screened wooden box (7 1/4″ tall x 8″ wide x 1.05″ thick). Each box contains: a 4-song CD (with four new Smashing Pumpkins songs and instrumental intros), a 7″ vinyl single (containing a new song and a B-Side), and a hand-carved “leopard stone” obelisk, about 2″ tall, similar to marble.” Considering that there will eventually be 11 $33 EPs to buy, Pumpkins completists stand to spend upwards of $350 to own the entire set.
Think that’s bonkers? Well, it’s nothing compared to some of the other insanely expensive (or just plain over-the-top) box sets and special-edition albums we’ve seen. Check out 10 of the weirdest and most expensive after the jump.
Dear Courtney,
I’m writing this letter to thank you. I’ll be the first to admit it’s a strange reaction to your new album, Nobody’s Daughter, but it’s also a sincere one. With even critics who enjoyed the new songs tearing apart your “destroyed” voice and Billy Corgan responding to your public apology with a Twitter rant accusing “u” of, among other things, “having no honor,” I want to acknowledge what it is you’ve given us — the former, current, and future dark, awkward teen girls of the world.
What a tangled web they weave. After over fifteen years of on-again, off-again, romantic, platonic, and catastrophic relationship strife between Billy Corgan and Courtney Love, Corgan exploded earlier today on his Twitter feed, spewing pure vitriol in Love’s direction. In a quickfire series of tweets that started approximately two hours ago, Corgan fired shots at Love’s artistic ability, her facilities as a parent and decent human being, and musical credibility without him or Kurt Cobain to latch onto. It’s pretty vicious, and surprising after a month-long silence following Love’s attempts to reconcile after Corgan blasted Love as an “abyss” in a self-congratulatory Rolling Stone interview. Follow the twisted tale and tell us: whose side are you on?
1. As you might expect, Malcolm McLaren‘s funeral was a totally punk affair. And his coffin was even spray-painted with the words, “Too fast to live, too young to die.” [via Guardian]
2. Jon Stewart went off on Comedy Central last night for censoring Matt Stone and Trey Parker‘s Muhammad episode of South Park. [via Time]
3. Now that Helen Mirren is playing Russell Brand‘s nanny in the Arthur remake, we might actually go and see it. [via THR]
4. Hole‘s new album, Nobody’s Daughter, is streaming in full on their Facebook page. All you have to do to hear it is hit the “like” button. (Sneaky, huh?) [via Vulture]
5. You can also stream the new National album, High Violet, which isn’t due out until May 11. [via NYT]
As February draws to a close, we can’t say we’ll miss the cold weather, snowstorms, and other dead-of-winter surprises it has thrown our way. But we would like to get something positive out of it. That’s why we’re taking the opportunity of this abbreviated month to draw your attention to something else that’s short and, unlike February, has always been pretty underrated: The EP. While these minimalist, economical mini-albums have introduced us to countless new acts that couldn’t muster the cash or didn’t have the material to record a full-length, LPs still get all the love. To remedy that, we’re counting down our 10 favorite EPs of all time — and, as a bonus, introducing you to three new ones you’d do well to check out.
At long last, the new Hole album has a release date. On April 27th, you can find us in our best ripped fishnets, floral dress, and smeared lipstick, listening to Nobody’s Daughter. The band is also scheduled to play a show at South by Southwest next month. In honor of this momentous occasion, here are five reasons we think Courtney Love’s latest is cause for celebration.
1. Hole albums are totally great.
I know that’s a bit trite, but it’s true. Here’s an experiment to try at home: Get a group of girls together. Put on Live Through This
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