The Krist Novoselic Thread

[Brent's Groove]

I actually learned how to play from listening to Nirvana records. At the time, I never really liked Krist that much. I guess I was something of an elitist.

The other day, I was in a club and I heard Heart Shaped Box playing--the tone blew my mind. Then I realized that some of his lines weren't too bad. Today if you ask me who my biggest bass influence was...well it wouldn't be Krist, but he'd be in there somewhere near the top...or the middle.

[anechoic]

Originally Posted by sonicvi

I used to be way into Superchunk back in the early 90's, and saw them lve a few times. I listened to On the Mouth about a thousand times probably. No Pocky For Kitty had some really fun bass parts too, Tower and Cast Iron spring to mind..

On the Mouth was pretty much my introduction to Superchunk several years back. The band I had just joined covered Package Thief, which was tons of fun to play (and as an aside, the video for this song has apparently been shown on Beavis and Butt-Head - I wish I could find a clip of that). And it was one of those songs that gave me an excuse to get a 12 string - I could be both Laura AND Mac. "Swallow That" was probably my favorite bass part on that album.

I suppose this band may have been doomed to obscurity by the fact that their best known song was unplayable on the radio. I have no idea what the hell he's singing about, but it's hard to resist singing along to the chorus: "I'm working, BUT I'M NOT WORKING FOR YOU! SLACK MOTHER****ER!"

[sonicvi]

Originally Posted by anechoic

On the Mouth was pretty much my introduction to Superchunk several years back. The band I had just joined covered Package Thief, which was tons of fun to play (and as an aside, the video for this song has apparently been shown on Beavis and Butt-Head - I wish I could find a clip of that). And it was one of those songs that gave me an excuse to get a 12 string - I could be both Laura AND Mac. "Swallow That" was probably my favorite bass part on that album.

I suppose this band may have been doomed to obscurity by the fact that their best known song was unplayable on the radio. I have no idea what the hell he's singing about, but it's hard to resist singing along to the chorus: "I'm working, BUT I'M NOT WORKING FOR YOU! SLACK MOTHER****ER!"

I think I have the video for Package Thief on tape somewhere, but not of B&B. Tossing Seeds was the first record of theirs in bought. The first time I saw them was in late '92 or early '93 and they didn't play Slack MotherF**cker and some guy gets up on the stage, gets on the mic and starts saying they suck cause they didn't play it. So they come back out and say we'll play it if you sing it. He did but all he could do was yell that one line.

[anechoic]

Originally Posted by sonicvi

I think I have the video for Package Thief on tape somewhere, but not of B&B. Tossing Seeds was the first record of theirs in bought. The first time I saw them was in late '92 or early '93 and they didn't play Slack MotherF**cker and some guy gets up on the stage, gets on the mic and starts saying they suck cause they didn't play it. So they come back out and say we'll play it if you sing it. He did but all he could do was yell that one line.

I have the "Package Thief" video on the Superchunk DVD I picked up a while back, it's the B&B clip I'm looking for (which supposedly had comments along the lines of "Whoa, is this the Muppets?"). Actually, the commentary on the DVD is pretty damn funny. Apparently the puppets from "Package Thief" were reworked for a Rollins Band video. The Laura puppet got turned into Rollins, and one of the guys ended up as Rick Rubin.

[BassSurfer]

Originally Posted by Chris2112

I posted here offering my opinion on Krist, as is the way in a forum of this nature. I do have better things to do than play Nirvana basslines, hence why I'm not playing them, but when posting in this thread takes a minute at the most, why not?

And further more, yes, as I have stated your punctuation is atrocious. I was only pointing it out because it makes your posts harder to read than they should be, and because I have seen 6 year olds with a firmer grasp of basic grammar and punctuation than you. Given that you've been a "Green Day fan for 15 years" I can deduce that you're at least 15 years of ages, and so, boy, should perhaps think about joining some evening classes for basic language skills.

sorry man.. ive got better things to do... stop posting in my thread.. im sick of your immature attitude just drop it.. no im not giving up.. i just dont want to waste my time on some waste like you..

[Benjamin Strange]

Kris was important as a member of Nirvana not so much for his bass playing (which I dig), but because he was Kurt's buddy. Sometimes having a friend in the band is much more important than having a bass player who can do that Victor Wooten slappity-slappity thing all over your punk rock songs.

[BassSurfer]

nice post there strange

[KPAX]

Originally Posted by BassSurfer

Hey guys with the popularity of the Mike Dirnt thread, i'd thought i would make a Krist Novoselic thread....

so what does everyone think of Krist? or atleast thought of Krist?

Most of you remember the early 90's when Nirvana were in their prime... what does everyone think of his style, tone, and playing?

He and Dave Grohl were a great rhythm section. Kris is a very good bass player. His lines were simple - LIKE A FOX!!!
The rhythms were very cool and not that typical. He is a very good pick player who uses space well and propelled those songs. All those guys were smart, talented and made great music. It's no accident they were huge.

[Jeramaya]

I was about 15 or 16 around the time Nirvana became huge and at the time I had conflicting emotions about what happened. You have to remember what was popular at the time. It wasn't like in the 80's where you had the occasional Talking Heads song on pop radio; i.e. music that had a groove and some intelligence. In the early 90's, there was some serious garbage on the the radio and on television, which was obviously where a lot of people got their "culture."

Hair..."metal," for lack of a better term, ruled the airwaves. In addition, we had the garbage R&B videos that MTV would eventually posit as their bread and butter. Bel Biv Davoe anyone? Then along came this little band who admittedly, as my guitarist friend said, was the band you got to play at a party when no one else was available. They presented something many people had not heard yet--mostly because they weren't searching for it.

So, it became rammed down our throats. Suddenly, everybody was "alternative" and dyed their hair, etc. It was obnoxious, you know, these f'ing jocks wearing flannel and suddenly the "nerds" could be cool as long as they tried real hard to like anything out of the ordinary that the "cool" kids could latch on to. Was some of it genuine? Yeah, I think so as it opened up a lot of people's eyes to ideas, thoughts, feelings, and culture that they never considered.

Unfortunately, like anything it became co-opted by people/businesses who had no idea what it really meant. And all of this was very frustrating--the commercial aspect of it, the kids changing who they were....the cultural dynamic really shifted and those of us who were alive and aware couldn't escape it; for an interesting perspective, check out the documentary "Instrument." I had quite a negative reaction to it and shunned the idea that Nirvana had anything to offer.

Fast forward to about five years ago...I can't say what it was...playing in a cover band that performed a couple of Nirvana songs...reconnecting with friends who had a stronger, positive reaction to the band...or becoming more focused on good songwriting--even, gasp, pop songwriting--that people could emotionally tune in to, but I realized that, beyond all the hype and forgetting about how it changed things and all the crap bands they spawned, Nirvana did write some good pop songs. They stirred the pot.

And that's how I look at it...simply they were a smart, pop band and a much better pop band than Warrant, Creed, or Evanescance. There is honesty--lacking in just about every pop song I hear these days--and an emotional content that I don't think can be denied in Nirvana's music.

To bring this unforgivably long post to the topic, I was sitting in a bar one night a couple of years ago and "Heart Shaped Box" came on the juke box. That song resonated much more deeply to me than most of the other songs on the box and part of it had to do with that rubbery, catchy bassline that Krist created. It's a classic.

To all the naysayers...especially the younger naysayers--there's one thing most youths lack and that thing is wisdom. I didn't have it when Nirvana came out and so I was unable to look past the things I disliked and understand what worked...what was important about it. And one thing--one *person* that truly contributed to their success as a pop unit with some individuality and not just another piece off the assembly line was Krist.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by BassSurfer

sorry man.. ive got better things to do... stop posting in my thread.. im sick of your immature attitude just drop it.. no im not giving up.. i just dont want to waste my time on some waste like you..

But you had time bash out that sloppy email you sent me?

[popinfresh]

Originally Posted by BullHorn

I hated his tone and I'm not so sure about his style and playing, I just remember F G# A# C#.

:P

You mean F A# G# C#... right?