NPR
In the early 1990s, The New York Times sent a list of questions to Sub Pop records in Seattle. The paper wanted to know more about the elusive West Coast “grunge” scene and asked for a lexicon of grunge terminology. Mocking the reporter, Megan Jasper, a Sub Pop employee (and now vice president of the label), made up a bunch of nonsense words on the spot, mostly out of boredom. For example, according to Jasper, “swingin’ on the flippity-flop” was grunge speak for “hanging out.” Her attitude was emblematic of a counterculture that simply didn’t care. NPR profiles’ Micheal Lavine’s new book, Grunge, which captures this era specific attitude through photographs of the Pacific Northwest. To read the full profile, check out the above link.
PHOTOS FROM THE RISE OF GRUNGE
Rolling Stone
To celebrate the release of Michael Levine’s new Grunge retrospective (the aptly named Grunge), Rolling Stone Magazine is featuring a series of rare late eighties photos from the book. Check out the above link for the full photo series.
SONIC YOUTH’S THURSTON MOORE WRITES TEXT FOR PHOTO BOOK ABOUT GRUNGE
Pitchfork
In a couple of years in the early 90s, grunge went from an exciting regional indie-punk scene to a word that you never, ever wanted to hear again. As the guy who helped get Nirvana signed to Geffen, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore played a small but pivotal role in that transformation. Now, Moore has written the text for Grunge, a forthcoming book of photographs from Michael Lavine, due October 15 from Abrams Image. Lavine was one of Sub Pop Records’ house photographers. He took album art photos for Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Dwarves, Skin Yard, Screaming Trees, and many others, helping to shape, helping to shape the label’s stark aesthetic. Grunge will feature images of bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Mudhoney, Beat Happening, and Boss Hog. For his part, Moore writes about the bands, the Seattle scene, and his friendship with Kurt Cobain. You can see a few photos from the book here.
