When I was 10 years old I was given Nirvana‘s seminal 1991 album ‘Nevermind‘ on cassette but due to a design fault in my old school brick-like Sony Walkman it was easier to rewind than switch the tape over. So for the first few weeks I listened to Side A methodically rewinding the tape literally as the last notes of ‘Polly‘ were ringing. With a tracklisting consisting of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit‘, ‘In Bloom‘ ‘Come As You Are‘, ‘Breed”, ‘Lithium‘ and the aforementioned ‘Polly‘ I didn’t think I was suffering too much.
Then one day I discovered a whole new side (pun intended) to Nirvana. Though most of the singles had already come and gone Side B showcased other aspects to Cobain‘s songwriting yet was every bit as ferocious. Side opener ‘Territorial Pissing‘ was a fitting start to proceedings as a deranged sounding Krist Novoselic invited the listener/listeners to “love one another“. What followed were machine gun drum rolls, filthy power chords, shouted choruses and sarcastic lyricism. An authentic punk rock rawkus.
Understandably I am a bit precious about this track so when I heard LehtMohJoe had given it the remix treatment I expected the worst. Fortunately his stripped down version took away some of the arrangements but doesn’t lose the immediacy of the original. There is something quite eery about hearing Cobain‘s voice float above hip-hop drum beats and synth patterns.
LehtMoJoe is definitely one to keep an eye on. The Dallas producer/artist is pushing genre boundaries with his remixes and is an artist in his own right. His latest solo release “Spaghetti Western” is scheduled to come out July 28 and I am curious to hear where he has gone with it.
TRACKS:
Nirvana – Territorial Pissing (LehtMoJoe Remix)
