I’m not sure about your neck of the woods, but for Northern Ontario, September means dreary. No sun, high humidity – you know what I’m talking about. And so I like to make my soundtrack fit that mold by switching over to some grungy, dark music. Naturally, I’m spinning Nirvana non-stop and have turned to re-read one of my absolute favorites: “Heavier Than Heaven” by Charles Cross, the bio of Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain.

Back when I was about 15, I fell hard for a bad boy named Jack. He was a plaid-sporting, guitar-toting grunge god and, of course, worshiped at the Nirvana altar. Yes, I admit it – the discovery of my favorite band for about 5 years stemmed from a schoolgirl crush. But that doesn’t make it any less legitimate, in my opinion. Just like a I fell for Jack, I fell for Kurt. When you’re 15 and everything that is pumped through the radios and mall speakers is top 4o, discovering alternative music is like someone pulling the wool OFF your eyes. I couldn’t believe that there was all this amazing music out there that I had never even heard of!

Okay, back on track. So I as I hankered to learn everything I could about Nirvana and impress Jack, I stumbled upon a book called “Heavier Than Heaven”. I figured a biography would be a treasure trove of knowledge! And I was right, it was! But it was so much more, too!

Kurt Cobain is revered as a god in most music circles. He knocked Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, off the #1 spot in the Billboard Chart for god’s sake! Even if grunge is not your thing, you still respect him for revolutionizing the music scene. However, “Heavier Than Heaven” brings Kurt Cobain back to earth and knocks him off his pedestal so to speak. And that’s my favorite part. Read More »

Admit it. I’m sure most of you have met THIS guy at a party. He’s not exactly attractive (or is downright HAGGARD) and you don’t bother giving him the time of day, let alone a conversation. Then all of sudden, he picks up a guitar and it’s like a halo appears over his head.

His tangled beard is no longer gross, now it’s “rugged.” His dirty sneakers don’t reek anymore, now they’re “vintage.” It’s like there is some secret blinders installed in every single guitar on the planet that are ignited the second the boy starts strumming. And, speaking from experience, it becomes even worse when they play one of “your songs.” Unexpectedly, the ugly boy has become a guitar god in your eyes and you are smitten.

Sadly, this phenomenon isn’t exclusive to us mere mortals. It’s carried over into the world of celebrity, granting horrible to mediocre-looking fellows a chance to shine too. In fact, without their guitars, it’s doubtful whether these five men would have had a career at all because, god knows, they don’t have the looks to carry them through Hollywood. Read More »

The momentous MTV Video Music Awards are on the horizon, and even though they haven’t been so momentous in recent years (seriously, the show has gone way downhill since I was in high school) there have been some pretty unforgettable speeches and performances in the past 15 years.

Yeah, the VMA’s are totally boring but that doesn’t mean some pretty crazy shit hasn’t gone down in the past. Want some proof? Check out these 5 crazy VMA moments…maybe this year will live up to these:

#5: Michael Jackson sucking face with then-wife Lisa Marie Presley. Absolutely gross, but just like a car wreck, could anyone not watch? Even Lisa Marie looked insanely uncomfortable and not in the least bit horny.

#4: Nirvana’s bassist gets slammed in the face with his guitar. When you’re trying to look like a hard-ass, it never works out. Krist Novoselic learned the hard way when he threw his bass up in the air to be “cool” and instead, the thing came crashing down on his skull and he passed out for a minute or two. Yea, real cool.

#3: Justin’s reaction to Britney kissing Madonna. The kiss itself was pretty much no big deal, but the look on JT’s face is priceless. It’s like fire could burst out of his eyeballs at any second. Little did he know she would soon look like this. Read More »

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from recent pop culture it is that everyone loves to watch the rise and fall of Celebrities. From Britney’s Sinead O’Rebellion to Parisgate it’s as if the ultimate fate of a pop icon is to be ripped to shreds by it’s once adoring public right there on Robertson Blvd. But here comes the fun part, seeing how they put themselves back together. Because just as much as America loves a downfall it loves an embarrassing comeback even more. Every once an while though, we are in turn surprised by a true artist, although fewer and fewer are apparent in the commercial pop abyss, it’s not a legend, as Linda Perry could tell you they actually do exist.

Courtney Love is a name culturally synonymous with many things, undoubtedly an icon in her own right she has more than made her mark on the music industry, the tabloid circuit and even invaded the Golden Globes. However Love’s success did not happen overnight or in a Hollywood fairytale. She has no distant Coppola relative nor did she descend from a pop dynasty. She was in fact at war with her label, her drug addiction and her public image all at once. The widow of late legend Kurt Cobain, she has faced a constant unavoidable comparison despite her own professional accomplishments and critical accolades. Her band Hole achieved success in the mid nineties creating an army of 12 year old feminists searching for a viable role model, armed with Hello Kitty backpacks and Emily Strange stickers they are all grown up now. But the question is: Are they still listening? Read More »