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Michael Azerrad

@michaelazerrad.bsky.social

1.6K followers 17 following 230 posts

Author of _The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana_ and _Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991_. Bylines: the New Yorker, the Yale Review, the New York Times, etc.

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Apr 14

"For those too young to remember MTV Unplugged or zines or mixtapes, this book is a roadmap to the 1990s: the rage, the disaffection, the way music could crack open a kid’s worldview. For those who were there, it’s a chance to relive it all with the benefit of hindsight — and heartbreak."

The Amplified “Come As You Are” Book Revisits Nirvana’s Legend with New Depth and Devastation - That Eric Alper

When Michael Azerrad first published Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana in 1993, he captured lightning in a bottle. It was the only biography written with full access to Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoseli...

www.thatericalper.com

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 15d

New show at the Whitney Museum, "Sixties Surreal," notes: "For many artists working in the '60s, Surrealism — or the more general idea of the 'surreal' — became a liberating force... a way to make art amidst profound cultural changes..." Musicians too, like John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan.

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 17d

I did a Substack about when Mick Jagger thought it would be really punk to wear a T-shirt with a swastika on it. "For the Rolling Stones, the writing wasn't just on the wall, it was on Mick Jagger's chest."

The Rolling Stones Get Their Punk On: Some Girls Live in Texas 1978

The last great peak and subsequent artistic decline of a great rock & roll band — maybe the greatest rock & roll band — was signified by one T-shirt. Said T-shirt was on display on a roastingly hot Ju...

michaelazerrad.substack.com

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 17d

"Sometimes I can’t stop myself." That was Bob Mould explaining why he was playing a particularly intense, blessedly cathartic solo electric set tonight at Le Poisson Rouge in New York. But there was no need to explain — because that’s why we love musicians like Bob: they can’t stop themselves.

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 18d

It's John Coltrane's birthday so here's a super-cool 1960 photo of him with a Robert Motherwell painting at the Guggenheim Museum.

You can hear Coltrane's life-affirming music all day long on Columbia U.'s beloved WKCR here: www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/wkcr/

(Photo: William Claxton)

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 19d

You know those 21 little symbols on the back of _In Utero_? They actually mean something. I revealed their fascinating secret in _The Amplified Come as You Are_, the deeply annotated version of _Come as You Are: the Story of Nirvana_.

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 24d

I did a Beneathstack about the 1979 movie _Over the Edge_ and how punk rock it is and how that's why Kurt Cobain loved it so much.

This Movie Is Punk Rock: Over the Edge (1979)

Why it was one of Kurt Cobain's favorite films

michaelazerrad.substack.com

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 25d

You'll have to list every piece of software ever made and say they were bad, one by one. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · 29d

Daaaaamn

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Sep 11

I did a Substack about the time John Lennon put together a supergroup featuring Eric Clapton for his first show without the Beatles, then had to play right after an earth-scorching set by one of his heroes, Little Richard. Spoiler alert: Yoko Ono blows them all away.

THE LENNONS VS. LITTLE RICHARD IN TORONTO, 1969

How do you go onstage when your hero has just brought the house down?

michaelazerrad.substack.com

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Sep 5

Master electronic musician William Basinski played a scintillating set at the cavernous Knockdown Center last night. Then, when he was done, he had the soundperson crank Counting Crows' "Spaceman in Tulsa." The place cleared out in a trice.

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Sep 3

My new Substack is just a long quotation from outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings, from Dave Hickey's book _Air Guitar_. His words apply to Kurt Cobain's experience with fame with such stunning perfection that I thought I'd let them stand on their own.
michaelazerrad.substack.com/p/the-straig...

The Straight Line from Waylon to Kurt

When you don't know who you are anymore

michaelazerrad.substack.com

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Sep 1

Well, since it's Labor Day, you're probably looking for some funky-kinetic West African music to play at your barbecue. May I recommend _African Scream Contest: Raw and Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin and Togo '70s_. (Note: there is very little actual screaming on this album.)

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 27

I did a Substack about how Hollywood usually gets rock stardom wrong, from _Bye, Bye Birdie_ to _Camp Rock_.

"Maybe most rock films are so unrealistic because the producers doubt that the public will believe — or, more importantly, be entertained by — the actual truth of a rock star's existence."

Hot Freaks: Fictional Rock Stars on Film

How Hollywood nearly always gets the rock star wrong

michaelazerrad.substack.com

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 23

Lately, a lot of people seem to have the same problem so...

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 22

Delicate Steve's new album _Luke's Garage_ sounds like instrumentals of fave tunes from a parallel universe. He's a great technical guitarist but better, he's a truly lyrical player — like he's singing. These days, I'll guzzle his sweet melodies like a guy in a desert who's found a full canteen.

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 20

New Substack on a 1969 show by Miles Davis and four future giants of jazz fusion. "In the yawning gap between 1967 and 1969, things had changed dramatically. Davis' band was now less like a finely tuned Alfa Romeo and more like a Camaro with no muffler."
michaelazerrad.substack.com/p/an-in-betw...

An In-Between Time for Miles Davis

The Miles Davis Quintet live at the Tivoli Koncertsal in Copenhagen, November 4, 1969

michaelazerrad.substack.com

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 18

Another thing that struck me about the new doc _It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley_: like Buckley, many overachieving male musicians had a physically or emotionally absent father: Dave Grohl, Biggie, Eric Clapton, Springsteen, Kanye, Eminem, Kurt Cobain, Trent Reznor, Jay-Z, John Lennon, Bono et al.

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 17

Another of Kurt Cobain's favorite films: Wim Wenders' _Paris, Texas_ (1984). The penultimate scene powerfully echoes his most personally revealing song, "Sliver," and it surely moved him to his core. Then again, maybe he just thought it was a really good movie. But I doubt it.

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 16

A strange thing about the new doc _It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley_: the erasure of guitar maestro Gary Lucas, who a) helped to introduce Buckley to the downtown NYC music scene by inviting him to sing with his band Gods and Monsters and b) co-wrote two of his best-known songs, "Grace" and "Mojo Pin."

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 15

Nominate Minutemen singer-guitarist D. Boon for the 2026 Woody Guthrie Prize: it just makes a whole lot of sense.

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 14

I did a Substack about a great "lost" album: _Motor-Cycle_, Lotti Golden's brilliant r&b-based concept album about the dark side of the East Village underground community of the late '60s.

The Sgt. Pepper of the East Village

Lotti Golden's lost 1969 tour de force Motor-Cycle

michaelazerrad.substack.com

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 13

Another enlightening part of _It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley_: per the subplot with ace drummer Matt Johnson, the relationship of singers with their drummers can be far more personally and musically intimate than many non-musicians realize. At their best, singing and drumming are deeply entwined.

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 13

That's a fallacy: artists don't owe the record company, they just have to earn back their advance before they make any more money. If they don't earn it back, they don't have to pay back the record company, which just writes off the loss.

Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 12

Almost correct…

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Michael Azerrad @michaelazerrad.bsky.social · Aug 12

Bad Company, Run the Jewels, Black Sabbath, Wilco, Iron Maiden, Public Image Ltd., Motorhead

What do they have in common?

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