Listen to a Pre-Nirvana Mixtape from Kurt Cobain

Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain, and Krist Novoselic board a plane in Australia, cir. Feb 10, 1992.
Image: Photo Courtesy Shelli Hyrkas
Can we all agree that Kurt Cobain was a little different? Musical genius, for sure, but definitely out there.
Over the weekend, new evidence of Cobain’s skewed perspective on the world surfaced, in the form of a 37-minute mixtape that he evidently put together back in the pre-Nirvana days of 1988. At least “mixtape” is what the blog Dangerous Minds—which first released it over the weekend—is calling it. But this is no collection of songs meant to woo a girl or a super energetic mix for a workout. This is a compilation of song clips and other audio detritus—from 40 sources, according to the blog United Mutations—stitched together to create an aural experience that could be generously described as unsettling. In fact, it wouldn’t be at all shocking if this turns out to be rock and roll’s version of the demon-conjuring VHS tape in The Ring. (“Seven days!”)
But, you know, it reportedly comes from the mind of Kurt Cobain, so maybe death by mixtape is worth it?