Hole covers Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails

Back from hibernation, with news that Hole (which, recall, is Courtney Love and some people you've never heard of) has been covering Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" and Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" at some of its European tour dates.
Here's "Jeremy"


And here's "Closer,"


And with that, I'm pretty sure the '90s just collapsed upon themselves.

This week in reunions... Soundgarden! Hole! Lilith Fair!

* As announced on Twitter by Chris Cornell, Soundgarden have returned after 12 years away, Audioslave, and that God-awful Cornell solo album with Timbaland. No word on what the reunion entails yet, but expect a tour of some kind. If you go here, you can enter your e-mail address and then watch an old music video.

* Despite the fact that she just lost custody of her daughter, Courtney Love is forging ahead with the Hole reunion-that-doesn't-include-any-original-members-except-maybe-the-drummer. Go here and you can hear about 10 seconds of instrumental music from the forthcoming Nobody's Daughter. Love has also taken to Twitter again, and three Hole dates in Europe have been announced for February.

* Despite some last-minute legal threats from Bradley Nowell's family, the Sublime reunion actually happened. Spinner says about 15,000 were in attendance for the big show featuring new vocalist Rome Ramirez, who was only 8 years old when Sublime's self-titled album came out. The show was officially advertised as a Sublime "celebration," so maybe that's how they'll get around the proposed lawsuits. Or the surviving members of Sublime could take the Nowell family's advice and just reunite the Long Beach Dub All-Stars.

* OMG, ladies... Lilith Fair IS BACK! Here's the lineup so far.

Speaking of video games...

The shit has really hit the fan in regards to Kurt Cobain's appearance in the new Guitar Hero 5. Apparently, you can unlock both Cobain and Johnny Cash during the course of the game.

That's not that bad. But once Cobain's unlocked, you can use him as the lead singer on any song in the game, leading to disturbing images like this:

Seeing Cobain fist-pump and booty-shake his way through a Bon Jovi song is just unsettling.
Courtney Love has taken to Twitter and claimed she never gave Activision Games the approval to use Cobain's likeness in such a way. She also makes some rambling, semi-coherent claims about being cheated (get the highlights here), mentioning specifically that somebody's forging power of attorney forms in her name. Activision, on the other hand, claim Love herself signed an agreement to use Cobain's likeness.

Courtney Love has been making accusations of people thieving from the Cobain estate for at least five years, possibly closer to 10. Yet to my knowledge, there have never been any lawsuits filed to recoup money, and no criminal charges have ever been brought. If I'm wrong, let me know in the comments, please, but between this and the accusations against ex-Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson last month, it seems like Courtney may be crying wolf a bit too much.

Meanwhile, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl have released their own statement (through a publicist, which, let's be honest, Courtney Love might think about doing) wherein they state that they gave permission to use two songs in Guitar Hero 5, but the Cobain estate has all rights to Cobain's name and likeness. They also want the Cobain character "re-locked," although I doubt that's even possible at this point with the game already on sale.

If you want some Nirvana news that's not sad, depressing, or creepy, the band's legendary 1992 set at the Reading Festival will be released on CD and DVD in November.

* Anybody else wonder why the Cash family isn't upset about this? Seeing Johnny Cash rap or sing Black-Eyed-Peas songs or whatever is just as weird as this Cobain stuff.

This week in reunions... Blur! Sunny Day Real Estate! Hole?!?

* Blur's reunion concert in Hyde Park, London was quite well-received (click that link for the setlist and some photos). A new, two-disc greatest hits is out now in the UK and gets released at the end of this month in the U.S.

* Sunny Day Real Estate, the Seattle band who strongly influenced emo, then gave the Foo Fighters half of its original line-up, are back together for a fall tour. Get dates and some YouTube clips here.

* Courtney Love, as you may know, has been working on her second solo album for quite some time. Initially, it was supposed to be co-written with ex-4 Non Blonde Linda Perry, who's become a songwriter for hire for Pink, Christina Aguilera, and others. Then it turned into a "return to rock" album, with Billy Corgan stepping in to co-write a bunch of songs. Now, it's apparently going to be a Hole album. Problem is, the other members of Hole are a little confused about what's going on. Guitarist Eric Erlandson told Spin that, based on the break-up contract signed by himself and Love in 2002, there is no Hole without him, and he hasn't been contacted to participate. Bass player Melissa Auf Der Maur says she's been contacted by Michael Beinhorn, the guy who produced Celebrity Skin, but not by Courtney, and she's not sure what her role's going to be (the NME says she'll record backing vocals on the album, then play bass on tour). Drummer Patty Schemel quit the band during the recording of Celebrity Skin, but then played drums on Love's first solo album and was most recently drumming for Juliette Lewis, so she's probably in.

Here's the 1999 line-up of Hole on Letterman, doing their last big modern rock hit, "Awful":

Weirdness in the House of Love

Which Kurt Cobain-related story is weirder: the German performance artist who allegedly plans to smoke Cobain's ashes, or his daughter's suicide-themed Sweet 16?

Courtney Love, meanwhile, who may or may not have had gastric band weight-loss surgery, has been listening to Elastica, Drugstore, and the new REM recently. Will any of these influences show up on the long-in-production second solo album? No idea. Will anybody actually care about the album given the complete tabloid craziness that appears to have taken over the Love/Cobain household? That's a better question.

Could YOU be Courtney Love's bass player?

Courtney Love is looking for a bass player and holding quasi-open auditions, according to this article.

Hm... I can play bass. And I know the chords to "Doll Parts"... "Violet," too...
I wonder if the new album will be loud and violent, like the first solo album, or glammed up, like late-'90s Hole?
Here's "Malibu."