“Nirvana started as a live band (don't all bands?),” wrote Krist Novoselic, Nirvana's bassist. The new release, entitled From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, from DGC Records features 16 songs recorded between 1989 and 1994, from Seattle to Springfield, Massachussetts, from London to Amsterdam, in venues ranging from small American clubs to the Reading Festival in England.

Want to know what one of the members of Nirvana wrote about this album? Read on! Here are some excerpts from the liner notes written by Krist Novoselic for the new album. “At the time, live shows were our bread and butter (this being prior to the release of Nevermind in September of 1991). We'd hit the road for months at a time…coming back with one or two grand…to be split three ways. In those days, that was about as much ‘success’ as we thought possible. ”

“The earliest performances on this album are brought to you courtesy of a sound board cassette recording of a December, 1989 show at London's Astoria. ‘Breed’ (then called ‘Imodium’) and ‘Polly’ (the big rock version) are taken from this show…”

“Negative Creep” was recorded at a Halloween homecoming show at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. This show was the last of a tour that immediately followed the release of Nevermind.

“'School', ‘Been A Son,’ ‘Lithium’ and ‘Blew’ were all taken from a show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 25, 1991. The show was filmed and recorded on multitrack for Dutch TV. ‘Spank Thru,’ this version having been recorded on November 19, 1991 in Rome, was actually the first Nirvana song.”

At the end of 1991, Nirvana toured the West Coast with Pearl Jam and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. “The second show of this tour was on December 28, 1991 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds (just outside San Diego). For whatever reason, our set was particularly aggressive that night - ‘Drain You,’ ‘Aneurysm’ and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ were all taken from this recording.”

Early in 1992, Nirvana headlined at England's Reading Festival. “I have to say that hearing tens of thousands of people sing along with ‘Lithium’ was a very cool moment in the history of the band. We were having fun playing and decided to stretch the set out a bit - enter ‘tourette’s,' a song which had been around for a few years (and eventually found its way onto In Utero).”

'Sliver,' ‘Scentless Apprentice,’ (recorded for “MTV Live and Loud”), ‘Heart-Shaped Box,’ and ‘Milk It,’ were recorded during the 1993-94 In Utero tour.

All in all, both Krist and Nirvana's drummer, Dave Grohl, listened to more than one hundred hours of tapes to select the tracks for this album. The intention was to give people a taste of Nirvana's live performances.

“In presenting this record, we hope that the ultimate allure of Nirvana (and especially Kurt) as well as the passion that we had - and have - for the music we made is once again brought to the forefront…Crank this record up and realize the bliss, power and passion…TOTAL NIRVANA!”