Nirvana "MTV Unplugged in New York" (1994) - got it
The write-up in the book seems to express surprise at the idea that acoustic grunge could work... which is odd as Pearl Jam had already done a session for MTV's (at the time) popular unplugged segment a couple of years earlier.
Regardless, Nirvana were approached to do an unplugged show. Their show was unconventional in that the band weren't just trotting out their hits on acoustic guitar. In amongst a selection of Nirvana tracks were covers of songs by the Vaselines, David Bowie and 3 songs by the Meat Puppets. Two members of the Meat Puppets joined the band on stage to play and Mark Lanegan was invited but declined, which lends credence to the suggestion that Kurt wanted to use Nirvana's celebrity to help gain exposure for his friends and artists he enjoyed.
The set closes with a bleeding-throated rendition of bluesman Lead Belly's take on the traditional track "Where did you sleep last night". That seems an appropriate choice because the acoustic approach to Nirvana's sound mixed with Krist Novoselic's heavy bass gives everything a kind of heavy, rootsy blues sound.
Perhaps Kurt's voice had always been this raw, ragged (yet strong) and emotive, but recast without loud distorted guitars to hide behind, it is quite striking.
While the posthumous track "You know you're right" suggested that they probably would have continued with their loud-quiet-loud approach to songwriting, it's great that this album exists and it's nice to think that it could have led to a new direction for the band.
