MTV ran a TV show on their channel since 1989, and Nirvana was asked multiple times for it. Singer Kurt Cobain conceded in 1993, despite being nervous about it. He and the band wanted to do something different on the show: where other bands performed only their own songs, and treated (Cobains words) it like any other rock concert, they wanted to include covers by bands they admired. The result is fourteen songs, six of them covers. There were joined on stage by members of the Meat Puppets, a relatively unknown band.
The performance was recorded on November 18 1993, in a single take. Maybe because of his nerves, or possible drug withdrawal, it was not a cheerful performance. In advance, Cobain had given specific instructions for the dressing of the venue: stargazer lilies, a chandelier and many black candles. The whole thing looked like a gothic funeral.
The recording was indeed made in New York, in the Sony Studios in Hell’s Kitchen (460 W 54th Street). A location that had previous been used as a movie studios by Fox Movietone. Famous movies made there included Shaft (1971) and The Exorcist (1973). It was bought by Sony in 1993, and sold in 2007. It is no longer there, razed and replaced by luxury apartments.