Champion Your Band 4 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds by How2PK

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is my turn to tell you something about my favorite musician(s). Of course I have got many different musicians I admire, but at the moment I am going trough a Nick Cave fase. As some of you might have noticed the past months. Maybe I will have a different topic in a year time. Who knows. In this topic I won't focus on The Birthday Party, Grinderman, or Blixa Bargelds band EinstÃÆÃâÃâürzende Neubauten (who have released a new album a couple of months ago! It's called Alles Wieder Offen, and you should listen to it! Really.) Anyway. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds came forth from a band called the Birthday Party, that band lived from late seventies, till 1984, and two of its members were Nick Cave and Mick Harvey. Well, then they met a few people, among them was Blixa Bargeld, and some others of course. The band has had a lot different people with them, it's hard to keep up with everybody who has done something on an album. And I don't really care either. The interesting [hide]

 

boo.[/hide] thing about Cave and his band is how they changed troughout the years. In each album they've become a bit 'lighter', or less violent, that might be better way to put it. Because if there is something that it's not it is light. They're a bit hard to market. In all honesty, I don't really know what to write. But the contradiction attracts me. I listen to the music, and when I listen to it I transform. With every song I become somebody else. If I listen to the Murder Ballads album the one song I am a raving lunatic preforming a bar-massacre, then I am desperate husband whose wife and kids are murdered or am I the murderer? Then it is me who is murdered because I am in love with another woman. Sometimes, when I play From Her to Eternity I am obsessed with a woman, howling in my bedroom, just fled out of her nightmare, right back into mine, and an hour later I am a devoted Christian singing to God about my life. They are going from extreme to extreme effortlessly it seems. Whatever they do, it completely gets to me, I get sucked in. I will give you a discography here, and with each album picture there's one or two key-songs from the album that you can listen to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Her To Eternity, well, it started here. It opens with a Leonerd Cohen cover Avalanche, which is really dark. It's followed by a personal favorite Cabin Fever! it's total madness. There's no logic in the song, out of rythem singing (not just cave) weird industrial effects (you'll also hear those on from her to eternity, the song), and then an Elvis cover (in the ghetto) other than that there are a lot of blues orientated songs on it. Giving it a bit of a weird feel. After all you don't come across a combination of blues, avant-garde and punk every day.

 

 

 

(live at the Paradiso)

 

(This one is, if possible, even more over-the-top, the song is from the debut album From Her To Eternity)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(from the album The Firstborn is Dead)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Joe (From the cover-album Kicking Against the [puncture]s the famous Toots Thielemans on Harmonica, fantastic cover)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(A FANTASTIC Live version from the Paradiso, song is from the album Your Funeral, My Trial, Stranger than Kindness is another key song from that album, but couldn't find it on youtube.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(from the album Tender Prey this is most likely their best known song. Video clip version by the way. John Cash made an excellent cover from it on one of his American Recording albums.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Vocals shared with Blixa Bargeld. Hilarious video-clip with a wink at Fellini's Casanova.It's from the album The Good Son)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straight to you (From the album Henry's Dream. It's one of the easier albums. The song Papa won't leave you Henry is fantastic as well. Too bad I couldn't find it on youtube.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(from the album Let Love In)

 

 

 

Now we will come at, I think, my favorite album by the group. A little side-project and it is called Murder Ballads, and as the title suggests it are songs about death. Interesting uh? The album was very popular back in the day, and that's most likely because of the hitsingle Where the wild roses grow with Kylie Minogue, no less. Every song on this album is great, and everybody should have this album. Because not everything is available on youtube I'll give you the videos, and one sound only clip. hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the creepiest songs ever made.

. Have fun.

 

 

 

. Hehe, ever heard anything like it? The end is pretty ***** great.

 

 

 

together with that lovely P.J. Harvey. Fantastic clip, great song. Do we need more?

 

 

 

Where the Wild Roses Grow With Kylie Minogue, the big hit. The 'older' ones among us might remember it from t.v.

 

 

 

After Murder Ballads they came with The Boatman's Call which is a very personal album, mainly based on relationships he had in the past. It's completely different to the earlier work because a lot of that was really over the top, dark, and generally 'bigger'. while this is mostly piano guided, a timid guitar in the background etc. Fantastic album, no bad tracks, and perfect for those dark nights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Into my arms

 

Are You the one that I've been waiting for (fantastic.)

 

 

 

 

Then after a bit of a break came No More Shall we Part in 2001.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(great video, great song, wonderfully sung)

 

Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

 

 

(one of my favorite tracks)

 

 

 

I don't know anything about Nocturama, so I'm going to skip that one. You can always check it out yourself, if you're curious. I bet you all know how the internet works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, then we go to Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. Which I liked a lot in the beginning, but in the end I got over it pretty quick. It's alright, but a bit too tame. But I shouldn't whine, it's still very good actually, now that I hear some stuff from it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there's a lot more great material on that record.

 

 

 

Then, some of you might be curious and you want to check something out. I suggest starting out with something like Tender Prey, Murder Ballads, Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Oprheus, Henry's Dream. They've got a bit of both. From there on you can decide what you prefer; rough or more calm. If you know you want rough first go with From Her To Eternity, if you prefer calm from the start go for Boatman's Call or No More Shall we Part. It's all gold, really. Those interested in live material I can recommend the album Live Seeds, the God is in the House tour DVD, the CD/DVD combination of the Abattoir Blues Tour and of course The Road to God Knows Where (tour documentairy)/Live at the Pardiso dvd. The videoclips DVD is a recommendation as well. The hits, and each video has a little introduction by the members, it's a bit goofy, but nice for the fans. Not every video is a succes, but there are a few jems there.

 

 

 

Well. Next year his new album Dig, Lazerus, Dig!!! comes out. On the first of March, I believe. And I'm looking forward to it. I'm sorry I can't give more information. It feels kind of akward talking about somebody I admire, I don't like to do it in real life, and I guess it's the same on the net. Hard to bring my thoughts to words, that could be it as wel. So i guess that's why it's more music than words. but hey, that's it's about of course. The post isn't as good as Klankoas, but I hope that I made at least 1 person a bit enthousiastic.

 

 

 

For biographies, trivia, album info etc. check out wikipedia. here's a link:

 

 

 

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

 

Nickcaveandthebadseeds.com (here you can hear the new single Dig, Lazerus, Dig!!!)

 

Nickcaveonline.com

 

Grinderman.com (website for side project Grinderman)

 

EinstÃÆÃâÃâürzende Neubauten.org

 

The Birthday Party

 

 

 

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Thousand Foot Krutch by kalphiteman4
 
Brand New by ktmcf121
 
Rush by klankaos

Hmm... I like some of their new stuff quite a bit. The older songs are too violent, as you put it, for me. I'm not so much a fan of that style of music, but these guys do it well. I like Easy Money a lot, especially. I agree they've gotten far lighter, and it makes them a lot more appealing to me. Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus is my favourite album, and I'll wait for their next album impatiently, to be sure. Still have to go to the site and check out 'Dig, Lazerus, Dig!', hopefully it's more of the same.

 

 

 

The post isn't as good as Klankaos

 

 

 

Thanks. XD

 

 

 

Well written article, to be sure. I like how you suggested certain albums to start with, and a progression for beginning listeners =P.

Great stuff, I love Nick Cave and his kind of dark attitude towards music, which is reflected even in his touching ballads.

 

 

 

All I really know is Abbattoir Blues/The Lyre so I might try From Her To Eternity, some of his darker stuff. I know you didn't talk about it, but I also loved Grinderman's album, is From Her To Eternity like that kind of raw energy?

It's a lot different. The sound of Grinderman is a lot, hm, smoother/softer. It has a dirty sound, but if you could stand in music, the sound of Grinderman would flow around you like in a shower, it's a gentle, smooth feeling. But with From Her to Eternity it crawls under your skin, and it goes straight to the bone. The energy that comes from it is a lot more violent and desperate, and the pace is a lot lower than on Grinderman. It's a pretty vague explanation, but I can't word it any different.

Nobody tried? Or does nobody has an opinion? I can't believe it. When there's a topic about Soulja Boi there's tons of people replying within the day, and now when there's something that should appeal more (like these threads) suddendly nobody has got an opinion anymore. Unbelievable.

Nobody tried? Or does nobody has an opinion? I can't believe it. When there's a topic about Soulja Boi there's tons of people replying within the day, and now when there's something that should appeal more (like these threads) suddendly nobody has got an opinion anymore. Unbelievable.

 

 

 

I don't pay attention to music threads most of the time. I didn't check out the other 3 stickies either. Accidentally clicked on this one, but I'll go ahead and check out the songs.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

Listened to From Her To Eternity (live at the Paradiso) and Tupelo (from the album The Firstborn is Dead): Not my style of music, it is hard to describe what it is like you said in your explanation. Also wanted to mention the second link from the first album isn't there anymore.

 

Listening to Hey Joe now, which I actually really do enjoy. The harmonica in it is great. Also like the stand up bass.

 

EDIT2:

 

The Carny sounds like a Doors song. I like it. Plus one of the lines of the song mentions a "murder of crows" which is a term I really like. It's actually the correct term for a collection of crows, like saying a "flock of geese" or a "herd of sheep".

 

The Mercy Seat was good. Might have to check out Cash's cover then also.

 

The Weeping Song is reminding me a little bit of the The Doors again. Not as much as The Carny, but still it has that feeling. I'm not watching the videos much, I did watch this one though, it is a little odd.

 

EDIT3:

 

Straight to you sounds like a Doors song again. I am going to stop mentioning that, since I think it is mostly just his voice that reminds me. You can definitely tell the songs have been getting "lighter" from the beginning. I'm going to go with they are getting better also. The first two I didn't really care for, but I've liked the rest. Have to finish listening to them later however.

Wow, he certainly has a broad range of styles. I'm gonna start listening to him now. I've listened to:

 

 

 

From Her To Eternity: Interesting, unlike any band I've heard of. It gives me the feel of a desert at night. The rising guitar and piano after the solo singing gives a nice effect.

 

 

 

Stagger Lee: Wow, really catchy. It's dark and bluesy too. :P

 

 

 

Into My Arms: This one took me by surprise. Totally different than his other works. It's beautiful.

 

 

 

I'm going to listen to a lot more, I might even post more later.

Ah, cool. Two more people tried, and it seems that both of you can appreciate it. :) Good thing!

Had a listen to a few of his songs and the early stuff was positively oozing emotion. However, as a singer I can't stand him. All his music seemed very dark and dissonant as you said. The ballads I heard were ok, not anything special, his singing style was the major let down there.

I never noticed that this got put up >.>, sorry...

 

 

 

I'm definitely going to look into these guys, but right now it's late and I'm procrastinating from doing my midterm essay. Maybe tomorrow...