Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Push The Sky Away
Leaked a few days ago and stuff just so you know. Probably streaming on NPR, The Guardian or that Pitchfork site as well.
Sat in the front room listening to it for a bit yesterday. It is really, really good - maybe their weirdest album yet. Lots of gentle, dissonant + weirdly funky grooves and not a cymbal in sight. Lyrically he's back on form after the tedious misogynism of the last Grinderman. There are some great vagina allusions a la his last book.
Anyone else heard it?
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It's OK
Better than Dig Lazarus Dig. Nice to hear him taking himself seriously again. But compared to his back catalogue it's yet another disappointing Nick Cave album. It may grow on me a bit but seems like yet more evidence that he shot his bolt a long time ago.
I really liked Dig Lazarus Dig at the time
I think it's because I had a 40 minute walk home at 8:30 in the evening and it feels like its very much a city at night time kind of album
Love Dig! Lazarus Dig! and still listen to it a lot. Was the one that got me into him though I guess
it was abatoir/lyre that finally hooked me in
so i'm more a fan of the southern gothic vibe he was riding up to then - although bad nick cave is better than a lot of others when they're 'good'*
* the grinderman album did get kind of old and i never managed to get more than a couple of listens out of the second. it was all getting a bit midlife crisis for me.
Ditto.
I'm going to seek this one out tonight!
ThirstyDog doesn't like new Nick Cave Shocker...
Believe me I wish I did
Jubilee Street & Mermaids are great, the rest is average, and the whole thing is a bit one-paced.
Well I like it
The title track is incredible.
New video here
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/noisey-premiered-nick-caves-new-video-for-jubilee-street
I like everything Nick Cave
and the new stuff sounds amazing. He's always interesting even when he falls a bit short and when he's great he towers over most stuff.
was played it a few weeks ago, wasn't really listening
seemed ok, i'd like to get into it before Primavera.
OUTSTANDING RECORD.
I can't get over how much I enjoy the sound of it, and how reserved it is at every turn. I spent a lot of it expecting things to just EXPLODE. But... that never came.
I'm not Caveologist, but I like this more than I like what I've heard so far, and I like those ones a lot.
Stream
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/feb/08/nick-cave-push-sky-away-stream
jubilee street is amazing
can't wait to hear the rest of the album
really haunting
really excellent
Yeah, this is fantastic.
Their best in a long time, and I'm someone who thinks he's been on form for the last decade.
The album is great
and their performance last night was one of the best things I've ever experienced, it really was as special as Sean's review suggests.
First listen: really like it
Kind of zones out into mush towards the end but not in a completely bad way.
tedious misogyny
vagina allusions
Sat, The Windmill, Doors 7:30, £ 4 on the door
Two great names for bands
I met Jim Sclavunos at a Gallon Drunk gig in Stockton recently, he was really cool.
Tour
October 26th/26th London Hammersmith Apollo
October 30th Manchester Apollo
October 31st Glasgow Barrowlands
November 1st Edinburgh Usher Hall
Barras!
Ace.
no northern england or east coast shows
:(
Manchester is definitely in the north of england
£40 tickets is a shame though.
soapy is from newcastle
anywhere below gateshead is THE SOUTH
that's what the river is for
to show where the line is
I've got shitting tickets!
yee haw!
my wifes birthday as well! :)
she hates Nick Cave! :(
Beatiful record
Will be hammering my keyboard tomorrow morning begging them to take my monies.
In!
£12 in fees and postage though...
In
The fee's and the ticket price are fucking wank tho, but its nick cave so I handle it...but still feel wronged.
Can't decide which is my favourite track on the album
Between Mermaids and the title track at the moment.
This album is astonishing, it gets better everytime
the hardback book edition is also a beautiful wee package.
Mermaids, Jubilee Street and Higgs Boson Blues are my favourites so far.
Exactly how I feel.
Higgs Boson Blues sound like it's his Ambulance Blues (a good thing, obvs)
Absolutely lovin' this record
This is the first nick cave album I've heard looking forward to seeing him at primavera now. What should listen to next heard bit n pieces of dig lazurus dig but that's about it. What are his standout LPs and dream playlist any suggestions ?
If you like this album so much
I'd suggest you get onto The Boatmans Call.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsBJ62jSCl0
Let Love In, Tender Prey, Kicking Against the Pricks,
Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus and Your Funeral... My Trial are all essential I'd say. Move on to Let Love In now because it's not only the best Bad Seeds record (to me anyway) it'll introduce you to his more visceral sound.
Brilliant album
I'm usually a sucker for a band's 'quiet' or 'intimate' album - Smother, Is A Woman, Vespertine, Dots and Loops.
By that definition this is his best since Boatman's Call. What I really love though is that he's got a bit of his 'snarl' back. His singing has been to0 precise on his last 4 Bad Seeds albums. Also the dirty bass gives clearly points back to the likes of 'Tupelo'.
absolutely sublime
must have listened through it 10 times already, just hitting the spot mood wise perfectly for me at the moment
On the second couple of listens it's a bit boring
the vox are so meh :(
I still don't have this yet :'(
stupid university keeping me tied to my lab desk all week
Still not got this yet.
Is it actually really good in a "this is a really good album" way or really good in a "everyone says every Nick Cave album is a return to form for the first few months then finds it a bit a meh and forgettable and hails the next album as a return to form instead" way?
This. Exactly this.
Has he been off form recently?
Ignoring the side project stuff, I think that he took a wobble after The Boatman's Call with the fairly forgettable No More Shall We Part and Nocturama, but then got squarely back on track with Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus (probably the album of his I listen to the most) and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!. I've only had the chance to listen to this one a couple of times, but my initial impressions are that together with Abattoir/Orpheus and Lazarus this is a really strong run of albums...
he is someone
who is always 'returning to form' according to every review
no matter what the quality of the work
Really?
In that case, my quick review of his work:
From Her to Eternity - 8/10
The Firstborn Is Dead - 7/10
Your Funeral... My Trial - 7/10
Tender Prey - 9/10
The Good Son - 6/10
Henry's Dream - 7/10
Let Love In - 9/10
Murder Ballads - 6/10
The Boatman's Call - 9/10
No More Shall We Part - 5/10
Nocturama - 6/10
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus - 9/10
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - 7/10
Push the Sky Away - pending/10
i'm talking reviews
that get printed in magazines
they always use the return to form narrative
i think its just reviewer shorthand for 'older act who i only listen to one album by really'
I understood what you meant
I guess I just didn't realise that he was ever thought to have been 'off form' in the same way that, say, Bob Dylan is. I've always considered him to be one of the more consistent of the old guard - a bit like Tom Waits or Mark E Smith, he's never bad, only less good...
I don't think anyone's ever actually claimed an album's been bad at the time.
It's just, as Soapy says, the narrative of the review for a new album is always that he's returning to form (even though the previous album got the same good reviews).
My honest opinion on the last couple of Nick Cave albums (bar this one, which I've not heard) is they're good but not essential listening in the way I used to find Nick Cave. I think Abbatoir/Lyre of Orpheus has some great songs but quite a bit of filler and Dig, Lazarus, Dig is good but not brilliant.
Don't get me wrong - I'm sure I will get this album and listen to it quite a lot but I feel his recent stuff feels a bit like someone writing songs for the sake of it, whereas a few years ago he seemed to be writing songs because his life depended on it...
they always get good reviews at the time
but somehow the next one is always better or a return to the quality of the ones before the last one (which everyone liked anyway)
Ish
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2003/jan/24/popandrock.artsfeatures
but then again
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1366-nocturama-with-the-bad-seeds/
If I remember correctly...
...wasn't Nocturama recorded in one week as Nick was tired of the studio process? Not my favourite album o fhis, but still quite impressive if so.
Would make sense I guess
You're the first person I've seen not to rate it as easily his worst album.
True, never understood the hate for it
Aside from the title, which sounds like a parody.
I have never been able to get on with No More Shall We Part however - dunno why, it's just a bit...wordy? Leaves no real space for the music I guess.
I think Nocturama probably gets an unfair amount of stick
It's obviously his worst album but that doesn't mean it's bad. Not that I've listened to it in about 10 years - the victim of being the bad egg in a huge back catalogue.
No More Shall We Part is great musically, Mick Harvey was still doing the business and Warren Ellis hadn't completely taken over.
Nocturama does have got some great songs on it.
I count one great song, maybe two or three good songs
But that's just quibbling really.
I didn't actually count.
Is Still in Love the great song?
Babe, I'm On Fire
I'd struggle to name any others though. The Gibraltar one was half-decent I think.
It's funny how much filler is on it though
The B-Sides & Rarities collection has plenty of great stuf from around that era.
I never thought Babe, I'm on Fire was that good.
Seemed a bit too much of an effort to do a 'classic' Nick Cave song. It's okay but not my favourite.
The video's well worth a watch
You need to relisten to No More Shall We Part
And Henry's Dream probably.
Just to completely contradict what I said below
I think people probably get a bit hung up on deciding if Nick Cave is still at his peak or not. He's been churning out good albums for 30 odd years now, some better than others, and with an admirable number of brilliant songs on them. He attracts more hype than he needs because he's been around so long, and the perceived quality of any one album is going to be affected by people's personal taste because he does keep things relatively varied.
I'm not blown away by the new one, but it's a good addition to the canon and it's a change from what he's done before and I don't think the people gushing over it are necessarily suffering from New Album Syndrome.
Sorry, this reply isn't to anyone in particular, just a bit of waffle.
You missed Kicking Against the Pricks
which is fucking brilliant.
I deliberately left that out...
...as it's a covers album. If I included that then it felt like I should probably include the Grinderman stuff, and then if I included that I should probably include the soundtrack stuff.
I would say...
From Her to Eternity - 5/10
The Firstborn Is Dead - 8/10
Your Funeral... My Trial - 7/10
Kicking Against the Pricks - 8/10
Tender Prey - 9/10
The Good Son - 7/10
Henry's Dream - 9/10
Let Love In - 10/10
Murder Ballads - 5/10
The Boatman's Call - 8/10
No More Shall We Part - 8/10
Nocturama - 4/10
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus - 8/10
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - 5/10
Push the Sky Away - 6/10
There's some good stuff on it
It's nowhere near *peak* Nick Cave though. Give it a bash on Spotify.
Seeing as everyone else is doing this
From Her to Eternity 6/10
The Firstborn Is Dead 6/10
Kicking Against the Pricks 8/10
Your Funeral… My Trial 6/10
Tender Prey 7/10
The Good Son 8/10
Henry's Dream 10/10
Let Love In 10/10
Murder Ballads 7/10
The Boatman's Call 9/10
No More Shall We Part 9/10
Nocturama 5/10
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus 8/10
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! 8/10
Push the Sky Away 6/10 (probs)
go on then
From Her to Eternity - 7/10
The Firstborn Is Dead - 8/10
Your Funeral... My Trial - 8/10
Kicking Against the Pricks - 7/10
Tender Prey - 9/10
The Good Son - 9/10
Henry's Dream - 9/10
Let Love In - 7/10
Murder Ballads - 8/10
The Boatman's Call - 10/10
No More Shall We Part - 8/10
Nocturama - 3/10
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus - 5/10
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - 5/10
Push the Sky Away - 7/10
His entire gig from last night in LA is on Youtube today only btw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymChgeO00g
New album in full then greatest hits. It's fantastic. Great to see Barry back in the band, and there are some amusing shots of the children's choir looking bemused during From Her to Eternity.
This is really, really good.
My favourite since the Boatman's Call. Most atmospheric they've sounded since Blixa left too.
Having absorbed the album for a bit of time
really like it, normally I don't like 'understated' nick cave mode, and always find his stuff bitty, not sure he's made an album I've liked in full, but the music here rather bubbles below and it all is rather lovely. Works pretty well for me. Jubilee Street is ace too.