Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - New album PUSH THE SKY AWAY - Anticipate!

Still reeling from how dismal that song is and am concerned about the live show. Who's playing guitar? Pleae don't tell me it's Nick. And it seems the band is releasing this record themselves? Wondering if they couldn't find any takers.

also looks like they may have left Billions, their long-time booking agents, which explains why they are finally playing a proper NYC venue.

So is this his worst album-opener ever?

advise to Nick: call Mick Harvey and try to get him back. maybe that will help (though its not certain)

Billions booked the Sydney Opera House / symphonic shows in February, and Kuepper is still playing guitar.

(And the reason Mick left is still there.)

which is?

Well, they are no longer listed on the roster of acts that Billions represents.

I assume Mick Harvey left because Nick was letting Waren Ellis just railroad him in the creative process.

Mick always did most of the heavy lifting, he probably got sick of it.

It wasn't the creative process, apparently.

so what was it, don't be all coy

I don't think the creative process & the personal stuff are separate in The Bad Seeds - Cave freezes people out when they're out of favour, is that right? Courtly or playground shit. idk, half-remembered thing i heard off a friend of a friend of a hairdresser who might have trimmed a bad seed beard once. w/e, looks like rise of ellis = fall from favour of Harvey.

the most concrete thing I heard music-wise (here?) was that Harvey thought the arrangements were being dumbed down to make touring easier, faster, more lucrative and didn't like it.

That's true, I heard Mick say as much in an interview a while back. THe last Bad seeds show I saw was in support of Dig Lazarus Dig and it was much more ragged in comparison to the other shows I have seen. Light years away from the fancy suit days w/Kid Congo and Blixa, etc.

After seeing that show, Grinderman came as no surprise.

Some revisionism here - as if the your funeral / tender prey bad seeds were polished virtuosos...!

I've persuaded myself that worrying departures in the Seeds can be healthy: after Nocturama, when Blixa left, I thought 'fuck, that's it, it's totally fucked now, roll on the goth elton john'; obvs I was totally wrong, Lyre/Abattoir was fresh life.

Harvey though… I still can't quite swallow it.

xp

I don't think they were virtuosos at that point, but I think a lot of what's amazing - the arrangement of The Mercy Seat, say (or Mercy) – is maybe down to Harvey's imagination and application. But I'm not quite enough of a fan to know who is responsible for what.

The 90s-mid 00s seeds, on the other hand, were a fucking incredible band - but lately, the build of The Mercy Seat, or Papa Won't Leave You hasn't been there, & something that was quite tumbling and charged like Deanna has sounded a bit perfunctory, straight rocky.

The thing is I'm getting old and Cave's getting old, so yknow who fucking knows this is the way of the world. But I thought I could hear what Harvey means about arrangements.

Precisely my point and well said. They needed to stop playing The Mercy Seat (and Deanna) live many years ago. They can play it in their sleep and it shows. Nick ceded control of the band to Warren. The last time around, Mick was hunkered sown, stage right while Nick and Ellis were cavorting about stage left like some school boys. It was fun in a rock and roll sort of way but...I can totally see where Mick was coming from on this.

It will be very interesting how the band handles the older material, if they try at all.

I listened to all of the Harvey interviews (the main conversation is here: http://meltingpod.free.fr/?p=214 ) and his reason for splitting was that he hated seeing the Bad Seeds become "a mere rock band doing injustice to the songs."

New song sounds like a U2 album-closer.

Single!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjF57zEbxpI

good morning

I quite like this!

reminds me a little of Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow for some reason. I know the tempo's way different but something about the piano idk

advise to Nick: call Mick Harvey and try to get him back. maybe that will help (though its not certain)

― nostormo, 21:15 יום שני 3 דצמבר 2012 (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Grinderman was fine without Mick Harvey. This is just bad creative decision-making.

I think this is track 1 on the album. Will make for convenient skipping.

the cheapest ticket to see nick cave at new york's beacon theater at the end of march is $137. the most expensive is $4725

"Grinderman was fine without Mick Harvey"

mmm..assuming you are right (i don't like Grinderman) - they might have been even better with him.

...the times a Nick Cave ticket cost 20 dollars...1992..

xpost

There's no way those Beacon numbers are right. I saw the Bad Seeds on their last tour and I think I paid $50 for GA floor. Bit cheaper maybe.

Both those Beacon shows are sold out, according to the Nick Cave website -- that's why the prices are so jacked up

Nick Cave at Beacon says something about him.

^^^Just wondering what it says about him?

Got a couple for the 2nd night @ the Beacon. I think they were around $50.00 each.

artists that are usually playing at the Beacon:

Hot Tuna
Steely Dan
Lynyard Skynyard
Allman Brother

oh, the glory of the past...

...which Allman Brother though? It makes a huge difference.

lol

I saw this Gregg Allman concert on one of those "channel 479" bonus channels you get with Dish Network, and they kept cutting to these really bored bikers in the back.

According to the Whiney on Twitter

NICK CAVE JUST SAID "WIKIPEDIA IS HEAVEN WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER ANYMORE" ON THIS RECORD

Further:

NICK CAVE JUST SAID "HANNAH MONTANA DOES THE AFRICAN SAVANNAH" ON THIS ALBUM I WISH I WAS JOKING, THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING

I want to know more.

OMG SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS BY THE SEA SHORE THIS IS INCREDIBLE

Annnnnd new song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYyX1ISE6KQ

Now that's more like it.

Couldn't finish that, got bored. Honestly, I think I will just wait for the record to come out.

I listen to albums exclusively track by track via strategically released youtube streams, spread out over the course of weeks. That's how we do it in '13.

Q (represented by ilxor DL) gives this 3 stars, Uncut 9/10, Mojo 4 stars. Sounds like it's a relatively subdued one all the way through.

Pained me to give it 3/5 given how much I've loved his post-2003 rebirth but it really drags in places. At least the highs and very high.

are very high

I'm suspicious of Uncut's 9/10. The review fills three pages including an interview. Mojo didn't even put it in a box - it's just one 100-worder among dozens.

Streaming: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/feb/08/nick-cave-push-sky-away-stream

Jubilee Street the only one that grabs me. The rest sound like not-very-good prose being read over a barely-thought-about backing.