Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 'Skeleton Tree' (September 2016)

I am, admittedly very excited for this, though I am little surprised, after the death of his son last yr I certainly wasn't expecting a new album anytime soon. Buried in the press blurb for the film there's a little reference to the "delved into the tragic backdrop of the writing and recording of the album". But so, I'm very curious to see the movie and hear the record.

Love the last record. And I was pretty impressed by the Sick Bag Song poem/book.

THere have been 3 lps in 12 years. During which he has also worked on writing both books and films.
I would have thought that the form of band that worked for him 30 years ago might not work for him any longer.
& that he might come out with a music project under a different name. He has also released a number of soundtrack lps with Warren Ellis and others.

Obvioulsy him and Mick Harvey are different people but I did think he might want to continually reinvent things in the way that he set out to do back in the 80s. Not sure what to expect from this lp.
Trying to think if Push The Sky Away relied on Hammond grooves the way that previous lps seem to. I quite like his Hammond grooves and influences from that type of music but do we want what we expect from him to be what we expect from him?

Seems like he can make the Bad Seeds do whatever he wants, noisy rockers, pastoral accompanists, experimental Sherpas, etc, they see adept and flexible at whatever the songs require, so why not keep being NC & the Bad Seeds?

It strikes me that his response to the death of his son is much more interesting than what the band happens to be called.

I'm queasy about looking at the album through that lens, probably due to my own wimpiness. I don't even have kids, but somehow that subject matter is harder for me to want to engage with than, say, an album Bowie makes that deals with his own mortality/death.

But of course I don't know what this album will actually be like, press blurbs notwithstanding.

One More Time With Feeling

A unique one-night-only cinema event directed by Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly), One More Time With Feeling 2D and 3D will be your first opportunity to hear Skeleton Tree, the 16th studio album from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

Originally a performance-based concept, One More Time With Feeling evolved into something more as Dominik explored Skeleton Tree's tragic backdrop. Interwoven throughout the Bad Seeds' filmed performance are interviews and footage shot by Dominik, accompanied by Cave’s narration and
improvised rumination.

The result is fragile and raw – a testament to an artist trying to find his way through the darkness.

One More Time With Feeling 2D and 3D will screen in cinemas across the world on Thursday 8 September, the night before the release of
Skeleton Tree.

Members' priority booking is open now, and tickets go on sale to non-Members on Thursday 9 June.

I'm not really interested in this album but I might go to this

Trailer for the film...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svru1jNLIK8

Glad to see he's back on the horse... and not that i expect it will reflect on his personal loses, my ears will still hear it based on such -- especially given how broody the soundtrack material can be. Albeit, Ellis seems to sound like the more direct conduit to the everafter...

I find it difficult to get excited for soundtrack music. I'd rather hear new Grinderman.

Most or all of Skeleton Tree was recorded before his son's death.

I guess i didn't get the impression that it was a soundtrack rather the movie was a documentary about the new album??

Some of the album was definitely recorded after his son's passing judging from the press release information/chronology of events.

Here's the first video, "Jesus Alone":
https://youtu.be/9iGxoJnygW8

...stately and ponderous, on first listen, and a little too close to the template for Push the Sky Away, but maybe it'll grow on me in the context of the album.

Reminds a bit of the b-sides from Push the Sky Away, "Needle Boy" and "Lightning Bolts", I like it but kind of hard to get a read on it. I feel like the first single from the last record was the same way.

And obv, doesn't seem like this is going to be a record of bangers

sounds great, very tense

I love that. Best Bad Seeds thing in a long, long time. Also, the great swells of strings are a bit Melody Nelson.

Powerful 6-Minute Clip From Andrew Dominik’s Nick Cave Documentary ‘One More Time With Feeling’

i like this more than anything from push the sky away except maybe jubilee street

still wishing for some wild-ass nick cave/seeds a la dig lazarus dig, but it seems unlikely

"You're an African doctor / harvesting tear ducts"

There are some really cool subtle details to the mix that I didn't notice until I listen to it on headphones (and didn't watch the video 'natch).

The simultaneous cinema broadcast of One More Time with feeling is tonight at 9pm.
JUst ben feeling tired all day so not got it together to go. So hoping i get a chance to see it later.
Not sure what's included in the broadcast so hope I won't be missing anything I don't get a chance to see at a later point.

chr1s was nice enough to give me his tickets so I'm going to the movie tonight, excited

Early reports on the film say it's a hell of a watch, seeing things like this:

https://twitter.com/Dorianlynskey/status/774009934316961793

Not long back from seeing it. Very powerful. As a film it looks and sounds beautiful, as a "story" it's very raw and vulnerable. Musically sounds great.

seeing it in a couple hours; am I gonna cry?

Well, my eyes were itchy but that was genuinely because they were itchy. It's moving in places, quite philosophical, but it depends how easily you cry normally.

It's quietly funny in places too, though.

Sadly, the film wasn't playing anywhere near here. Is there any information about distribution afterwards? Album's on Spotify.

The album is every bit as devastating as one would expect. Almost percussion-free, drone ballads with no resolution.

Guardian had this earlier this week
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/05/five-hidden-gems-from-nick-caves-catalogue

The album is every bit as devastating as one would expect. Almost percussion-free, drone ballads with no resolution.

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), vrijdag 9 september 2016 10:20 (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Otm. Nothing ore to add, really. It's top heavy.

Who's the woman singing on Distant Sky?

Else Torp

Dank!

"Almost percussion-free, drone ballads with no resolution" is really scaring me away from this

"Almost percussion-free, drone ballads with no resolution" is really scaring me away from this

Gotta admit I was pretty disappointed with it after three listens and figured it was an album I wouldn't be spending much time with, but listening again after seeing the film I'm finding it pretty powerful/affecting. Not sure if I would've come around to it (or given it the time) if I hadn't seen the film.

Re: the question about distribution -- I noticed in the end credits a reference to a DVD, so you should be able to see it at some point. I went into the theater mildly annoyed that it was filmed/released in 3D and for the first couple of minutes thought that it was going to be a distracting gimmick, but I ended up being surprised at how it really added a particular level of intimacy that I don't think I've felt from a documentary before. Anyway really a heartbreaking thing to watch. I don't think I've ever seen Cave stumble through thoughts or be at a loss for words before.

Have not seen the film, but after a few listens I really love the album. I don't find it top-heavy at all - actually, the closing two tracks are probably my favorites.

saw it last night.
got a bit long for me but it was powerful.

there were some nice little moments of humor as people mentioned, warren and nick clearly have a affectionate relationship and have a nice little private sense of comedy, the part where warren shows nick this new shiny aluminum violin he had made and says it was $3000, nick says i hope it sounds good and warren says "no, but it looks awesome" was good

but yeah really the parts that are the core (outside of the performances) are towards the end with nick and his wife talking about their son. after all these years, and all the mythology and mystique of nick cave you just see him as a father, as a man grieving and having no more more answers than any of us....one particular scene, his wife shows a painting they found that their son did at age 5 that was of the area where he eventually died, she is talking about it and how it was framed with a black matte and how that seemed ominous in retrospect and nick is just sitting there you can tell he's almost crying...anyway she quiets and he's sitting there holding her hand and then awkardly offers "do you want me to set it over here" and then struggles a bit with setting the painting against a chair....i don't know there was just something about how he was focusing on this little insignificant task instead of the grief as a way of helping and supporting his wife that reminded me of my father or the fathers of my friends

i think the new album is very powerful but i listened to it after the movie so i have no idea how to separate the two now

film was excellent and very moving but perhaps about 20 minutes too long. not sure the 3D added anything but then the cinema i saw it in was swelteringly hot and my glasses kept steaming up.

yeah i saw it in an old theater that didn't offer 3D so we were wondering what all the talk about that during the film was

this is brutal - like a numb man attempting to avoid disintegration and not necessarily succeeding

but it's also definitely the best work he's done since dig lazarus

if i were gonna rank it against like, the other ballad-heavy nick cave albums, i'd put it behind boatman's call but ahead of no more shall we part, nocturama, push the sky away...really all of them except good son

Not really selling it like that. These are mostly clunkers

rank it against other clunker-heavy nick cave albums

anyway i've only watched the clip linked above and both the song and the way it was filmed were incredibly powerful

i think i'm the world's biggest fan of "push the sky away" i love that album so much

if i were gonna rank it against like, the other ballad-heavy nick cave albums, i'd put it behind boatman's call but ahead of no more shall we part, nocturama, push the sky away...really all of them except good son

― if young slothrop don't trust ya i'm gon' rhyme ya (slothroprhymes), Friday, September 9, 2016 1:32 PM (twenty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also this feels a lot different, obv i guess it's quiet and they are largely "ballads" but they feel way different less singer songwritery

i think i'm the world's biggest fan of "push the sky away" i love that album so much

my old roommate loved and played that album so much that now i am a huge fan of it too

Not really selling it like that. These are mostly clunkers

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, September 9, 2016 1:51 PM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what do I need to do to get you into this Nick Cave meditation on grief? Tell ya what, my manager won't like this but I'm going to upgrade you to the LX trim package, gets you heated seats and a Bose soundsystem

Wonder if he's ever going to rethink the idea of doing a memoir. Would love to read his take on things.
Could be the being vehemently against doing something like that is something he left behind a while back.

Just hoping also that he's taking care of himself. Hate to hear that after a history of struggling with substance abuse he returned to something negative.

I find the set quite affecting, more than anything he's done since Abattoir Blues, maybe earlier. But yeah, the project as a whole brings out a lot of mixed feelings, which I wrote about over here http://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/150358081791/nick-cave-and-the-bad-seeds-skeleton-tree-bad

D0rian Lynskey on twitter today: "I hope Skeleton Tree doesn't get pinned to its backstory forever. It's so beautiful and compelling even if you come to it knowing nothing."

While I truly, truly sympathise with this, it's probably wishful thinking. A record like this will never be separated from the backstory I think.

Hmm maayyyybe... I got into a lot of albums (can't think of many examples right now but we could do a thread) that are very concepty, Blood on the Tracks for instance, without any clue abt backstory

xpost - I don't know if it was a good idea to bring up Tom Waits as a counterpoint to Cave, not sure he's any less mannered or melodramatic than Cave! if anything his whole cracked hobo thing is more put on imo

Guardian reviewed the lp today
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/15/nick-cave-and-the-bad-seeds-skeleton-tree-review-brilliant-music-on-the-verge-of-collapse

Great review

Very good review indeed. I'm not completely sure where he gets his info though. Believe it was mentioned in this thread that album recording was in progress when Cave's son died - but it's not very clear from the movie, is it? So when was the material written? It's true Cave talks a lot about fearfulness wrt artistic premonition, but he also suggests that both music and lyrics for Jesus Alone were improvised. Something that goes well with the director's comment that there's a certain helplessness to the recordings and Cave's discussion of allowing less accomplished, more intuitive lyrics.

I think this is a pretty incredible album, and is hitting me much more than Push the Sky Away ever did. Maybe I need to listen to that one again? Anyway, Cave sounds so ragged and weary on this, not in his usual stylized way but something much more haunted and hurt and hoarse. I'm trying to put my finger on something specific it reminds me of, something similarly incantation-y, but so far the comparison is eluding me. Not Leonard Cohen, not ... Scott Walker? Maybe later Scott Walker. I'll try to dredge it up.

I really love this record. I had to step away from it for a bit and distance myself from the experience of the movie to really let it sink in, but I loved the last one but yeah this one is really amazing, his voice is so good, weirdly the other day I was thinking this is kind of his Tonight's the Night, kind of ragged, sad, loose...at the same time this record kind of defies any easy comparison.

yeah that's a good comparison i think, def feels like it sort of stands apart in his catalog the way TNT does in neil's

TTN is a good call

Totally in love with this now. It gets better with every play.

They usually tour around the time of a record release but I can't see them going out to play this one live, not sure how it would work.

I listened to it once and it sounded fantastic (and devastating) but I need it to get colder and darker before I really immerse myself in it.

Tonight's the Night of course being a kind of "fun" sad record in the way a drunken wake is "fun". This record just feels more like...sitting around the kitchen table after getting home in your funeral clothes and the world moving on and feeling hollow and sad.

I love the way he let's the meter & rhythm of lines spill over the music, like he isn't going to let when the measure ends stop him from getting out this idea he has.

Last night the thing that at dawn on me that makes his performance so striking...this is a Nick Cave record where he has no swagger, no confidence, no Grinderman dick swinging, no Birthday Party nihilism, no Bad Seeds Dylan-cum-Elvis-cum-Cohen he is just barely getting through it, except for one moment in "Distant Sky" where he leans in on the line "call the gas man, cut the power" which is kind of the weirdly heartbreaking moment of the whole record for me.

Great post. So otm

Yeah, and none of the precision or poise of the previous ballad records - even the vocals on really downcast, gloomy songs like "Darker With the Day" never sounded less than elegant and considered.

This is growing on me, and I want to listen to it but I should really not listen to it

One More Time With Feeling is being shown locally again on the 1st of December. So I assume that must mean it's being shown elsewhere on the same night.

I saw a trailer for it the other night. Presumed it's going on general release.

Not sure how general. still seems to be limited. From the website it looks like it's a one off in a lot of places.

Thee was an article on him and the director in the Guardian today
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/24/nick-cave-doc-director-andrew-dominik-he-hated-a-third-of-my-movie

So got to see the film tonight and it is very moving.

Wonder if it is going to get a full distribution at any point, since i think tonight was just like September in only being a one off showing in a number fo venues.

Don't know if i've seen Thomas Wydler's drumkit before but it looks a bit weird dunnit? Pretty minimal. Is that what he normally plays?

The Cave/Ellis 'Mars' soundtrack is really lovely stuff

Live sets from the Australian tour are around on torrent sites. Have seen 3 so far.

Arena tour announced for the autumn:

http://www.nickcave.com/

Great that he's able to play arenas now, but I can't imagine how his fire-and-brimstone approach to live performance will translate to a barn like the O2.

Have you seen him live? He'll be fine.

I meant for the audience.

I'm a bit wary of the size of these venues and it isn't what I expected after Skeleton Tree, but I hope they'll make it work. I also fear the price of tickets, but we'll try to go regardless.

seen him open air twice, he had no problems at all

that was before skeleton tree, tho

If it was coming off the back of different kind of album maybe I'd feel less wary, but I'm sure they know what they're doing, so I've faith enough to buy tickets.

i have a review copy of the 3-disc greatest hits "lovely creatures" and it sounds great, everything is taken from the remasters, and actually does work as a representation of his artistic permutations in chronological order. why anyone would get the out-of-order 2 disc box set, tho, is anyone's guess

I saw the movie on an airplane and it was as good as many said, even in 2D. (And on an airplane.) I did wonder, though, how much someone who didn't know Cave at all would get from it. It does tackle some universal themes, however elliptically, and it's quite artistic, but I dunno.

It's funny, I was just thinking of compiling a career overview and this does the trick very nicely. As with any of these I could quibble about a few tracks included or missing but overall it's great. It flows really well and reminded me how fantastic "Abboitior Blues" and "Dig Lazarus" are.

Excellent, wide-ranging new interview:

http://www.gq.com/story/the-love-and-terror-of-nick-cave

yup good stuff, thx

love the Russell Crowe anecdotes that guy seems so hilarious

That is excellent, thank you.

yeah damn, what a great piece

Chris Heath, doing the business again. Think he's incapable of writing a bad piece.

That GQ piece was impeccable. Didn't even notice it was Chris Heath.

wow, that is an incredible piece - thanks for sharing, anagram

also how the fuck is nick cave 59 years old

I went to the two LA shows & they were great. I was impressed by how sinister some of the new songs came off live, specifically "Girl in Amber" and "Magneto". Actually the real gut-wrenching moment for me wasn't during any of the new songs, but during the climax of "Weeping Song" with Nick wading out into the hands of the crowd delivering the line "I’m so sorry, father/I never thought I hurt you so much"

It also doesn't get said enough but man the Bad Seeds are such a fantastic band.

saw him in berkeley a few days before that, it was easily the best performance I've ever seen him give. this iteration of the Seeds is a bit stripped down and sloppy compared to the last few that have been out but that seemed to work; but he himself, holy shit. Now that Prince and Bowie are gone, I cannot think of a more charismatic and engaging performer in rock music.

Same in Chicago a few days earlier.

The immersing himself with the audience resonated with me in a post-Batalclan way -- instead of fearing the audience, crowds, public, he goes even further into connecting with them.

Also, the projection of the audience onto the screen both made it more immersive and acknowledged how photographing a concert is now (and forever) part of the concert experience.

The old chestnuts feel...if not cartoonish at least detached in their violence. He's at the top of his craft now.

Here's a photo a friend shot from the Chicago show.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds pic.twitter.com/kL6PKcHgFJ

— Patrick Monaghan (@pkmonaghan) June 17, 2017

taken in conjunction with how he's spoken about how important it was that strangers came up to him and asked him if he was ok, and offered sympathy, and how that kept him and Susie alive after the death, the crowd interactions did take on another rather obvious dimension; but the obviousness didn't detract from it's meaningfulness.

beautiful picture there

There are a couple of recent live sets up on Dime. Got one lined up to play after what i'm listening to now.