Anyone seen it? Just listened to Kermode and he speaks highly, and says it reflects well on Brighton too.
Am really looking forward to this. I'm a huge fan of Nick Cave but lost my mojo with his music over the last few years and I hope his movie will go a long way to bringing it back.
Anyone seen it? Just listened to Kermode and he speaks highly, and says it reflects well on Brighton too.
A lot of it revolves around the recording of the last record so it should prove a worthwhile insight.
Ah cool. Cheers.
I really, really wish I could love that album. I've got the limited edition boxset of that and it came with a facsimile copy of his notebook/journal that he kept when making that album and it's a brilliant insight into the mind of a man that admire for so many reasons. It's great just to see how a top musician goes about creating an album. Aside from the lyrics, and what did and didn't make the last draft there's his observations, newspaper cuttings, all sorts. This is what it looks like:
I enjoyed it - Jubilee Street is up there with the best things he's done I reckon.
He's one of those artisits I don't have a go to album for as it goes but I've really enjoyed what he's done since Nocturama.
He seemed to have lost a bit of his creative invention, to me. The Grinderman 2 album was really good, although noticeably he broke his own rules about the band (no love ballads - but then added 'Palaces of Montezuma') and turned it into a more mainstream venture. I still wonder why that was a Grinderman track rather than a Bad Seeds one. The Lawless soundtrack was weak, very weak when it could have been something quite special in the manner of the soundtrack to 'O Brother Where Art Thou' or Jack White's 'Lazaretto' because Nick Cave has a huge knowledge and appreciation of the genre. He missed a big trick there. And then Push the Sky Away came and it was turgid piano ballads aplenty. It's as if he raided his cast-offs from 2002-2006 to fill parts of the album. 'We No Who U R' is my favourite on the album but even that's tempered by having an excruciatingly awful spelling of the song title. Why, Nick? Why?
If Grinderman is his release to let rip away from the constraints of the Bad Seeds (as with the classic No Pussy Blues) then maybe he should have kept some of that energy back for his mainstream stuff. But even Grinderman has its quieter moments. I had hoped for something akin to Abbatoir Blues but instead it was a sub-standard No More Shall We Part. I know I'm in a minority with this view amongst Cave fans though!
Edit - I'd also add that his sexism is getting a lot less ironic and a lot more dirty old man. The Grinderman album covers and then the video to Jubilee Street was all very blatant. It could have been a lot more artistic and still retained the essence of what he was getting at. It's noticeablw in his novel writing too. And The Ass Saw The Angel had some horrific scenes in it but it was all very Murder Ballads, Henry's Dream-type stuff and with a definite prupose. The Death of Bunny Monro was a very pervy, odd novel and belongs alongside the latest album.
Yes, I do take Nick Cave far too seriously!
Opinions eh? I really enjoyed both Grinderman albums and found plenty to like in DLD and PTSA.
In the right mood, I really like The Road soundtrack, though must admit I didn't give it much time. Haven't paid much attaention to his other soundtrack stuff. Am I missing much?
It's funny you make the point about his sexism, you're right. I've rather dubiously given him a pass for it when I probably shouldn't have done. If it were a new artist I wouldn't be anything like as accomodating.