Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away

[LemonMelon]

Push the Sky Away is truly lovely. It is chill, but not in a specifically piano-driven way. It is an extremely spare album, hushed and vaguely menacing in spots, with lots of great percussion and frugal guitar strumming. We No Who U R is a great example of what you're getting here, though it is one of the weaker tracks. We Real Cool and the hallucinatory Finishing Jubilee Street are brilliant. Along with the new Yo La Tengo and MBV, the best thing to come out so far this year.

 

[iron yuppie]

Really looking forward to this. Seems like it was announced ages ago.

 

[djerdap]

Best album of 2013 so far.

 

[iron yuppie]

Damn me and my aversion to leaks.

 

[martha]

It's just two more weeks. Don't compromise your soul.

 

[LemonMelon]

Don't compromise your currently musket-free self.

Spoiler

It's on grooveshark, so you don't actually have to download it, but anyway.

 

[Danny Boy]

I'm really tempted to order the D-Lux version. There are 2 bonus tracks on the DVD.

EDIT: Done. The CD/DVD version is only $12.59 on Barnes and Noble, and I get free expedited shipping with my membership.

 

[Danny Boy]

Don't compromise your currently musket-free self.

Spoiler

It's on grooveshark, so you don't actually have to download it, but anyway.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure that Scumbo considers Grooveshark to be fruit of a poisonous tree.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Something about Grooveshark has always seemed kinda half-assed and amateurish to me. I don't know, I can't explain it. I just don't really like the site's design at all. I feel it could be more user-friendly.

 

[LemonMelon]

Oh, it's totally half-assed. The search engine is a disaster and the content is of wildly varying bitrates, but it's free and has a ridiculous selection.

 

[bono_212]

Correction, we pay $3 a month for it, because I'm grandfathered in at the old rate (as I have mentioned so many times now). Without that, I would not be able to use it on my phone, which is the lifeblood of my existence.

 

[iron yuppie]

Pitchfork has a link to the stream now.

 

[LemonMelon]

Into My Arms is one of the best songs ever. I've had it in my head for a week now and don't want it to leave.

 

[martha]

Yes.

 

[last unicorn]

Nick Cave is presenting the new album live in Berlin today. It's streaming here:

fm4.ORF.at

Don't know about any other radio stations.

I love the album.

 

[last unicorn]

General ticket sale for the UK and European dates starts tomorow, 15 Feb:

Nick Cave - European Tour, Extra North American Dates & Live Streamed Show

I'm thinking about going to one of the German shows, to Slovenia or Prague. All the dates are problematic for me, but there's still time to organize stuff. Hopefully there will be a chance to get tickets.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Oh my God, this album is so good. It just begs for successive listens. At first I was slightly thrown by the number of mass culture references and allusions to modern technology - to say nothing of the (deliberately, I assume, based on the delivery) awful opening lines of "Mermaids" and lines similar to it, but it all fits together. The music is incredibly subtle, and I've never been happier to have Warren Ellis around, which is saying something.

It's a shame that I still can't get into Nocturama. I love the second half, for the most part, though, but it interrupts an incredible succession of albums. Let Love In, Murder Ballads, The Boatman's Call, and No More Shall We Part represent such a diverse set of styles, both musically and lyrically. And on the other side, Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!! and Push the Sky Away constitute what is, for me, the most incredible and sustained streak of late career home runs (and again, so diverse and distinctive). And then there are the Grinderman records.

Damn you, Nocturama.

 

[bono_212]

I want to hear so bad. made a promise to myself I wouldn't until I hear the Boatman's call first.

 

[Danny Boy]

 

[cobl04]

Daily Dot | Nick Cave absolutely hated doing this Twitter Q&A

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

That's possibly the best thing I have read all day.

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah, he totally has trucker's arm in that painting.

So Push the Sky Away and mbv are in a close two-horse race for my favorite album this year. PTSA is fucking fantastic. It's a lyrical masterpiece and takes his music in fascinating new directions. I heard Jubilee Street on the radio tonight, and man, how brilliant is that track? "I'm transforming/I'm flying/I'm glowing/I'm flying/Look at me now" into that psychedelic wash of guitar and viola is just fantastic. It sounds like a sexy combination of Venus In Furs and Spacemen 3's cover of Transparent Radiation.

 

[iron yuppie]

PTSA is fucking fantastic. It's a lyrical masterpiece and takes his music in fascinating new directions.

It really is. I am actually listening to it just now. The Jubilee Street - Mermaids - We Real Cool trio is among the best music he's ever made.

 

[LemonMelon]

Higgs Boson Blues is the best cover of Neil Young's On The Beach that I've ever heard.

 

[iron yuppie]

Hm, not sure I get that vibe from it. On the Beach is almost buoyant in mood despite the less-than-optimistic lyrical content. Higgs Boson is about as macabre as it comes.

 

[cobl04]

Dude seems like a real misanthrope.

I don't have tickets to see him in a couple of weeks. I feel like I'll come to regret it, but it's over $100.

 

[LemonMelon]

Hm, not sure I get that vibe from it. On the Beach is almost buoyant in mood despite the less-than-optimistic lyrical content. Higgs Boson is about as macabre as it comes.

I'm talking about this song:

Neil Young - On The Beach - YouTube

If you listed 1,000 adjectives to describe this song, "buoyant" would be near the bottom, along with "perky."

 

[iron yuppie]

Oh, okay, the song. I was thinking of something like Vampire Blues. I do love that record.

 

[LemonMelon]

Ambulance Blues

Nick Cave

This is a good thread.

 

[lazarus]

You guys know he's streaming his Los Angeles show tonight, as we speak?

Webcast: Watch Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Live Stream from the Henry Fonda Theatre Los Angeles | mxdwn.com News