10 Feb 2011

Heartbreak, violence and controlled aggression...

These, in my opinion, are the three most important traits of Mr Nick Cave. I've long been a fan of his work with the Bad Seeds and in more recent years, Grinderman. During my journey through the musical repertoire of Uncle Nick I also found his work pre-Bad Seeds with The Birthday Party.

I've only read his first book, And the Ass Saw the Angel, and as a writer he's as accomplished as any household name out there, if not as well known. He really is a wizard with words, an evil Gandalf if you will. Before you all comment telling about his second book, I know all about it, I just haven't gotten round to reading Cave's second mindfuck, but I will. Bunny Munroe seems like a dude I would like to get to know.

Cave's musical outputs are however what I want to talk about. The Birthday Party was a noisy, disjointed, post punk ensemble and delivered their music with a ferocity and energy that I've not really encoutered since. Keep in mind that this is from 1982 and from Australia. This is pretty crazy stuff, even I can admit that.

Here you go, Junkyard...



I must admit, I don't listen to the Birthday Party as much, but the Bad Seeds and Grinderman are two entirely different monsters.

From the first time I heard Murder Ballads (his seminal album in my humblest of opinions), I was intrigued by Cave. We share a fascination of the bizarre, the ultra violent and of course, love. Nick Cave writes a lot of love songs, but real love songs. They're twisted, warped and dark, but they're also brutally honest. Just the way I like it. Here's an example...



He's most known for his collboration with Kylie, if I would hazard a guess, but I think Grinderman may have the potential to overshadow his already supreme influence on the creative world. his albums with the Bad Seeds are crammed full of passive aggressive anger and more dark undertones than a Burzum record. However, Grinderman is his release from all of that. It's noisy, messy and crammed full of bad attitude. I can't get enough of it.

Proof for you...



So there you have it. If you like your music / reading matter dark and twisted, without it losing any of it's edge, Nick Cave is your man. He also wrote a film, The Proposition. So I can honestly say that I consider him a Jack of all trades, and he rips every single one to shreds, just like Stagger Lee fucked up that stupid barman. As you can find out below.



Rick.
Over.

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