In keeping with the unfathomable coolness hanging from The Duke like heaven-scented tar, I arrived quite late to the party advertised as "Nick Cave Is A Motherfucking Genius, Is What". I'd heard him do Stagger Lee on Later… With Jools Holland, and I probably thought something along the lines of yeah, it's very funky and cool, but really, there's no need for so many motherfucks.
I'd heard the duet with Kylie Minogue, taken from the self-same record, and had seen the video were Cave wanders about like some dope-sick Lucifer as the angelic Kylie lies nostril-deep in swamp water. It was all very atmospheric and morbid and so on, and impressive as that fella in Pink Flamingos who sings through his arsehole, but still, once the title came up and the promo gave way to the latest Blur or some such, I forgot much of all about it.
It was, in fact, Johnny Cash who convinced The Duke that Nick Cave was obviously someone fit for suffocation by accolade. Johnny phoned me up one night, thanking The Duke for having recommended Cannibal Holocaust, and then said about how he needed to repay the favor, so what I should do is grab some records by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. I thought about it, and then decided that what a fella should do is listen when Johnny Cash offers a bit of advice, provided the advice isn't about the best way to spend the 1980's.
Some might say that in actual fact what happened was The Duke became mesmerized by Cash's version of The Mercy Seat on American III - Solitary Man, and that no phone-call of any sort ever took place, to which I must staunchly retort along the lines of "Shut your filthy face, bastard."
Any the hell way, I soon picked up a handful of Cave's musical works, and set about depressing myself senseless with tale upon tale of philandering, no good husbands and struggling with the concept of God and murders committed in under-lit taverns and all sorts of diabolical shenanigans.
Still, though, the last couple albums left me strangely under-whelmed. No More Shall We Part, for example, was lyrically blinding and musically impeccable, but it still seemed a tad one-note, a bit monotonous, really, regardless of the baritone and the piano and so on.
So what happened of recent times was that the new album, Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus, a double, no less, arrived in the post, and The Duke stared at it for quite some time, observing the beautifully packaged discs, before sitting down on the bed and flinging the disc entitled Abattoir Blues into the player.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
I'd dismissed Nick Cave as being nothing more than a miserable junkie poseur. Then I got a free ticket to see him in Montreal in about '82. What the hell, it didn't cost me anything, and if he sucked there was a very good bar just down the street.
And he came on the stage, stood in the spot light, and blew the motherfucking roof off the house, starting with the long monologue to "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". One of the best shows I've ever seen, ever. And I've seen a lot of shows.
However, one concern, Nick has this stage thing where he bobs forward with the mike stand. And, uhnm, Nick? Hair Club for Men, that's all I'm sayin'
2 - Jim Carruthers
Shit, I meant '87, and it's even in a Mute video
3 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
heh, i second the hair thing Jim. mind you, the shoulder length do he sported until recently was kinda cool. that cut up number now i a bit worrying.
Still, if he keeps doing shit as wonderful as this, il forgive him. Possibly.
4 - John
Brilliant review, and a 5-star review from the Guardian, as well. I loved Murder Ballads, with his version of Stagger Lee, Henry Lee with PJ Harvey, and the cheery "Death is Not the End" ballad. I could think of a few movies that would suit those songs. Nocturama bored me a little, and I really wasn't looking forward to his next release. But the internet buzz and the clips I've heard from the Abattoir have convinced me to pick up my copy today.