Category Archives: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

A new single from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

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It’s now thirty years since Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds emerged with their debut album, From Her To Eternity.

September 19 will see the release of a documentary on Cave entitled 20,000 Days On Earth. A new song has been revealed alongside this, entitled ‘Give Us A Kiss’ which was recorded during the sessions for last year’s Push The Sky Away sessions. It’s now available as a single and also features an awesome live recording of ‘Jubilee Street,’ one of the outstanding tracks from that album from the Sydney Opera House.

The trailer for 20,000 Days On Earth can be seen below:

John Peel remembered

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john-peel-2

Tomorrow marks seven years since legendary DJ John Peel died.

In my opinion -and many others – the greatest radio DJ who ever lived.

The man who championed so many styles of music, who gave coverage to bands as diverse as Napalm Death, Kelis and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, would have been seventy-two. His attitude was ‘I just want to hear something I haven’t heard before’ -and one I hold myself.

So, while there will be more stuff happening tomorrow, here for tonight are a handful of cover versions recorded as sessions for his Radio 1 show. Enjoy.

Nick Cave -‘I Put A Spell On You (Screaming Jay Hawkins cover, Peel session 1984).’ mp3

Shop Assistants -‘Ace Of Spades (Motorhead cover, Peel session 1986).’ mp3

Cat Power -‘Wonderwall (Oasis cover, Peel session 2000.)’ mp3

Six By Seven -‘Heldon (David Bowie cover sung in German, Peel session 1999)’ mp3

The Sisters Of Mercy -‘Emma (Hot Chocolate cover, Peel session 1984).’ mp3

There will be John Peel-related goodness on Fresh Air tomorrow evening too…

Upcoming new releases…

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Five tracks from three upcoming albums I’m looking forward to…

Hot Chip’s Made In The Dark is already getting bloggers salivating across the blogosphere. ‘Ready For The Floor’ is getting airplay, and the album sounds like it should be as big or even bigger than The Warning. This is due out on February 4.

Hot Chip -‘Ready For The Floor.’ mp3 FILE REMOVED BY REQUEST

Hot Chip -‘Bendable Poseable.’ mp3 FILE REMOVED BY REQUEST

Adele’s gone straight to no.2 in the charts with ‘Chasing Pavements and her debut 19 is out next week. This year’s Kate Nash or Lily Allen? Why is that a bad thing? For my money, I prefer ‘Hometown Glory.’

Adele -‘Chasing Pavements.’ mp3 FILE REMOVED BY POLITE REQUEST

Adele -‘Hometown Glory.’ mp3 FILE REMOVED BY POLITE REQUEST

Finally, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are set to release their fourteenth studio album Dig, Lazarus Dig on March 3. A new Nick Cave album is always worth getting excited about, and as the greatest living Australian, worth hearing and seeing.

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds -‘Dig Lazarus Dig!’ mp3

As always, if you like what you hear, support the artists involved by buying the music, going to gigs etc..

Some Covers For Saturday Part IV

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Ok, I know I might have posted some of these before, but if you haven’t heard any of these before, I really think you ought to!

These tracks were on a 12″ single in 1992, and can now be found on a Nick cave compilation called Rarities…

Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan -‘What a wonderful World (Louis Armstrong cover).’ mp3

Nick Cave -‘Rainy Night In Soho (Pogues cover).’ mp3

Shane MacGowan -‘Lucy (Nick Cave cover).’ mp3

Dinosaur Jr’s take on the Cure’s classic as become legendary:

Dinosaur Jr -‘Just Like Heaven.’ mp3

This was a split 7″ single a couple of years back:

Franz Ferdinand -‘Get Up And Use Me (Fire Engines cover).’ mp3

Fire Engines -‘Jacqueline (Franz Ferdinand cover).’ mp3

These three songs are probably my favourite three cover versions of all time:

Schneider TM -‘The Light 3000 (Smiths cover).’ mp3 (AKA There Is A Light That Never Goes Out)

This Mortal Coil -‘Song To The Siren (Tim Buckley cover).’ mp3

Jeff Buckley -‘Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover).’ mp3

Three songs I haven’t posted before:

Siouxsie and the Banshees -‘This Wheel’s On Fire (Julie Driscoll and the Brian Auger trinity cover).’ mp3

Maria McKee -‘Has He Got a Friend For Me? (Richard Thompson cover).’ mp3

Elf Power -‘Upside Down (Jesus and Mary Chain cover).’ mp3

Some Covers For Saturday Part III

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Well, I’ve got my USB turntable on the go again (not that it stopped working but it can be a time-consuming process) so here are a few goodies from the record collection.

The Swans were responsible for leading me to Joy Division. Aged eleven, I saw the video for their cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart on The Chart Show, a long-running UK TV show that every three weeks would do the Top Ten indie charts (the other two weeks being dance and Heavy Metal). Now the version I heard then had Michael Gira on vocals (anyone who has this please let me know etc..) but this version has the legendary Jarboe singing.

Swans -‘Love Will Tear Us Apart (Jarboe vocal).’ mp3

I said I would post it, and I have! A couple of years back, Franz Ferdinand and the Fire Engines issued a limited split 7″ (I love these! There is nothing more indie (in the old sense of the word) than a split 7″) of them covering one of the other’s songs.

Franz Ferdinand -‘Get Up And Use Me (Fire Engines cover).’ mp3

Fire Engines -‘Jacqueline (Franz Ferdinand cover).’ mp3

As a huge Cure fan, I was determined to track down a copy of this for years. A few times I thought I’d got it, only to wonder why every version seemed to cut off before the end. So when I found the 12″, I got it home to discover that…it’s how it’s meant to sound.

Dinosaur Jr -‘Just Like Heaven (The Cure cover).’ mp3

I thought this was a Nancy Griffith song -obviously without the swearing -but it was written by John Prine. Anyway, this is Alabama 3’s take on it.

Alabama 3 -‘Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness (John Prine cover).’ mp3

Finally, another record I spent years searching for (before it was eventually available on the B-sides and rarities triple CD compilation that came out in 2004). This single had Nick and Shane singing on the A-side together, before covering one of the other’s songs on the b-side.

Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan -‘What A Wondeful World (Louis Armstrong cover).’ mp3

Nick Cave -‘Rainy Night In Soho (Pogues cover).’ mp3

Shane MacGowan -‘Lucy (Nick Cave cover).’ mp3

These will be up for one week only. Enjoy!

Elvis!

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So, just in case you’ve been asleep, today marks the thirtieth anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.

Whilst I’m conscious of Chuck D’s criticisms in ‘Fight the Power’ (that Elvis was a hero to most but he didn’t ‘mean shit’ to him, and accuses Elvis of being a racist), trying to measure the impact of Elvis on popular culture is the sort of thing that documentaries and PhD theses are made of, rather than a few hundred words on a blogger’s site.

So, instead, I humbly offer you my favourite Elvis song, a cover of an Elvis song and a song about his birthplace by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Bono’s poem about Elvis that appeared on U2’s Passengers project Original Soundtracks 1. (I did contemplate posting John Cale’s cover of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ but I’m kinda inclined to agree with the person who described as being like a Gormet Chef trying to cook a cheeseburger.)

So here goes:

Elvis Presley -‘Suspicious Minds.’ mp3

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -‘In the Ghetto (Elvis presley cover).’ mp3

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -‘Tupelo.’ mp3 (the full version)

Passengers -‘Elvis Ate America.’ mp3

You should know the drill by now: Songs up for a week, if you like what you hear, go and buy it, ideally from an independent record shop.