It's the end of a very good musical year where I got to know new bands, new music and saw a lot of amazing shows. For what it's worth, here is my top 10 album list for this year. End this decade in style, all the best for 2020 and stay safe.
Like with good whisky, Nick Cave only gets better while aging. In a career that stretches over fourty years, he never has disappointed. Even better, whenever he releases new music it exceeds expectations and never fails to impress. In that long career he slowly built a growing fan base and where I saw him in the Heineken Music Hall (now called AFAS live) a few years ago, he is now playing a sold out Ziggo Dome that is triple the size.
What can you expect in such a big venue when the last album Skeleton Tree is so personal and intense because of the tragic passing of his son during the recording sessions? We don't have to wait long for the answer as the show starts with 'Anthrocene' which immediately sets the mood for the rest of the night. Cave grabs us by the throat and won't let go any more, his face close to ours while his eyes are full of fire. No fancy production with stunning visuals, but a simple light plan and a huge cloth as a backdrop, that's all he needs.
He keeps walking up and down the huge stage and of course gets in touch with the people in the front rows a lot. Sometimes he will wave them to come closer, but it is as if he's asking us all to come closer. He has something to share with us. He whispers it in our ears, his dark stories. Or he will spit it in our faces, his piercing eyes looking right into our soul. He is wrestling demons, chases them away, kicks them out, laughs at their faces, while his dark music is embracing us.
Sometimes he will look more fragile digging deep into his music. The beauty of 'Into My Arms' for instance, while his The Bad Seeds are playing in the background, but who are so important in creating this atmosphere. The focus is mostly on his last two albums playing gems like 'Higgs Boson Blues', 'Girl In Amber' and the absolute gorgeous 'Distant Sky' with Else Torp joining in, projected on the backdrop while her beautiful voice offers consolation. All we can do is watch and listen in awe as everyone in the big venue is absolutely quiet, sending shivers down my spine.
A few of his biggest hits are mixed in, a fierce 'From Here To Eternity', a haunting 'The Mercy Seat'. During 'Red Right Hand' Cave starts singing too early, one of the rare mistakes tonight. He faces his band, seems to snigger a bit with Warren Ellis and then continuous. Ellis, his right hand and partner in crime, has a more discrete role this time, but Cave always knows he's there, giving him a big hug to the end of the show. During 'The Weeping Song' he jumps into the crowd and finishes the song at one of the cameras set up in the hall. When he comes back he is bringing lots of people with him, who dance to 'Stagger Lee'. He is obviously enjoying himself and tells them to sit down to end the show with 'Push The Sky Away'. Cave managed to resize this venue to a living room, as if he's playing only for you and a few friends. He makes you forget about everything around you, sucks you right in with his charisma and intense songs. Like a good whisky I want a sip of him every time I get a chance.
Setlist
01. Anthrocene
02. Jesus Alone
03. Magneto
04. Higgs Boson Blues
05. From Here to Eternity
06. Tupelo
07. Jubilee Street
08. The Ship Song
09. Into My Arms
10. Girl in Amber
11. I Need You
12. Red Right Hand
13. The Mercy Seat
14. Distant Sky
15. Skeleton Tree Encore
16. The Weeping Song
17. Stagger Lee
18. Push the Sky Away
As the end of the year is upon as the obligatory end of the year lists appear as well. So here's the one I sent in to FestivalInfo in the end. I was thinking of just publishing it here in alphabetical order since they're all great albums and the order isn't really important. And of course there are lots of other great albums that came out this year and I only heard a small part of them. So don't attach too much importance to this list of any of the lists. They are only there for a bit of fun. Let's remember all the wonderful musicians that left us this year and hope 2017 will be a better year. Have a good one and see you on the other side.
Losing people that are close to you is inevitable and part of life, but at the same time there are not many things that leave bigger scars on people. Unfortunately I experienced this first hand when I lost people, some of them way too young. Losing one of your children, something I am glad I never had to go through, is probably one of the worst things that can happen to a parent. Singer Nick Cave lost his son while recording his latest record. Needless to say that left its marks on his music.
Cave always had a fascination with death and dark subjects in general and was able to capture that in his music that never fails to intrigue. After such a tragedy it was to be expected that it would somehow end up in the songs he was recording and that this record would not be a light one. The album was released together with the movie 'One More Time With Feeling' that shows him in his moments of grief and mourning, a man trying to pick things up after a devastating loss.
Exactly that is what you can hear back in Skeleton Tree, although part of it was already recorded before the deadly tragedy. It's hard to believe the opening track 'Jesus Alone' was one of the tracks that were already done. The first lines of the LP couldn't be more ominous in this light: "You fell from the sky/Crash landed in a field /Near the river Adur". It's a heavy and gloomy track, that sets the mood for the rest of the album.
The songs are following the same path as the ones on Push The Sky Away but gain even more depth, maybe because of their extra load. The almost spoken-word singing of Nick Cave in 'Rings Of Saturn' is followed by the soul crushing 'Girl In Amber' where he sounds like a broken man backed up by weeping vocals. 'Anthrocene' leads off the second half of a record that seems to go deeper and deeper. You can hear the pain and grief in 'I Need You' which is followed by 'Distant Sky', a song that makes you stop doing whatever you're doing and makes the world stop spinning for a short moment.
It's exactly the feeling you get when you are mourning the loss of a loved one. The big lump in your throat that doesn't seem to go away, that sickening feeling in your stomach, the feeling of being lost in a world that seems detached. A feeling of hopelessness, as if everything just seems to fall out of your hands. Nick Cave obviously is a man who was crushed and tries to pick up himself from the pieces, tries to carry on with that huge wound on his soul. He translated these feelings perfectly into music, arranged beautifully by Warren Ellis and recorded with his Bad Seeds. The album cover, black with some simple text, also expresses this. It's an intense record that cuts deep into your soul and where it's almost impossible to keep your eyes dry. Yet I want to spin it again and again, despite the lump in my throat.
What a great music year 2013 turned out to be. This year we saw wonderful albums coming out and the level was very high. Still the top of my list was crystal clear and I didn't have to go through a lot of trouble to be coming up with the top half.
3. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
There was no way around Arcade Fire this year, so much is clear. With a thought-through pr-campaign they drew everyone's attention. And then that record. Pretentious? For sure. Bombastic? Absolutely. But also very good and surprising.
Play in Spotify
5. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II UMO made an impression with their second record, simply titled II. It is a nice combination of psychedelics and nice guitar playing.
Play in Spotify
7. Jacco Gardner - Cabinet of Curiosities
There were also many nice Dutch productions again this year. Our own Jacco Gardner even drew attention across the border. His psychedelic baroque pop record Cabinet of Curiosities is an atmospheric album filled with beautiful songs and sounds.
Play in Spotify
The bottom half of this list was a lot more difficult. That's why I also want to mention De Staat's I_CON, Floating Coffin by Thee Oh Sees and Parquet Courts' Light Up Gold. They missed this list only by an inch. Looking forward to a new year of releases. Happy New Year!
For the second time in two weeks Australian musician Nick Cave is visiting the Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall with his The Bad Seeds. This is the original first show, but since it sold out so quickly the show on November 4 was added later. This year he released one of the best records of this year and is playing sold out shows that receive the highest praise, something he also proved at Lowlands earlier in August. Could he live up to these high expectations?
Cave himself is answering that question in the first song right away. 'We No Who U R' from his last album Push The Sky Away sets the tone for the night. The slow song has exactly the right amount of tension. 'Jubilee Street' follows which makes clear that the fans have embraced the new songs. Although it is a relatively quiet start, there's no way Cave will let us sit back and get too comfortable. 'Tupelo' is showing Cave in his best way: his piercing eyes scouting the crowd, spitting out his words with great determination. Once again the man is in great shape. Every night the set list differs only for a small bit, so any one who has seen a show or has looked at an earlier set list knows what songs can be expected.
But that doesn't mean the music is predictable. Far from it. Cave moves across the stage restlessly, seeking contact with the audience like we saw before: his hand supported by a fan's hand. At the same time he's singing his poetic lyrics with so much fire, as if he wants to convince us all personally. At points he's crying it out. During the quiet songs, the more than 5000 fans don't make a sound. The big hall is completely silent. It gives a song like 'God Is In The House' even more impact while every single one of us is holding their breath. Cave turns 'Higgs Boson Blues', one of those gems of the new record, into a an intense experience. Eventually whispering the words "Can you feel my heartbeat?" while supported by his fans who are holding him firmly. He breaks the almost tangible tension himself by whispering "You can let go now".
Cave is in total control and The Bad Seeds will always have his back. The fine musicians know exactly what the songs need. Their use of dynamics in the songs is invaluable and is the finishing touch. Laid back and patiently the band is playing the slow songs while Cave is massaging our souls, only throwing tiny accents around. Brutal and aggressive eruptions sound right when Cave is spitting fire. Warren Ellis dances around like a mad scientist with his heavy beard and violin play, tossing his bow around stage when he's done. I don't know how many bows he is breaking during this tour. He is an attraction himself and is giving, like all the others, the perfect backup for Cave.
The gloomy sounding 'Push The Sky Away' ends the regular set before the encore starts with 'Abattoir Blues', a song you won't hear often in a live set. Cave already warns they will probably screw it up and he admits "that was fucked up on every level" at the end of it. Was it really? The gorgeous 'Into My Arms' ends this more than brilliant show in a perfect way. The past thirty years seem to have been just a warm up for Nick Cave. I don't think he ever wrote a bad song, but it feels as if the best is yet to come. Imagine what he will come up with in the years to come. Once again Cave proves to be an extraordinary and gifted artist who will never disappoint. All these words simply aren't enough to describe him. Superb, magnificent, grand! They simply don't do him right.
Nick Cave is one of those artists that keeps releasing albums on a regular basis with a consistent quality. I challenge anyone to name a Nick Cave album that is actually bad. With every new album it's hard not to start comparing it to the other ones. So I cleaned my mind and head when I started listening to Push The Sky Away for the first time.
With the Grinderman project, Cave was showing his rough and impulsive side. Gone were the Bad Seeds subtleties and we got some delightful powerful, energetic and aggressive songs instead. But on Push The Sky Away it's back to the thoughtful side again. The songs are showing the poetic, deep and calm Nick Cave. The side of a great composer who is patiently showing us the insight of his head with lyrics that embed beauty, excitement and tragedy all at the same time:
I’m pushing my own wheel of love
I got love in my tummy and a tiny little pain
And a ten ton catastrophe on a 60 pound chain
Of course The Bad Seeds know exactly how to give shape to these figments of Cave's imagination. But don't be fooled too much by the quiet nature of the nine brilliant songs. Still there's that dark side as well, lurking underneath. This makes them all the more impressive. Cave is like a predator that is slowly creeping towards his prey, lingering around, almost putting him to sleep. Just waiting for that perfect moment for his final strike. Cave comes in for the kill and leaves you stunned.
It's hard to pick a favourite one from the nine gems. The melancholic 'Jubilee Street', the dark title track 'Push The Sky Away' or the slow 'Higgs Boson Blues'? They're all equally great on this almost perfect Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album. Almost perfect? I think Cave couldn't care less about perfection. Or as he puts it:
And some people say that it's just rock 'n' roll
Oh but it gets right down to your soul
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