Skeleton Tree

 

Last edited: Sep 18, 2016

Let me be the first to post ......i like it !!!! Transcends the norm

 

Just to show what real music sounds like, no piano rolls were used in anger during this VST-free recording session.

 

Last edited: Sep 10, 2016

What an auteur. Does he sing about Miley Cyrus on this one?

 

It was recorded in the aftermath of the accidental death of his 15-year old son. This may be the album he is remembered for, one of the best I have heard in a long while and reminiscent of A Boatman's Call.

 

Last edited: Sep 10, 2016

well good on him he could turn tragedy into creativity....

 

It's a harrowing album and not an easy listen, but it did manage to change my entire state of mind, which is unusual in this day and age.

 

Last edited: Sep 10, 2016

well death of someone close to you .. can be a profound and deeply moving event... its makes sense
that he could channel it this way..being a creative guy already... harrowing songs would not surprise, given the life events..

I'll be giving it a listen... have not really followed this guy much... and don't know much about his past achievements....

Sort of reminds me of how Syd Barrett was diagnosing his own schizophrenia and loss of himself in some of his last songs..
harrowing and haunting as well

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 10, 2016

Not many manage to keep on creating good music over 3 or 4 decades, but he is one of them. The others off the top of my head are Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and who else??? Of course they also have good backing bands behind them.

 

Last edited: Sep 10, 2016

Really nice. Thank you

 

Here's a nice link i found to a BBC radio show talking about and playing the album:

http://bbc.in/2cHAQC4

 

Here is some classic Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds from the 90's. Apologies for the language and subject matter, but the video has been recorded from a mainstream UK TV broadcast, hence fit for general consumption. Avoid if easily offended.

Reference:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_Ballads
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagger_Lee

 

Last edited: Sep 11, 2016

This album is currently the highest rated album of 2016 amongst both the critics and music listeners, so I'm a bit surprised that nobody on a musicians forum has posed the question - just how did such an oddball album that respects neither trends or expectations reach such a lofty position? I think the message here is don't give a f*ck about what other people think, and throw all the formulas out of the window, no matter what kind of music you make. Hats off to Mr Cave for achieving the unexpected

http://www.metacritic.com/music/skeleton-tree/nick-cave-the-bad-seeds

 

Last edited: Sep 18, 2016

I'm very impressed. It's been a while since I listened to such a profound album. Thanks for the heads up...

That's what I say, man...Real music is not about playing around with sounds...It's about translating your deepest emotions so people can feel what's it like to be you for a while...You can't learn this anywhere, except by living life as intensely as you can (and surviving to tell the story).

Finding your own voice, the one you hear singing in your head, that's hard...You can't download it or learn it from youtube tutorials...You can't pirate it. You can't learn it...You just have love music as strongly as you can and hope that it will eventually love you back.

 

Last edited: Sep 18, 2016

Those were my thoughts, how did he do it, cos as you say it's not easy. And it also shows the general public are receptive to other kinds of music. But the old guard are getting on in years now, so who will replace them?

 

Recorded after his son tragically died, yes, but I've read an interview where he makes it clear that most of the songs were written before the tragedy occurred. It is difficult to divorce the songs from what happened to him though, especially some of the imagery he employs. It's really emotional stuff, as someone who's also recently and tragically lost a really close friend it's taken me a couple of listens before I made it through the whole LP in one sitting. It's almost too raw and heartbreaking at some points. The accompanying film/documentary is supposed to be brilliant as well. He's one of the few genuinely 'pure' and unadulterated artists out there working today IMO, Warren Ellis' modular synth accompaniment suit the songs as well. On top of that I've just read an interview with a drummer in a band who supported him saying what a thoroughly decent human being he is, with none of the band acting anything like stars, zero drink or drugs and they all made fruit smoothies to drink after every show.

 

Been a fan a long time. Have you seen this movie- "The Proposition"? He wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the music. Good film. Intense. http://www.thenamesponyboy.com/2013/04/the-proposition-weekend-movie-recommendation.html

 

Thank you for the info. I've been enjoying Nick Cave's art for a couple of decades. I did not know about this.

 

hello, all nick cave appreciator fellows , ordinary audio love makers included too ,

there also exists one, nowadays quite old, documentary film, with the title of on the road to nowhere, shot in sixteen millimeter format on expired monochrome stock, with some of those old arriflex cameras with the heavy cast iron casing, the rotating lens plate, mostly during his berlin, west, at those years still, times, also on different tours, in one project supported by the film university in berlin, one might even wish to search for this film, for the usual beautifully elevating dark experience is, more than likely, perfectly guaranteed.

all the best for all of us, plus please, pray do, include loads of loads of loads more of such albums, still in these somewhat scarce times...

 

Last edited: Sep 19, 2016

If we are talking film stuff, there is also 20,000 Days on Earth