Dig Yourself!: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Live

Main Act: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Opening Act: Earth
Venue: Showbox Sodo

On a tired and cold Tuesday night, my friend Murren and I made our way to the Showbox Sodo to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave is, of course, the greatest poet of our modern age and veteran Australian rock legend. He and his motley crew have been touring in support of their latest album “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” Their show, though not without flaws, rocked my socks off and delighted a hoard of tipsy Seattleites.

I really hate waiting and the hours before a band hits the stage for me have always been an excruciating exercise in patience and anticipation. This time around, those feelings were exacerbated by being cold, tired and subjected to Earth. No, not the planet, the band. Earth was added to the bill fairly late in the game and was not the best choice to open for The Bad Seeds. This is why: Earth is the original drone rock band. They play slow, repetitive songs that go on for ever and ever, into tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. They were, in fact, so slow that I avoided looking at my watch out of fear that I would see it counting backwards. They played for a good forty-five minutes, during which I left to use the bathroom, something I never do when a band is playing. But here’s the catch: They’re not a bad band; actually, under different circumstances, I could have enjoyed them a lot. But tonight, they were getting in the way of me and The Bad Seeds.

After Earth finished playing, the Bad Seeds waltzed out on stage and launched into “Night of the Lotus Eater.” Nick Cave himself entered and uttered the first words I’d ever heard him say in person: “Get Ready to Shield Yourself” and I braced myself against the waves. The Bad Seeds is a large band at seven members and they know how to rock out.

I was prepared for the two drummers; I was not prepared for how crazy Warren Ellis is. Ellis is the band’s Violin player but mainly played an electric mandolin. It made a noise like a car being shredded and blew me out of my shoes. He was so crazy he almost stole the show from Nick, and in fact did during “We Call upon the Author” when I looked over and saw him on the floor, ripping away at his instrument like an amphetamine-fueled wolverine. Cave’s singing and antics were at the heart of the show, of course. The man is incredibly energetic for being 50–something, and I hope I look that good when I’m his age. He danced and gyrated and threw himself all around the stage, frequently involving the audience in his music, even going so far as to change the lyrics of his songs to reference them. And let us not forget the lyrics; “Well, most of all nothing much ever really happens, And God rides high up in the ordinary sky, Until we find ourselves at out most distracted, And the miracle that was promised creeps quietly by.” Like I said, the man is genius with words.

They played the best of their catalog and most of their new album. “The Mercy Seat” is a song I never once thought I would hear live in my life, but there was the band playing away, and Nick Cave singing about how he’s not afraid to die. At one point Nick cried “Are you ready to get ready?” and the band blasted into “Get Ready for Love,” a favorite from Abattoir Blues. There were so many high points from this evening, I can’t just pick one, there was Warren Ellis and “The Mercy Seat” but there was also “Moonland and “Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry.”

There were problems, like smelly drunk people and overenthusiastic super fans but they certainly didn’t ruin the show for me. Considering how quickly the show sold out, I count myself lucky to have acquired tickets at all. The two days of sore exhaustion that followed were well worth it.

Pusicfer: Not as Deep as the Luray Caverns

Album: V is for Vagina
Artist: Puscifer
Genre: Industrial/Trip-Hop
Year: 2007
Label: Sony BMG/Puscifer Entertainment

I’m in a bad mood. I misplaced my iPod device at my place of schooling and so I’ve been without my perpetual sidekick for the past thirty-six hours or so. This meant that I had to go digging around in the stacks of CDs that line my walls to find this fucking disc so I could review it. I’m not sure what inspired me to pull this particular album out and review it, considering that it’s about a year old now. But time has never stopped me before, and this album could use a little critiquing.

Puscifer is the project of Maynard James Keenan, the front man of TooL and A Perfect Circle. Deciding to take some of his unused ideas and make a multi-media circus, Puscifer entertainment is responsible for the making and sale of everything from shirts and hats to women’s… err… “Hygiene” kits. But it’s the music that I’m concerned with. The Puscifer album “V is for Vagina” is far different from Keenan’s usual Metal leanings. Indeed few Metal bands have followings like TooL, but Puscifer is not TooL and probably turned a few (pot) heads when it was released. Far more Industrial and Trip-Hop esqe then TooL, Puscifer is an electronic based project. More than that, the project originated with the idea of centering the music on Keenan’s impressive voice and going from there. TooL already is centered on Keenan’s voice so another group to do that is a little redundant, but then again, Keenan’s voice has never sounded like this before. For those familiar with his singing, Keenan has a beautiful voice. Whether you like metal or not, you can’t deny the power and range there. But with Puscifer, Keenan sounds like his voice is being processed and manipulated, which he claims isn’t the case, but it still sounds deeper and more… no, I’m not going to say, demonic, that would be dumb.

Anyways, another thing about this project is that it’s collaborative, with musicians like Lustmord, Tim Alexander and Jonny Polonsky all contributing their own parts to help Keenan build his ship. So with all this, the new sound, the warped vocals and the contributions from excellent musicians, this project should be a five star success, right? WRONG. The problem is this: the music is interesting, yes, but it lacks the energy that is inherent in Keenan’s other works. Some of the tracks are down right boring where TooL and A Perfect Circle rarely are. Also, one of Keenan’s major talents is his gift for lyricism. Puscifer’s lyrics just aren’t that inspired, and in fact can be fairly tedious. Keenan just doesn’t seem to be taking this project as seriously as he has other ones. Which is a shame considering the potential this album had, being self-released and produced. The potential was all here, but the execution was sorely lacking. This is not to say I hate it, it’s just not as good as it should have been.

Of course, I could be wrong about this entirely. The lack of seeming imagination could all be a colossal joke on you and me; the consumer public. Keenan is a known jokester and this whole album could be an extension of that humor… But wait just a second; a joke that’s intentionally not funny can still not be funny. The humor of this album, if it exists, fails, and therefore so does the irony of it not really being funny. OK, you’re probably scratching your heads now, let me make this concise: It’s a good album, not a great one. It SHOULD have been great but wasn’t. All the ingredients were there, it just fell short of the target put in place by the early singles. Maybe the Remix album will be better.

The Sound of Your Brain Unscrewing

Album: The Way of Animal Powers

Artist: Zu

Genre: Jazz/Punk

Year: 2005

Label: Xeng

Having never reviewed a Jazz album, The Way of Animal Powers is something of an odd place to start considering it’s by Zu. Let’s elaborate on that: Zu is a Punk Jazz trio from Italy and they create one hell of a racket. I discovered them through my research of the ATP Festival - they’ve been chosen by Mike Patton to perform at an upcoming date and I believe they recently signed to Ipecac records. Demented is the word to describe this band. This is what it would sound like if the warden of the asylum started a Jazz class for the patients. Schizophrenic and bipolar, they play to their hearts content, perfectly replicating their imbalanced minds with sound. Like some great lumbering beast, Zu constantly sounds like a giant bird trying to get off the ground and never quiet making it. But that’s the fun of Zu; their music takes the best elements of No Wave, Jazz, Punk and John Zorn’s brand of Sax and distills it into a cocktail of madness. In fact, I’m surprised that this band was signed by Patton and not Zorn, because this is right up his dark alley. Zu’s saxophonist plays a de-tuned instrument or it sounds like he does. Its skronky sound is vastly reminiscent of Zorn’s work. The bass grinds and burbles like some sludgy monster but it’s the drums that are truly of note as they rumble their way around your ears.

If drums and bass are the glue that holds the band together, Zu has quickly become unglued. This is not to say that the sound splatters, it doesn’t, and everything is very tight. It’s clear that this band is playing like this because they want to, not because they’re incompetent. Which is why it’s funny that track 2 “Anatomy of a Lost Battle” features a sample of a psycho-therapist explaining all the reasons that a saxophone player is mentally incompetent. He’s not referring to Zu’s player, but someone else. Regardless, it’s funny and the band plays one of their best and wonkiest tunes over the man’s ramblings.

The album is not an easy listen, but it’s a rewarding one. Its most accessible factor is that it’s only 25 minutes long and no track is longer than 4 minutes. At the risk of sounding hypocritical, this is a really good album. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Being something of an amateur sax player, I like finding recordings with unique or bizarre playing styles and Zu fit the bill quite nicely. So if you’re feeling adventurous (or insane) pick this album up and give it a spin.

Andrew (Almost) Withers to Death at the Sound of Dir En Grey

Album: Withering to Death
Artist: Dir En Grey
Genre: Screamo
Year: 2005
Label: Free-Will/Sony Music Entertainment Japan/Gan-Shin/Warcon

In this age of Panic! At The Disco and Death Cab for Cutie, finding music to review positively is becoming more and more difficult. Like searching for a gold star buried under a mound of fecal matter, if you want it you have to work for it. It is for this reason that I enjoy Japanese music as much as I do. My standards are higher than the Sears Tower but I find the majority of my discoveries through Japan have been overwhelmingly positive. This is largely due to my love of Noise Music, a great deal of which comes from Japan (Boredoms, Ruins, Melt-Banana, Merzbow, I could go on…), but also because of Boris, the Holy Grail of Foreign Heavy Metal (put that in your pipe and smoke it Norway.) Unfortunately, Japan is also the home to Dir En Grey, who kind of make me want to gouge my eyes out with rusty spoons and stuff them in my ears. Dir En Grey is a Japanese Screamo band who somehow managed to make a name for themselves outside their home country. How they did this is beyond me as their music is about as original as sliced bread. It’s really quite sad that a country with so much going for it in terms of experimental music and awesome food would also spawn this travesty.

Seeing as how their vocalist sings in Japanese, I can’t actually understand the words he’s saying, but the intention is there. The pho-death metal grunts, the screamy whining, it’s all there and the only reason more people don’t recognize it is because it’s in another language. I’m fairly sure that if you read the translation of the lyrics you would be regaled with teenage sob stories the like of which would make you vomit yesterday’s lunch. The band sells themselves as being very dark with song titles like “Merciless Cult,” “Machiavellism” and “The Final”. But really, it’s not that dark at all, more of a beige grey. I hate the voice, I hate the music, I hate the live antics, but most of all…I hate the fans. Anime Fan Girls were obnoxious before they started showing up at concerts, but the knowledge that I could go to a show by a Japanese band and be swarmed by twittering airheads swooning over the band like dogs in heat is almost too much to bear. The reason I know this is because Dir En Grey opened for Deftones last year and I had to share the mosh pit with these people. It was like an Anime convention, but worse because they wouldn’t stop screaming in my ear. All I can do at this point is ask you to avoid this band like the plague. If you must see them live, take food to throw at them. If you like them, there is truly no hope for you. I’m sorry, you’re lost. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more Boris worshiping to do (Rama Rama.)

A Giant Umbrella: Bumbershoot Music N Arts Festival 2008

-Bumbershoot takes place at the Seattle Center over the three days of Labor Day Weekend.

This Bumbershoot (Seattle’s Music N Arts Festival to End All Festivals) was a weird one. I took the train up from Portland so I wouldn’t be late or miss anything interesting. I have to wonder who schedules this thing, considering the headlining acts. On one hand, we had Beck, an idiosyncratic musical anomaly of a man with lose connections to the church of scientology (one of the most bizarre and frightening cults on earth.) On the other hand, we had The Stone Temple Pilots (Boring 90’s grunge leftovers) and Death Cab for Cutie (boring modern emotional nothings.) I like Beck, but have issues with scientology and so solved the problem by compromising with a friend of mine and going to see !!! instead (more on that later.) I briefly considered bring a huge bag of fruit to throw at Stone Temple Pilots, but instead went to see Final Fantasy (Yes. That is in fact the dumbest name in the world.) Death Cab for Cutie? Don’t make me laugh. Anyways, on to the good stuff.

I saw several bands on Saturday, but none paralleled the brilliance of Saul Williams. For those of you who don’t know, Saul Williams is a Slam Poet turned Hip-Hop artist who recently teamed up with Industrial Music’s Bruce Springsteen (Trent Reznor) to release his most recent album online, in the style of Radiohead. His performance blew me away. The man is thoroughly captivating in voice and movement. I’m not sure how to describe his music though. Industrial World? Underground Hip-Hopket Ball? Whatever it was, it rumbled and shook my spine in the best way possible. His backing band was stellar, a guitarist, synth player and keyboardist all in top form. The best moments though, came from Williams’s Spoken Word. A friend of mine has described seeing him speak as “being like seeing Barack Obama.” A high compliment that Williams is certainly worthy of. He is a poet of exceptional intelligence and I could not be happier for having seen him.

For complicated reasons, I was in an extremely foul mood during most of the first day of Bumbershoot. Fortunately, none of my friends indulged my moping anger and instead I hoped for a serious mosh pit. I didn’t get any such mosh pit until !!!’s (pronounced, Chk Chk Chk) performance the evening of the first night. I’m not a big fan of Dance Punk (kind of a ridiculous term.) But I’ll say this; their show was high energy and full of rambunctious people who gave me my serious mosh pit. Maybe it was a dance pit but there was enough smashing about to take my mind off my problems. So thank you !!!, for taking my mind off of my problems if only for an hour.

Skipping ahead to the next evening, in much better spirits, I accompanied my friend Sasha to Final Fantasy, a contender for the worst name in musical history. Actually, that honor goes to Anal Cunt, but this a close second. “This better be good” I thought as I stood out in the cold, patiently waiting for the performance to begin. Final Fantasy is a one man band who performs symphonic music with the aide of a violin, a keyboard and some extremely elaborate loops. What he does is play one part of the song on his violin, record it and loop it back as he plays the other parts. More and more layers are added and eventually it sounded like a full on orchestra. I was very pleased to discover that, in this case, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Final Fantasy is a very talented and captivating artist, even if a little silly at times (his debut albums title is “He Poos Clouds.”) It looks simple but keeping track of all those loops has got to be difficult. My hats off to him.

Monday, the third and final day, was possibly the strangest day yet. It started out with Vince Mira, who, at fifteen, sings just like Johnny Cash. It’s spooky actually, because when he sings he really seems to channel Cash. It was actually funny that when he wasn’t singing, he was kind of awkward, didn’t look at the crowed and seemed very nervous, which I suppose he was. Whatever, it was cool show; I give Vince Mira thumbs up.

After that, our little group trucked over to the exhibition hall to see Monotonix, an Israeli Garage Rock Trio of known pyromaniacs. Famous for lighting everything they can get their hands on aflame, I was excited to see them, and disappointed when I couldn’t. It’s not that I couldn’t get in or anything, it’s just that they performed on the floor of the exhibition hall and therefore were obscured by the crowd. I couldn’t see but I could hear and what I heard rocked my socks off. At one point their front man, a man called Gat, climbed onto the stage and mooned the crowd. Aside from that, the most of the show I saw was when occasionally a leg or guitar neck would surface from the crowd, thrash about for a moment and then re-submerge. And then, fifteen minutes in, the show abruptly ended, leaving me going “Huh?” Considering that I couldn’t see, I have no idea why the show ended so suddenly. My theory is that security shut Monotonix down after one of their members tried to light something on fire but that’s only a theory. All I know is that the lights went on and the promoter said “that’s all folks.” Weird.

Hours later, I stood in front of the Broad Street stage and witnessed the insanity that is Battles. Battles are a Math Rock band and anomaly from the future coming to kill us all. They are comprised of several well known musicians, including the son of Anthony Braxton and the former drummer of Helmet and now Tomahawk Drummer John Stanier. It is difficult in the best of circumstances to describe their sound, a marching, bouncing looping thing which starts in pieces and builds up like a giant tower of legos. When fully formed, this tower sprouts legs and jumps up and down on you, trouncing you into a stupor at the sheer brilliance of the machine. Really, what is there to say about this band besides that they are amazing! Their music being as intricate and complicated as it is, it was a trip to go back and listen to their recordings and realize that they can play their work note for note with dead on accuracy. This is no mean feat; this is tight and precise music where one slight screw up could foil the whole plot. But that just didn’t happen. It was a killer show. All of the members save the drummer played multiple instruments, albeit at separate times, except for Tyondai Braxton who played both the guitar neck and synth at the same time on numerous occasions. It was something to behold.

All in all, this was a good Bumbershoot. I saw lots of good acts and had two elephant ears. I hope I can go again next year.