It's the return of Nick Cave to the printed page. Mr. Cave has been on quite a roll lately, moving through soundtrack work with Mick Harvey, putting together the Grinderman side project, and of course, leading the Bad Seeds. Always wondered if he'd follow up his 1989 novel, "And The Ass Saw The Angel", and finally that question can be answered.
"The Death of Bunny Munro" is his newest novel, looking to be out this fall, courtesy of the intrepid folks at Canongate, (a mating of author and publishing house that seems a rare perfect fit).
If you absolutely can't wait, Canongate has uploaded some videos to their YouTube page, giving you the added benefit of the author doing justice to his creation.
Nick Cave in any of his guises always makes for a fascinating trip, so buckle your seatbelts, here comes the bunny!
(photo finishing by D. Willis) Another night in LA, down the Hollywood fwy and through Tinseltown, winding down Wilshire, en route to the El Rey Theater, (for the first time); the event: Sun Kil Moon. Not only the opportunity to make a big check off the list of ‘never seens’, but also the first of two different shows in different zip codes w/my old running dog Cameron, from the 129…
It’s his home base, and he's all set up waiting with a prime spot against the wall, and advice about the show's 'no camera' policy, which speaks to the lack of accompanying media. One of the abstract shots came out pretty fun, so that's above.
The band entered to a raucous reception, then swung right into 'Glenn Tipton', as much a mission statement as a song...The show was weighted heavily to Kozelek's 'Sun Kil Moon records, "Ghosts of the Great Highway", and last year's "April". After that table setter, he aired out the Red House Painters chestnut, "Make Like Paper", giving the band it's head, finding a noisy groove, and generally giving the lie to the misconception of his shows always being hushed, church.like affairs. No doubt, it moved into meditative moments during the string that ran from "Last Tide/Floating", through "Like The River", "Down Colorful Hill", "Heron Blue", and an incandescent "Moorestown".
The tide turned with the high point of the night; a roiling, absolutely relentless take on “River”, from the Red House Painters ‘Old Ramon’. The guitars locked in and the groove kept building on and on for over 12 minutes, and as Cameron noted: “These guys don’t let go”. Astute, and notable for him not having heard the song before. "Tonight In Bilboa" was given a tender reading, making way for a charge through "Pancho Villa", and closing the set with a luminous reading of "Duk Koo Kim".
They came out to open the encore w/a delicate rendition of "Unlit Hallway", then backed it up with the Modest Mouse cover, "Trucker's Atlas" to much audience acclaim. Kozelek's way with a cover is part of the legend at this juncture. Kozelek came out one more time, alone, and threw out a brand new song before finally taking his leave. A fitting end to a magical night.
If that’s the case, he’s chosen the high road, rolling out on a summer tour, playing support for Jane’s Addiction’s latest comeback tour, (wherein they finally wrestle original bassist Eric Avery back into the fold). It’s payback for Jane’s carving out a slot for the then rookie band on the very first Lollapalooza tour. Sherman, set the wayback machine for 1991!
Coming off the last high gloss, super produced spectacle of a tour, it’s back to basics for NIN, and it shows. Trent’s relaxed to the point of buoyancy, as he trots the old warhorses on the track on more time, but with renewed vigor, and it really looks like the guy, (for once), is enjoying himself. Trent proves to be the host with the most, assembling a fine lineup for a summer tour, then backing himself to the middle slot…Came in right after they hit the stage, unfortunately missing Street Sweeper Social Club, the new project from Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and Boots Riley (The Coup).
Nine Inch Nails was a song or two into their set when we arrived, and from the get go it was on…Trent tore through the songs, very relaxed and unfussy, on a stripped down stage. Freed from the expectations of a big ticket tour, he appeared much more relaxed than last fall at the Forum, but no less in command.
The set was geared to the standards, with an evocative instrumental from ‘The Fragile’ thrown in as a curveball, and closing, of course, with ‘Hurt’ transforming the bowl into a sea of cell phones & cams…I miss lighters…If that was it, it was a hell of a way to go out… Leery is the first word that comes to mind whenever I’m in the position to clock a ‘reunion’ gig. All doubts were swept away from the first notes, however, when Jane’s Addiction hit the stage. As individuals, they’ve ascended to almost cartoon character levels, (some more than others), but when the first languid notes of “Three Days” oozed out of the speakers, all doubts were vanquished…With Eric Avery back on board to complete the 'classic' lineup, they stuck heavily to "Nothing's Shocking" and "Ritual...", bring the songs back to life, and more often than not transcending the studio versions...Perry's rambles for the most part were upbeat, and didn't detract from the pacing...They closed the night with everyone up front for an acoustic version of "Jane Says", and everyone drifted down the hill in a happy haze...Don't know if they'll keep it together long enough to record anything new, but this was a wonderful snapshot of a moment in time, when Jane's Addiction showed they still had it...
For folks of a Certain Age, he was always there...from sitting on Diana Ross' knee to making a play for the remains of the Elephant Man...He most assuredly did it His Way. We're still in the grip of a collective duh, seeking closure, our reactions ranging from from hysterical grief to enthusiastic memory pillaging at the highest dollar offered. Too many words have been written by both the lovers and the haters, too much water under the bridge at this point to have any pretense of objectivity...
Black elvis (was a hero to most?)…last uniter in a demographically fractured world. I prefer to remember underdog Michael, when the Jackson 5 magic had faded. He was not, as he came to will him self, the king of pop, but a gawky grown up member of a faded family faction…looking for validation. Against all odds, he and the Q subverted the cloud of the omnipotent disco beat, and came up with a stone cold, solid gold masterpiece for the ages, the one album whose lithe beats start the party from coast to coast, from now 'til the end of time. Years later came World Domination, and then the Dark Side, (to which he donated the capital E in Eccentricity), but this was the moment of possibility...
He may have been a freak, but he was our freak... Goodnight Sweet Prince...
It's the return of Nick Cave to the printed page. Mr. Cave has been on quite a roll lately, moving through soundtrack work with Mick Harvey, putting together the Grinderman side project, and of course, leading the Bad Seeds. Always wondered if he'd follow up his 1989 novel, "And The Ass Saw The Angel", and finally that question can be answered.
