Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – DIG! Lazerus DIG!

Release date: 03-03-2008, Label: Mute
By: Nina Mende

  Now this was a really hard review to write….
  First of all: what should I tell you about Nick Cave without having a whole
  review about him and his various projects, his complex personality, his active
  past and so on? And then how should I describe the new album to you not even
  knowing myself what to think of it? It is great, it is a masterpiece, yet hard
  to describe and everything else than “normal” and average.

  About Nick Cave I decided to just give you a short introduction, the rest you
  can find out yourself:
  Nick Cave released his first album with the Bad Seeds, From Her to Eternity,
  in 1984, which contained a noteworthy cover of Elvis Presley’s “In the Ghetto,” foreshadowing much of Cave’s style and subject matter on the follow-up The Firstborn Is Dead. Kicking Against the Pricks, an all-covers album, broke the band in England with the help of “The Singer,” which hit number one on the U.K. independent charts. The album also strengthened Cave’s reputation as an original interpreter and a vocal stylist of note. And did a  hell of a lot more since then… He seems like a true workaholic.

  About the album “DIG, LAZARUS, DIG”:
  Well well, what can I tell? This album is very dubious and shady. It is definitely
  not easy to describe in words, you must have heard it yourself. I can’t
  even give suggestions about who would like it and who not. The new Nick Cave
  and the Bad Seeds album is very complex, the sound is from the 50s and 60s.
  Listening to it you get the impression of watching an old Mafia movie or a gangster
  movie from that time, in black and white of course. The album sound a little
  bit devilish, insane and sometimes just evil or desperate, sometimes it simply
  sounds like a good mix of all. Some songs recall some scenes out of the movie
  “The Godfather”. Listening to the song “Night Of The Lotus Eaters”
  the phrase “Sympathy for the Devil” comes into my mind. And if you
  think of “Where the Wild Roses Grow” when thinking of Nick Cave, this
  album is far away from that style and not comparable, not even recognizable.
  As I said, this album is unique with its style, sound and arrangement, just
  the whole image and concept of it is like nothing I have heard before. It sounds
  like Nick put an evil spirit on it, gloomy and dark, twisted and different.
  Yet does it get stuck in your head, and you can probably complete phrases easily
  after hearing it twice. It ingrains in your brains. But before I keep on trying
  to explain this album to you in vain, just get it yourself and make up your
  own mind. I like it with all its emotions, sounds and uniqueness!

DIG, LAZARUS, DIG!!!   01. Today’s Lesson   02. Moonland   03. Night Of The Lotus Eaters   04. Albert Goes West   05. We Call Upon The Author   06. Hold Onto Yourself   07. Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)   08. Jesus Of The Moon   09. Midnight Man   10. More News From Nowhere

Links:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Official
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds MySpace