Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with "Push the Sky Away"

               Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, hailing from Melbourne, have released their fifteenth studio album, Push the Sky Away. Shot to fifteen seconds of fame when “O Children,” off Lyre of Orpheus (2004), appeared in a scene of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have steadily been making great music for the past twenty-nine years, exploring every angle of the dark, mellow, churchy-yet-rock genre they’ve cut out for themselves.

               Push the Sky Away is a refreshing change from the dark, frantic rock sound of Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (2008), and has a dreamy quality about it, evident in the soft, almost transcendent “Wide Lovely Eyes.” Of course, Cave can’t go without at least a nod to his darker side, which is where “Water’s Edge” comes in, appropriately weird and frankly, a little creepy. It’s definitely not one of the best on the album, but hey, Nick Cave does what he wants.

               Nick Cave is delightfully weird, and Push the Sky Away reflects his personality perfectly. Cave, in a recent interview with Pitchfork, reported that much of the lyrical inspiration for this album came from “Googling curiosities,” and it shows. Whereas many past Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds albums followed a narrative thread, this one jumps around, with track names that range from “Mermaids” to “Higgs Boson Blues.”

               “Higgs Boson Blues” is a great track that shows Cave’s development over the past few years; he has broken out of the Biblical touch that made him so intriguing, and is pushing his way into modern pop culture, evident in his naming one of the tracks “We No Who U R,” arguably the best track on the album. “Higgs Boson Blues” speaks to a range of current issues, mentioning both Miley Cyrus and the recently discovered Higgs Boson particle. Cave uses “Higgs Boson Blues” as a means to explore the big question that he now faces. He compares himself to those that discovered the particle, likely the secret to the structure of the universe, who are now left wondering what else, if anything, there is to explore. After exploring every corner of a genre they’ve created for themselves, where can Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds go?

               Cave answers his own question on the last track, “Push the Sky Away,” a song that brings us back to the signature churchiness of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, an organ accompanying Cave’s chant-like lyrics. They say the sky is the limit, but Cave closes with a song about the destruction that boundary. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are out to redefine limits, and there’s no way to know what they’ll think of next.

               I’d give this album a B; I don’t love every track, but the ones I do love, I really love. If you plan on making it to SXSW or Coachella this year, be sure to check them out!

Tess Melchreit

Review of Tegan and Sara's "Heartthrob"

         

            The indie world’s favorite twins are back and better than ever. Tegan and Sara’s new album, Heartthrob, their first in four years, is radically different from past work from the Canadian duo. Starting out in the folk-rock genre, Tegan and Sara have been guiding their work away from their guitar-and-keyboard roots, evident on their 2009 album, Sainthood. Though the album carried a distinct indie-rock sound, their progress toward creating a different sound could be heard on several tracks, most notably “Northshore” and “Hell.”

Even so, the step that Tegan and Sara took with Heartthrob was enormous, and intentionally so. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Tegan said, “We didn’t want to take a small step. We wanted to take a big step.” Heartthrob still carries subtle hints of their indie-rock roots, but is largely dominated by some gigantic bass and a dance-y indie pop sound.

“Now I’m All Messed Up,” arguably the best song on the album, is also the farthest shot from Tegan and Sara’s indie-rock beginnings. Deep bass and synth-pop own this track, but the twins manage to deliver lyrics as heartbreaking as any of their indie-rock tracks. This track takes us far from the Tegan and Sara that we would quietly jam out to in our room, and gives us a new Tegan and Sara that we blast in the car, screaming along to at the top of our lungs.

“Love They Say” and “I’m Not Your Hero,” equally indie-pop as the rest of Heartthrob, are nevertheless reminiscent of Tegan and Sara’s indie-rock days. Softer, slower, and with less bass and synth than the majority of Heartthrob, they could work equally as well on 2009’s Sainthood. They deliver their quintessential T&S lyrics that hurt in all the right ways, letting their words win us over in these tracks rather than their new sound.

“Shock To Your System,” falling between the newness of “Now I’m All Messed Up” and the more indie-rockness of “Love They Say,” is an accurate read on this entire album. It’s got bass, it’s got synth-pop, it’s got heart-wrenching lyrics, and it’s got that unmatched Tegan and Sara harmony. It encapsulates all the positive points of Heartthrob and is a solid, solid finish to the album.

Usually, an indie-rock band’s decision to venture into the indie-pop world marks the end of something; their fans’ loyalty, their career, making good jams in general. In Tegan and Sara’s case, however, the change was made flawlessly and produced an absolutely fantastic piece of work. Heartthrob is an enormously different album from their past music, a change that can be loved and appreciated by both old and new Tegan and Sara fans.

Tess Melchreit

Umphrey's Mcgee 12/30/12 At the Tabernacle

I know this one is not from the show, but the YouTube videos don't capture their greatness. This is one that was recorded straight from the soundboard.


It was one great year for the touring giant, Umphrey's Mcgee. Every year, I look forward to the possibilities that arise with the new years runs for concerts. I had choices from Phish, the String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule, but ultimately decided to watch Umphrey's Perform in Atlanta.

I got a late start on the night, but once it started I don't think I could have made a better decision. The early Bright Lights was the start to my night and although I had missed Jajunk, Water and Rocker (some of my personal favorites, I had still made it in time for the guest of the evening and plenty of show stoppers along the way. Jeff Waful, the lighting and design head for Umphrey's Mcgee, was working his magic on the tune Bright Lights, when all of the sudden the band stopped playing and went right into Eric Clapton's Cocaine. I was not the least bit surprised. The musicianship of these fellows is almost unrivaled, in my opinion, and the masterful way they switched seamlessly from Bright Lights to Cocaine was just another way to prove this.

My personal  highlight of the night came with the playing of Shine On You Crazy Diamond. I know that many do not appreciate the cover of other people's music, but this is a different story. Umphrey's was note for note spot on with the classic Pink Floyd masterpiece, but also put their own spin on it. Their was no saxophone player, but the song felt as full as the original. Hearing my favorite band cover one of the staples of classic rock was a special moment for me.

The night kept going when they invited Jeff Coffin, previously the saxophone player for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and currently of the Mu'tat and Dave Matthews Band, came on for Night Nurse and absolutely slayed. He just walked on stage and started wailing away on the saxophone. The applause rang throughout the theater in an almost electrifying way. He stayed on for one song, he must have been saving his chops for New Year's Eve, and that was enough for me.

After a mountain of applause, they came out for the encore playing their classic tune, In the Kitchen. This was a perfect way to end off the evening and prepare for the next night of raging that is always involved in going to an Umphrey's Mcgee show.

I have now seen the band 4 times and they continue to get better with every show I see them. The last time I saw them, it was the lead singers birthday and they decided to play Bennie and the Jets for the first time. I had a blast talking to all of the fans afterwards about how cool it was to see them play something for the first time. I drove all the way to Bridgeport, Ct, from my house and it was well worth it. I would never hesitate to go see them play. Each member of the band brings a special talent to each show, that makes it such a special occasion to be at the event. When you are there, you never know what may happen.

The Beginning

This blog will be dedicated towards music reviews of albums of all genres  Feel free to email smoore@fandm.edu if you have a review that you would like to submit. Also, if you would like to help edit these put that in your email as well. I really would like to try and put this together so it will be active for next semester.