I think this is more about making a shitty little souvenir record for yourself. I do agree with you. Lo-fi is definitely a thing worth going for, but I never understood the listeners who spurn bands the moment they release a record that sounds like it had a decent production budget.

Supposedly he's in talks with Kendrick Lamar to do a single. That'd be fairly nuts and all kinds of perfect.

Great album. Expands on his debut in all the right ways.

As I stated above, he brought it on every song. I wrote a little about it here, mentioning the band's particularly amazing take on Stagger Lee: http://www.avclub.com/artic…

Saw them for the first time at the Beacon this past Good Friday. One of the best shows I've ever experienced.

Agreed. Also, if Cave felt that Nocturama left the band in the creative space to produce Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, then I can only have high hopes for whatever he makes with the energy he felt after Push the Sky Away.

Nick Cave's acrostic on "Loverman" is pretty good.

This has definitely be said before, but when it comes to someone as consistently awesome as Cave it's hard to pick a clear winner.

Nocturama grew on me. It's biggest crime is that Cave sounded toothless on supposed rockers like "Dead Man in my Bed."

I mostly agree, though I'm sure Nick would insist he plays the voyeur when it comes to writing all his songs, narrative perspective aside.

Technically speaking, isn't it "Mermaids"?

I was lucky enough to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds play the Beacon this past Friday. They're my all-time favorites, so it was a near-religious experience to watch them barrel through their set with their standard intensity and grace. Also, Cave just moves like water — he's quite possibly the coolest man alive.

I didn't see that as a set-up so much as a conclusion that said "We can all be superheros again/openly be ourselves!"

When I saw Swans live last month, Michael Gira put the fear of God in me. Growing up Catholic, no service ever came as close to delivering the same type of mysterium tremendum.

I think this issue usually comes down to a matter of semantics. When discussing relationships, people tend to use the word asshole when they strictly mean confidence, people think they're being confident when they're actually just being assholes, and so many people looking for love have issues discerning between the…

I thought it was really hitting until "I'd Go Anywhere With Hugh," after which it sharply dropped. At least "Andrew In Drag," is about as perfectly succinct a song can get while remaining totally catchy.

@avclub-f3165be83d2dd835403b494eb7185ce2:disqus Based on interviews and quotes from Merritt, I get why he may appear too academic about his approach to music, but even at his worst I don't think he doesn't care. I think a lot of people romanticize the songwriting process and Merritt especially doesn't suffer any of…

I'm not that guy who particularly loathes solos and tapping if they're used right. I know far too many assholes who end up running in the opposite direction with that shit, yet they'll indulge anyone who winds up just making "noise," so to speak. Fuck rockist austerity and know when to call a spade a spade. It takes…

Now I want to hear Raffi cover Yoshimi.

I think it's an eyes reference.