This week's music news has given alternative rock fiends something to gush about. Three new installments of the remastered Nick Cave catalogue have been released, including "Nocturama," "Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus," and "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"
The trio of reissued records are the latest in a series of 14 completely re-vamped Cave masterpieces by Mute. Each installment offers two discs -- CD and DVD -- of newly mixed material including music videos, b-sides, documentary footage and the 5.1 surround mixes (available in Dubly or Dolby, we'd like to assume). While we thought the cool kids weren't buying compact discs or their digital versatile counterparts anymore, it appears that these Cave reissues are luring music-lovers out of their mp3 lairs and back into the age of the Walkman.
We certainly understand the allure of Nick Cave, the gothic-punk crooner who woos us every time with his lines about interventionist gods, ordinary flowers, and violent fits of love. But we're still a little perplexed by the medium on which these tasty tunes have been laid. Nonetheless, here's a breakdown of the recent installments:
The oldest of the three reissues is "Nocturama," the 12th studio album recorded by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 2003. Consisting mostly of piano accompanied ballads, it was met with mixed reviews, with Stylus calling the project a "blistering shock and heartbreaking disappointment" after being blown away by 2001's "No More Shall We Part."
But Cave fans did not have to wait too long for redemption. The double album "Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus" was released only a year and a half after "Nocturama's" unimpressive debut, offering listeners a dose of hammering rock followed by a gentler mesh of mythology-driven lyrics, but most of all, reinvigorated faith in the Aussie's 21st century songmaking. The freshest of the Cave re-releases is "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" which has by no means entered the twilight of its popularity, having dropped in 2008. Recorded in only 5 days, the garage-rock heavy record was praised by critics, with Pitchfork giving it an 8.4 on its infamous 10 point scale and stating, "This is how rock musicians are supposed to age."
Let us know what you think of the CD do-overs in the comments section. Would you buy Cave's catalogue on a compact disk just for the 5.1 punch?
And while you optical disc lovers wait to see if Mute will turn to The Birthday Party or Grinderman for more material to remaster, we've put together a slideshow of memorable videos of the forever growling frontman.
