Heartbreaking Bravery

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Tag: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

December 8, 2013

Watch This: Vol. 3

Watch This was made a little bit easier this week, thanks to two music videos that also qualified as live performance. Those two videos, Vaadat Charigim’s “Kezef Al Hamayim” and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ “Higgs Boson Blues”, stood out as two of the best videos of the year. They weren’t the only live videos worth seeing this week, though. Razorcake, ever-dependable in its coverage, once again manages to crack this list and there’s another full set to round out the live videos. This week’s band you should already know is a Heartbreaking Bravery favorite and acts as a welcome first. Watch all five videos below.

1. METZ (3voor12 Session)

Anyone that has experienced METZ live knows what’s coming here; absolute frenzy. Earlier this year the band lit up the Krannert Arts Center in in Urbana, Illinois. Their energy during that performance, as a part of the Pygmalion music festival, isn’t a lightning-in-a-bottle type occurrence. Over the years 3voor12 have quietly and consistently posted fascinating sets, whether they be solo acoustic elevator endeavors or the full-throated exhilaration available for viewing below.


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2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Higgs Boson Blues

All that can be said about this has already been said on this site.


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3. Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band – You Can Count on Me Tonight (Live at VLHS)

Nato Coles is an institution. Every band he’s been in from Modern Machines to Radio Faces to Used Kids to Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band has been outstanding. All played up a blue-collar classic rock sensibility. None have stressed it as much as his current act. Razorcake was on hand to film the band play a song on tour at the legendary VLHS venue. “You Can Count on Me Tonight” comes from one of the year’s most overlooked releases, Promises to Deliver, and the band’s not to be missed live.


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4. Vaadat Charigim – Kezef Al Hamayim

All that can be said about this video has already been said on this site, pt. 2.


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5. Technicolor Teeth – Station Wagon

Here’s some footage courtesy of Heartbreaking Bravery. Consider this the first indication that this site will offer live video content from time to time. Technicolor Teeth have grown a lot since their earliest days. However, “Station Wagon”, the very first song the band ever wrote, remains its finest moment. They’re a band that’s very much on the rise and it’d be surprising if their name didn’t start picking up even more circulation next year. This footage was taken from a semi-secret early show the band played with Shallows and Big Eyes. Enjoy.

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December 4, 2013

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Higgs Boson Blues (Music Video)

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have widely been regarded as one of the best live bands on the planet since the 1980’s. Live documents like the legendary Abattoir Blues Tour and Live Seeds have featured material startling enough to support this notion. Recently the band released Live From KCRW, which leaned heavily on the material from their most recent record; this year’s superb Push the Sky Away.

They aren’t anywhere close to finished with live releases though, as is proved by the music video they unveiled today for Push the Sky Away standout “Higgs Boson Blues”. Ian Forsyth & Jane Pollard are found at the helm of this video once again, having worked on a variety of projects before for the band. Forsyth and Pollard are also largely responsible for the upcoming film 20,000 Days on Earth, which recently was officially selected for screening at next year’s Sundance Film Festival, which is a pseudo-documentary about the band.

Some collaborations yield fruitful results and he Pollard, Forsyth, Bad Seeds triumvirate is certainly one of them. The live performance clip of “Higgs Boson Blues” is definitive proof. Featuring a searingly intense yet eerily quiet live performance from the band, the co-directors weave in and out of close-ups, shadows, and the nervous frenetic movement of the band’s central character. All of their directorial impact would be somewhat diminished if not for the outstanding cinematography work courtesy of the BBC’s Lol Crawley.

“Higgs Boson Blues” doesn’t take long to settle in, extending its incisors to lock the viewer into its deadly vice-like grip. This is a live performance that has the potential for complete captivation, erasing any thoughts of a daunting run-time of over nine minutes. There’s a slow hypnosis at work that can completely surround the viewer, forcing them to lose all perspective of their surroundings. While the impact isn’t quite as strong as being physically present for the performance, it’s about as close as anyone could wish for.

After a slow build, an entrancing unraveling, a small-yet-explosive climax, the song winds to a hushed, hair-raising outro. This is evidence of masters at work and it’s something completely deserving of its length. Go get lost in Cave & co.’s black magic below.

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