Nick Cave Studies (2): Notes on an unfortunate accident

It's taken some  time to arrive at the point of writing another blogpost concerning my Nick Cave bachelor thesis research. The reason for this is rather bleak: Cave's 15-year old son has died in an accident. Reports indicate he fell of a cliff somewhere outside Brighton, where the Cave family has its residence.

A number of things went through my mind when I first heard of this unfortunate accident. First: Do I really want to pry into a grieving man's art, especially one who displays such morbid fascination in his work? Second: Does it really change anything about his work? Third, and I hate myself for saying this: How will this change Cave's attitude towards future endeavors? Will he change his tune? He might retire, even. Or will it spur him onto new artistic achievements.

It's tricky to think about all this. My fandom and my scholarly perceptions are getting their wires crossed. There's a difference between studying an active artist and a retired one. I sincerely hope he'll remain active. But that sentiment obviously shouldn't interfere with my objectivity.

Certainly, the death of Cave's son puts some of his work in a different light. Arthur Cave actually makes an appearance in 20.000 Days on Earth, the semi-fictional Cave documentary flick. Cave senior comes home to have pizza with his two sons in front of the TV. The stylized shot, taken from behind the TV screen, sees Cave and his two teenage boys bathing in white light, adding to Nick's Dracula-like appearance. His sons seem perfectly at ease. I don't even know which one is Arthur. The pizza is a huge American style pepperoni.

Cave likes synchronicity. The short scene shows a remarkable similarity with a short passage in Cave's novel The Death of Bunny Munro. The protagonist and title character, eats day-old pizza with his son, Bunny jr., in front of the TV, after their respective wife and mother is taken away. Suicide. Around this time, the perspective occasionally shifts from father to son. The way Cave depicts this father-son relationship and the love he has for the characters, you cannot help but think the author got his inspiration from a place close to home. The fact that the novel plays in Brighton only adds to the familiarity.

If that isn't spooky enough, I just finished watching the first season of a BBC series called Broadchurch. Poignantly, the series focuses on the murder investigation of an adolescent boy found on the beach of a fictitious town on the Jurassic Coast. That pretty much covers the entire southern coastal stretch west of Brighton. I've just started watching Twin Peaks (my first time, incredible isn't it?) and I'm just happy I don't know anyone in that particular area of the world.

Finally, I've had my own experience with these types of untimely deaths. A friend of mine died at 16 from a traffic accident. It's been 11 years, but it still regularly comes into focus as one of the most powerful moments in my teenage years. I remember people coming together to grieve. I remember helping to put together a cd with music for the funeral. It was a way for me to be useful, preventing me from twiddling my thumbs, getting restless. Many of those songs are inextricably tied to that memory. "Forever Young", "Old and Wise", and, an odd choice perhaps, "Dilemma" by Nelly & Kelly Rowland. It was a big hit back then, and one of my friend's favorites apparently.

Music was a big part of the grieving process. It consoled people, prompted emotions to burst out of their shell. For Nick Cave, I imagine, music is a way of conjuring death, of taming it. Cave's way of dealing with death has always been partially like a snake charmer, taunting him, making death dance to his tunes. At others, he mourns sincerely, but never without a touch of sardonic humor. In both ways, he has consoled people, bringing them together through performance and through headphones. Communal gatherings and quiet contemplation.

This is why I continue to research Nick Cave, to want to add to the body of research on his life and work. Cave is a consoler of the lonely, the mourning, the loving. Throughout his work he charms death like a snake, making death dance to his music. Perhaps his own work will not console him. But perhaps fans, researchers and followers can reciprocate some of this consolation by showing the many interesting and powerful aspects of Nick Cave's words and music. I will do so with the utmost respect for his person and circumstances. It will be a way of giving back to an inspiring figure, even if it will, without a doubt, go completely unnoticed.

Nick Cave Studies (1): Return to Writing

Dear all,

Maintaining productivity on a blog has proven to be one of the hardest, most impossible things I've ever tried to do (keeping a smooth shaven chin has proven equally impossible). As with all things internet, though, my blogs have stuck around and so have I. You can still read my off-the-cuff album reviews or stream-of-consciousness registrations of me wandering through Amsterdam or buying a guitar in Paris. Looking back, most of it is pure shenanigans. People seem to have enjoyed at least some of it. I even managed to get an audition for a successful Dutch band by writing how hard it was to play the bass parts of their former bass player... That was a pretty spectacular side effect of having a blog, I'd say. 

Since then, my music writing has dwindled a bit as a result of my return to University to study English Language and Culture here in Utrecht, my residence for the past 3,5 years. I've continued to write on and off for OOR in the meantime, but I've been exclusively spreading those via social media. In my academic writing, music has not been completely out of the picture either. On more than one occasion, I plagiarized the titles for my essays from song titles. Burning Down the House, The Song Remains the Same and Make Some Noise made their way to various title pages the past two years. I've written about US literature and music consumption, which was kind of a vindication for the fact that I never really learned to write proper essays when I was enrolled in Music Studies in Amsterdam. But I haven't managed to get back to blogging as a means of either artistic self expression or (academic) criticism these past years. 

...Until now. In the past months I've largely given up on social media, which has cleared up quite some time and energy for other things. Furthermore, I've found that I still have plenty of private thoughts and opinions that might be of some use to someone out here on the interwebs. As it stands, OOR is a great medium, but my palette is limited there to live reviews. I still enjoy writing one of those from time to time, but my hunger to develop different styles and forms of writing is pulling me in a different direction. So here I am, quite possibly talking to myself on a blog which exists in a social media vacuum. 

Still from "Nick Cave: 20.000 Days on Earth"

There is, however, a second motive to return to writing for this blog. I'm embarking on a quest to write a bachelor's thesis this summer. For the next 4 months, I will be immersed in the world of Nick Cave, studying him as a poet, a novelist and a screenwriter, as well as a persona in a self-created rock 'n roll myth. I'm considering publishing excerpts from my writing, as well as a host of the superfluous ideas which pop up in the course of my studies but have fuck all to do with my thesis. I reckon it will either be a complete High Fidelity nerd thing or a half-assed literary effort depending on what inspiration gets to me. In any case, it seems Distorted Reflections continues to be a fitting title for my personal blog. Come to think of it, might be a contender for the title of my thesis as well. All the more reason to get back to publishing some stuff on here. 

One final note, on 'return to writing' posts. I've done a bunch of these over the years, intending to start new series of articles, inspire new vigor in myself  or just to get some attention. It never fucking works, and I always feel stupid when I come across them years later. So much for good intentions... Bollocks! So why do any better this time? Well, with the attention seeking brought to a minimum as a result of my social media absence, I'm hoping I might start to write purely for my own benefit and enjoyment. Hopefully, it'll do me some good. 

BEWARE! REVIEW: Tududuh - Storm Murale

www.tududuh.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/tududuhlalala

Ronald Straetemans is an ambitious man. On his first studio album proper as Tududuh, Storm Murale, the Utrecht singer-producer attempts to reconcile his indiepop-infected past with his love for all things electronic, psychedelic and cinematic. His choice of collaborators for this undertaking (a producer with a knack for creating noizy soundscapes, a clasically trained singer-pianist and a French rapper) reflects an omnivorous approach to appropriating musical influences into an artistic identity that's bordering on schizophrenia.

Straetemans has set himself up for a precarious juggle of stylistic elements. Synth washes, electro-tinged beats, murky bass and filtered vocals constantly fight for their place in Tududuh's sonic spectrum. As a result the production of this album is quite dense, congested even. No easy listening to be found here. But with some attentive listening, the album reveals intruiging avenues and quite a few infectious melodies.

Consider "Motor Oil", the album's opening track. Despite the murky textures and electronic feel, the track emanates strong David Bowie vibes throughout. It's arty, but with a great awareness of pop music. "Echo of a Smile" is of the same variety, albeit with an undeniable 80s bassline and hedonist Gainsbourgian vocals. In these cases, the production seems to try and obscure the fact a good pop song is buried beneath the industrial rubble. "Not to Worry", on the other hand, is a fine example of how Straeteman's production and rapper Reazun's second guestspot lift the song to both epic and trippy proportions in ways that recall triphop's finest hour.

Like many ambitious producers, Straetemans still lacks the skill to turn his many flights of fancy into a coherent substance of consistent quality. It's something that will have to grow along the way. Do not misstake this for a mediocre record however. Storm Murale shows great promise. Even if this album does not fully satisfy from start to finish, it does leave you wondering in what directions Straetemans will steer his project next. Tududuh has the potential to keep listeners engaged over the course of several albums as they progress, digress and dig deeper into their own musical background and identity. It's a matter of sitting back and letting the narrative unfold itself.

>>>Watch the video for "Change Of Seasons", taken from Storm Murale, below<<<

Le Guess Who? Live Review

Zola Jesus / photograph by Erik Luyten

Le Guess Who? is without doubt one of the finest festivals for (alternative) music discovery in the Netherlands. Held in practically all relevant Utrecht venues (Tivoli Oudegracht, De Helling, Ekko, ACU, RASA, dB's a.o.), Le Guess Who? puts a firm focus on culthero's, underground talent and adventurous audiences.

This year's line-up featured the first ever performance of Panda Bear in the Netherlands, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Bill Callahan, Low, Gang Gang Dance, Zomby, SUUNS, Other Lives, Akron/Family, Okkervil River, Shabazz Palaces, Zola Jesus (see photo) and John Maus to name a few eyecatchers. But the idea is to look for new talent, of which we found plenty.

I was on hand for OOR magazine on Friday and Saturday to witness the underground bliss.

SUUNS was probably my overall favorite. Check out a session with them HERE

Check out the reviews (in Dutch) for Friday and Saturday

I Am Oak - Oasem review for BAMM.tv Blog

Yep, another one in the bag! This time I Am Oak gets a thumbs up for his new record Oasem!

Check it out:

http://blog.bamm.tv/2011/05/18/bammsterdam-review-i-am-oak-oasem/