OBG's Slimmed Down Program Makes A Beautiful World Out Of Nick Cave's Imagination

I don't know exactly when I startd to fall out of love with the music of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds a little bit, but it was around the time of the release of his double album/ two single albums as a double album Abbatoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus. Until then I had collected all of his recent releases, mostly in the first week of release. But yeah, this double whopper didn't really pull me in, and then I drifted away from the Cavester anyway. Now, individual moments absolutely pulled me in: I think "Nature Boy" is one of Cave's best compositions from his beatific period, and a bunch of other track like "There She Goes My Beautiful World" or "Babe, You Turn Me On". But yeah, I blame it on 'the wrong albup at the wrong time' syndrome. While the twin vortexes of extreme drama and extreme romanticism that curses through Cave's middle period - which I'd say covers about The Boatman's Call to this album, but any characterisation si free-flowing - were great for a young man growing out of a teenage mindset, they inevitably lost some glow as I was getting older. 

It might've also been that I was simply a bit 'Cave'd out' - this is great mood music if you're in the mood, but you have to be in the mood to appreciate it, you know. Plus, it's not the most varied type of music. Anyway, while te two albums didn't get played much, I thought that their highlights would probably make for a pretty good listen. Thus the idea, of turning the strictly subjectively speaking best tracks into a vinyl-era single album. Ten tracks, 45 minutes of good stuff. This is something that is in the back of my mind for a good long while now, so it's up to Mr. Cave to start a new series around here: The Slimmed Down series will aim to make killer single albums out of slighly or very bloaty doubles. I have extended single albums to double albums before - most notably Poco's Crazy Eyes and the Beach Boys' Holland - and now we'll go in the other direction. Out with the flab, in with the class, so to speak. 

In the case of Cave and his Bad Seeds that means some rigorous cutting - of the 17 Abbatoir/Lyre tracks, only nine remain. The tenth track making up our vinyl appropriate album is actually a b-side, but at least to my mind the sprightly "Under This Moon" is better than almost half of what ended up on the album(s). Speaking of sprightly: Cave really is at or near the top of his skills as, yes, a pop musician on songs like "Nature Boy" and "Breathless", so of course he added some out of tune flutes to the opening and ending of the latter, just so no one would accuse him of going too 'Top Of The Pops', or something. Let's say it adds to the charme.

And charming it is, this collection of ten tunes that make up My Beautiful World. So let Nick Cave's beautiful world make your world a little more beautiful as well...