NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: LIVE SEEDS (MUTE, 1993)

This might sound crazy, but it's pretty rare for a day to go by without me listening to at least part of this record. While, at 13 songs, Live Seeds represents an extremely small percentage of Nick Cave's extensive catalogue with The Bad Seeds, I think it is their quintessential release. Almost every song sounds better here than on the (still amazing) studio recordings; Cave performs so masterfully that even through a recording, the listener feels as though they are in a sweltering Southern church with Cave addressing them directly.

From The Mercy Seat, where Cave continually proclaims "I am not afraid to die" while the song crescendos violently, aurally expressing the explosion of an electric chair and the messy departure of a murderer's soul; to the gritty, savage swampland of Papa Won't Leave You, Henry, where the listener can almost taste the sweat, dirt, and blood Cave describes; to Tupelo, where Cave alternately yowls and croons through a fictional tale about Elvis Presley being born during a thunderstorm, it is clear that Live Seeds isn't just another throw-away live album put out as an afterthought; rather, it is the perfect extension of Cave & The Bad Seeds' studio catalogue and a testament to Cave's unmatched skill as a performer. Live Seeds is messy, raw, blood-drenched, and apocalyptic - more powerful than any gospel I've ever heard.

Download via MediaFire: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Live Seeds, 1993
Official Site

AMBIENT: ATLAS SOUND AND PEAKING LIGHTS

These two releases have become the soundtrack for staying up really late alone in my bedroom. Atlas Sound's Weekend EP, whose only distribution was through a free download on the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound Blog in 2007, has been a favorite since I first heard it. The opening track, Friday Night We Took Acid and Laid on Matt's Bedroom Floor Staring at His Ceiling Fan While His Parents Watched T.V. Downstairs is the clear standout; it is eerie and beautiful, and somehow, like all of Bradford Cox's best work, it unravels in a way that makes it seem deeply personal both to Cox and to the listener. Even the track titles on this EP (Friday Night We Took Acid..., Saturday Night We Went Swimming And There Was A Light In The Water, Sunday Evening We Relaxed In Our Rooms And Called Each Other On The Phone) convey the kind of magical teenage nostalgia that almost everyone can relate to.

Peaking Lights' Imaginary Falcons was referred to me in early November by Zach, and has since gotten pretty heavy rotation. From the beginning of the first track, the simply-named Intro To Imaginary Falcons, Peaking Lights plunges the listener into the hypnotic, dream-like fog that is this record, full of analog synth, warm vocal melodies, and blown-up, drugged-out guitar. Wedding Song is a favorite but this record is so cohesive that doing anything but listening to it from beginning to end would be foolish. One of my favorite releases of 2009.

Download via Mediafire: Atlas Sound, Weekend EP (2007)
Atlas Sound Myspace | Deerhunter/Atlas Sound Blog

Download via Mediafire: Peaking Lights, Imaginary Falcons (Not Not Fun/Night People, 2009) RE-UPLOADED, 20 JAN 10
Peaking Lights Myspace