Birthday Party - Classic or Dud

Solo Cave, not that anyone asked, is something I would walk on daggers to avoid hearing ever again. ANY solo Cave. Again, it's so obvious and painfully one dimensional.

Search: "Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow)" (most of Junkyard in fact); "Release the Bats" and "Blast Off"; "Deep In The Woods"; the live disc; the peel sessions cd.

Totally agree with everyone on the solo Cave. How did a man so talented grow so suddenly dull?

The Party itself, o' course = wonderful. "She's HIT, she's HIT, she's HIIIIIIIIT..."

I'm not with you all on the solo stuff, I like it all to varying degrees but esp. First Born is Dead, Kicking against The Pricks, Murder Ballads & Boatman's Call. The new one is growing on me - especially that last song (except he uses the word "closure", yechhh) - but I was disappointed by it initially.

Cave solo - I dunno. "From Her To Eternity" (the 1st solo album) is an absolute masterpiece (but then recorded pretty well concurrently with the Mutiny! EP with Bargeld on board so does it strictly count as a "Bad Seeds" record?). "Tender Prey" OK but really "Mercy Seat" plus supporting acts (much preferred "Tender Pervert" to be honest) and then - we're into Uncut territory: wracked, harrowing ballads of despair etc. tce. zzz.

If cash-strapped the "Hits" compilation on 4AD collects pretty well all the essential Party tunes.

Mercy Seat is the enduring stand-out on Tender Prey, but I initially loved hearing Cave do his version of La Bamba-bubblegum on Deanna.

The folks here that know me will know I'm about to mention 1982 BP / Laughing Clowns gig at Coasters in Edinburgh.

1982 BP / Laughing Clowns gig at Coasters in Edinburgh felt like I had taken way too much of the best drugs ever (I hadn't).

I was actually scared at some point how out of control I felt in my enjoyment of it. The best/worst bit was the sudden lurch near the end of 'deep in the woods' where Howards guitar roars out of nowhere.

If you don't like the Birthday Party you don't get to be my friend.

Cave with the Bad Seeds? Also classic (although his last, NO MORE SHALL WE PART was a dire, humorless phone-in. Skip it completely.)

I haven't really followed Cave solo enough to comment, except that I heard that they were trying to rip off "Oh Happy Day" when they came up with "Deanna".

I think they covered Oh Happy Day as a b-side around the same time, so that's probably true. He did a great cover of Bobby Hebb's "Sonny" too.

Both Birthday Party and solo cave are classic, though I generally prefer later solo Cave best. I always enjoy BP stuff, even though it has a cartoony feel that sometimes just bugs me. I know it's not COOL to say so, but Cave's later and more gentle stuff just seems more honest to me. I know I'm in the minority with this opinion. Oh well.

I don't get the idea that they are just Stooges obsessives. The Birthday Party's music is much more intricate than any Stooges music. They sure don't sound like Thee Hypnotics. In fact, I think they may have nicked more from the Magic Band in some of those odd aggitated tom driven rhythms than the Stooges.

The energy and chaotic vocals is at that level on some tracks, but the BP did many interesting and weird things that sounded great. Examples of such would be the layered feedback on "The Friend Catcher" or the the odd tape looped western soundtracks overdubbed (sampling before samplers) on "Zoo Music Girl" or the odd slow noir songs like "Jennifer's Veil" or "Wild World". And as said above, yes indeed they got funky for some drug addled expatriot Aussies. I also liked how they incorporated the horns and organ in some songs.

and if you can hunt down the version of Dead Joe that Nick did on his solo Australian tour a few years back, GET IT. It's great. He just pummels the piano and screams that shit.

but we can add "Wild World" and make it the top six, in no particular order.

I kinda like some of the uh.. wackier stuff like "Capers" "Rowland Around in that Stuff" "Hats on Wrong" and "Waving My Arms" also. "Capers" has gone on many a mix tape.

Jennifer's Veil
Mr. Clarinet
Friend Catcher
Wild World
Swampland

Junkyard changed my life, easily one of my favorite albums ever! Just don't want to over-represent it 'cause all phases of the Birthday Party are GREAT GREAT GREAT

1. "Mutiny in Heaven"
2. "She's Hit"
3. "Nick the Stripper"
4. "Six Inch Gold Blade"
5. "Release the Bats"

6. "Blast Off"
7. "Deep in the Woods"
8. Their cover of the Stooges' "Loose" on The John Peel Sessions

He did that on his solo American tour, too. I was really fucking amazed and happy to hear a Birthday Party song when I saw him in Chicago.

Rrrrats in paradissssse, rrrrrats in paradisssse!

my 2 pennorth'

When I was really obsessed with the Birthday Party I looked all over the place for Crime and the City Solution records (except the disappointing Paradise Discotheque) and couldn't find any - did anyone ever reissue them? maybe I should check on slsk.

I like the two I've heard.

I pulled out Prayers On Fire for the first time in a while cuz of this thread.

Insanely great.

Nope. Well, he was busy being a hepcat.

I'm here to confess my love for 'Nick the Stripper' and 'Deep In The Woods', and the Birthday Party in general. Can I also say how much I love the 'Nick the Stripper' video? Fucked-up Nick truly is his best incarnation. It's the hair, I think. Oh and the dead stare...

Sorry, impossible to fit this *and* BP stuff in one CD80. There's just too much goodness!

Oh, and It's Still Living >>> Live 81-82, if only because of that Funhouse cover I just don't get. (I have the Stooges' Funhouse Sessions box, so it's not that I don't like the song, I'm just not into that particular cover version) And the Dead Joe arrangement on It's Still Living = one of my fav things ever.

One of his two best song intros (the other being the unintentional one at the start of Therapy?'s Troublegum album -- "HERE I AM, MOTHERFUCKAH!")

Does this mean... I dunno, reunion plans, new compilation, remasters, Nick playing Birthday Party songs live again, (any other ideas?) ?

yes, "deep in the woods" = THE GREATEST.

oh ho ho indeed

Birthday Party = Classic, obv

Birthday Party=utter classic in my house...they were arty, weird, but also physical and raw, grotesque, bizarre and wonderful. Also rarely has a band been so well-served by a great hits collection, I love all the albums, but "Hits" is still great, I still listen to it

I don't think I had really been living until I heard the Birthday Party's cover of The Stooges' "Loose". Where has that been hiding all my life?

good morning

Haha! Top o' the morning to ya!

Anybody seen "Mutiny - the Last Birthday Party," an apparent document of the overdubbing sessions for the final EP? (!) Info's here: http://www.fromthearchives.com/bp/videography.html

couldn't find a working torrent, I kinda gotta see this.

that rowland s. howard's album - "teenage snuff film" -
one of the best of the post - Birthday Party members projects (including the Cave ones).

it is a good record. apparently he has a new album ready to go, but not the resources to make it just yet

I have been wanting to hear that for so long, which reminds me to look for a torrent, which I will do right now.

Because I believe firmly in awesomeness, here:

The drum and bass in this, man.

That hottie girl might be a grandmother now!

Completely freakin' classic. I was so psyched when they reissued the first Birthday Party album on CD back in '90. I played it to death on my college radio show (Fester's Bucket O' Nasties!) alongside Beefheart and Pere Ubu. I love the other albums too, but I felt its relative restraint and tension made it even more sinister and creepy, while Junkyard is almost cartoonish.

I bought all the remasters a few years ago. It helped that Virgin sold 'em for only $7.99 each.

No love for the song "Happy Birthday"? I lurve it to bits. So awkward. Also, barking like a dog is always welcome in my playlists.

Yeah, this thread just got wicked.

"Happy Birthday" is awesome, I giggle every time I hear WHAT A SURPRISE, IT'S A SAMURAI SWORD, what a metal surprise...!

just think in five years and he'll be shaving

wow!
i've never seen that "swampland" vocal thing before (the first of Edward's youtuve links here).
awesome stuff, and of BP's best songs.

time for a legendary reunion.
(though it will prob never happen)

I think any hope of a bp reunion died with tracy pew

I'll retain my fond memories of seeing the Birthday Party at the old 930 Club (followed by the Fall the next night)

4AD needs to reissue Junk Yard on vinyl, that shit is gettin bootlegged.

The Mr. Clarinet/Happy Birthday single might be their finest moment.

My three year old is into cars and monsters, and so I showed him the Junkyard LP sleeve this weekend, and after a long, silent stare, he asked if he could keep it. Does the CD sound really crappy or something?

Great story! Dunno about the CD, but you should be able to find him an Ed Roth monster T-shirt on eBay.

"Anybody seen "Mutiny - the Last Birthday Party," an apparent document of the overdubbing sessions for the final EP? (!) Info's here: http://www.fromthearchives.com/bp/videography.html

couldn't find a working torrent, I kinda gotta see this."

i've seen it, and it's available in megaupload.
pretty boring, 25 minutes, mainly of the recording of "jennifer's veil" (one of the weakest BP songs imo), but the last 5 minutes, about the recording of "swampland" is amazing:
Cave's give his best vocal performance, and when it's over, and Cave, all sweating from the effort, lits a cigarette to relax, you feel the empathy

I've got a really vivid memory of getting and listening to Mutiny EP shortly after it came out, poring over and discussing every detail of the cover and the scrawled liners with friends. Those late EPs were fascinating, scary objects.

the swastika image was kinda scanalous

Hard to remember now that St. Nick has been canonised, but they were pretty scandalous at the time. Didn't fit in with UK indieland at all.

From one of those seetickets email updates:

BIRTHDAY PARTY

A favourite of the late, great John Peel the Australian pop-punk band will be in the UK for two special dates in February. Book now!

Feb 12, 02 Academy Islington, Feb 21 Ruby Lounge Manchester

What? What is this? Cave/Howard/Harvey? Does anyone have any more info?

http://www.mickharvey.com -> is in The Triffids now

Pop punk 4 evah!

Current working theory is that seetickets have misunderstood a banner gig title for some smallish bands. And Harvey seems to be gigging in Australia with The Triffid people on at least one of those dates.

Absolutely classic. I'll bet if I put on Mutiny, and Nick came on with "Hand's up, who wants to die!" I would drop 20 years and be stagediving off my desk, much to the concern of everyone in my office.

The gig I saw in '83 right after that one dropped is one of my all-time faves.

I vote right now for Mick Harvey as best not-really-the-drummer-but-beating-the-skins-right-now-anyway in a significant band, so much so that I can never remember what's-his-name's name usually. Of course he could be a prick, but in my experience all good drummers are that way sometimes (present company included).

Birthday Party reunion? STRENUOUSLY unlikely, but y'know ..... I said that about Bauhaus.

I don't see Cave doing it -- seems like something he'd find abhorent. And, really..... at the end of the day, without Tracey Pew, it won't be the Birthday Party.

i don't see Harvey doing it, esp. after he just left The Bad Seeds.

Very good point.

Alex OTM Re: Pew. But it's also a crying shame that nobody's playing these songs live anymore...

"The Friend Catcher" is an undeniable song

Tracks that needed to be added to "Hits": Guilt Parade / The Hair Shirt / Blundertown / Several Sins / Kiss Me Black / Six Strings That Drew Blood.

Fixed.

Absolute classic. all of it.

with so many brilliant tracks, 90% of their catalogue should be added to "hits"
xpost

classic

yes!

odd how the imagery & style of the birthday party hang over so much subsequent "goth" culture, but how few goth bands seem to take any real musical inspiration from them. thinking this while listening to junkyard, you know: "dead joe", "big jesus trash can", etc.

are you familiar with the Phantom Limbs?

goth = mosrly boring,pretentious , one dimensional, uninspired music.
birthday party - the opposite, and more:a salad of musical genres.

maybe the only thing in common is the inolvement with "dark" issues. but thats about it.

goth is like one of the few genres that people feel 100% comfortable describing (and dismissing) monolithically, ascribing outliers some not-of-the-genre-because-they're-good status

which I think is kinda bullshit tbqf

otm

well, it's imo. and i said "mostly".

never liked goth tbh.

huh-uh. reading up on them (assuming you mean the oakland band that broke up not too long back) and they sound pretty cool. these guys"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUw7qwQG-QY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL9r3iOHsA4&feature=related

like

yep that would be them.

yeah i was about to askk: there are 3 bands named like that in myspace

is this goth? cause it's good, if somewhat repetetive.

dismissal of goth is lame. lots of excellent shit that partakes of the dark nectar. as shakey mentioned yesterday, it's hard to separate early black metal from goth. and i love early cure, siouxie, bauhaus, j&mc, etc. sonic youth started off w a big goth influence, swans carried one all the way through their career.

good goth bands:

the sisters of mercy
christian death
the birthday party
the march violets
siouxsie & the banshees (yes, they are)
tex & the horseheads
the gun club (outlying, but really pretty damn goth)
probably a dozen more I'm forgetting

xp - Phantom Limbs were a key band in the SF Bay Area goth scene in the late 90s

"sonic youth started off w a big goth influence"

theres a difference between "inluence" and being strictly "goth".

"dismissal of goth is lame"

why? a man desrve to have his own opinion.

they were definitely goth-punk crossover

Sonic Youth was influenced more by no-wave tbh

but Suicide were kinda gothy

very kinda

what would you classify as goth, Z?

if Gun Club and BP are goth - i like me some goth.

i thought of this genre more of like Bauhaus (which i hate) and Joy Division (which i like)

do you think Bauhaus are "one-dimensional"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gothic_rock_bands

i don't know half of this list.
from the other half: i like some, hate some more and indifferent to most.

why? a man desrve to have his own opinion.

yah no doubt

it is the opinion of many that blanket dismissals of whole genres is lame

the gun club (outlying, but really pretty damn goth)

good call. and fire of love = all time classic hereabouts.

thing about sonic youth & no wave vs. goth is that both were in there and not separated from one another. i mean, by the time they got around to recording "death valley '69" w lydia lunch, she'd become at least as much an icon to goths as she'd ever been a no wave poster girl. and that was relatively early in their (SY's career). it's hard for me to listen to their output from the bad moon rising through evol and not hear it as alternate-universe gothmusik. i mean, i remember playing sister for these two diehard christian death fanatics back when it came out, and they were blown away, saw it as totally goth, totally of their scene, right or wrong.

i need to re-listen to them more seriously (it's been at least 10 years) but my initial inuiation and memory says "yes"

xxpost

no wave was pretty much a musical blip

i always thought as Evol os THE sy goth-influenced record. and it'a a great record.

i guess the thing that bother me the most about Goth is the lack of humour

I think your memory is faulty - Bauhaus is probably one of the least one-dimensional goth bands i can think of.

i like the Lydia Lunch 13.13 record very much:

the awesome Live Skull are actually a combination between this and sonic youth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0plWUmzpdwI&feature=related

ok, maybe i was somewhat exaggerating about Goth.
i'm gonna wear black , put some heavy make up and make a big nose pierce for atonement

sarah OTM re bauhaus. though zeno does have a point about humor and goth: it's too often (though not always) absent. helps if you include black humor, natch. plus the inherent comedy value of self-seriousness and extremity.

on that note, khanate as goth

humour is not meant to be diggen deep and hard to find.

i dunno - i thought the lyric "o classic gentlemen with your ... fish" was pretty blatantly hilarious

xp sez you! lots of things seem serious on first viewing/reading and reveal their humor only to people willing to dig deeper

cf. the entire careers of david lynch & stanley kubrick

and faulkner

kubrick isn't the best choice - see Dr. Strangelove (which i'm sure you have)

david lynch is sometimes funny - no need to dig deeper to find that.

about goth - in the end it's a matter of taste and subjective pov i guess.

no way is it subjective, goths rulin everything all day, everybody gotta realize

it's sexy, thats for sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAM6I1DGPAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcSZTa_5PRM&feature=related

goth is like one of the few genres that people feel 100% comfortable describing (and dismissing) monolithically, ascribing outliers some not-of-the-genre-because-they're-good status

I was just writing about this a few days ago, trying to figure out why. A band can follow 100% of the tropes and cliches of Nuggets-style garage or 77 punk, adding nothing more, and be totally adored. But if you moan over a Roland with some phased arpeggios, everyone goes, "ugh, Goth."

I think comes down to the whole notion of "gothic". I really depends on weirdness. And you conjure any weirdness if you're following a predictable blueprint- so if a band does nothing but follow the templete, it sounds throwaway. Like slasher film set at a summer camp. The band that builds on goth gets accolades by being "goth, but then they add _____". And you could insert almost anything in that blank spot- metal, punk, techno, avant, folk.

I think it's because straights know goths are totes sexing it up all day everyday & it makes them jealous

i guess the thing that bother me the most about Goth is the lack of humour

It is crazy that this shows up on a thread about what is one of the world's funniest bands, imo.

I remember my first roomie I had was a goth and we would just get the giggles at every fucking thing we listened to. Like I remember her putting on "Hour of the Wolf" by Christian Death and it just fucking slaying us for hours. I know this is what happens when you give 19-year-old girls marijuana but OTOH I think a lot of gothics music is secretly winking at you, is secretly-humor inducing in that it brings me a lot of giddy pleasure. Like I don't dig that it is only 0-3% funny maximum.

A band can follow 100% of the tropes and cliches of Nuggets-style garage or 77 punk, adding nothing more, and be totally adored. But if you moan over a Roland with some phased arpeggios, everyone goes, "ugh, Goth."

this is true and not true. i mean, recycled nuggets garage & 77 punk appeal almost exclusively to an audience of people specifically and often fanatically dedicated to those things (barring the circa 00's "real rock" blip). everybody else just rolls their eyes and goes "ugh, that again. snooze." same with goth. by-the-number gothmusik (of this or that stripe, as there are many subgenres) appeals to die-hards and bores everyone else.

...if a band does nothing but follow the templete, it sounds throwaway. Like slasher film set at a summer camp. The band that builds on goth gets accolades by being "goth, but then they add _____".

honestly, i think this is likewise true of most genres. you can appeal to the faithful by replicating a beloved formula, and sometimes these conservative, flame-maintaining "true cult" aesthetics briefly break out into the mainstream, but for the most part you have to do something novel with the received formula in order to appeal to a broad/non-cult audience.

abbbottt OTM. plus like not-so-secretly funny shit like alien sex fiend.

cramps may not be goth, but goths love 'em, and they're funny as hell

I saw them on a double bill with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds on the From Her to Eternity tour

another thing about goths is they've often been around for a minute or two

no way is it subjective, goths rulin everything all day, everybody gotta realize

raggett

lol, was supposed to be [/raggett] joek fail

This conversation is responsible me for me putting my Alien Sex Fiend CDs on my compy, so it's been worth it.

you know what goth band deserves more love than they currently get is sex gang children. "mauritia mayer" is awesome.

otm about Alien Sex Fiend

http://retromaniafootnotes.blogspot.co.il/2012/05/800x600-normal-0-false-false-false-en_5119.html

http://retromaniafootnotes.blogspot.co.il/2012/05/800x600-normal-0-false-false-false-en_5119.html

poll anyone?

nick cave and rowland howard - portrait of the artist as a consumes

Classic...absolutely...but definitely not an easy listen!

http://devonrecordclub.com/2014/04/05/the-birthday-party-junkyard-round-64-toms-selection/

Classic. Deep in the woods, six inch gold blade, "hands up who wants to die", heck, there's no BP track I don't like.

Classic, but I have reservations of the Boys Next Door era

Not that the music is bad or anything, I just prefer to think of them coming out of nowhere and fully formed with Prayers On Fire

Howard and Pew by some distance the best part of this band

there aren't many records with a sleeve as good as junkyard's.

If you go straight to Prayers on Fire you miss the acidic scatterfunk of the s/t/Hee Haw lp which I have always loved. THat seems more in line with what became POF anyway.
& from what I recall they were saddled with a non sympathetic producer when they cut Door Dor which was outof step with where they were when it was released anyway. Not solely because half of it was from a much earlier point in their career prior to Rowland joining if I'm remembering right.

I did start with Prayers on Fire and only heard scattered songs from before that. Should try to check out the earlier stuff.

yeah I love the first lp. Pretty psychedelic with the screeing guitar and stuff. It was released on the Hee Haw cd which contains most o fthe material recorded around that point but I don't think has been remastered in decades.

WEird middle eastern riffs over skittering funk beats or whateveyr Calvert is playing & RSH with a tone that's half feedback and very trebly. Must have music methinks.

yeah there are plenty of tracks on the hee haw cd that are as essential as anything on prayers on fire.

this surfaced today, p great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM6mr_MGITw

God can you even imagine

this is great, i saw them four weeks after this in nz

classic

Incredible!!

gonna share the shit outta this

!

But... how, who, why?

Right was just coming over to post that the whole concert had been upped as video and an upgraded audio
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=580228&viewcomm=7434115#comm7434115
video

and audio
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=580292

here's their versionof 6 Strings from teh concert, song only got released as a Bad Seeds bside and a n uncompleted Birthday party track on the '83 e.ps after somebdy had left the finsihed mixes on a tube train at the time they had been completed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr13LCoWOec

!

But... how, who, why?

― StanM, Thursday, December 29, 2016 11:44 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Talking to the people in the know, First Ave had a pretty pro video/sound recording set up at time and filmed/recorded most of the gigs in the big room for closed circuit big screen projection (you can see it for a second in the BP clip). The person I know was surprised more complete shows from that era haven't turned up yet.

This show is totally awesome.

That is a great show.
Love Nick's Seinfeld puffy shirt.
Love Mick's brute drumming.
Rowland is, of course, on fire and unfairly beautiful.

Talking to the people in the know, First Ave had a pretty pro video/sound recording set up at time and filmed/recorded most of the gigs in the big room for closed circuit big screen projection (you can see it for a second in the BP clip).

― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, January 5, 2017 2:16 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
>

I don't quite get the set up on this, when I first read what you said I thought it was for showing in parts of the venue taht you can't see the stage from fully or something. I think the venue in Croydon that Sonic YOuth played at in the early 80s had a similar set up. But that was broadcasting what was happening on the stage at teh time it was happenning
But watching the thing through you can see that there have been some post production effects added. There is footage overlaying footage etc. So i would assume that that meant some editing of the tapes after teh fact wouldn't it?
So was there any plan ever to do anything with this footage?

I don't remember seeing much being done by the ex-memebers of teh band since I thought they got their rights backk. There was teh Live 81-82 lp and I think vinyl with free cd versions fo at least junkyard. Not sure if taht was actually from the band though.
Somebody said to me that it was a shame that the full length footage from the Brixton Ace hadn't been compiled somewhere. The 3 tracks that were on channel 4 originally and are now on the Pleasure Heads Must Burn dvd are awesome enough in themselves, if there is another half hour or whatever of taht stuff it would be great if they would officially release it.
Would be good if they did taht with this and any other footage too.

This show illustrates why not to lend Nick a jacket. I think he goes onstage with the suit jacket intact, within the first few tracks it's split at the armpit seam.
I think Ian Johnson says something in Bad Seed along the lines of people getting misshapen jackets back after lending them to him.

& Cave doesn't seem to have the greatest sense of balance. Can't get through a song without falling over tehn writhing around on the stage. & squatting in a near foetal position probably isn't the greatest position to sing from either is it? Don't think Tona De Brett would encourage it.

The Clinton Walker book Stranded which cover s teh Birthday Party, Moodists , Scientists etc etc i.e. the Australian turn of the 80s is reissued next week on February 26th according to Book Depository.
Been hoping to get to read that for the last decade possibly 2. & probably longer since I don't think I was actually aware of it per se but would have loved a book covering that area for another couple decades before that.

Revised and expanded I see .

https://rhythms.com.au/clinton-walkers-stranded-gets-reboot/

https://www.birthdaypartymovie.com/

Mutiny in Heaven-The Birthday Party doc, directed by Ian White is now out in the US a few theatres at a time. It's a warts and all doc with lots of live footage, behind the scenes clips, and voiceovers about their drug issues and differences as well as the music, books, art that brought them together and kept them inspired as the Boys Next Door and the Birthday Party from the late 70s to 1983.

Here's the trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhmSg9zUgFo

looking forward to seeing this!

Looks great, aside from the animations (all due respect to the animators, I just hate documentaries which think cartoons make it more interesting).

Saw an advance screener and they don't rely too much on the animation

good

I was cautious of the Sparks movie knowing it had animation in it, but it ended up being probably less than a minute.

The doc screened last night at the AFI Silver in Md near Washington DC, and will be there for one more screening the night of September 25.

My short preview of it for Washington City Paper got posted yesterday in their Fall Arts special

Saw the doc tonight - you can rent it on Amazon. All of the concert and recording footage is terrific - most of it I've never seen before. The animation is, well, there - I didn't think it was particularly special, but didn't distract. What I didn't care for at all was the fake film scratching/sepiatone whenever there's a talking head on screen. It's apparent that the filmmakers were using footage from different eras (Nick Cave suddenly has a mustache, now he doesn't) and use the fake effects to give it some uniformity but it just looked dumb. Similarly, there are segments where a song is playing with lyrics and notebooks animating along, but there's never a point where the camera just holds on them. If I saw this in a theater, I'd go crazy because you'll want to hit pause all the time. Also, subtitles are mandatory.

BTW, the Rowland S. Howard documentary (Autoluminscent) is also rentable on Amazon. That one is an absolute must see. (I'd see that one first actually)

i saw it at the cinema and loved it. it was a one off screening so was packed and there was an incredible atmosphere; a real electricity in the air. i'd highly recommend watching that way if possible.

and agree about the RSH one. essential.

thirded

if you don't want to give your money to Jeff fucking Bezos for making space penises, you could even rent it from the filmmakers:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/autoluminescent

Oh sweet gonna buy that, last time I looked at their site they didn't have VOD options.

The RSH doc is also available on Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/autoluminescent

(same link!) I don't know of any non Bezos source for the Birthday Party piece.

i saw this doc a few days ago also - agree there is some great footage - esp. the studio stuff - although by the 13th live sequence featuring nick cave writhing around on the floor i had checked out a bit

semi-agree re the excess of gfx treatment but would say overall the film-makers did a great job taking material from disparate sources and shaping it into a unified whole

to me it felt about 20 mins too long? which is ofc mainly a requirement of getting it to feature length - but also perhaps reflects that TBP story isn’t thaaat interesting? they have a great sound - were clearly an incredible live force - but they don’t develop much over their lifespan and kind of grind to an exhausted, drugfucked halt

they were clearly remarkable in that historical moment and the film does a good job of capturing that - you could show it to a teenager and they would get what made the band compelling (eg I don’t think the recentish Triffids doc achieved this) - but I am not sure it manages any wider resonance beyond this specific story (which ie I think the recent Crimson doco managed to do)

Haven’t seen the movie yet, but what always fascinated me about the BP’s development is that they’re the rare band got rawer and more unhinged and less subtle as they moved towards that final implosion.

The Birthday Party doc is on Tubi in the US

https://tubitv.com/movies/100022176/mutiny-in-heaven-the-birthday-party

yaaaaay

This was good but pretty standard for a contemporary doc about a cult band. I did like how it ends abruptly - captures their trajectory of blowing up— sonically, popularly, interpersonally. Without Pew, that menacing swing was never going to be recaptured, by the remaining guys or by those who continued building on their harsh innovations.

otm
hated the animations but whatever, I guess!

I’ll take animations over a talking head of effusive Bono, but seems like you have to pick your poison these days.

oof yeah. agree that Pew was the absolute bedrock of this band, the key to it all.

It did good job of showing that if the ambition was to combine intellect and thuggishness, Pew was the mostly thuggishly intellectual.

it was definitely much more standard than i had expected - hated the animation section but wasn’t too much of that

a lot of the interview footage with Cave or Harvey seemed to be from older footage which was a bit disappointing … seemed like 1 or 2 old interviews w Howard but they used a lot from him & it is nice to see all that … nothing from Pew but i wasn’t so surprised idk that he talked on camera much? still he didn’t seem to figure in the narrative of the doc - it was really only seeing him on stage that told you how important he was

i think a better doc might have tried to bring in family or ppl who knew him so that he’s less like a ghost haunting the movie idk

what i did like was the extent of the live footage, and how much it was used - lots of great long sections of various performances that really gave you the visceral feeling & power of their shows

so i guess overall it was fine for what it was and good for casual fams but i think most oldheads would be left wanting more

not much insight, just vibes
is how i would sum it up to an extent

Maybe I don’t want this band demystified too much. Cave is doing a job of that in his dotage.

that’s true

BTW, the Rowland S. Howard documentary (Autoluminscent) is also rentable on Amazon. That one is an absolute must see. (I'd see that one first actually)

I still need to see this one

Autoluminescent has a rental discount right now for $.74, no time to watch soon but I'll have to see if rentals expire on Prime

oh 30 days to start watching, not bad

i heard it’s on tubi maybe?

are you thinking of when milo said the Birthday Party doco is on tubi, in this thread, last week

no! i swear i thought someone else *not* itt told me Autoluminescence was on Tubi? but maybe i was thinking of Prime

the documentary DVD is finally on its way I guess? it's been with Belgian customs for almost a Month now. :-/

also: well done on the AI cover and the wrong spelling of Sydney, Apple Music: https://www.discogs.com/release/27806013-The-Birthday-Party-Live-In-Sidney-1980

Maybe Nick Cave was inside Sidney in Sydney