Live from KCRW

Live from KCRW is the fourth live album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 29 November 2013 on Bad Seed Ltd. The album features a live radio session recorded for KCRW on 18 April 2013 at Apogee Studio in Los Angeles, California, United States. The session, which featured a stripped-down line-up performing songs from the band's back catalogue and their most recent release, Push the Sky Away (2013), was recorded by Bob Clearmountain.[1]

Live from KCRW
Live album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released29 November 2013 (2013-11-29)
Recorded18 April 2013 (2013-04-18) at Apogee Studio in Los Angeles, California, US
GenreAlternative rock
Length52:15
LabelBad Seed Ltd
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology
Push the Sky Away
(2013)		 Live from KCRW
(2013)		 Skeleton Tree
(2016)

Live from KCRW was released on CD and double LP, as well as a digital download. The double LP features two exclusive tracks, "Into My Arms" and "God is in the House", which were excluded from previous radio broadcasts of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' KCRW session.[2][3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Drowned in Sound8/10[6]
Exclaim!8/10[7]
The Irish Times[8]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[9]
musicOMH[10]
The Observer[11]
Pitchfork7.8/10[12]
Record Collector[13]
Uncut[14]

Upon its release, Live from KCRW received largely positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4] AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming noted that the Bad Seeds were "calling up a palette of sounds that range from the spectral to the majestic, and as they accompany [Nick] Cave on a set of his more contemplative material" and called the material "impressive, especially given the one-take nature of the recording." He rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars.[5] Writing for Drowned in Sound, Matthew Slaughter described how "Cave the balladeer remains a beast, but a beautiful one … every quiver and every declamation reaches deep inside the ear drum, then rests there." Slaughter added that "it's easy to savour Warren Ellis' tenor guitar scrapes, Jim Sclavunos' simple, effective percussion, Martyn Casey's precise, humming bass and Barry Adamson's ominous organ … as they punctuate the often confused poetry", awarding the album an eight out of ten rating.[6]

In his review for Exclaim!, Vish Khanna said "here [the band] strip down to play mellower fare. That's not to say it's not intense or pensive in its own right; Cave is a master of phrasing and knows how to enhance the suspense and drama in his carefully written lyrics", rating Live from KCRW eight out of ten.[7] Kitty Empire of The Observer wrote that the album "isn't some rip-snorting gallop through perdition, setting Grinch-ish fire to fir trees … it's a classy, dialled-down performance". Awarding the album three out of five stars, Empire selected "Higgs Boson Blues" as Live from KCRW's highlight, referring to it as "a meditation on matters temporal" and "even more spacious here than on [Push the Sky Away]."[11]

A positive review in The Quietus, penned by Julian Marszalek, noted that Live from KCRW "is a fine declaration of where the Bad Seeds are in the here and now … they sound as comfortable in their music as they do the fine suits they wear." Marszalek added that Warren Ellis "has taken the position of Minister of Sinister Noises and his mastery of four-stringed instruments and loops has made an indelible impact on the band", calling his contributions the "breadth of sound that now defines the Bad Seeds."[15] Writing for Pitchfork, Stuart Berman referred to the album as "something of a wild card" among the band's other live albums, further explaining it is "distinguished not just by its loose, casual vibe … but by its welcome variations from the standard Bad Seeds script with a healthy selection of deep cuts that don't get aired out that often."[12]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Cave unless otherwise noted.

CD release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Higgs Boson Blues"Cave, Warren Ellis8:46
2."Far from Me" 5:27
3."Stranger Than Kindness"Anita Lane, Blixa Bargeld4:53
4."The Mercy Seat"Cave, Mick Harvey5:11
5."And No More Shall We Part" 3:51
6."Wide Lovely Eyes"Cave, Ellis4:13
7."Mermaids"Cave, Ellis5:23
8."People Ain't No Good" 5:18
9."Push the Sky Away"Cave, Ellis4:46
10."Jack the Ripper" 4:28
Total length:52:15
Double LP release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Higgs Boson Blues"Cave, Ellis8:46
2."Far from Me" 5:27
3."Stranger Than Kindness"Lane, Bargeld4:53
4."The Mercy Seat"Cave, Harvey5:11
5."And No More Shall We Part" 3:51
6."Wide Lovely Eyes"Cave, Ellis4:13
7."Mermaids"Cave, Ellis5:23
8."People Ain't No Good" 5:18
9."Into My Arms" 3:48
10."God is in the House" 4:26
11."Push the Sky Away"Cave, Ellis4:46
12."Jack the Ripper" 4:28
Total length:60:29

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from Live from KCRW's liner notes.[16]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Technical personnel
Design personnel
  • Tom Hingston Studio – artwork
  • Larry Hirshowitz – photography
  • Andrew Whitton – photography

Chart positions
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Austrian Ö3 Albums Chart[17] 24
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[18] 21
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[19] 65
Danish Albums Chart[20] 29
Dutch Albums Chart[21] 46
French SNEP Albums Chart[22] 107
German Albums Chart[23] 51
Irish Albums Chart[24] 77
Irish Independent Albums Chart[25] 10
Swiss Hitparade Albums Chart[26] 61
UK Independent Albums Chart[27] 5
US Billboard Independent Albums[28] 41

Release history
Region Date Format Label Catalog
United States[1] 29 November 2013 2×LP, CD, digital download Bad Seed Ltd BS006
Worldwide[1] 2 December 2013
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References
  1. "Live from KCRW album announced". Nick Cave. 22 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  2. McGovern, Kyle (22 October 2013). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Plot Live Album for Black Friday 2013". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. Coplan, Chris (22 October 2013). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds announce new live album". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  4. "Live from KCRW: Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  5. Deming, Mark. "Live from KCRW – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. Slaughter, Matthew (26 November 2013). "Album Review: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW / Releases". Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. Khanna, Vish (3 December 2013). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW • Pop & Rock Reviews". Exclaim!. 1059434 Ontario. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  8. Boyd, Brian (22 November 2013). "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Live from KCRW". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  9. Daniels, Joe (26 November 2013). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Live From KCRW". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  10. Lee, Tim (29 November 2013). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Live From KCRW | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  11. Empire, Kitty (1 December 2013). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Live from KCRW; Goat: Live Ballroom Ritual – review | Music". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  12. Berman, Stuart (3 December 2013). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Live from KCRW | Album Reviews". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  13. Draper, Jason (2013). "Live From KCRW - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  14. O'Connell, Sharon (27 January 2014). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Live From KCRW". Uncut. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  15. Marszalek, Julian (3 December 2013). "The Quietus | Reviews | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds". The Quietus. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  16. Live from KCRW (Album notes). Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bad Seed Ltd. 2013. BSCD006.CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  18. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  19. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  20. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". danishcharts.dk. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  21. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  22. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  23. "Album – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Live from KCRW". Media Control Charts (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  24. "Top 100 Artist Albums, Week Ending 5 December 2013". Chart-Track. GfK. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  25. "Top 10 Independent Artist Albums, Week Ending 5 December 2013". Chart-Track. GfK. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  26. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live from KCRW". Hitparade (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  27. "2013-12-14 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  28. "Live from KCRW – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
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