Help me find other artists in the more mellow Nick Cave / Leonard Cohen / Murder by Death vein?

May 3, 2007 2:58 PM

Help me find other artists in the more mellow Nick Cave / Leonard Cohen / Murder by Death vein?

I'm a big fan of very specific bits of Nick Cave's offerings - predominantly his The Boatman's Call and Murder Ballads work. The songs on those albums touch me in a way I can't describe, both with the sparse beautiful music and the emotionally complex storytelling. I'm also a big fan of "Red Right Hand", "Come Into My Sleep", and "As I Sat Sadly By Her Side". I'm particularly fond of the use more classical instruments and not the regular trappings of rock music in most cases. Overall, songs like "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" and "Into My Arms" are the ones that really really move me - I mean, bits like "I think of you in motion and just how close you are getting / And how every little thing anticipates you. / All down my veins my heart-strings call / Are you the one that I've been waiting for?" just don't come around that often.

But I'm greedy...I want more. In looking for more of the same, I found I also like a fair bit of Leonard Cohen's works - especially "Everybody Knows", "I'm Your Man", and "Suzanne". I've recently discovered Murder by Death and I'm really enjoying their In Bocca al Lupo album. But I'm still chasing the dragon for another male singer/storyteller with a deep brooding voice that can take me where Nick Cave does - that sad, desperate, longing place where there is so much visual beauty and darkness in the storytelling.

Can the hive-mind help me locate other artists (or better ways to search for other artists) who will draw me into the world in each song, charm me with their lyrical content, impress me with soothing yet sad instrumentation, and break my heart with the emotion their songs contain? Also, as I continue to farm through Nick Cave's repertoire to stock up on all the goodness there is, are there any other key songs I should be sure not to miss based on my tastes outlined above?

posted by maldrin to media & arts (44 comments total)

You might like Victor Krummenacher.
posted by interrobang at 3:09 PM on May 3, 2007

Lou Reed
posted by The World Famous at 3:10 PM on May 3, 2007

How about Nick Drake ?
posted by lil' ears at 3:11 PM on May 3, 2007

You may like Calexico. Songs that come to mind are The Ballad of Cable Hogue, The Crystal Frontier, and Sunken Waltz. They drip atmosphere and and charm.

Also check out The Black Heart Procession. They have murder ballads written all over them.
posted by rabbitsnake at 3:15 PM on May 3, 2007

another male singer/storyteller with a deep brooding voice that can take me where Nick Cave does - that sad, desperate, longing place where there is so much visual beauty and darkness in the storytelling

Johnny Cash
posted by jbickers at 3:20 PM on May 3, 2007

Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy.
posted by afx237vi at 3:23 PM on May 3, 2007

Dave Boddiger
posted by micayetoca at 3:25 PM on May 3, 2007

morphine? not so much on the storytelling, but it's sad and bassy and has somewhat unusual instrumentation...
posted by lgyre at 3:28 PM on May 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

If you like that stuff, why not search out the artists who inspired them?

You'd probably go nuts for Fred Neil (anything with "The Dolphins" and "Eevrybody's Talkin'") or Tim Buckley (I'd recommend the Rhino double CD) or Karen Dalton (she only made two records; both are indispensible.) Nick Cave's covered Karen Dalton and spoken of his reverance for Fred Neil (both artists are dead - Fred Neil and Karen Dalton have a lot in common, and Dalton covered some Neil songs.)

Nick Cave appears on "The Harry Smith Project," on which many great artists in this vein cover songs which appeared on the compilation of tunes recorded in the 1920s / 1930s of "old weird America," as Greil Marcus called it. It's worth checking out, but the original is much better (pretty raw though.)

I'd also recommend Jean Ritchie, whose "Songs From Her Appalachian Family Tradition" feature a lot of great ominous murder ballad kind of songs.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 3:40 PM on May 3, 2007

Look into Scott Walker, Scott Walker, and Scott Walker. Also Smog (Bill Callahan) and the Silver Jews.
posted by pablocham at 3:43 PM on May 3, 2007

Iron & Wine

and

Simon & Garfunkel

and

The Pernice Brothers
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:46 PM on May 3, 2007

William Elliot Whitmore has toured with Murder By Death and I think you'd approve.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 3:48 PM on May 3, 2007

I did my Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen phase with a Jeff Buckley third leg, though his voice is a windchime, not a death knell. Also, the darker moments of Stephin Merritt, who is quite affable and perky much of the time, could work for you. He's got a deep, dry well of a voice. the Magnetic Fields' i is probably the best album for the dark Merritt, though there's a smattering of that over the rest of their releases, and check the Gothic Archies for a Merritt just about riffing on Nick Cave.

Definitely get Kicking Against the Pricks.

*puts on They Call Me The Wild Rose, goths the fuck out*
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:49 PM on May 3, 2007

Also perhaps The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, though I don't know too much about them. My favorite song of theirs is "Buried Them In Water."
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 3:50 PM on May 3, 2007

I love The National, mainly for the lead singer's deep, brooding, lost-in-thought voice. The songs vary between soft, mid-tempo to loud, slightly faster songs, but nowhere near Nick Cave's Birthday Party era. Check out "All the Wine", "Karen", or "City Middle" (all off their last album, Alligator - they have a new one coming out later this month).
posted by mikeyk at 4:01 PM on May 3, 2007

Seconding Scott Walker (a big influence on Cave); Bonnie Prince Billy; Smog. I also like Drake, Cash, Tim Buckley, and Reed, though they don't seem quite as similar to Cave as the first three artists are. Maybe try the Mountain Goats, too.
posted by Infinite Jest at 4:04 PM on May 3, 2007

I asked this question a couple weeks ago and got amazing responses.
posted by sneakin at 4:30 PM on May 3, 2007

Nick Cave does a version of "Knoxville Girl" that is unbelievable. It's a Murder Ballads-era B-side. If you haven't heard it, you could get the rarities compilation for that track alone and not be disappointed.
posted by dogwalker at 4:34 PM on May 3, 2007

Tim Hardin is a bit folkier, but still dark. Songs have been covered by Cat Power and Stina Nordenstam.

David Sylvian can be a bit busier, with his later stuff (I'd start with "Blemish") being more form-free vocals over improv backing.

Talk Talk's last two albums (plus the Mark Hollis solo album) are amazing vocal mish-mashes and not at all like their hit records. Dense in parts, jazzy in others, definitely up the alley you're describing.
posted by rhizome at 4:47 PM on May 3, 2007

Dude....nobody's mentioned TOM WAITS???
posted by nevercalm at 4:48 PM on May 3, 2007

Tindersticks and Lambchop both have some (not all) slower, more haunting songs with sweet strings here and there, resonant vocals, and far-above-average lyrical content. Scott Walker has already been mentioned, but he was definitely a forebearer of the sound.
posted by deern the headlice at 5:44 PM on May 3, 2007

The Apartments. One of my all-time favorite bands that nobody has ever heard of. Even in the write up in AMG, they mention Leonard Cohen. The Apartments were just recently added to iTunes Music Store.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 5:52 PM on May 3, 2007

Richard Buckner, try The Hill to start.
posted by Scram at 6:12 PM on May 3, 2007

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Tom Waits! Tom Waits Tom Waits Tom Waits!
posted by Alabaster at 8:42 PM on May 3, 2007

Oops, somebody DID mention Tom Waits. My bad.










P.S. tom waits
posted by Alabaster at 8:43 PM on May 3, 2007

WOW you people ROCK - I've got SO MUCH listening to do!

Regarding Cash, Lou Reed, and Nick Drake:

I've got some definite love for Cash - good call there. I REALLY made that connection with Murder by Death - they have a very Cash-ish sound.

Most of the stuff I've been exposed to by Lou Reed was more socio-political and sarcastic than it was introverted/emotional - but his voice is stellar - any pointers for what songs to really dive into would be great.

Nick Drake I've enjoyed ("Pink Moon" and a handful of others) but I hadn't thought to investigate more with regard to my Nick Cave quest - he seemed much more like a companion to Belle and Sebastian, Kings of Convenience, Simon and Garfunkel (mentioned above, as well) and Rufus Wainwright - a whole OTHER set of people I listen to.

sneakin - thanks for pointing to your post - I should have searched harder first, that's some great stuff there, too. - I saw Slaid Cleaves' "Broke Down" album mentioned there, which is already on my list!

This is a wonderful outpouring of generous musical share-ness.

thank you thank you thank you!!
posted by maldrin at 8:52 PM on May 3, 2007

These don't satisfy the deep brooding voice, but they both have the melacholy storyteller vibe with piano or strings included.

Anthony & the Johnsons is included in my Nike Cave/Tom Waits rotation. Andrew Bird, Mysterious Production of Eggs, also does the storytelling with the folk/cello/whistle (his more recent album less so).
posted by ejaned8 at 8:59 PM on May 3, 2007

I think you'll like Devastations, who have a couple of albums out. Their first, called "Coal" is very Cave/Cohen.
While I'm not sure what songs they've got on that myspace page, it's REALLY worth checking out that first album
posted by bunglin jones at 9:29 PM on May 3, 2007

Damn - meant to add that this is from one review of "Coal" that specifically mentions NC&TBS:

"Opener SEX & MAYHEM quickly flags the Nick Cave influence, frontman Conrad Standish exhibiting a similar deep baritone croon and using it effectively against the mournful organs swirls and stark piano chords; backing singer Rachel Leslie adding some sweetness and light amidst all the pitch blackness"
posted by bunglin jones at 9:33 PM on May 3, 2007

You might like:

Gary Numan (esp. Tubeway Army)- it's slightly less mellow than you might like, but the storylines all revolve around isolation and technological despair. Try the songs "Jo the Waiter" and "My Love is a Liquid."

Phil Ochs - a Dylan-era folksinger who got incredibly jaded with the political scene. Try the songs "No More Songs," "The Party," "Jim Dean of Indiana."

Edith Piaf - a French cabaret singer; her songs are always brooding and depressing, but her voice is just so expressive and beautiful.

Some of Van Morrison's early albums (esp.Astral Weeks) would be your kind of thing, I think.
posted by nasreddin at 9:59 PM on May 3, 2007

The Handsome Family
posted by hydrophonic at 11:02 PM on May 3, 2007

Maybe some of Mark Lannegan's solo work.
posted by occidental at 11:06 PM on May 3, 2007

Low
posted by chillmost at 12:18 AM on May 4, 2007

Marissa Nadler
posted by hototogisu at 12:26 AM on May 4, 2007

All of the other band of all of the Bad Seeds: Dirty Three, Mick Harvey, and Hugo Race.

Also, Howe Gelb in all of his many projects -- Giant Sand, Arizona Amp & Alternator, and the albumns under his own name. Very different from Mr. Cave, but somehow a very American complement.

Also seconding Andrew Bird and Handsome Family.
posted by desuetude at 6:09 AM on May 4, 2007

I'll second Scott Walker but in his early Walker Brothers faze. I'll also second

Lambchop (try Is a Woman),
Smog (try A River Ain't Too Much Love or Dongs of Sevotion or Supper or Knock Knock Knock)
Leonard Cohen's Ten Recent Songs
The Handsome Family (particularly Twilight or In the Air)
Iron and Wine
Bonnie Prince Billy (try Master and Everyone, Superwolf, or The Letting Go)

and I'll add

Chet Baker's Let's Get Lost (the album of standards, not the soundtrack)
Monroe Mustang (a band, not a person)
Devendra Banhart's Cripple Crow
Eleni Mandell's Miracle of Five
Angels of Light's Everything is Good Here...
Damien Jurado's Ghost of David
posted by dobbs at 6:09 AM on May 4, 2007

These have all been mentioned I think but you really need to check them out. I've been a big Nick cave fan since the Birthday Party but I've got into the slower stuff myself recently:

The handsome Family (saw them last week, what a great couple with fantastic songs!)

Iron and Wine

Lambchop

Tindersticks

the Magnetic Fields

Andrew Bird

Conway Savage from the Bad Seeds

Tom Waits, Tom Waits, Tom Waits!

Richard Hawley

Jim White

Dirty Three

Two Dollar Guitar

The The

Not as chilled but I reckon you would love 16 horsepower
posted by twistedonion at 7:11 AM on May 4, 2007

Oh, and give Arab Strap a go (or Malcolm Middletons new stuff) if you want depressingly beautiful songwriting.
posted by twistedonion at 7:12 AM on May 4, 2007

Thanks thanks thanks for all of this - I'm having a wonderful time finding new artists - these answers are really spot-on for the most part!

A note for those of you out there who happen to be following this thread - something else I REALLY enjoy is the Ken Nordine / DJ Food track "Ageing Young Rebel." If you haven't heard it, check it out. If you have and know of other Ken Nordine work that is equally dark, please let me know. I've heard a good bit of his stuff that was fun and ironic and erudite, but not dark.

Also, no one mentioned Barry Adamson, but since he is associated with Cave and has some pretty beautiful, dark pieces (some with Cave singing on them, such as "The Sweetest Embrace"), I should throw him out there for people looking for the same thing I am. His "Jazz Devil" is pretty entertaining (albiet a little too proud of itself) and goes well with Nordine's "Ageing Young Rebel." He mostly seems to have bombastic, energetic tracks that are not-at-all soft beautiful jewels of darkness and desire, but the few he does have are pretty nice.
posted by maldrin at 12:44 PM on May 4, 2007

He mostly seems to have bombastic, energetic tracks that are not-at-all soft beautiful jewels of darkness and desire, but the few he does have are pretty nice.

Whoa! Clearly you haven't listened to Moss Side Story, his soundtrack to a fake film noir. Beautiful, atmospheric, dark, just what you're looking for. No lyrics, just tape splices.

Also note that he used to be the bassist for the post-punk band Magazine, whose album Real Life you'll likely find very congenial.
posted by nasreddin at 2:32 PM on May 4, 2007

Some more that I thought of subsequent to my last post, but which have since been posted by other people:

Giant Sand: (get Chore of Enchantment; beautiful album)
Jim White: vocally quite different, musically probably closer to Cave's rockier stuff rather than his ballads, but lyrically he's very much in the same story-telling tradition as Cave. His lyrics are great, and quite dark.

And also seconding Lambchop and the Magnetic Fields. And agreeing with whoever said Walker Brothers more than Scott Walker.

Maybe Jacque Brel as well?
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:37 PM on May 4, 2007

You might want to check out the Anti label (Tom Waits). Nick Cave is part of Grinderman. Just saw this today or else would have mentioned it earlier. (From Pitchfork: Grinderman is a new project featuring Nick Cave and three fellow Bad Seeds: violinist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn Casey, and drummer Jim Sclavunos.).
posted by ejaned8 at 1:30 PM on May 6, 2007

Don't go expecting mellow from Grinderman.
posted by bunglin jones at 2:36 AM on June 5, 2007

My apologies for such a late response to this question - I was cleaning out old bookmarks and came across this question. I wanted to recommend Pandora, which is essentially a music recommendation engine. You enter a song or artist you enjoy, and it will play songs it thinks you'll also enjoy. I've found a few new artists this way. I'm not sure how many new artists you'd discover since the comments here are so extensive, but it might be of use!
posted by rikhei at 2:34 PM on March 23, 2008