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Underground > Radio & Music >

Blixa leaving the Bad Seeds?

wembley can change in 28 days

17:49 / 03.03.03

Say it ain't so! Who's next, Warren? I don't think this will be good for Nick et al - I'm just fucking happy I saw them on the last tour!

(Found on a mailing list; apparently posted on behalf of mute records - who knows if it's true.)

BLIXA BARGELD ANNOUNCES
HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE BAD SEEDS

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' guitarist Blixa Bargeld is to leave the band.

As a member of the very first line up of The Bad Seeds, Bargeld has played alongside and recorded with Cave for almost 20 years.

Bargeld says, "This has been a very difficult decision for me and I have spent a great deal of time thinking about it. My leaving has nothing to do with artistic or personal differences with the band, I just feel it is time to concentrate on other creative areas in my life".

Bargeld's departure will enable him to devote more time to his varied and expanding list of projects and interests outside of The Bad Seeds including fronting Einstürzende Neubauten and his work in film and theatre.

Nick Cave says, "We have parted as friends and we will miss
him dearly".

Mick Harvey, also a founding member of the band, adds "Blixa is irreplaceable, sadly we'll have to learn to get along without him".

The Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds shows currently scheduled
for early summer will proceed as planned, but without Bargeld.

The Return Of Rothkoid

20:59 / 03.03.03

Hm. Something this big would probably have been announced on Mute's site, right? There's nothing there, nor on NME - something that big (the guy is pretty prominent, as far as sidemen go) surely would've been covered? The only reference I can find (after two minutes, admittedly) that's not fansite is here.

Was it Bluewastebin or a Cave list that this turned up on? Maybe it's like those "Tom Waits has throat cancer!!! Hott girls want U!!!" things? Hmm.

The Return Of Rothkoid

21:02 / 03.03.03

Dang. It's not crud. The webmaster of neubauten.org has confirmed it - and she's in daily contact with the guy, IIRC.

Arse.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:10 / 04.03.03

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

This can't be true! It's just... it's just WRONG, dammit!

I'm going to sulk now. I'll post something more coherent when I'm less upset.

08:31 / 04.03.03

My dream list for a replacement (not that I think any of them will ever happen):

- Kawabata Makoto

- Reeves Gabrels

- Efrim Menuk

- Eddie Van Halen

- Q-Bert

12:46 / 04.03.03

They say it's not about artistic differences...

...but honestly.

Blixa hasn't really had a whole lot to do on the last couple of Bad Seeds album, has he? Post-Murder Ballads, there hasn't been a whole lot of room in Cave's songs for electric-guitar skronk. Given Cave's recent direction (and although I haven't heard Nocturama yet, all indications are that it's more of the same), I don't think his departure is going to change the sound of the band much.

Warren Ellis, to my mind, has largely replaced Blixa: he is, like Blixa, the leader of his own band, which is highly-acclaimed but less well-known than the Bad Seeds; a highly charismatic performer; a sonic wild card, functioning equally well in roles of auxiliary melodist and designated-maker-of-ungodly-squawking-sounds; and a sexy beast.

Blixa's occasional vocals will be most missed, I think... but Mick Harvey has a sly, insinuating baritone (showcased on his two albums of Serge Gainsbourg covers), and it'd be nice to hear him sing alongside Nick: to the best of my knowledge, we've never heard a Harvey lead vocal on a Bad Seeds record, not even on the you-can-all-join-in of "Death Is Not The End," whre they even let the drummer sing, Colonel Klink accent and all.

Fair play to Blixa. Twenty years devoted to a side project, largely at the expense of his own artistic career, shows tremendous dedication and friendship. I wish him all success, and hope he enjoys the freedom and posibility now open to him.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:10 / 04.03.03

I'm guessing Gallon Drunk's James Johnston as a replacement- let's face it, he's always wanted to be a Bad Seed, and stood in for Blixa while Neubauten were recording "Silence Is Sexy".

(Good guitarist though he is, and much as I love Gallon Drunk, I find it a little worrying that a bloke who once tried to hit one of my mates around the head with a mike stand at a 2nd Gen gig could be the new Bad Seeds axeman).

14:18 / 04.03.03

A return to roots, then: back in the day, a Birthday Party gig could be mighty dangerous for the crowd, especially those in the front rows and within reach of a roundhouse kick—Nick Cave anointed his Cuban heels with the blood of many a fan, or so I'm told.

14:19 / 04.03.03

But the question I'm really asking is: do the Bad Seeds, in their current incarnation, with their current direction, with their current sound, even need a second guitarist?

14:39 / 04.03.03

Yeah I was wondering that myself Jack. I can't see the need in terms of the style of music they're recording, but maybe for gigs, playing the back catalogue. Not that you couldn't get away with one guitar, but ...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:40 / 04.03.03

They could maybe have done without on, say, The Boatman's Call, but how the fuck are you gonna do "Babe I'm On Fire" without that Blixa guitar?

Of course, a best case scenario would see Rowland S Howard in the job...

(Oh yeah- I don't have a problem with bands fighting their audiences- it's just when they're the guest guitarist at a promotional gig and decide that having their photo taken is a bad idea that it seems a little silly. Especially if they storm off in a huff afterwards.)

The Return Of Rothkoid

20:54 / 04.03.03

If his reaction was anything like a bunch people's, maybe Blixa got bored or fell asleep during "Babe, I'm On Fire"?

Personally, I think it's got more to do with the new Neubauten disc - their first subscriber-funded, DIY-stylee affair - coming very close to completion, at least on the recording side.

wembley can change in 28 days

06:08 / 05.03.03

I agree with you, Rothko, but I'd add in his millions of other side projects as well. He's been quite busy doing his Rede/Speech performances, recently played a supporting lead role beside Ben Becker in Brecht's BAAL performed in Weimar, and checking out his website, you'll find tonnes of other material. Personally, I hope he does another round of "Execution of Precious Memories."

I'd say fair play to the man, too. Where I think this will change the Bad Seeds the most is in live performance - of course, much of what they play is older material, where his noise is more prevalent. And there's something about having the pouty old kraut scowling on one side of the stage that really balances the whiplash energy of the rest of them (the practically-immobile Mick Harvey excepted). I remember hearing Nick Cave comment once that Blixa's best contribution to the group was quality control; he's the most likely member to tell you if something stinks. How very deutsch. But I suspect they'll miss that the most.