Sketches from the Book of the Dead | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2011 | |||
Studio | Grace Lane Studio and Atlantis Sound, Melbourne | |||
Genre | Pop, Rock | |||
Length | 41:00 | |||
Label | Mute | |||
Producer | Mick Harvey | |||
Mick Harvey chronology | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 70/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Sketches from the Book of the Dead is the fifth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Mick Harvey, released in 2011 through Mute Records. [3] The album is Harvey's first solo release following his departure from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in 2009 and the first to only feature original material. [4] The album's songs explore the themes of death and passing, with "October Boy" being a homage to Harvey's former bandmate Rowland S. Howard, who died in 2009. [5]
All tracks are written by Mick Harvey.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "October Boy" | 3:27 |
2. | "The Ballad of Jay Givens" | 5:08 |
3. | "Two Paintings" | 3:49 |
4. | "Rhymeless" | 3:14 |
5. | "Frankie T. & Frankie C." | 4:04 |
6. | "A Place Called Passion" | 4:15 |
7. | "To Each His Own" | 2:14 |
8. | "The Bells Never Rang" | 4:04 |
9. | "That's All, Paul" | 3:11 |
10. | "How Would I Leave You?" | 4:32 |
11. | "Famous Last Words" | 2:36 |
Total length: | 41:00 |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [6]
The Birthday Party were an Australian post-punk band, active from 1977 to 1983. The group's "bleak and noisy soundscapes," which drew irreverently on blues, free jazz, and rockabilly, provided the setting for vocalist Nick Cave's disturbing tales of violence and perversion. Their 1981 single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential on the emerging gothic scene. Despite limited commercial success, The Birthday Party's influence has been far-reaching, and they have been called "one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s."
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey, guitarist George Vjestica, touring keyboardist/percussionist Larry Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos. Described as "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward", they have released eighteen studio albums and completed numerous international tours.
Tender Prey is the fifth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 19 September 1988 on Mute Records. Produced by Flood, the album was recorded during several sessions over the course of four months in London and West Berlin and dedicated to the Brazilian actor Fernando Ramos da Silva.
The Firstborn Is Dead is the second studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 June 1985 by Mute Records. Produced by the band and Flood, the album saw lead vocalist Nick Cave continue his fascination with the Southern United States, featuring references to Elvis Presley and bluesmen like Blind Lemon Jefferson. The album was recorded in the Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany. Cave later said of the album, "Berlin gave us the freedom and encouragement to do whatever we wanted. We'd lived in London for three years and it seemed that if you stuck your head out of the box, people were pretty quick to knock it back in. Particularly if you were Australian. When we came to Berlin it was the opposite. People saw us as some kind of force rather than a kind of whacky novelty act."
Kicking Against the Pricks is the third studio album released by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. First released in 1986, the album is a collection of Cave's interpretations of songs by other artists. The title is a reference to a biblical quote from the King James Version of the Christian Bible, Acts 26, verse 14.
Your Funeral... My Trial is the fourth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 November 1986 by Mute Records. The album was originally released as a double extended play (EP), while also issued on CD with a different running order and the additional track "Scum". During this period in his life, Cave was steeped in heroin addiction, perhaps evidenced by the melancholy, desperate mood of this album. This was the final Bad Seeds album to feature Barry Adamson until he returned for Push the Sky Away (2013).
Live Seeds is the first official live album by Australian post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album was recorded live from 1992 to 1993 during various concerts throughout Europe and Australia in support of their 1992 studio album Henry's Dream. Frontman Nick Cave wanted to give the songs a raw feeling as originally intended before production problems occurred. Live Seeds includes a not previously studio-recorded track, "Plain Gold Ring", which is a cover of a song performed by Nina Simone.
Anita Louise Lane was an Australian singer-songwriter who was briefly a member of the Bad Seeds with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and collaborated with both bandmates. Lane released two solo albums, Dirty Pearl (1993) and Sex O'Clock (2001).
The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a compilation album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 11 May 1998.
Prayers on Fire is the debut studio album by Australian rock group the Birthday Party, released on 6 April 1981 on the Missing Link label in Australia, later licensed to the 4AD label. This was the band's first full-length release on an international record label and the first after changing the group's name from the Boys Next Door to the Birthday Party. It was recorded at Armstrong's Audio Visual Studios in Melbourne and Richmond Recorders in the nearby suburb of Richmond, between December 1980 and January 1981.
Michael John Harvey is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Harvey has also produced and contributed to multiple recordings by different artists and released several albums and soundtracks as a solo artist.
Intoxicated Man is the debut studio album by Mick Harvey, released on 2 October 1995. It is his first album of interpretations/translations of Serge Gainsbourg songs. The album is followed by Pink Elephants, Delirium Tremens, and Intoxicated Women.
Pink Elephants is the second studio album by Mick Harvey, released on 27 October 1997. The album is Harvey's second in his series of Serge Gainsbourg interpretations/translations, preceded by Intoxicated Man and followed by Delirium Tremens and Intoxicated Women.
Mutiny/The Bad Seed is a compilation album by the Birthday Party. It is compiled from 2 EPs, The Bad Seed recorded in October 1982, and Mutiny! recorded in April and August 1983, and both were released in 1983. The Bad Seed and Mutiny! were released as a compilation in 1989. It is written by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, and Tracy Pew.
The Honeymoon Is Over is the third studio album by Australian indie rock band The Cruel Sea, which was released in May 1993. The album was produced by the band, Tony Cohen and Mick Harvey for Red Eye Records. It peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart and has sold over 140,000 copies. Its lead single, "Black Stick" was released ahead of the album in March 1993 and peaked at No. 25 on the related Singles Chart. The title song, "The Honeymoon Is Over", was released in July 1993 as a single and reached the Top 50. It was followed by a cover of Tony Joe White's 1969 song, "Woman with Soul", in October which peaked at No. 64. The final single from the album, "Seems Twice", was issued in February 1994 and peaked at No. 90.
Two of Diamonds is the fourth solo studio album by Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey, released on 23 April 2007 on Mute Records. The album contains both original compositions and covers and was recorded by Harvey over the course of three months in Grace Lane Studio, and later in Atlantis Sound Recording Studios, both in his native Melbourne and The Instrument Studio in London, England.
Four (Acts of Love) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Mick Harvey, released on 11 June 2013 through Mute Records. The album is Harvey's second following his departure from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The tracks make up a song cycle exploring the process of falling in love, bookended by "Praise the Earth (Wheels of Amber and Gold)" and "Praise the Earth (An Ephemeral Play)". The album includes several covers, including The Saints' punk "The Story of Love", P. J. Harvey's "Glorious" – who also duets with Harvey on the track – and Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" off Astral Weeks.
Intoxicated Women is the eight studio album by Australian musician Mick Harvey, released on 20 January 2017 through Mute Records. The album is Harvey's fourth in his series of Serge Gainsbourg interpretations/translations, and preceded by Intoxicated Man in 1995, Pink Elephants in 1997 and Delirium Tremens in 2016.
Delirium Tremens is the seventh of studio album by Mick Harvey, released on 24 June 2016. It is Harvey's third album in his series of Serge Gainsbourg interpretations/translations. The album was preceded by Intoxicated Man in 1995 and Pink Elephants in 1997, and followed by Intoxicated Women in 2017.