***   wait while loading or watch my darkly romantic music trailer   ***

What are Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Scott Walker, Lee Hazlewood, Serge Gainsbourg, and Leonard Cohen talking about?

"The Love Song must be born into the realm of the irrational, the absurd, the distracted, the melancholic, the obsessive, the insane, for the Love Song is the noise of love itself and love is, of course, a form of madness. Whether it be the love of God, or romantic, erotic love – these are manifestations of our need to be torn away from the rational, to take leave of our senses, so to speak. Love Songs come in many guises and are seemingly written for many reasons – as declarations or to wound – I have written songs for all of these reasons – but ultimately the Love Songs exist to fill, with language, the silence between ourselves and God, to decrease the distance between the temporal and the divine."

These words by Nick Cave (The secret life of the love song) describes the Dark Romantic movement in music. I would like to call it a movement since many of the artists below have collaborated several times. They have influenced each other. At this site, I'll try to present interesting artists and I encourage everyone to investigate the artists further by visiting links to other sources. I have recieved many emails with useful hints. Boris suggested bohren + the club of gore, Godspeed you black emperor and Piano magic. Mark suggested Coastal, Elbow, Slowdive and Sigur Ros. Genna thinks that The Tiger Lillies reminds of Tom Waits. Jeremy recommend Dark Sanctuary and Tenhi. Joe thinks that Pulp reminds of Arab Strap. Randi Russo, an artist, is often compared to some of the musicians below. I will look up all these hints.

Please contact med if you know something.

When gothic literature became popular, new books were written every day. The concept was copied over and over again, even by those who didn't believe. The gothic bands became popular in the late 70s and the same thing happened.  The darkly romantic movement from the 50s and forward consists of a wide range of music genres - as for example country, soul, chamber pop, jazz, blues, baroque pop, indie and gothic rock. The singers often mumble and rumble, accompanied by strings, piano and orchestral arrangements. 

All-music guide offers a rich source of information as well as the ultimate band list. At cdnow you can listen to many samples, and in Sweden, Skivhugget offers the best assortment.   

BARRY ADAMSON

Barry Adamson transforms classic James Bond themes from the 60s into melancholic tunes. A dark cocktail party. Or a funky sermon. Adamson has worked with Nick Cave (The Sweetest Embrace). He was one of the original members of Bad Seeds. Adamson left Bad Seeds - he felt that rock music constrained him. 

ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS

Anthony reminds of Tindersticks and Scott Walker. He pose with humour - the concept becomes irresisteble. He falls in love with dead boys. Sol in Victus (I recommend the songs Stay and Believe me), Current 93 (Nick Cave sings on All the pretty little horses) and Death in June are bands often associated with Anthony's kind of music - more politics and decadence than dark romanticism though. 

Official page - samples and more
Worldserpent - distribution

Arab Strap's music has achieved varying critique. The music is very slow. The vocalist mumble accopmanied with minimalistic music. They almost makes the listener tired. Which may be the purpose of Arab Strap's music. Arab Strap are bar-romantics - they remind of Dylan Thomas. The last orders is a beautiful song. Arab Strap accompanied Tindersticks on the Simple Pleasure-tour.

"You're nice and all that, but you barely even drink..."

Badalamenti composes soundtracks to Lynch's movies. Bad Seeds and Tindersticks are sometimes called the orchester of Twin Peaks. The similarities are striking - the atmosphere.The drums and the piano. Julee Cruise often sing with Badalamenti. Ennio Morricone is another compose.    

BAD SEEDS

In the early 80s by a motley crowd of musicians formed Bad Seeds. They now accompany Nick Cave with a wide range of instruments. Bad Seeds consists of  Blixa Bargeld (guitar),  Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Conway Savage, Martyn P. Casey, Jim Schlavunos and Warren Ellis (from The Dirty Three). Barry Adamson is a former member. Hugo Race has played with Bad Seeds now and then since 1984.

Bad Seeds
Hugo race and the true spirit
Vanity Set - Jim Schlavunos side project

Mick Harvey and Nick Cave formed Boys next door. The group dissolved and The Birthday Party was formed. Blixa Bargeld appeared with Nick Cave for the first time.  Aggressive punk-influenced music. Warm hate and cold love. Religious symbols appear in lyrics. Rather experimental songs in the early 80s - but not the same melodious rhythmes that distinguish later albums. Still, it is of course interesting to see (Robert Smith hairdo) and hear how the great Nick Cave started his musical journey.

Johnny Cash is the ancestor of modern country music. His dark and sometimes melancholic voice introduced a new singing technique. He is the front figure in the dark romantic movement with his three themes: Love, God and Murder. (Compare Dylan Thomas' Angel, Madman and Beast...)

Johnny Cash is an artist with social concerns. His most famous concerts were arranged at prisons. As long as there is evil in the world, Cash has promised to dress in black. The movie about his life will be released this year, I think. He sung Mercy Seat by Nick Cave on a cover album.

NICK CAVE

The Dark Romanticist of all times. Since the early 80s, Nick Cave has been established as a musician and songwriter without any counterpart. After leaving his first band, The Birthday party, he began to work with the Bad Seeds.Cave blends religious mysticism and symbolism with tearful stories of lost love. Nick Cave describes human nature as both beautiful and ugly, suggesting that true love may lead to murder - and vice versa. Cave has managed to record twelve albums, from heavy rock n' roll to The Boatman´s call, which consists of  pure ballads, which by the way is an album dedicated to P J Harvey. (I think).

Nocturama - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds latest album. Review.  

On Nomore shall we part, Cave speaks of grotesque wonders as he opens his heart to a cruel world. On earlier albums he described the creatures that haunts a closed heart - according to me. Nomore shall he be alone, and that seems to be a sad fact. 

Further on, the many-sided Nicholas Edward Cave has written a couple of lyricbooks, King Ink and King Ink II with lyrics and texts from Birthday Party to Boatman´s call. In the 80s he wrote the widely discussed novel The Ass saw the Angel (written in Berlin under three years, also available on CD). A novel not easily read, yet interesting. His language reminds of William Blake (Blake with his Laughing Song and Cave with his Weeping Song) and maybe Poe (see literature). Nick Cave read William Blake's poem Infant Sorrow on BBC. in 1994. 

I strongly recommend his two lectures, The secret life of the love song and Flesh made word. In my opinion, these two texts are among the most beautiful ever written and I dare to say that they changed my life completely. Read more here. Cave catches a glimpse of the supernatural forces - God, love, literature, Jesus -  but they always disappears, leaving us abandoned. Nick Cave has  collaborated with many other artists, as for example Barry Adamson, Anita Lane, The Dirty Three and Mick Harvey. Further on, Nick Cave has made a wide range of covers - songs by Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, Tom Jones and Marc Almond. 

If you wish to listen to Nick Cave's inspirations , try The Original Bad Seeds. There are further on many bootlegs, of which Backside of the Cave shows another side of Nick Cave.

"Now I´ve been made weak by visions, many visions did I see all through the night..."

The official site - news, shopping and more
Nick Cave on-line  
Angel in Devil's boots
Nick Cave Collector's hell
Interesting article

LEONARD COHEN

Leonard Cohen has been singing and writing poetry since the 60s. His spectacular voice is recognized all over the world. Cohens music has been through a lot of changes, from classic guitar to electronic tunes. Cohen's relationship to God - central in all his songs and poems -  is characterized by seeking and brooding. Less steam and more contemplation compared to Nick Cave.

Cohen lived a rather turbulent life, from bottles of red wine to a buddistic abbey in later years. I think he has restarted his writing career. A new album was released this year, Ten New Songs. I think the album was a disappointment. Gone is the dark romanticist. I prefer the early songs from the 60s and 70s. One of his earlier works, Book of Mercy, gives an interesting background to Cohens lyrics. Before he became a famous singer/songwriter he wrote some fascinating novels - Beautiful losers and The Favourite game.

"Everybody knows that the plague is coming"

Leonard Cohen-files  
Official site

Costeau is a relatively young english band. A couple of years ago critics described their music in overwhelming ways - "if you haven't heard them, you haven't lived". The critics especially loved The last good day of the year. The lead singer reminds of Scott Walker vocally, and the band reminds of Tindersticks musically. Many sad songs. 

"Don't tell me that you get sick of living"

Crime and the City Solution is an Australian band from the late 70s.  The members are Mick Harvey, Simon Bonney (extraordinary voice in the Ian Curtis school), Chris Haas, Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubaten), Rowland Howard, Thomas Stern, Bronwyn Adams and Harry Howard. The music reminds of Joy Division, with a gothic overtone. The Last Dictator I - VI are masterpieces.

Warren Ellis (also a Bad Seed), Jim White and Mick Turner. The mainly instrumental Dirty Three have performed several times with Nick Cave, both live and in the studio. Cave sais that The dirty three are his main contemporary influence. Somewhere described as "folk-rock-punk drinking songs".

The Hungry ghosts may be a interesting band for the Dirty Three-fan. Alternative music from Melbourne with desertlike moods. Instrumental solemn music.

Official site

Drake recorded a few extraordinary songs in the 60s and 70s. Five leaves left is the best album, according to me. Drakes had a fragile singingvoice. Strings and other classical instruments lifted his dark stories to stunning heights. Nick Drake is regarded as a musical genious that composed immortal music for centuries to come. Drake's songs can't easily be compared with other musicians, but still there is a dark romanticism that probably influenced many others. Nick Drake was a fragile person, according to his relatives in A skin to few - the documentary by Jeroen Berkven - "without the extra skin that protects." Moreover, Drakes mother, Molly Drake, was also a singer/songwriter. 

Nick Drake files  

EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBATEN 
- BLIXA BARGELD -

SERGE GAINSBOURG 1928 - 1991

Gainsbourg, an early dark romanticist popular in the 60s and 70s, is today remembered for especially one song - Je T’aime...Moi Non Plus. A romantic duet with Gainsbourg's wife Jane Birkin. A song that actually was forbidden in many countries at the time. As the song turned into a huge success, it achieved acceptance. Groundbreaking.

Mick Harvey recorded his own version of the song. Gainsbourg and Birkin are replaced by Nick Cave and Anita Lane. Serge Gainsbourg was very creative under his lifetime and stayed up at night smoking and writing songs. La decadence is another masterpiece. Mabye Gainsbourg sung what his fellow countryman Baudelaire wrote. The both erased the border between romanticism and decadence.

Gainsbourgs  bar-music and sometimes rather decadent lyrics was  sensational in the 60s, as was his life, full of wimen and liquor. He is and was a national hero in France. He was regarded as an unusual talented artist, and at the same time he was extremely shy. In interviews he explained how important it was for a human being to hide behind somekind of shelter. Even though he proclaimed that everlasting love did not exist in his songs, everybody somehow knew what he really meant.

MICK HARVEY

Mick Harvey is one of the talented members of Bad Seeds and Crime and the City Solution. The solo career is not very far-reaching yet, but two albums will surely interest the Bad Seed-fan. He interpretes the work of Serge Gainsbourg on Pink Elephant (with the help of Nick Cave and Anita Lane among others) and Intoxicated Man. According to some better than the original. Mick Harvey wrote the soundtrack for the films Alta Marea and Vaterland and produced many of the Bad Seeds' albums. 

P J HARVEY

Polly Jean Harvey songs are filled wiht agony, even though she often claims the opposite. Her songs are very intense. She has worked with Nick Cave - Henry Lee among others - and even survived a romance with Cave. Nick Cave's Boatmans call might be dedicated to Polly Jean. 

LEE HAZLEWOOD

Hazlewood is a country-singer that composed several wonderful songs in the 70s. The music reminds of Leonard Cohen - everyday observations instead of religious seeking. Lee Hazlewood is Tindersticks great inspiration..  Hazlewood recorded a wide range of duets, with Nancy Sinatra and Nina Lizell just to mention a couple. You can find these songs on the collection The cowboy and the ladies.

In 1970 he produced a movie in Gotland, Cowboy in Sweden. The soundtrack i a masterpiece - don't miss the sensitive cover of Vem kan segla. Hazlewood's sings about whisky abuse and constantly broken hearts. There are also many humoristic portraits. Melodious country. His Farewell tour is probably the last chance to see this legend. 

"You won't find it on any map, but take a step in any direction and you're in Trouble".

JOY DIVISION 
- IAN CURTIS 1956 - 1980 -

Ian Curits was the singer in Joy Division, the real pioneer in music with gothic overtones. Joy Division has a unique sound,  a kind of melancholic punk  The music is colder than the theatrical gothic rock. Curtis dark voice was strongly style-forming at the time. Perhaps the only real dark romantic "icon". Watch the beautiful art from the album Closer here. Joy Division was the starting point in a new wave - New Order and The Smiths.

"Love will tear us apart..."

ANITA LANE

Anita Lane has collaborated with Nick Cave (the song Death is not the end and the album The world is a girl) Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson and Einstürzende Neubaten among others. She's walking a thin line. Her music can be hard to find in stores. I strongly recommend the song I'm a believer.  Cave's former girlfriend, if anyone cares. Perhaps the only real female gothic icon.

SISTERS OF MERCY 
- ANDREW ELDRITCH -

Lead singer and front figure in Sisters of Mercy (the name was taken from the Leonard Cohen song). There were new members in Sisters of Mercy - more of a project than a band - on every album, and the only one besides Eldritch that has stayed is the drum machine Dr Avalanche. One former member formed a similar band - Mission. 

Eldritch gave gothic rock music a face (even thouch the term was introduced in the mid 80s) in the late 70s and early 80s with Alice and Temple of Love. As his music became popular many followers (Love like blood, Rosetta Stone, Nosferatu...) copied the concept and added vampires. The gothic bands reminds of the Victorian bloods in 19th century. Gothic rock is not very serious today - the infatuation is lost. Many bands are extremely theatrical (maybe all dark romantics are, but Gothic bands lack the humour that characterize Nick Cave's performances). Swans, Bauhaus and Fields of the Nephilim are quite interesting, though. 

16 HORSEPOWER

16 horsepower is an American band. The vocalist/reverend has an unusually intense singing voice. Heavy rock/country. A dark sermon. Religion is the only consolation. Denver Gentlemen is an interesting band. Try to find The Partisan (originally by Leonard Cohen) by 16 Horsepower and Noir Desir. 16 Horsepower released Folklore recently, but I recommend Secret South.

TINDERSTICKS 
- STUART STAPLES -

Stuart Staples - a bar romantic - is vocalist and songwriter in Tindersticks, an english band that recently released their fifth album titled Can our love.... Minimalistic songs. Stylistic. Orchestral arrangements. In reviews, the main influences are often supposed to be Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood. Otis Redding and Solomon Burke ar probably inspirations as well. They have also recorded a couple of soundtracks. The first album won many awards. On the following albums they continued the musical journey towards the perfect sound. By the third and strongest album, Curtains, Staples said that the journey had ended - grey suits made to measure and perfect vocals.

The fourth album, Simple Pleasure, is a boring album, depending on taste. A strange blend of passion and melancholy. Depressing and beautiful. Dustbin is a bootleg outside the stores with early, odd material. Tindersticks are often compared to Nick Cave - one can only wonder why. According to me, Nick Cave describes the the obscure, supernatural world and Tindersticks the decadent natural world.. Staples first band was called Asphalt Ribbons. The early records may be hard to find in stores. The beautiful song Raindrops from the first Tindersticks-album was originally a song by Asphalt Ribbons, Big Silence. Tindersticks are often titled "The most gloomy bar-romanticists in England". 

"Those awkward little things, so endearing. Those awkward little things, wear on me."

The official site - webshop, pictures and more

TOM WAITS

In Coppolas Dracula you have probably seen Tom Wats as the man who eats flies. He also appears in movies like Down by law and Night on Earh. Waits remarkable whisky-voice can easily trigger an earthquake. Tom Waits is many-sided; his long career includes jazz, industrial, rock n' roll and some projects that can not easily be defined. His music is rough, yet sensitive. Rain Dogs is a melodious album - Downtown train is a Tom Waits song, better than Rod Stewart's awful version -

while Black Rider, written by Waits and William S Burroughs, is a more intricate project. Tindersticks honoured him with their version of Mockin' bird. The latest albums, Alice and Blood Money, is a step in the right direction, according to me. 

The official site - a short introduction
Tom Waits Supplement - rich site

SCOTT WALKER

Scott Walker inspired dussins of musicians - David Bowie (striking similarities in singing voices) and Nick Cave. Walker composed music in the 60s and 70s. He returned to the scene in the 90s with an industrial experiment. In the early 60s he wrote song with Walker Brothers, with hits such as The sun aint gonna shine anymore. Shortly after he started a solo career. Walker's lyrics are pathetic. Walker was a perfectionist and his songs are sometimes perhaps a little too polished. I recommend the songs No sad songs for me and If you go away.

OTHER

The musicians above are the most important dark romantics, according to me. There are of course maybe hundreds of other bands. Just to mention a few - Townes van Zandt, Randi Russo, Lambchop, Velvet Underground, Christian Death, Gallon Drunk, Cinerama, Beethoven, Frank Sinatra, Walkabouts, Divine Comedy, Carcrash International, The Damned, The Pogues, John Lee Hooker, Weeping Willows, Freddie Wadling...I am very thankful for hints.