Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Add Date: February 19 

Artist: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 

Album: Push the Sky Away 

Label: Bad Seed Ltd 

Genre: Rock, folk, alt-pop 

Comments: Nick Cave has, undeniably, one of the most memorable and moving voices in modern music; that statement holds true whether we're talking about his unique delivery, or his status as one of the premier songwriters of, well, all time. And while Cave's efficacy as a frontman has been on display in many different capacities over the years, from the post-punk of The Birthday Party to the psychedelic blues head trip that is Grinderman, his lyricism and haunting singing seem best suited to the long-running Bad Seeds project.

Push the Sky Away is the 15th Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds record--and the first since 2008's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!--and it's a powerful collection of folk-tinged compositions. Cave's storytelling is equal parts poetic and powerful, covering topics that include mermaids, Robert Johnson, Wikipedia and Hannah Montana (really); he even writes and sings about writing and singing other songs on the album: "Finishing Jubilee Street" is, at least at the start, about finishing "Jubilee Street". That's so meta, right? Anyhow, the wonderful work of the Bad Seeds, with multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis--who helped to compose all of the music here--allows Cave to realize his vision, however outré it may be.

Another excellent effort from this Australian legend--try tracks 1, 3, 4, 9 and 6.