Idiot Prayer - Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by blair207, Nov 20, 2020.

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  1. blair207

    blair207 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fife, Scotland
    This is out today on all formats. I thought there would already be a thread for this but can’t find one. Heard some of this on BBC 6 last week and it sounded great. I would be interested to hear how the vinyl sounds if anyone has it yet.
     
    Swann36, timind and Geee! like this.
  2. Sordel

    Sordel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Switzerland
    It seems to have crept up on us and it certainly deserves some attention. Personally I'll be waiting for a Blu-ray before actually buying it, but it's on streaming services and my first impression is that it's going to become a firm favourite of a particular type of Nick Cave fan and will become Exhibit A in the prosecution for many of his detractors. File under: Morose Introspection.
     
  3. Dylan75

    Dylan75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Belgium
    Would be interested in this too. Also what download format comes with the vinyl? KCRW, Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen all had MP3 which is kind of a pity. Hope they made the switch to a lossless format for this Idiot Prayer.
     
  4. Geezee

    Geezee Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    It's was very good. I did feel that it was a bit of a shame that it wasn't done "live" when it was originally broadcast but it's clear they wanted to do something very different, with high production values and an almost narrative-like filming - but what I really miss from music is the live experience and I'm more interested in the various broadcasts many artists are putting together with a warts and all approach. Also, since I live very close to Alexandra Palace it would've felt like I could reach out and touch the event.

    There was a great "merch booth" with the concert, including an "Idiot Prayer - I was not there" T-shirt which I felt like I had to get! You have to hand it to him - he knows how to do the commercial side of the business.
     
    ChoonyFish likes this.
  5. Bryce

    Bryce I drank what?

    Location:
    New York City
    I wish he had played more Ghosteen tracks. That album, his best imo, was woefully underrepresented in the set.
     
    Leugi likes this.
  6. Geezee

    Geezee Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I was very happy there weren't many songs from Ghosteen - I really didn't bond with the album and I've only liked a handful of his tracks since No More Shall We Part (which to my mind is his best). Skeleton Tree was very good mind. I guess the whole concept of the Ally Pally gig was a career retrospective rather than his latest material so he was trying to pick and choose.
     
    shug4476 and Bryce like this.
  7. erowid

    erowid Die unerträgliche Leichtigkeit des Seins

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    Vinyl spinning right now. Unfortunately, sides 1 and 4 are very noisy, which totally kills the atmosphere of this otherwise wonderful recording!
    It also doesn't help that the record shop I got it from had to close today due to the new hard lockdown laws of my country - no chance for an record exchange until mid December.
    Hope others got better pressings. Maybe I'll give it another try via amazon then.
     
    DuctTapeTheory likes this.
  8. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
    i got the cd set on Wednesday , was out earlier at my local shop via click and collect .
    its really good but quite long and hard to digest all at once , you have to be in the mood i guess .
    Nick's notes mention that he was considering revisiting old songs anyway before Covid.
    Jubilee Street could be played on a ukulele and would still be menacing and majestic .
     
    Leugi likes this.
  9. Jesus Jeronimo

    Jesus Jeronimo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madrid
    Listening now on Tidal and to me it is a SUPERB album. Just ordered the CD (I am sick of new vinyl prices + quality).

    J
     
    shug4476 and blair207 like this.
  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    If a bluray comes out I will probably get it...
    I'm still waiting for Distant Sky though, so I'm not holding my breath
     
    Dylan75 likes this.
  11. InsideTheMuseums

    InsideTheMuseums Heard it

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I do agree with what's mentioned above about the sound. I'm now listening to record 1, side B, and there's certainly room for improvement. After all the Fazioli piano hullabaloo that was discussed at The Red Hand Files (*), my expectations about the sound of this record were pretty high. And now that I'm finally listening, it seems quite muffled to me.

    I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I'm not convinced about it.

    Music is wonderful, though.

    (*)
    Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #107 - The piano you played for Idiot Prayer was magnificent. Was it a personal instrument, or is this just the kind of thing people put in front of one when they go places? The Red Hand Files
    Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #107 pt. 2
    - The Red Hand Files
     
  12. TheWarmth

    TheWarmth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Hmmm ... I listened to the first two sides and didn't notice any noise issues. I'll probably listen to more of it tonight. I saw Supergrass in March at Alexandra Palace before Covid got bad and had a great time, so it's easy for me to picture Cave at the piano in the middle of the room.
     
    Neonbeam likes this.
  13. BradB

    BradB Birth.Music.Death?

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    I also would like a proper DVD/Blu-Ray release of both of these! I'll probably still buy 'Idiot Prayer' on CD but seems like a waste to go through the effort of filming, recording, authoring, etc. to broadcast these 2 concerts but then not capitalize on the efforts with a physical release. I have all of Nick's other official DVD releases so far and a couple good bootlegs as well, so holding out for 'Distant' and 'Idiot' to follow suit. Someone notify Nick about our request on this forum!
     
  14. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Same.
    I sure hope they come out....
     
    Dylan75 likes this.
  15. Totti is god

    Totti is god Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    great album
     
    Dylan75 likes this.
  16. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
  17. Sordel

    Sordel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Switzerland
    Yikes ... I didn't even know that there were new pianos that cost £200K ... that's crazy money. :yikes:
     
    InsideTheMuseums likes this.
  18. OneLife

    OneLife There’s Bowie, & then everybody else

    Location:
    Tyne and Wear, UK
    Had two vinyl copies, both awful pressings, crackles and ‘static distortion’ (not sure how to explain the noise!) peppered throughout all 4 sides. Cleaned twice on an Okki Nokki. Going back and will get the cd, most annoying. I remember the same thing for Skeleton Tree.
     
  19. This Heat

    This Heat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Yes, listening now. Terrible pressing: pops and swooshes everywhere. I'll probably get rid of the vinyl and buy the high-rez files.
     
  20. erowid

    erowid Die unerträgliche Leichtigkeit des Seins

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    It's really a shame as both the concert and the recording are stunning. And all I got for 32 euros is a ****ty pressing that could hardly go for vg, even though its in mint condition. I skipped the mp3 download code and I'm now enjoying a proper digital flac transfer I grabbed from the Internet. Sounds so much better. The previous Nick Cave album was also a very silent, introspective affair - yet the vinyl version sounded wonderfully done, free of unwanted noises and full of life. I wonder why they decided to ruin this release for the vinyl crowd.
     
  21. Dylan75

    Dylan75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Belgium
    His recent releases seem to have these bad vinyl pressings all in common. Recall that Distant Sky wasn’t flawless neither.
     
  22. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Yeah, they even got the title wrong! :biglaugh:
     
    obi likes this.
  23. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    Being a vinyl listener seems like a nightmare. Viva la CD!
     
    madsurfer, lonelysea and dlemaudit like this.
  24. Echo

    Echo Forum Resident

    Is the cd in a jewel case or in a cheap digisleeve? In the last case the cd is neither perfect....
     
  25. redeyedandblue

    redeyedandblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    My copy is fine. Few isolated ticks and pops and a very little bit of crackle here and there, but nothing too distracting (and I’m a child of the CD age, so consider myself relatively intolerant of such things).

    So decent copies are out there, but appears it’s luck of the draw whether you get one. Bit of a shame, really - presumed they’d learned some lessons about vinyl pressing after the hash they initially made of Skeleton Tree, but it appears not.
     
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