News

Nick Cave publishes "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" as book, slams Mark E. Smith in the process

11:08 a.m. · June 18, 2008 · by Ethan Stanislawski

While there's very little doubt (in my mind, at least) that Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Dig, Lazarus Dig!!! is in the upper echelon of albums released so far in 2008, or that the title track is one of highlights of the album, Cave has apparently making sure we don't forget it. Cave will be publishing a 40-page book on the four-minute track, making 10 pages per minute of music the highest ratio of ink spilled per quantity of music since John Cage.

The book will consist of lyrics, photos, notes, an expanation of the song, and a 3" CD. It may sound a bit ridiculous to publish a book this large about 1 song, but then again, Cave has never been resistant to being described as ridiculous at any stage of his career. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, the book about the song, will be published on July 8.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the story is Cave's views on the books of his peers. When discussing his upcoming book on XFM, Cave ripped into fellow post-punk icon Mark E. Smith of the Fall, who recently published his autobiography:

"Have you read [Smith's autobiography] Renegade?" Cave asked. "It's sad. It's one of the most whingy, whiney and snivelling things I've ever read in my life. He's not a curmudgeon, but he snivels and moans and whines. I love him very much but he snivels. He should reach for the tissues!"

 It's not as if punk rockers haven't been making outlandish statements about fellow musicians of late (John Lydon anyone?), but rarely have than been made by punk rockers who happened to have released two of the best albums of the last 18 months. Let's see where Cave goes from here. [Guardian]