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Thursday 3 October 2024

Heathen Child

In 2010 Nick Cave's Bad Seeds offshoot Grinderman released their second album, Grinderman 2. Grinderman was very much a chance to do something away from the sometimes heavy expectations and history of the Bad Seeds, to play and have a little fun, 'less narrative' and 'more impressionistic' according to Nick. The first single from the album was Heathen Child and the video was not a standard Nick Cave piece of filmmaking... 

'Hey little Momo/ Light as a rainbow/ Heavy as an asteroid/ Sitting in the bath tub'. A girl in a very milky looking bathtub. A wolf. Nick, Warren, Jim and Martyn dressed as Greek warriors. Laser beams blasting from eyes. Asteroids. Dancing. Horror. Sci fi. A smoke monster. Machine guns. Dancing. The wolfman. 

Heathen Child (Radio Edit)

Musically the blasts of distorted electric guitar and primitive drums are a garage punk thrill, as are the explosive, noisy choruses. It sounds like everyone had a good time making it. 

There was a limited edition 12" single with an alternate take of the song with Robert Fripp on additional guitar- slightly longer, a bit gnarlier and more heathen. 

Super Heathen Child

More? There was also an Andrew Weatherall remix, Andrew and Timothy J. Fairplay stripping Grinderman down to the basics and extending them out; some drums, isolated bits of Nick's vocal, percussion and laser beams and a large wobbly synth bassline. 

Heathen Child (Andrew Weatherall Bass Mix)


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