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I’ve always had an obligation to creation, above all.
~Ñick Cave

People think I’m a miserable sod but it’s only because I get asked such bloody miserable questions.
~Ñick Cave

From Wikipedia:

Released	20 September 2004
Recorded	March–April 2004 at Studio Ferber in Paris, France
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	82:30
Label	Mute
Producer	Nick Launay

Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is the thirteenth studio album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 20 September 2004 on Mute Records. It is a double album with a total of seventeen songs—nine on Abattoir Bluesand eight on The Lyre of Orpheus.

The album was produced by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in March–April 2004 and Nick Cave used The Bad Seeds line up of Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, and James Johnston. It was the first album by the group for which Blixa Bargeld did not perform – English guitarist and organist Johnston, of the group Gallon Drunk, replaced Bargeld. Cave decided to split drumming duties for the two parts, with Sclavunos on Abattoir Blues and Wydler on The Lyre of Orpheus. According to Launay, the whole album was completed in twelve days.

The album’s release was supported by the Abattoir Blues Tour, which travelled through Europe from 2 November to 5 December. In January 2007 a double live album and DVD was issued as The Abattoir Blues Tour. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus’s last track, “O Children”, was featured in the 2010 film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and the song is referenced as an achievement in Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. In March 2005, to complement the success of the double album, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released B-Sides & Rarities, three-disc, 56-track collection of B-sides, rarities, and tracks that had appeared on film soundtracks.

From allmusic.com – Thom Jurek:

When Blixa Bargeld left Nick Cave‘s Bad Seeds, who would have predicted his departure would result in one of the finest offerings in the band’s catalog? Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is double CD or, rather, two completely different albums packaged in one very handsome box with a stylish lyric booklet and subtly colored pastel sleeves. They were recorded in a total of 16 days by producer Nick Launay (Kate Bush, Midnight Oil, Girls Against Boys, Silverchair, INXS, Virgin Prunes, et al.). Abbatoir Blues, the first disc in the set (packaged in pink, of course), is rock & roll record. Yeah, the same guy who released theBoatman’s Call, No More Shall We Part, and Nocturama albums has turned in pathos-drenched, volume-cranked rocker, full of crunch, punishment — and taste. Drummer Jim Sclavunos‘ aggressive, propulsive kit work is the bedrock of this set. It and Mick Harvey‘s storm-squall guitar playing shake things loose on “Get Ready for Love,” which opens the album. As Cave goes right for God in the refrain — “get ready for love” — in the maelstrom, a gospel choir roaring “praise Him” responds. His tense, ambivalent obsession with theology is pervasive; he mocks the Western perception of God in the heavens yet seeks the mystery of His nature. … read more @ allmusic

Personnel:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• Nick Cave – vocals, piano, production, mixing
• Mick Harvey – guitar, production, mixing
• Warren Ellis – violin, mandolin, bouzouki, flute, production, mixing
• Martyn P. Casey – bass, production
• Conway Savage – piano, production
• James Johnston – organ
• Jim Sclavunos – drums, percussion, production on Abbattoir Blues
• Thomas Wydler – drums, percussion, production on The Lyre of Orpheus

Other September 20:

• Steve Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago,Illinois. The writer of “City of New Orleans“, made popular by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.

-Egil