In Nick Cave’s latest Red Hand Files post, he alludes to a previous collaboration.
Nick Cave has shared details of an intriguing collaboration with the Brooklyn hip-hop group Flatbush Zombies. In the latest edition of The Red Hand Files online question-and-answer forum The Bad Seeds frontman responded to one fan’s question about the politics of artist merchandising but took a detour to note that he once linked up with Zombies to create a “wild and fucked-up piece of hip-hop” that neither has released.
The post reads: “I also own a very beautiful Flatbush Zombies T-shirt, bought around the release of their first album. A few years ago the Zombies and I attempted a collaboration and I sent them my version of the T. Rex classic, Cosmic Dancer. They said they ‘could not relate to it’ but they radically pitch-shifted my voice, sampled it and used it anyway.”
Cave also details some of his other favourite merch in the post, which includes an ancient Sonic Youth Goo T-shirt, a David Tibet tote bag, a suspected Beyoncé bootleg shirt and his “most treasured” item, an original Elvis Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite tee.
The artist concludes with a quip about his workout regime: “When I do Jane Fonda’s Workout with my wife, I wear a pair of Radiohead compression socks, RiRi sweatpants, a Leather Nun T-shirt and a Dire Straits headband. I am a star jumping, butt clenching dervish of banality and exploitation.”
Last week in another Red Hand Files post, Cave hinted that his old band Grinderman might be returning with a new album. He called their first two albums “part of a yet to be completed trilogy.”
Read Cave’s latest post on The Red Hand Files.