Free Republic

Australian rocker Nick Cave said his modern mode of “f–king with people” consists of going to church and being a conservative. The singer-songwriter told UnHerd podcast host Freddie Sayers last week that he has always differed from his punk rock peers because he was more interested in infuriating the public than bucking “against the establishment.” “I was never that. I was much more concerned with irritating my peers … and my audience, and by what I mean by irritating is, is to sort of ignite their imaginations, and get them thinking about things and challenge them about things and this...

Nick Cave, the seminal Australian rock figure who helmed the Bad Seeds, had plenty to say about ChatGPT, the text-based chat tech developed by buzzy San Francisco startup OpenAI. In a letter published Monday in his "The Red Hand Files" newsletter, Cave talked about the humanity of art, the “emerging horror of AI” and ChatGPT’s “grotesque mockery” of his oeuvre. A New Zealand-based fan sent him a song “written” by the already notorious bot in the style of Cave’s work. To say that the songwriter was unhappy with the song would be underselling his fury. Cave begins by noting that...

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) called the concerts "a propaganda gift to Israeli apartheid.” Despite the best efforts of Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Thurston Moore, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and other Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) supporters, Nick Cave has played one concert in Tel Aviv and is scheduled to play another tonight. The dates are a continuation of an otherwise-Euro tour, and the Israeli headlines praising Cave are already flooding the internet with joy at the artist’s sanction breakthrough. The prince of darkness appeared at a press conference yesterday to explain...

Nick Cave, the dark poet of rock, on Sunday accused the anti-Israel boycott movement of trying to bully musicians and said he was taking a “principled stand” by performing in the country. The Australian artist, known for music that can be both melancholic and uplifting, is popular in Israel and is set to perform a pair of nearly sold-out shows. At a news conference, Cave spoke about the pressure on artists by the international movement that seeks to ostracize Israel by lobbying corporations, performers and academic institutions to sever ties with the Jewish state. He said record producer Brian Eno...