Baker's Dozen: J Mascis On His 13 Favourite Records | Page 13 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

12. The Birthday Party – The Bad Seed

Again, this was another right-place right-time album for me. It was a good stepping stone out of hardcore. It filled this hole that I had. It was like, ‘Hardcore is dead but I still want to listen to music. What else is there?’. And although it wasn’t hardcore, it was so crazy, and noisy, and heavy. It seemed to resonate with a lot of people who were into hardcore – it seemed like a big record for that scene to move onto. I was totally into Nick Cave: he was a fashion icon, and someone to look up to at the time. I probably prefer The Birthday Party to the Bad Seeds; I like some Bad Seeds, but it’s more and more of him playing the piano, I guess. I do like a lot of it, but it’s just not as important to me.

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