Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

I've really been diggin' on The Assassination of Jesse James...soundtrack, by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (violinist from Dirty Three).  I don't know if this is a proper, formal soundtrack; the album says "music from the motion picture."  This is another good wintery, rainy day selection.  Very sparse instrumentation, some piano, some strings, minimalist and melodic.  I'd say this album was "haunting" if it didn't make me sound like an idiot.

I also just picked up Dig Lazarus, Dig!!!, with the Bad Seeds.  I know this made a lot of top tens at year end; a couple of listens and so far so good.  I haven't quite wrapped myself around the vibe yet, but this is the first album in a while that I want to listen to twice in a row.  It's kind of amazing how Nick Cave has transformed himself into this grand old ambassador of musical craftsmanship, and is now in the Tom Waits/David Byrne sort of pantheon - the old school guy who is constantly able to reinvent and stay way beyond relevant.