news is directly from the Mute website:
"Blixa Bargeld announces his departure from the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' guitarist Blixa Bargeld is to leave the band. As a member of the very first line up of The Bad Seeds, Bargeld has played alongside and recorded with Cave for almost 20 years.
Bargeld says, "This has been a very difficult decision for me and I have spent a great deal of time thinking about it. My leaving has nothing to do with artistic or personal differences with the band, I just feel it is time to concentrate on other creative areas in my life".
Bargeld's departure will enable him to devote more time to his varied and expanding list of projects and interests outside of The Bad Seeds including fronting Einstürzende Neubauten and his work in film and theatre.
Nick Cave says, "We have parted as friends and we will miss him dearly".
Mick Harvey, also a founding member of the band, adds "Blixa is irreplaceable, sadly we'll have to learn to get along without him".
The Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds shows currently scheduled for early summer will proceed as planned, but without Bargeld."
The shows that they are refering to are all overseas. I am very sad to see Blixa leave the band as he added so much and will really be quite impossible to replace. On the plus side, this may mean more frequent Einsturzende Neubauten releases, but I really had not noticed a lack of recording on their part. I really do wish Blixa would still record with Nick, and just take himself out of the tours, but there you go.