Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds—The Videos

On this DVD compilation of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds promotional “films,” the directors offer cheesy, ham-handed visuals (“Where the Wild Roses Grow”—sung w/Kylie Minogue), boring/ lackluster standing around (“The Weeping Song” and several others) and so-bad-it’s-funny Sprockets-style imagery (“Red Right Hand”) mostly succeding in sucking the emotional power out of the songs. The Emma Davis-directed “Stagger Lee” is great though—sort of a homoerotic American Bandstand, with Cave, in a tight pink shirt, singing his murderous/pornographic version of the standard with the band, on a tropical-themed bandstand, passionately chugging out the biting rhythm as two male go-go dancers shimmy on pedestals out front. “Into My Arms,” directed by Jonathan Glazer, takes a chance, eschewing a literal translation of Cave’s love song in favor of creating an emotional impact by simply showing a multicultural series of faces struggling (and failing) to keep from crying. Cameos by P.J. Harvey and Shane McGowan are fun, but just buy the Best of CD.