Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' 1996 album Murder Ballads is treated to a retrospective 'making of' documentary. With Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Kylie Minogue.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2008
Great Australian Albums: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' Murder Ballads 2008
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ 1996 album Murder Ballads is a richly gruesome and musically gorgeous landmark in Cave’s illustrious career. It’s a fitting subject for a retrospective ‘making of’ in Mushroom Pictures’ Great Australian Albums series. The idea of an entire album dedicated to murder apparently started as a joke. Nobody was prepared for its popular success triggered by Cave’s pairing with pop princess Kylie Minogue on "Where the Wild Roses Grow". (The two are seen here melting down the set on Top of the Pops.) The film is packed with familiar music clips – that brooding pas de deux with PJ Harvey – and with less familiar snippets from The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party. There are interviews with a genial Mr Cave, the ever game Kylie, Bad Seeds old and new, former collaborators, music critics and other observant bystanders as the film takes us through the tracks, exploring the origins and evolution of each song. — BG