NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS : "Live Seeds" (Mute)

Lo and behold, Nick the magnificent is back! Spread the news. Behind him, see his band of merry musicians, The Bad Seeds. Here to entertain us they are. But beware. A rumour goes about that he is a dark messenger, that his words and melodies will lure away our souls. Let them!

Nick Cave rides resplendent over popular music. This song-and-dance man tells stories which chill the blood as it weaves to the rhythm. But do you know what makes Nick Cave so utterly fucking magnificent? His melodies. The fact that he is a supremely imaginative poet is the dessert. The meal is to be found in his melodies.

Live Seeds - compiled from their 1992/93 tours of Europe and Australia - is as wonderful a testament to the (black) magic of Nick and The Seeds as you could hope for. Grandiose, sprawling music circles the hot core of a classic melody. Through this swirling medium floats Nick's sweet and sour night-time voice.

We begin with 'The Mercy Seat' from what would be my favourite of his albums, Tender Prey. It a story of a man condemned to bide his time on Death Row. "Into the mercy seat I climb/My head is shaved, my head is wired/And like a moth that tries/To enter the bright eye/I go shuffling out of life/Just to hide in death a while/And anyway I never lied." From the same album we also get 'Deanna' and 'New Morning.' From The Good Son we get the title track, 'The Ship Song' and 'The Weeping Song.' From his last studio album, Henry's Dream, we get 'Papa Won't Leave You Henry,' 'John Finn's Wife,' 'Brother My Cup Is Empty,' and 'Jack The Ripper.'

From his first two albums, we only get two tracks: the title track - and crowd favourite - from From Her To Eternity, and 'Tupelo' from The Firstborn Is Dead. 'Tupelo' is an extraordinary song, moulded from a John Lee Hooker blues number, 'Tupelo', about a great flood there, and from the story of Elvis' twin dying at birth. Its live rendition sends shivers up and down the spine. 'Plain Gold Ring' is a cover - done previously by Nina Simone. But if I hadn't known that, I would have been sure it was his own, because everything our Nick touches he possesses. (Check out his album of covers, Kicking Against The Pricks.)

I would have two minor complaints about Live Seeds. Firstly, it leans a bit to heavily towards his recent albums. More from the first two albums would have given a better historical balance. Secondly, 'The Carny' from Your Funeral, My Trial, is missing. That's an awful pity, because he has never composed a better tale than that circus of the ridiculous.

What the fuck, these are minor grouches. Live Seeds, along with its elegant accompanying book of black and white tour photos, has magic in its every ingredient. It pisses, shites, spits, sneers, laughs and lords it over your Nirvana's and your Suede's. It is above and beyond and wherever the hell else it's worth being. Buy it and reap!

• Gerry McGovern