A documentary about the soundsystem scene in Britain? Heavy dubs? Toasting? Reggae? Count me in! To be honest, I don't know more than what's in this trailer... if it's out and released, I'd love to see it. We'll get more news on this or alternatively, wait for a reader whose in the know to tell us in the comments. Oh, and it's called 'Musically Mad'.
A dark film about a dark era - but Chris Petit's Radio On is an incredibly striking movie, a fine period piece and arguably one of the finest road movies ever to come out of the UK.
It's a British movie, but with an undeniably German feel - hardly surprising with Wim Wenders pushing things along on the production side and Wenders collaborator Martin Schafer dealing with the monochrome photography. But it is a film very much about life in Britain, capturing the country at the dawn of Thatcherism - in the grip of economic and social decline.
The loose plot (with very sparse dialogue) follows Robert (David Beames), a London DJ who receives news of his brother's mysterious death. At a crossroads in both his personal and professional life, he takes to the road - heading for Bristol to find out the truth behind his death. On his way, he meets people as lost as himself - a squaddie on leave of duty from Northern Ireland, a wannabe rock star (played by Sting) and a German woman (Ingrid - Lisa Kreuzer) on the hunt for her child. All soundtracked by one of the finest selections of music ever compiled for as movie - including Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Devo, Robert Fripp and Wreckless Eric. Does he find out the truth behind his brother's death? Not really - but he does come to the end of the line as the plot jumps from whodunnit to a tale of a man (like many at the time) struggling to find direction in his life.
US readers... read this. A documentary called Wanda Jackson - The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice will be on the Smithsonian Channel May 18th at 9pm Eastern. UK readers, be mightily depressed that you don't have access to American TV. We can only hope that someone sticks it online or something so we can all dig one of the most underrated artists in the history of rock 'n' roll music. Now, after watching this video, go and dig out 'Funnel of Love' and shimmy like your life depends on it.
Mira Calix, first lady of modern electronics,
is to work with Augusto Contento, director of the film Onibus. Their project, also called Onibus, will see Mira Calix performing at Evolution Festival at Leeds Town Hall and the National Centre for Early Music in York.
The live performance will feature a film score performed for a screening of the film, with musicians Peter Sparks, Mark Norman, Oliver Coates and Mira Calix. "This unique performance weaves a hauntingly beautiful score for clarinet, marimba, cello and laptop around a trip into the depths of the Brazilian land and people," reads the Opera North web site, who commissioned the project. Mira Calix has performed with Radiohead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Aphex Twin, if you need a point of reference. If you need another, there's a video waiting for you over the jump.
Continue reading "Mira Calix to perform live film soundtrack" »
Man! I need to get me to Vegas. Not only can I watch the lizards in Circus Circus and maybe get someone to drop the melon in the bath with me when White Rabbit peaks, but I can also get over to The CineVegas film festival.
The film festival has announced it's line-up and one of the main films is an intriguing documentary on Sonic Youth, called "Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake." Produced by non-profit filmmaking patrons Project Moonshine, the twist with this digi-vid doc was that it was shot entirely by seven high school students and featuring interviews, backstage footage, and 10 songs that were filmed live in Reno, Nevada on back in July 2006. The other films stink of rock 'n' roll too...
Oh boy! Oh boy! Look at this! This is the first preview of Neil Young's 'Archives' and, as expected, it looks awesome. If you don't know what we're talking about, scroll down for the 'Archives' article, or, if you're in a particularly lazy mood, click here.
One of my earliest childhood memories is being dragged into Manchester by my parents - and being ever-so-slightly scared by the decaying warehouses and factories, the disused Manchester Central railway station and the concrete monstrosities that made up the actual centre. It was grim beyond belief. But that decaying, depressing and hopeless environment produced one of Manchester's most iconic bands and the basis of this self-titled documentary - Joy Division.
Yes, with Control barely out of the cinema, here's another Joy Division story to replace it. But if you are a fan of the band, this is one you really need to see. Why? Well, it's all about the detail.
About time too! The Rolling Stones '69 US tour doc' Gimme Shelter is to get it's DVD release this August.
Continue reading "Rolling Stones' 'Gimme Shelter' to finally see DVD release" »
First he's supposed to have recorded a version of the Welsh national anthem, and now, Jimi Hendrix is supposed to be in a sex tape. Yep. You heard. Vivid Entertainment plans to release what it claims is a sex tape featuring the legendary axeman.
The film shows a man in the nip, who resembles Hendrix, wearing a bandana and having sex with two brunettes in a dimly-lit room. His face appears on screen for only a few seconds, while in other segments, there are flashes of his profile. The film has no audio, reports The New York Times.
Vivid Entertainment, a large maker of mucky flicks, has created a 45-minute DVD, called 'Jimi Hendrix - The Sex Tape' that combines 11 minutes of sex footage with a retrospective of Hendrix's career in the '60s. Vivid, if you're wondering, are the company that put out the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee vid back in the 90s. This Jimi tape will retail at $39.95.
Of course, there are loads of people disputing the fact that this is Jimi at all...
The British folk revival stumbles on as Flipside unearths two obscure, genuinely creepy ‘70s folk tales on Friday 2nd May and plays a few folkie tunes too under the title Sinister Folk.
Robin Redbreast (Play For Today 1970)
Smart urban divorcee Norah gets more than she bargained for when she retreats to a remote house in the country. Toyed with by some very curious locals who know more than they let on, Norah soon finds herself the unwilling participant in shocking traditions both ancient and frightening.
Murrain (Against The Crowd) (ATV 1975)
When a mysterious virus plagues local pigs and a family goes sick, panicking farmers blame a frail old woman - the ‘witch’ that lives up the lane. An idealistic young doctor from the city tries to dispel the rumours. Taut, intelligent, convincing, written by legendary Quatermass creator, Nigel Kneale.
Afterwards, Resonance FM DJs Jonny Trunk (Trunk Records) and Nervous Stephen (Murri) will be spinning 'dark folk ditties' on black vinyl in Benugo. Tickets for the whole event cost £8.60.
Book tickets at the BFI website
Via Cinedelica
If you are a fan of the band, you might want to get yourself down to the Curzon Soho in London for a screening of Joy Division.
Joy Division looks at the band through never-before-seen live performance footage, personal photos, period films and newly discovered audiotapes, with contributions from Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, as well as the late Tony Wilson, Factory Records graphic artist Peter Saville, photographer/filmmaker Anton Corbijn and Belgian journalist Annik Honoré (speaking for the first time about her relationship with Ian Curtis) the film is described as a 'fresh visual account of a unique time and place'.
If that's not enough, Joy Division drummer Stephen Morris and writer Jon Savage will be on hand to take questions. It's on Thursday 24th April, starting at 6:30pm.
Find out more and order tickets at the Cuezon website
Via Retro To Go
Y'know sumthin'? It's pretty difficult to find a picture of Bob Marley looking cool. He's always adorning cheap-ass weed tins or being remembered in horrendous pencil drawings by fans. Well, maybe a better way of remembering the only man who ever made a reggae record is via a new flick by Martin Scorsese.
The critically acclaimed Oscar winning director’s (c/o everyone who has ever written an article about Scorsese) new film will be the first full licensed adaptation of Marley's life. The film is scheduled for a 2010 release and follows the news that another Bob Marley biopic is currently being produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein and takes inspiration from the memoirs of Bob Marley’s wife, Rita.
Rumours are circulating that Lauren Hill could be in line to play Rita in this Wienstein production which is being directed by Rudy Langlais.
A new documentary, Love Story will tell the tale of Arthur Lee and his band Love. The film will feature extensive interviews with Lee, band members Johnny Echols, Michael Stuart, Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer, Bryan Maclean, Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman, The Doors' John Densmore, producer Bruce Botnick, as well as testimonials from Bobby Gillespie, Mani, Shack's John Head and... Ken Livingstone. You read right.
Click here for more info on the film and a whole heap of videos from the doc'.
Portishead are stupidly active at the moment. They do nothing for years and years and then, BAM, it's leaked tunes, new records, news of gigs... and now... some weird little viral films (don't worry, that doesn't mean they'll knacker your computer up, it's just a media term used by bozos like me).
The first (click here) is a weird cut 'n' paste job whilst the second (click here) is barely worth watching as it's a big animated Portishead 'P' logo.
If you're after something a little more substantial, click here, to see the new video for their track 'Machine Gun'. Interestingly enough, it seems like Geoff Barrow is playing some kind of Kraftwerk drumpad throughout. I want one!
Siouxsie and the Banshees co-founder Steven Severin, once punk and now floating head in space, is to play a rare solo show in Edinburgh this May.
The show at the Voodoo Rooms (May 3) will see Severin perform two sets, the first being the premiere of his brand new score to 1928's surreal classic film 'The Seashell and the Clergyman'.
The film, once banned as you like, will be projected at Severin's show alongside the live score.
The second set will see the musician play a selction of his scores to short films by Aura Satz, Bruno Forzani and Helene Cattet. The past few years has seen the former Banshee publish a collection of poetry 'The Twelve Revelations' as well as oversee the remastering of the Banshees back catalogue as well as writing TV and film scores. Expect zero punk.
Sigur Ros will become the latest act to takeover YouTube tomorrow (7 Mar) and the group will use the opportunity to stream their feature-length documentary Heima in its entirety.
As well as the 97 minutes of the film, the band will use the rest of their 24 hours in control of the popular video site to play selector, hosting ten fan videos on a frontpage that’s used by hundreds of millions of people.
The ten videos have been made as entries for a YouTube-based competition to find the best fan interpretations of Heima, winners chosen by the Icelandic quartet who will also record a video message for the takeover. “Like all Icelanders we are intensely proud of our mighty homeland in the far North Atlantic,” the band’s Georg Holm said. “It is in our Viking blood to want to conquer nations and peoples, but our longboat was in the repair shop having the barnacles removed, so we just made a film to send out into the world on our behalf instead. It turned out all right in the end, and lots of people have already enjoyed it. Now it's your turn. And a special thanks to everyone who entered the Minn Heima competition."
The Beastie Boys, MCA, Mike D. and Ad-Rock are working on a new album, recording at the Beastie Boys‘ Oscilloscope Studios in lower Manhattan. “It’s in the early stages of development, but it sounds cool to me,” says Adam Yauch. Now, I like the Beasties best when they're too cool to smile in photographs, so I'm hoping for Check Your Head styled fuzziness as opposed to the cleanliness of Hello Nasty.
Anyway, aside from the new soundz, Yauch spoke of his new side project, Oscilloscope Pictures, which is a small film distribution company that he launched earlier this month. He’s already looking at “a handful” of films, saying, “There are cool, interesting films that fall between genres that the larger companies might not be not looking to distribute.” Yauch says he sees the new company as a “small indie label,” adding that he’s learned some lessons from his experience with the Beasties’ defunct Grand Royal imprint. “There’s a danger of getting too much overhead going,” he said. This time around, “a big part of the idea is to do everything in-house - the artwork, the DVD covers, posters, that kind of stuff.” Please can we have some B-Movies? Cheers.
London's Barbican centre is hosting The Harder They Come season, celebrating the best of Jamaican cinema.
In terms of movies, The Harder They Come is obviously heading things up, followed by director Perry Henzell's follow-up movie, No Place Like Home, 70s cult classic Rockers, Smile Orange from 1976 and recent flick One Love. Also featured in the season is the stage version of The Harder They Come and a live show headed up by Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Full details are on the Barbican site, with the season kicking off on 6th March.
When I hear the word 'Juno' I always think of that brilliant squelchy analogue synthesizer which has graced so many fabulous records. Looking on the internet for a picture of one, turns out that there is a Japanese model who goes by the same name... and she jus' loves to flash her chest it seems.
Now, there is a third Juno, notably, the film that is making every single critic in the movie world weep. Apparently, it's very good. Apparently, I can't be bothered to go and watch it. Regardless, the film hits the cinema screens today (Feb 8) and to coincide with the theatrical release, the soundtrack is coming out too.
The soundtrack is currently selling rather well in the states, sitting at the top of the Billboard charts... so you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's full of hairspray metal and mink coat rap. Not so. The track listing reads pretty well with the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and The Kinks featuring. Not only that, but Kimya Dawson from The Moldy Peaches gets a look in too. Read over if you wanna know more.
The Mighty Boosh - the Menswear (the band, not the clothes) of comedy - are amongst the first artists announced for this year's Big Chill festival.
Norman Jay is set to play some records and ambient noodlers, the Thievery Corporation have also been confirmed for the festival which takes place from August 1-3 at Eastnor Castle Deer Park in the Malvern Hills.
Information about the Big Chill and tickets are available from: www.bigchill.net/festival.html
Meanwhile, if you want to meet the cast of The Mighty Boosh, get your knickers ready for February 11th as Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt will be at the store from 12.30pm, along with Rich Fulcher (Bob Fossil), Dave Brown (Bollo) and Mike Fielding (Naboo) will be signing DVD copies of the third series of the show at HMV Oxford Street next Monday. Personally, I'd go down with some petrol bombs if I were you.
For me, Chess Records is the most iconic of all Americas record labels. Motown, Sun and Stax are more famous, but the real deal lies is the rooks and checkmates. There's so many amazing Chess releases... Muddy Waters, Etta James, Rotary Connection, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley... hell... Rocket 88 (regarded as the first rock 'n' roll single ever) was a Chess piece!
And now the label, established by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess is to hit the big screen. The movie, titled Cadillac Records (presumably something to do with the Chess brothers famously selling records from the boot of their car way back when), will see Beyoncé playing the role of Etta James and Adrien Brody playing the role of Leonard Chess. Who gets to play at being Muddy? A certain Jeffrey Wright.
Continue reading "The story of Chess Records to hit the big screen" »
I think it's pretty fair to say that Arthur Russell was a bit of a maverick. He could play cello, compose, sing... and make some of the most usual and goddam funky disco you ever did hear. Russell's career bridged New York's downtown, rock, and dance music scenes and he collaborated with artists as far flung as Allen Ginsberg to David Byrne. For a true testament to him, you should go and dig out Dinosaur L's Go Bang. That was Arthur. That was Arthur making dance music like you've never heard in your life! And if it's good enough for Larry Levan's Paradise Garage...
So with that, after doubts over its release, Matt Wolf’s documentary on Russell will receive its premiere in Berlin early next month. Wild Combination: A Portrait Of Arthur Russell will trace the many musical worlds Russell inherited over his career, which means digging into Dinosaur L, Indian Ocean and Loose Joints... and more! We lost Russell to AIDS in '92, aged 40, and since then, his profile has been raised significantly. Berlin International Film Festival will host the premiere of the documentary from Februrary 13 and it's expected to make its way over to the UK in the next month. Click here to visit the official website and click over to watch a trailer (you should watch it... it looks great)
Oh no... not Joy Division again... lissen up, I understand you perfectly clear. Everyone likes Joy Division, but we don't take kindly to force feeding and canonising. I understand I really do. Just because they're the hippest band in the whole wide world doesn't mean that we should start to ignore. There's a new documentary out which is nothing to do with Control which looks great. Using Victorian style images of Manchester, jottings from Rob Gretton’s notebooks, moving interviews with Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, talking heads from Peter Saville, Malcolm Whitehead, Genesis P. Orridge and, most significantly, Ian Curtis’ 'other woman', Annick Honoré. If you go to see this, you'll also hear the tale of Bernard Sumner hypnotising Curtis in an effort to ease his psychological turmoil... and, get this, hear the actual tape recording of the session. I'm not sure when it's out...
Thurston Moore is one of those people you can't help but love. I mean, the bloke still looks like a snotty teen, even though he's been making records for 60 years, and when he's not making ears bleed with distort-o-riffs, then he's off doing something really fuckin' interesting. Jeez. Now you mention it, I hate him.
Mr Moore's latest trick is the soundtrack to an arthouse erotica film, made by New Yorkoid underground director Richard Kern. The 60-minute film, titled “Extra Action (And Extra Hardcore)”, is released on DVD on March 18, and features original music from the Sonic Yoofer. Of course, Kern has collaborated with Moore in the past, directing the schlock horror vid' for Sonic Youth's '84 single Death Valley ‘69 and supplying the cover image for their '86 album Evol.
And there's more...
A book written by Moore and Byron Coley, “No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980”, is also set for release in June. The book features oral and photographic accounts of the burgeoning avant-garde scene in New York that featured bands including Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, James Chance & The Contortions and Mars.
Lissenup Roxy fans! A DVD is all set for release spanning the Roxy Muisc decade between 1972-1982 is due to be released next month called The Thrill Of It All: A Visual History (1972 – 1982)'.
It's due out in the US on February 5 and includes 38 music videos, concert clips and television performances, with loads of the footage never before released. On the DVD, you'll get the '73 appearance on Top of the Pops as well as their last filmed performance with Brian Eno at the Montreux Golden Rose Festival. If you want to know the essential purchases for Roxy Music, click here.
Continue reading "Roxy Music DVD set for release... promos and rarities ahoy!" »
Listen. I don't care for Radiohead one bit. That doesn't mean you lot don't like 'em though. So, with that, have a free film called Scotch Mist, which they made for new year 2007. It's basically their new LP performed in its entirety live with some pretentious bits inbetween. Click here for the only bad review of In Rainbows you'll ever read.
Movie history is littered with movies about or featuring the Rolling Stones, but that's not stopped uber-director Martin Scorsese from adding to the collection with Shine A Light.
It could be good, it could be bad. In essence, this is a live show on film, with Scorsese capturing the band in a small venue in New York - in essence, trying to film the 'electricity' of the band's live performance, mixing it up with background, interviews and history. Which sounds great, but for the fact that the band are well past their peak (though still a decent live act), not to mention that the gig seems to have various walk-on 'special guests' who probably contribute nothing to the event.
But I'll wait until the film's release in April before I pass judgement. In the meantime, check out this trailer for the movie for a taster.
The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus is one of those great events that could've only happened in the sixties. Basically, a stoner concept ('let's have a circus man, like, with rock 'n' roll bands... it'll be a freak show with the freaks man') with some truly scintillating performances from The Stones, John Lennon, Taj Mahal, Jethro Tull (before they went all daft), The Who and more in amongst the midgets and geriatric trapeze artists. Well, now you can get a photo set on a limited edition DVD.
Renowned rock photographer Mike Randolf was there to capture the madness of it all and has made 80 images available to view eclusively on a limited run of 5000 DVDs. The iconic photographs play like a movie and are accompanied by the instrumental music from the film.More details are available from www.southbankphoto.co.uk
If you haven't already, you should buy the DVD of the film too, which features the Stones belting through Sympathy For The Devil and loads more (and Taj Mahal's rendition of Ain't That A Lotta Love is worth yer entrance fee alone). Click here to buy the film.
Amy Winehouse - she's older than she looks you know. Was around in the 1960s, just doing a bit of pub singing back then to pay the bills. Here's some footage we've acquired of our Amy, along with a few locals in the London pub back in 1967. We're not sure who she is dueting with - if you know, let us know...
Over at Cinedelica, there's a review now online for the US modern-day mod movie Young Birds Fly, courtesy of UK reviewer Maxine Hayward.
Young Birds Fly is the debut feature of American director Leonardo Flores. Indeed the film has been financed, researched directed and edited by Flores himself. It's the tale of Jill, a quiet American girl who grows as a person within the US mod scene - and eventually, her disappointment with it.
The film is showing at independent cinemas, but as yet, there's no confirmation of a DVD release. We'll let you know if we hear anything. In the meantime, check out the review of the movie via the link below.
The world has gone Led Zeppelin apeshit! Now, for diehard Zeppos, you have the chance to own a mega fuckin' super rare 3.5 minute 8mm home movie reel that features John Bonham playing with a young band on 24th November 1978... thanks to eBay.
The film was shot at Stourport on Severn, Worcestershire during a presentation dinner for son Jason's Scramble club (as noted in John's brother Mick's book Bonham by Bonham). You get to see young Jason Bonham helping his father with a cymbal and get in position before playing with the band. The vendor says "The winner will also get a video of the movie and a copy photo of the young band he played with on the night. The price will probably shoot up on this one, so hardcore fans only...
The Salford Film Festival can always be relied upon for some interesting big screen entertainment, but this year it has a very interesting premiere - Joy Division: The Documentary.
If you can get to Salford on Tuesday 27th November, you can check out the doc and get involved in a Q&A with Peter Hook. The film itself runs through the band's history with interviews with the surviving band members, as well as featuring never-before-seen live performance footage, personal photos, period films and newly discovered audio tapes.
If you're a fan, it sounds pretty much unmissable.
Find out more at the Salford Film Festival website
Via Cinedelica
Just out in time for Christmas is a two-disc DVD set of The Who's finest moments coupled with rare footage of the band and band members - Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who and Six Quick Ones. And we have three DVD sets to give away.
Directed by Paul Crowder, Amazing Journey tells the story of the band through the music, footage, new interviews with the band, celebrity fans and musicians, plus recently-discovered concert footage, kicking off with I Can't Explain and ending with the band's most recent tour and recordings. There's also an additional Six Quick Ones disc, which focuses on each individual band member, the mod scene, the pop art movement and more rare footage - including film of the band as the High Numbers at the Railway Hotel - the earliest footage of the band known to be in existence.
If you want to be in with a chance of winning a set, just enter your details at our sister site Modculture, following the link below. The winners will be drawn just before Christmas.
Ronnie Wood , whilst chatting about his new concert film, The First Barbarians: Live From Kilburn, hinted that The Faces might just reform in 2008. He said “I’m looking through
about 5,000 hours of Faces footage. Stuff we shot on hand-held cameras,
us messing around. It’s hopefully getting a release next year.”
There are already plans to release re-mastered editions of the band’s four studio albums, so it stands to reason that the surviving members of the group will join forces again for one last blow-out. Wood, Rod Stewart, keyboard player Ian MacLagan and drummer Kenny Jones have recently been in meetings... possibly in negotiations to reform for live dates in 2008? If only Ron Lane was still with us...
If this happens, the writers of Electric Roulette will see you down the front for a fist fight and a soaking... remember where you read it first.
If you're anything like me, you'll judge the quality of a Paul McCartney solo release by his haircut. Chances are, if he's got a mullet, it's going to be bad news. Of course, you can't always see his hair... so the new DVD - The McCartney Years - gives you ample opportunity to judge away.
Of course, any retrospective of any artist who cut his teeth in the sixties who... well... didn't die young... should be approached with extreme caution (I'm looking at you Stevie Winwood and your dreadful Higher Love). Macca, more than anyone, is responsible for some horrific dross... but remember... he's a Beatle... and where there's a Beatle there is occasional gold...
Slade - now viewed as 70s cartoon rockers with big hair and an even bigger Christmas tune - which is coming to a department store near you very soon I'd wager.
But in the 70s, they were huge - so big in fact that they had a feature film called Slade in Flame, a grittier than you might expect tale of a band battling to the top. You can check out a review of the movie here or you can get a taster of it below, thanks to the wonder of YouTube...
The brief reformation of Led Zeppelin was initially pitched as a one-night tribute to Ahmet Ertegun. But over time, it's shifted rather uncomfortably into a huge marketing exercise (and pre-Christmas push) for Led Zep's back catalogue.
The latest release is the band's 1976 movie The Song Remains The Same, which is reissued on Monday 19th November on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray. The movie features classic tracks from a three-night stint at Madison Square Garden in July 1973, now available with improved sound and picture, along with six songs not on the original release - Black Dog, Over The Hills And Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, The Ocean and Heartbreaker.
There's also more than 40 minutes of added bonus material, including interviews, TV footage and rare performances. And if that's not enough, a collector's set throws in a collectible vintage t-shirt with original album artwork design, soundtrack CD, lobby cards, reproductions of original premiere invites, tour schedule, and more.
