Screenhead

Despite social websites such as wikipedia becoming instututions for those in search of knowledge, the film industry hasn’t found a way of utilising this method for film-making. The best example so far has been Voices of Iraq, the 2004 documentary featuring footage of the public of the world’s most dangerous country shot by themselves. It was  fascinating project that provided the world with a perspective that was virtually unavailable until then. However, this year sees the release of another wikipedia-inspired documentary, albeit this time in a very different genre.

All Tomorrow’s Parties may be a classic Velvet Underground song, but it is also an alternative music festival that originated in the UK (since then it has spread to the US, Australia, and Spain, for special occasions). Hosted in an economy holiday camp, each festival has a famous curator who picks all of the other acts, making it a 3-day live mix-tape. Previous curators have included Simpsons curator Matt Groening, actor Vincent Gallo, and acts such as Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Mogwai, and Portishead. Across the years roadies, fans, and organisers have been filming performances, mostly for personal use, but now that footage has gone to a much better use. All Tomorrow’s Parties is a documentary about the festival, a collage of iconic performances and amusing moments across the festival’s 10 years, including some interviews that will prove fascinating for anyone interested in alternative music.

Kicking off with a live performances of the thundering Battles song Atlas, the doc cuts between performances, the activities of the fans at and outside the gigs, and also archive footage of the holiday site back in its heyday, all with a frenzied pace. The connection is the notion of social gathering. Today the holiday sites of the festival are an opportunity to bring together a community of people who look beyond the mainstream for their music and entertainment. And the documentary manages to catch a glimpse of the spirit of the festival’s community with many shots of its fans and their escapades (from getting drunk to dancing, to waxing lyrical about society). It also provides some magic moments, such as semingly impomptu performances from artists outside their cabin accommodation or on the site’s beach. Singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston sits on the grass playing an acoustic set to anyone walking by, indie-crooners Grizzly Bear harmonise on the beach at night, and hardcore noise duo Lightning Bolt deliver an intense set (that gets complaints from the resident neighbours) outside of the organiser’s cabin. All of these moments combine to offer a real sense of not only what this festival provides, but any modern music festival. And even though it’s a shame that we don’t get to see any songs performed in their entirety, All Tomorrow’s Parties is a perfect document for fans of alt-rock, indie, electronic, or anything outside of the kind of drivel we hear in American Idol.

The documentary will be available to download on the official website from next week.

More previous work of the late Heath Ledger is surfacing once again. Screenhead introduced Ledger’s King Rat, an animated short, some time ago.

 Now, Cause and Effect has surfaced in the news today. 

Ledger was known for saying “Talent begets Talent.” The Godfather of Australasian Hip Hop – Nfamas of 1200 Techniques – made a decision to go out on his own as No Fixed Abode. He approached his childhood friend, the late Heath Ledger, to direct his first music video. 

Ledger loved to immense himself in music, and reportedly he believed in Nfa’s talent and ability to become a Hip Hop star on his own. Together, with Ledger as director, they created Nfa’s first music video Cause and Effect.  Clearly we can see Ledger’s talent as an artistic director and the potential future he had as a director. The ability Ledger had to boldly embody the No Fixed Abode fundamental spirit, is very clear in this extraordinary music video.

It’s sad to lose such talent as Ledger, but at least we have the spirit of his work today that will live forever.

Playing for a Change: Peace Through Music is an award winning documentary that brings music to the heart of the world.

With its stirring call for reconciliation and cross-cultural unification, the global music collaboration/multi-media project, Playing For Change has struck a deep and powerful chord world-wide. “Playing For Change is an exploration into the human spirit,” stated founder and film co-director/producer Mark Johnson. “It demonstrates the power of music to unite us as a human race.” “The project brings an insight into humanity,“ adds co-director Jonathan Walls. “It’s my wish that audiences around the world absorb this musical essence and become inspired to participate and celebrate its manifestation.”

I’ve enjoyed the CD/DVD and now the documentary brings the whole message together as a complete thought, bring peace to the world.

You can win Playing for Change: Peace Through Music DVD by posting your name now and we will pick the winner Saturday,  November 21, 2009.

Stephanie N. (48) is the lucky winner! 

Foreigner, one of the world’s most popular and enduring rock bands, released a new three-disc collection, including a CD album of all new music, a CD album of the band’s original hit recordings, and a DVD of the band in concert and beyond. Can’t Slow Down is the name of the album available from Rhino Entertainment, exclusively through Wal-Mart.

The title track, Can’t Slow Down, was written by Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, and Marti Frederiksen as a tribute to NASCAR in celebration of Foreigner’s appearance at the Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. NASCAR fans bought so many CDs that day that Foreigner’s 2008 release No End In Sight: The Very Best Of Foreigner was propelled back into the Billboard Top 200.

The collection’s second disc contains 10 remixes by Marti Frederiksen and Anthony Focx of some of the band’s most well known songs, including “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice,” “Urgent,” “Hot Blooded,” and “I Want To Know What Love Is.” The remixes bring a new energy and sound definition to these classic songs.

Happily, I was able to talk with Tom Gimbel, who plays rhythm guitar, keyboards, sax, and flute. Tom hits those high-notes during “Urgent” when he performs his solo with the sax. 

Tom is a very, cool upbeat guy who’s been with Foreigner for over 17 years, ‘longest band member other than the original guys.”  Tom has seen the group change and grow while still being its “vibrant force.”

I asked Tom about the remixing of the older rock songs for the second disc, and he stressed that it’s really remastering, “cleaning up the sound, so it jumps out of the speakers.” 

I couldn’t image these great-old songs jumping out of the speakers anymore than they do now, but I listened to the new sounds…yes, the songs jump out even more and sound fantastic! Even my nine-year old daughter loves their music.

Tom and I talked a little bit about Foreigner’s music being played in movies, of course, we knew it had been done, but couldn’t name any movies until my daughter mentioned “I Want to Know What Love Is” plays on Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakquel teaser trailer.  Then…yes of course.

What was life like for this rock and roll star growing up? Tom got his ear for music by listening to Broadway show tunes instead of watching television. He’s mother would take a big stack of LPs, place them on the console to play and all four children, including Tom would sing and dance the afternoon away. 

So, after I talked with Tom, my daughter and I sat down and watched the DVD. It captures the band performing many of its hits live in 5.1 surround sound. The DVD also contains performances filmed during the band’s recently completed European tour. We were amazed at how vibrant the band could be, even though some of them look a little older – I am being kind, but it’s obvious, they are not slowing down. The performances were fantastic!

Also featured is a behind-the-scenes, but we didn’t look at that part of the DVD. But it contains the creation of Can’t Slow Down, from writing sessions in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles to the Wal-Mart shareholders meeting where the exclusive partnership behind this project was finalized.

Jimm Etters (38) is the winner!

I have been listening to this album since the giveaway started and I just love it.  Stephen Stills has influenced generations with his powerful voice, song writing artistry, and passionate guitar playing, both as a solo artist and as a member of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and Manassas. The album Pieces reveals snapshots of Stills’ early days with a 15-song collection of unreleased recordings from sessions for both of the band’s albums. After recording his second solo album, Stills formed Manassas in 1971 with a talented group of musicians that included Chris Hillman, a former member of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Manassas released two albums, 1972’s eponymous double-album debut and the 1973 follow-up, Down The Road. The album Pieces features alternate versions of two songs from Down The Road: “Do You Remember The Americans” and “Lies” (featuring guitarist Joe Walsh). The collection also includes the legendary group’s unreleased performances of “Sugar Babe” and “Word Game,” a pair of songs Stills recorded in 1971 for his second solo album. The remaining tracks include “Like A Fox,” a song recorded with blues guitarist Bonnie Raitt on background vocals and the Latin-tinged “Tan Sola Y Triste” (Spanish for ‘So Alone and Sad’).

I find the album easy to listen to while working or driving.  The Stephen Stills songs bring back memories of my youth and the pleasant times of being with friends.

Apparently the whole Rock Band / Guitar Hero / I think I’m a real musician because I got three stars on a video game trend is carrying on wildly unabated and is now producing movies.

Sure, South Park went for Guitar Hero a couple seasons back or so, but now, we’re getting movies out of it.  Fake musicians are becoming part of the movie landscape, and I’m horrified.

First off, we’ve got Adventures of Power, which is all about–get this–AIR DRUMMING.  Some guy who works in a mine with his dad packs up and goes to New Jersey to compete in an air drumming tournament.  I’ve got the trailer below just in case you doubt me.

Now that I’ve reinforced my credibility by showing you the trailer, I can also point you toward one that’s so new it doesn’t have a trailer I can find yet–Air Guitar: The Movie.  This is about the, and frankly, this’ll kill you–world of competitive air guitar.

I’m horrified.  I’m horrified that Hollywood clearly thinks so little of us that these are actually considered commercially viable.

I popped Al Jarreau’s latest album The Very Best of: An Excellent Adventurein my DVD player and loved every minute of hearing is instrumental voice.  What a jazz singer!  Although at times I thought it I was in an elevator or in Macy’s shopping.  But still his music lives on and on.  I would love to shop to Jarreau’s music any time and ride an elevator, too, with his music in the background.

The album even includes the theme from the late TV Show “Moonlighting” with other notables such as “Boogie Dance”, “Round, Round, Round” and the live recording of “Take Five”.

Celebrating his musical achievements legendary jazz singer Al Jarreau with Rhino presents The Very Best of: an Excellent Adventure, a 16-song compilation spanning Jarreau’s most notable recordings from the past through the present.  Al Jarreau has spent decades bending genres with his stunning range and voice, earning him the rare distinction of being awarded a Grammy in three different categories: Pop, Jazz and R&B. Al Jarreau’s The Very Best Of: An Excellent Adventure is out now, in both digital and physical formats, and features a brand-new song, “Excellent Adventure,” recorded especially for this release. “Excellent Adventure” is no elevator music. It’s upbeat and fun and makes my day lively and fun.   His voice is an instrument – jazzy and hip with a strong message to boot.

Screenhead has a copy of The Very Best of: An Excellent Adventure to give away.  Simply post your name and we will pick the winner Monday, November 16, 2009.

Check out the The Very Best Of: An Excellent Adventure Listening Party here.

Such talent…

And just when you think a  movie about the creation of Facebook is strange. News is just in that Julian Jarrold, director of Becoming Jane and the remake of Brideshead Revisited, is in talks to direct a film charting the rise of Paul Potts. And who is Paul Potts? No, it’s not about the leader of Cambodia’s communist movement (now THAT would be an interesting film). Paul was the rather shy young man who wowed the audience of Britain’s Got Talent with this video of him singing an operatic aria. The clip has raked in millions of hits since it hit Youtube in 2007. Since then Paul has gone on to release two albums and has sold them in the millions.

But do we really need to see the story of this in movie form? The majority of winners of these .. Got Talent or.. Idol TV shows seem to end up as one-hit wonders, quickly releasing a record to cash in on the immediate success, and then swifly fading away into cabaret hell. And besides Potts’s rise to fame and fortune, is there really enough dramatic material to warrant 90 minutes? And even if there was, it seems almost futile to portray such backstories when our TV’s and PCs are already inundated with video clips and gap-filling retrospective shows, bringing us through the tabloid headlines covering their lives (and it’s not like this story will be new to a US audience, as in 2008 America’s Got Talent found their own Potts in Neal Boyd). Or will we be surprised by a film of Beckettian wit, in which a man stands in a  mobile-phone store for hours waiting for something to happen? It seems unlikely that a film of Potts would be anything more than a dull biopic, detailing the major facts of his life,  offering little more than a sadly excessive 15 minutes of fame, and deservedly ending up as a Saturday afternoon TV movie.

“You’re as Cold as Ice…”

Foreigner, one of the world’s most popular and enduring rock bands, released a new three-disc collection, including a CD album of all new music, a CD album of the band’s original hit recordings, and a DVD of the band in concert and beyond. Can’t Slow Down is the name of the album available from Rhino Entertainment, exclusively through Wal-Mart.

The title track, Can’t Slow Down, was written by Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, and Marti Frederiksen as a tribute to NASCAR in celebration of Foreigner’s appearance at the Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. NASCAR fans bought so many CDs that day that Foreigner’s 2008 release No End In Sight: The Very Best Of Foreigner was propelled back into the Billboard Top 200.

The collection’s second disc contains 10 remixes by Marti Frederiksen and Anthony Focx of some of the band’s most well known songs, including “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice,” “Urgent,” “Hot Blooded,” and “I Want To Know What Love Is.” The remixes bring a new energy and sound definition to these classic songs.

Happily, I was able to talk with Tom Gimbel, who plays rhythm guitar, keyboards, sax, and flute. Tom hits those high-notes during “Urgent” when he performs his solo with the sax. 

Tom is a very, cool upbeat guy who’s been with Foreigner for over 17 years, ‘longest band member other than the original guys.”  Tom has seen the group change and grow while still being its “vibrant force.”

I asked Tom about the remixing of the older rock songs for the second disc, and he stressed that it’s really remastering, “cleaning up the sound, so it jumps out of the speakers.” 

I couldn’t image these great-old songs jumping out of the speakers anymore than they do now, but I listened to the new sounds…yes, the songs jump out even more and sound fantastic! Even my nine-year old daughter loves their music.

Tom and I talked a little bit about Foreigner’s music being played in movies, of course, we knew it had been done, but couldn’t name any movies until my daughter mentioned “I Want to Know What Love Is” plays on Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakquel teaser trailer.  Then…yes of course.

What was life like for this rock and roll star growing up? Tom got his ear for music by listening to Broadway show tunes instead of watching television. He’s mother would take a big stack of LPs, place them on the console to play and all four children, including Tom would sing and dance the afternoon away. 

So, after I talked with Tom, my daughter and I sat down and watched the DVD. It captures the band performing many of its hits live in 5.1 surround sound. The DVD also contains performances filmed during the band’s recently completed European tour. We were amazed at how vibrant the band could be, even though some of them look a little older – I am being kind, but it’s obvious, they are not slowing down. The performances were fantastic!

Also featured is a behind-the-scenes, but we didn’t look at that part of the DVD. But it contains the creation of Can’t Slow Down, from writing sessions in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles to the Wal-Mart shareholders meeting where the exclusive partnership behind this project was finalized.

Screenhead has the 3-disc collection Can’t Slow Down available for giveaway.  Please post your name and we will pick the winner Wednesday, October 28, 2009.