Leave it to those NPR dudes to continually cover interesting, emerging
stories in the colliding worlds of technology and music. This week the topic
of conversation is the evolution of the music video, how they are now consumed, and thus, created.
Music videos these days are viewed in grainy youtube boxes, on palm-sized
iPods, embedded in Facebook, etc. Suddenly watching an epic video with a
cast of dozens (the article references MJ's "Thriller") on your iPhone's
tiny window doesn't seem too appealing. Videos these days need to be shot
with lots of closeups, with everything in the center of the frame, and
edited with lots of quick cuts to keep the web surfer's attention.
Sadly this isn't good news for the elaborate, lush, cinematic productions we
have come to love and expect from groundbreaking artists like Battles,
Bjork, Missy Elliot or Sigur Ros. Who needs more fidgety, hyper-spliced,
epilepsy-inducing videos anyway? We say film that shit like it's meant for
IMAX. What happened to songs that tell a story?
We love that Cinefamily brings us the obscure film runnings. And we know that they love music too because Dublab and one of our favorite tree-killers, LA Record, are sponsors. Last night at LA's Silent Movie Theatre we were presented with director Teinosuke Kinugasa's 1926 silent film called "A Page of Madness." As seen before, Cinefamily decided to add their own musical score to this film. But what would pair well with the Kinugasa's theme of hallucinations and obsession played out in Japanese kabuki and the use of superimpositions, flashbacks, rapid montage and complex subjective camerawork? None other than California's psychedelic soundsmith, The Gaslamp Killer, who we first discovered from Sound in Color Records and who is now rocking with Obey Records.
Check the Cinefamily website for upcoming experiments in music and film, including an upcoming evening with Mike Mills.
Our friends Trifonic have just informed us their latest collaboration is featured on Apple's HD quicktime gallery. And it's a doozy. The short film (essentially an insane music video) is called "Parks On Fire", and the visuals are courtesy of Scott Pagano, an emerging digital filmmaker, motion designer, and "spatial reconstructionist", according to the press release.
Fans of the rich, textured visual imagery of Aeon Flux, The Cell, Encyclopedia Pictura, and Gondry should enjoy. Pagano has also created motion art works for such artists as Funkstorung, Christopher Willits, Monolake, The Kronos Quartet - and now our SF area homeys Trifonic.
Check the high-res madness (youtube eat your heart out) here:
We were first in line to see the latest rap biopic, "Notorious" in LA on Tuesday night courtesy of Nike (and Flux). The Biggie Smalls story has been waiting to be told since he was tragically murdered in our fair city, Los Angeles, back in 1997. During his short career Biggie's lyrical prowess has been elevated to legendary status and #3 on MTV's "Greatest MCs Of All Time" list even though he only released two albums and was gunned down at the tender age of 24. Even after his death he's continued to be prolific with new tracks featuring his unmistakable vocals.
Of course the music was dope in the film. The opening club scene rocked out with the Biggie banger "Hypnotize" testing the (Nike) Montalban Theater sound system. That set the tone for the story of the rise (and fall) of one of the best story tellers. But that's what you'd expect right? So we're left wondering about the Biggie story that we don't know about. We mean, we already know about Big Poppa slanging dope on the street corner and hooking up with Sean "Puffy/Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy" Combs and Uptown/Bad Boy. We felt "Notorious" could've chosen a different path than the commercial biopic that was delivered. But, instead we got to see Lil Kim's breasts, some foul language and got an R-rated film. What about his real friendship and rivalry with Tupac? What was his mother's advice? Who really had Biggie's back?
There was only one way this film was going to go when Diddy's involved. After all, the man who gave Biggie his break has blinged himself out with reality TV shows (MTV's Making The Band and VH1's I Want To Work For Diddy), won awards for his clothing line, Sean John, and even has a luxury liquor brand. All said, even though we don't love "Notorious" we know there ain't been a rapper to fill Biggie's size 14 shoes since he passed. R.I.P. B.I.G.
Slumdog Gazillionaire: Really nice to see the Golden Globes acknowledging the underdog this year for best original score, even beating out nominations for Peter Gabriel and Hans Zimmer respectively. The film is filled with the streets and sounds of Mumbai and for anyone into the BRICs it's really nice to see the depiction of another world hit mainstream media. There's something about this film and the departure of Danny Boyle's normal composer John Murphy that was somewhat of a shock. But when you see the film you understand why. The decision to get A.R. Rahman to compose the score probably took all of 3 seconds. With his Bollywood credentials (he's Mumbai's Hans Zimmer) and a collaboration with M.I.A. (she recorded her last album in his studio), the soundtrack has just been released by Interscope. They made the play before all the nods at the Globes and its soon to come recognition at The Oscars. It's a mash-up of hip hop and Bollywood and we say fair shout to all involved. If only the film ended like this instead:
This week "Notorious", the story of Biggie Smalls, is hitting theaters, but we're asking ourselves what the hell happened to the "Vapors" film – the Juice Crew/Cold Chillin’ story - that was due out in 2008?
If you remember Mr Magic's Rap Attack show circa mid-80s then you know his New York radio show on WBLS broke many rap artists and his DJ, Marley Marl, went on to produce some phenomenal rap acts. The most notable collaboration came in the establishment The Juice Crew, released on Cold Chillin' Records. The crew was made up of an amazing troupe of rappers including Roxanne Shante, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and Biz Markie who all featured on the anthem posse cut, "The Symphony", released in 1988.
So imagine our excitement when we heard that a film project is going to capture the foundations of the Juice Crew/Cold Chillin' story 20 years after it captured our attention.
Earlier Marley Marl explained that "right now, it's in the casting stage. We're not reaching out — a lot of stars are reaching out to us because that's an important movie in hip-hop history. It's basically me, Big Daddy Kane and Biz's life story leading up to 1988. How we got there. How we made the golden era pop. ... A lot of ups and downs, a lot of personal shit. It is what it is."
A few names have been associated with the project. Will Talib Kweli make his character acting debut as Scott La Rock (one half of Boogie Down Productions)? The plum roles are going quickly: Idris Elba (The Wire) will play manager Fly Ty, Cuba Gooding Jr. confirmed to play DJ Marley Marl, Clifton Powell will be Mr. Magic, Jackie Long (from ATL) is Big Daddy Kane, Evan Ross is MC Shan and Keke Palmer is the foul-mouthed Roxanne Shante. But the cherry rumor is Nas playing Kool G. Rap. Lyrical legend playing legend.
Let's leave the last word to the diabolical: "There will never be another Juice Crew. Ever. But I'd say that the closest thing to Juice Crew would have to be Wu-Tang. I mean, like us, they had different rhyme styles, personalities and they all rhymed about different things."
Vapors, named after the classic Biz Markie track, is produced by Big Daddy Kane, directed by Furqaan Clover and we hope it sees the light of day soon.
Jason Reitman is one of the most promising young film directors today. The 31-year old son of “Ghost Busters” helmer Ivan Reitman, Jason has steered two very different ships to success in “Juno” and “Thank You For Smoking”. Raised in LA, Reitman listens to KCRW as we do so we were all ears when he shared his love of music in a recent radio interview and played tunes that have influenced him over years, especially during the making of the two aforementioned films.
Who would've known that Steve Winwood's "I'm A Man" was a driving force during the making of "Thank You For Smoking". While that tune didn't make the film soundtrack, the attitude of the lyrics permeated the film in more subtle ways. Makes one wonder what the film Juno would've been like if the main character was cast as a punk music fan instead of a lo-fi band lover?
Given his age, Jason Reitman should be creating great films for years to come. And anyone who lists RJD2 in their playlist is a friend of ours. Tune into KCRW to hear how intrinsic music is to Reitman's creative process and how he uses radio as his record store to discover songs that influence his film projects.
Jason Reitman's Playlist:
1. Steve Winwood - "I'm a Man"
Hopefully by now you know here at SEEN we frequently hip you to dope ass new music. So here's a remarkable release from Thomas Feiner & The Anywhen and there's something very dramatic and sweeping about it. With an epic and captivating sound, it reminds us of a more refined Rob Dougan. There are many points of references to David Sylvian and Nick Cave. The album, called The Opiates-Revised, has been two years in the making and started as a collaborative effort but ended as a solo project for the Swedish-born Mr. Feiner. On listening closely to The Opiates, one hears its testament to perseverance.
Originally recorded in 2001, this album was to be the band’s third full-length album, and its last. But for many this will be the first they have heard of Feiner, and it comes several years after David Sylvian first heard the album, which he regards as a lost classic having only been released in a few territories. David Sylvian recalls, “the dark, brooding, romantic nature of the material and, in particular, the emotional gravity of Thomas' voice, came as something of a surprise to me as it was quite out of keeping with my listening habits of the time but I couldn't help but be drawn into its widescreen, colour-drained, soundscapes.”
Starting June 19 the LA Times will kick off its massive ten-day LA Film Festival up and down the streets of Westwood. We say massive because, let’s be honest, 108 features, 40 shorts, and 60 music videos is not your grandpa’s double feature. Not sure when, where, and what to go to? That's why we're here. Here's a few choice selects.
If you’re an American, you like metal, and you love the underdog. The head-banging Documentary film “Anvil: The Story of Anvil” will satiate both cravings. Determined to make it since the age of 14, Canadian musicians Steve “lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner have been producing their own brand of speed metal since the early 70s. Giving up on the dream was never an option, and they caught it all on tape.
If music videos are your bag, then be sure not to miss both Eclectic Mix 1 and 2. These feature length reels will consist of back-to-back music videos to some of the hottest tracks all year. Try Peaches, Aesop Rock, Felix Da Housecat, Chemical Brothers, Bloc Party, Simian Mobile Disco, Feist, Animal Collective, Kanye West, Kid Sister, Moby, MGMT and much more.
How well do you know Scandinavian music? If Royksopp, The Knife, Jose Gonzales, and Sigur Ros are on repeat in your iPod, you’ll want to check out “Declare Independence: Spotlight On Scandinavia”. This feature will include music videos straight from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. When was the last time you saw these bangers in surround sound on a thirty-foot screen?
Our favorite Bristolians, Massive Attack, are breaking molds again. They're curating this year's Meltdown Festival at the South Bank Centre in London (June 14-22nd), and are also participating in the highlight event of the fest: a live orchestral reinterpretation of Vangelis’ score to Blade Runner.
Tomorrow (Tuesday 17th in London) Massive Attack will perform a remix performance of the Vangelis soundtrack by the Heritage Orchestra. Remember Massive's classic "Blue Lines" that sampled and reinterpreted everything from reggae to soul to rock-fusion? And the dubbed-out "No Protection" remix album produced by Mad Professor. We're not sure how the Meltdown Vangelis show will work exactly, but the thought of Robert “3D” Del Naja conducting the Heritage Orchestra is intriguing to say the least.
More details from the Heritage Orchestra site to whet the appetite: "A rare live performance aiming to recapture the evocative and atmospheric sounds of Blade Runner using massive layers of live strings, synthesisers, orchestral percussion, live Foley work, ambient effects, vocalists, lighting, and surround sound...Whilst Vangelis turned synthesiser into orchestra, the orchestra will now become the synthesiser...”
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