Grinder & I are waiting for DeadTV

DEADTV - Anton Newcombe

Anton Newcombe is the singer and creator of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. His music and the movie Dig are the stuff legends are made of. I missed several years in the history of this band while they were making history. They started playing about 1990 and the 1st time I came across them was this photo in the Vancouver International Film Festival film booklet 2004. The photo above was all I had to go on and decided to take Keith to see this movie Dig.

Anton lives in Berlin and is recording in a studio and broadcasting music on live TV from his living room. Anton is building a loyal base of watchers. I watch, I get up in the middle of the night sometimes to catch some of the broadcast (time difference from Berlin). The current link is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/brian-jonestown-massacre.



There have been many truly wonderful moments watching DEADTV but one of the best so far is when Anton took us to The Black Angels live on his macbook. We heard and saw them play, then we went backstage into the dressing room. The photo below was taken of my computer and posted on Flickr. That is Alex singer from the Black Angels in the middle and Anton on the right taken from the live broadcast.







well it was taken down today, but you can't kill the dead tv, it will rise again. I think I can hear the rock moving now. Updates soon.

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields

This photo above is from the film site: http://stereogum.com/113301/strange_powers_stephin_merritt_and_the_magnetic_fi/video/

I saw this movie today at the Vancity Theatre at 11 AM. This was the first movie of 2010 VIFF that I have gone to this lovely theatre at Seymour near Davie. The theatre is a real treat, lovely red velvet seats and a curtain to match.



This is the 6th movie that I have seen at this year's VIFF and by far this was the hippest and funniest of the lot. This year I tried to stick to the theme of music, and decided on this movie without ever having heard Stephin Merritt and his band the Magnetic Fields. I will be fixing that for me and for you. This movie is a gem, a laugh out loud. However this is not a comedy, the comedy comes as our reaction to Stephin's cantankerous quick witted view of life. He is not an easy man to get along with I hear in the movie but he has life long friends which is not an easy way to live for anyone. His wit is dry, his talent boiling over.

Stephin site is here at this http://www.houseoftomorrow.com/

All my Little Words



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo8vW_0H_Kg

The clip below was added to the movie, in a slightly shorter form. I author Lemony Snicket (American novelist Daniel Handler) who sent Stephin Merritt in his place to the morning show in Atlanta.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Ob9TJueBQ&feature=more_related

The last words are Stephin Merritt, the track list to his 8th album Realism.

01 “You Must Be Out of Your Mind”

02 “Interlude”

03 “We Are Having A Hootenanny”

04 “I Don’t Know What To Say”

05 “The Dolls’ Tea Party”

06 “Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree”

07 “Walk a Lonely Road”

08 “Always Already Gone”

09 “Seduced and Abandoned”

10 “Better Things”

11 “Painted Flower”

12 “The Dada Polka”

13 “From a Sinking Boat”

The Yellow Bittern: The Life and Times of Liam Clancy

Today I just had one movie to see at 2:30. I decided to read nothing about the movie, and just in error, maybe, wore an Irish knit cardigan to keep warm. A part of this movie, a documentary on The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makemthe centres around the stage attire, Irish white fisherman's knit sweaters as well as The Clancy's and Tommy's wonderful relaxed stage presents, and Irish Folk ballads from the rich history of that Isle.

Director Alan Gilsenan films an almost empty soundstage with Liam Clancy, on a stool, guitar on his lap, talking about his life. The story starts at his childhood and takes us on his trip from a small village in County Tipperary, Ireland to the heights of fame in America, and Ireland. Listening to Liam speak was like sitting at a party listening to the most interesting person talk, with a wonderful soundtrack, the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makemthe playing on the stereo.

The footage of the brothers on stage is from different eras. One very interesting interview was Bob Dylan from about 1962 speaking of how, their ballads influenced him.

However there is a dark choky under taste to this movie, it builds and for me it is what I have taken home. There was more to tell and more voices to hear, but that is for another movie.

STAY at the end after to credits to hear Liam recite The Yellow Bittern. I think it is important enough to print it here.

This poem is a translation of the 18th-century poem translated by Thomas MacDonagh.

The Yellow Bittern

The yellow bittern that never broke out
In a drinking bout, might as well have drunk;
His bones are thrown on a naked stone
Where he lived alone like a hermit monk.
O yellow bittern! I pity your lot,
Though they say that a sot like myself is curst -
I was sober a while, but I'll drink and be wise
For I fear I should die in the end of thirst.


It's not for the common birds that I'd mourn,
The black-bird, the corn-crake, or the crane,
But for the bittern that's shy and apart
And drinks in the marsh from the lone bog-drain.
Oh! if I had known you were near your death,
While my breath held out I'd have run to you,
Till a splash from the Lake of the Son of the Bird
Your soul would have stirred and waked anew.

My darling told me to drink no more
Or my life would be o'er in a little short while;
But I told her 'tis drink gives me health and strength
And will lengthen my road by many a mile.
You see how the bird of the long smooth neck
Could get his death from the thirst at last -
Come, son of my soul, and drain your cup,
You'll get no sup when your life is past.


In a wintering island by Constantine's halls
A bittern calls from a wineless place,
And tells me that hither he cannot come
Till the summer is here and the sunny days.
When he crosses the stream there and wings o'er the sea
Then a fear comes to me he may fail in his flight -
Well, the milk and the ale are drunk every drop,
And a dram won't stop our thirst this night.

Wed - Rejoice and Shout at VIFF

This movie traces American Gospel music that began in the 1800's as plantation music in the southern USA to the present day with a large amount of rare, never seen footage, recordings and we hear entire length gospel songs, not short clips. Very few of these early groups such as Golden Gate Quartet, Dixie Hummingbirds, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Utica Quartet, and the Blind Boys of Alabama were part of my music education as a child. However Staple Singers, yes, were a large part of my 60's. I even went to a recording studio in 1967 in Newark New Jersey were I was told they had recorded and there were enough photos on the walls to confirm the fact.

With my meagre knowledge of this music, in this wonderful movie, I found myself swept away by the true brilliance and enthusiasm, moved in a way that most documentaries about music do have to try much harder to reel me in. This one had me in the first 2 minutes as that little girl sang Amazing Grace, sitting in a church with aunts and family around her. Yes it had me there.

I was able to see Mavis Staple at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in 2009, and this is one photo I took of her at that time. I will hunt up links to reviews and songs as I find them.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zxfQmtIlNk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ex2g848W-8

Wed - Baby Arabia at VIFF

I was up at 6:30 this morning for no particular reason so I saw the pink sky and the day come on. My 1st movie, Baby Arabia was not until 11:30 AM. Today has turned into a nice sunny fall day. I walked through China Town to the VIFF on Granville Street. Colours of China town could have foreshadowed the bright dense colours of the clothing of the women and children in Baby Arabia, a band that has been playing Central Thailand's Muslin Community for over 30 years. All of their last names are Baby, sounds familiar to this Ramones fan.

Baby Arabia, the band is a top 40 band, and covers classical Arab and Malay music. Their sets are from 2 to 6 hours, the movie was 80 minutes. The members are Thai and do not speak the language of the songs but they try to get the emotions, one of their signers, Jameelah Boonmalerd, explained in the movie.

The film takes us into the small boats and larger ferries with Baby Arabia as the go to weddings, fairs, and events where this tribe of musicians play. Baby Arabia's music is often in minor keys, as those keys inspire sadness & melancholy and I would add mystery. We travel with this band and near the end we are with them at a funeral that turns out to be Imron Baby, a member of Baby Arabia who passed away during the filming of this documentary.

This movie will be sold by the band on DVD and shown at festivals. You can see the trailers online at these links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR38vsrgF7U

http://ko-kr.connect.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=130995943610543

I am not sure that I want to run away with this tribe, Baby Arabia, but I will add some photos of the clothing.

VIFF 2nd movie is A Drummer's Dream

I walked down town again to the VIFF. The afternoon on Monday turned sunny. I walked down Hastings Street into downtown. It is not always my route for many reasons, but today was sunny after rain and I felt like it. There is a new gallery the Gam at 110 East Hastings directly across from the building that was the Smilin' Buddha. The Gam is a gallery, boutique and artist studio located in Vancouver’s downtown east side and fronts an artist-only building. The link is here http://gamgallery.com/

I stopped into the gallery at 156 West Hastings Street to pick up my pocket size art piece 'Vancouver Punk Stamps' from The Pocket Show that ran from Sep 5 to the 18. Yes it is 4 inches by 4 inches so fits in pocket just fine.



There was a part of me that seemed to be wondering why I was going to a movie about drummers. Yes I had picked it but I was wondering. The show was at 6:30 on Monday night and there is one more showing of this Canadian film directed by John Walker. I had watched the trailer before I left home. Looked lovely.

This movie is a Canadian documentary about a drumming camp with 7 of the best drummers in the world, Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr, Dennis Chambers, Kenwood Dennard, Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mike Mangini, Raul Rekow and 40 students in an idyllic Canadian setting. This film is an NFB movie that should be seen by all of us with our original drum, our heart beat.

This photo of John Walker was taken at the Q&A after the show. He had been a drummer many years ago, and making this movie has brought him full circle back to drumming.







Next showing of A Drummer's Dream is Wed, Oct 6th 3:00pm Visa Screening Room @ Empire Granville Th7


next movies on Wed, none for me today