The film Waking Up Dead is a sobering look at the life of former Saigon Kick/Skid Row drummer Phil Varone. It’s not all guitars and glory on the road…

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Well the upcoming Ramones DVD It’s Alive 1974 - 1996 will be well worth it with more than four hours of rare and unreleased performances. Set to be released on October 2, 2007 by Rhino Records this double-DVD features what looks like a shitload of cool stuff. Check it out:

Disc 1
CBGB — New York, NY (9/15/74)
1. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”
2. “I Don’t Wanna Go Down To The Basement”
3. “Judy Is A Punk”
Max’s Kansas City — New York, NY (4/18/76)
4. “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”
5. “53rd & 3rd”
The Club — Cambridge, MA (5/12/76)
6. “Chain Saw”
Max’s Kansas City — New York, NY (10/8/76)
7. “Havana Affair”
8. “Listen To My Heart”
My Father’s Place — Roslyn, NY (4/13/77)
9. “I Remember You”
10. “Carbona Not Glue”
CBGB — New York, NY (6/11/77)
11. “Blitzkrieg Bop”
12. “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
13. “Beat On The Brat”
14. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”
15. “Rockaway Beach”
16. “Cretin Hop”
17. “Oh Oh I Love Her So”
18. “Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World”
The Second Chance — Ann Arbor, MI (6/26/77)
19. “Rockaway Beach”
20. “Carbona Not Glue”
The Ivanhoe Theater — Chicago, IL (7/6/77)
21. “Pinhead”
22. “Suzy Is A Headbanger”
The Armadillo — Austin, TX (7/14/77) Early Show
23. “Commando”
24. “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”
The Armadillo — Austin, TX (7/14/77) Late Show
25. “Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy”
26. “53rd & 3rd”
27. “Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World”
Liberty Hall — Houston, TX (7/15/77)
28. “Loudmouth”
29. “I Remember You”
30. “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”
Liberty Hall — Houston, TX (7/16/77)
31. “Oh Oh I Love Her So”
32. “Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World”
Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert — L.A., CA (8/9/77)
33. “Loudmouth”
34. “Judy Is A Punk”
35. “Glad To See You Go”
36. “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”
The Camera Mart Stages — New York, NY (9/3/77)
37. “Swallow My Pride”
38. “Pinhead”
39. “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
It’s Alive, The Rainbow Theatre — London (12/31/77)
40. “Blitzkrieg Bop”
41. “I Wanna Be Well”
42. “Glad To See You Go”
43. “You’re Gonna Kill That Girl”
44. “Commando”
45. “Havana Affair”
46. “Cretin Hop”
47. “Listen To My Heart”
48. “I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You”
49. “Pinhead”
50. “Do You Wanna Dance?”
51. “Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy”
52. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”
53. “We’re A Happy Family”

Disc 2
Musikladen — Bremen, Germany (9/13/78)
1. “Rockaway Beach”
2. “Teenage Lobotomy”
3. “Blitzkrieg Bop”
4. “Don’t Come Close”
5. “I Don’t Care”
6. “She’s The One”
7. “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
8. “Cretin Hop”
9. “Listen To My Heart”
10. “I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You”
11. “Pinhead”
The Old Grey Whistle Test — London (9/19/78)
12. “Don’t Come Close”
13. “She’s The One”
14. “Go Mental”
Top of the Pops — London (9/28/78)
15. “Don’t Come Close”
Oakland, CA (12/28/78)
16. “I’m Against It”
17. “Needles And Pins”
San Francisco Civic Center, S.F., CA (6/9/79)
18. “I Want You Around”
19. “I’m Affected”
20. “California Sun”
The Old Grey Whistle Test — London (1/15/78)
21. “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School”
22. “Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio?”
Top of the Pops — London (1/31/80)
23. “Baby I Love You”
Sha Na Na — L.A., CA (5/19/80)
24. “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School”
Mandagsborsen — Stockholm, Sweden (10/26/81)
25. “We Want The Airwaves”
TVE Musical Express — Madrid, Spain (11/17/81)
26. “This Business Is Killing Me”
27. “All Quiet On The Eastern Front”
US Festival — San Bernardino, CA (9/3/82)
28. “Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio?”
29. “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”
30. “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School”
31. “I Wanna Be Sedated”
32. “Beat On The Brat”
33. “The KKK Took My Baby Away”
34. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow”
35. “Chinese Rocks”
36. “Teenage Lobotomy”
The Old Grey Whistle Test — London (2/26/85)
37. “Wart Hog”
38. “Chasing The Night”
Obras Sanitarias, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2/3/87)
39. “Blitzkrieg Bop”
40. “Freak Of Nature”
41. “Crummy Stuff”
42. “Love Kills”
43. “I Don’t Care”
44. “Too Tough To Die”
45. “Mama’s Boy”
Provinssirock Festival, Seinajoki, Finland (6/4/88)
46. “I Don’t Want You Anymore”
47. “Weasel Face”
48. “Garden Of Serenity”
49. “I Just Want To Have Something To Do”
50. “Surfin’ Bird”
51. “Cretin Hop”
52. “Somebody Put Something In My Drink”
53. “We’re A Happy Family”
R.I.T., Rochester, NY (10/8/88)
54. “Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio”
55. “Wart Hog”
Rolling Stone Club — Milan, Italy (3/16/92)
56. “Psycho Therapy”
57. “I Believe In Miracles”
58. “I Wanna Live”
59. “My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)”
60. “Pet Sematary”
61. “Animal Boy”
62. “Pinhead”
Top of the Pops — London (6/29/95)
63. “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”
River Plate Stadium — Estadio Antonio V. Liverti — Buenos Aires, Argentina (3/16/96)
64. “I Wanna Be Sedated”
65. “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.”
66. “Blitzkrieg Bop”

Later.

Mark

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What happens to punks when they grow old? Do their ideals go in the attic with their Damned records and ripped jeans or is there something more to the culture? This is what the upcoming independent documentary All Grown Up looks to answer. All Grown Up is a documentary about older punks in the punk scene and how, contrary to popular belief, it’s not just a phase! I briefly chatted with executive producer Andrea Witting of the film to find out a little more about it.

Rock and Roll Report: How do you define punk since to a lot of people it is a stereotype that is not always favourable. What is a punk and how does punk culture differ from more mainstream culture?

Andrea Witting: This is a hard question because for me there is no definition of a feeling – and that’s just what it is. How would you define being in love? For everybody it’s different – it’s the same thing with punk. It’s not what you look like, where you shop, or what you do for work – it’s what’s in your heart. It’s something that you feel everyday that you can’t explain but it’s always there and it never goes away. To be a punk you don’t have to listen to punk music or have a Mohawk or be outrageous – you just have that feeling. Punk isn’t something that started in the 70s, it’s something that started in the beginning of mankind – it just wasn’t labeled punk until the 70s. The media portrays it as something negative because if they did news segments or articles on what it’s really about then people wouldn’t care because they just want to see controversy. I think the difference between being into punk as opposed to the mainstream is that we think more about things (not to say that there aren’t people who think the same way we do who aren’t into punk). We don’t believe everything we’re told and we don’t take life for granted. Most of the punks I know have fun living their lives for them and not for somebody else whether it’s a boss, government, or any type of authority.

RRR: Your film is about older punks and how they have not abandoned the ideals of punk. For some people punk is a phase but for others it obviously lasts a lifetime. What is the appeal in the punk culture? Is it the music, the cloths or something deeper?

AW: For me it’s definitely something deeper. I agree there are people that get into it and then drop out but I don’t think those people were ever punks in the first place. Sometimes people try new things and it doesn’t work for them (and that’s totally fine), but punk isn’t something that you can grow out of. It’s who you are – it’s what’s inside of you and nobody could ever possibly grow out of that. You may stop listening to the music for a while, dress differently, and change who you hang around with – but once a punk always a punk. I think the reason why it appeals to so many people is because it’s a place where finally people can be themselves and not be scared of what others will think of them. Here you don’t need approval from anyone else but yourself – it gives you confidence, self belief and independence. If that’s not appealing then I don’t know what is!

RRR: This film is indie in the true sense of the word. How have you approached making this film?

AW: I think this can be answered in a couple different ways. For funding I worked 80 hours a week for the past two years to save up enough money for equipment, travel, and other necessary expenses. Everyone involved with the movie has been extremely supportive and devoted their time because of their love for the cause. For the European interviews I found friends of friends of friends who were interested and I consequently traveled around Europe for 3 months bouncing to and from everyone’s houses. Since it’s such a tight-knit family it was easy for me to find people.

RRR: When is “All Grown Up” scheduled to be released? How do you plan on distributing it?

AW: The release will be in the beginning of December of this year. I’ll be distributing it with my company, Psyko Punk Productions and it will be available for purchase directly from me through the website. I’ll also be sending it out to tons of different punk shops all over the world so that we can reach the farthest corners of nowhere with it! I already have some connections with places in South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, and Russia to name a few outside of the US.

RRR: Anything else that you would like to add?

AW: Yes! Thank you so much for the opportunity to spread the word about this even further! I hope that you guys all enjoy the movie and if anybody ever has any questions or comments please feel free to send them my way at allgrownupthemovie@yahoo.com! Thanks again

You can get more information on the film at http://www.allgrownupthemovie.com. They also have a MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/allgrownupthemovie

Here’s the trailer for a bit more of a sense of what the film is about.

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Alright, alright! 3/4 of Led Zeppelin are reforming for a special one-off concert on November 26th and I suppose the question has to be: will this be more like the Page/Plant tour, which I thought was great or the Live Aid/Atlantic Records reunion which everybody agress was horrible.

I personally think that they will pull out all the stops and rehearse like bastards for this sucker knowing that this is probably the last time they will ever play together. I certainly hope so as I remain a huge Zeppelin fan despite the fact that I can’t remember the last time I listened to them.

NME has put together a very cool Top 10 Led Zeppelin Video Moments that you can use to revisit their glory days. At least in Novemeber Page won’t be all strung out on smack!

Later.

Mark

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Alright, alright! 3/4 of Led Zeppelin are reforming for a special one-off concert on November 26th and I suppose the question has to be: will this be more like the Page/Plant tour, which I thought was great or the Live Aid/Atlantic Records reunion which everybody agress was horrible.

I personally think that they will pull out all the stops and rehearse like bastards for this sucker knowing that this is probably the last time they will ever play together. I certainly hope so as I remain a huge Zeppelin fan despite the fact that I can’t remember the last time I listened to them.

NME has put together a very cool Top 10 Led Zeppelin Video Moments that you can use to revisit their glory days. At least in Novemeber Page won’t be all strung out on smack!

Later.

Mark

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Blabbermouth has an excellent piece on an interview done with Suroosh Alvi, the director of the documentary film Heavy Metal in Baghdad. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival focuses on the band ACRASSICAUDA (Latin for “Black Scorpion”) which is the only heavy metal band in Iraq (can you imagine?). You can download the trailer in quicktime format here.

Did you know that Iraq is the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis? I know that I didn’t.

Update! The band are currently in hiding in the US for fear of their lives if they go back to Iraq. Read all the details in the Rolling Stone Rock and Roll Daily article Iraqi Heavy Metal Band Ask for Help as They Fight to Survive.

Later.

Mark

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During the Swinging Sixties, few people swung more than Playboy magazine publisher, Hugh Hefner. In 1969, Hef offered the public a chance to vicariously experience a piece of his swinging lifestyle by launching a TV show called, “Playboy After Dark.” Set in his penthouse, or possibly a studio tricked out to look like one, “Playboy After Dark” was essentially a big cocktail party presided over by a very genial Hef.

A typical show featured a mixed crowd of fifty or sixty people milling around or lounging on couches drinking, smoking, and carrying on like they were having a great old time. The older guests wore suits or evening gowns, while the young people favored bell bottoms, paisleys, love beads, and headbands. There was always a celebrity guest or two to be interviewed, as well as some of the popular musical acts of the day, including Deep Purple, Steppenwolf, James Brown, The Grateful Dead, and Iron Butterfly.

Clips of some of the musical performances are now available on Youtube, and they provide some tasty little nuggets of pop culture history. It’s positively surreal to see a very clean-cut Hef in his tuxedo “rapping” with the musicians and self-consciously uttering the occasional “groovy” and “far out.” Interestingly, some of the artists played live while others lip-synched for some reason. Either way, though, it’s a lot of fun to watch some legendary names in rock and roll, often sporting some truly wild get-ups, back in their early days. To check them out, go to Youtube.com and search for “Playboy” and any of the band names listed above. Enjoy!

By Wayne Wayne, the world’s foremost authority on the legendary band The Modest Lads

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The 8th annual Mods and Rockers Film Festival will take place July 13 - August 1, 2007 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Film highlites include the rarely screened What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA, acid comedy Skidoo, Led Zeppelin Live at the Royal Albert Hall, Monterey Pop (celebrating its 40th anniversary), Don’t Look Back and more. Plus there will be a huge, free open-air concert including a cover band that will recreate the sites and sounds of some of the best from Monterey Pop.

Always a good time so if you are in LA in July you should try and check it out. All the details are at the Mods and Rockers website at http://www.modsandrockers.com/.

Later.

Mark

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SxSW is touring America this summer and fall with an amazing concert film series called The Bigger Picture. Featuring everything from concerts in intimite club locations to full scale productions, the film features concerts by bands like The Polyphonic Spree and The Bravery with more bands and locations to be added.

Check out the full schedule and line-up at their website http://www.thebiggerpicture.us/sxsw.html

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Mark

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Further to the whole 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love theme there will be a screening of D.A. Pennebaker’s landmark documentary Monterey Pop at the IFC Center on June 5th at 7:30 PM in New York City. You can get more info at the excellent Cinema Retro.

Later.

Mark

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Here is the trailer for the upcoming Girls Rock - The Movie. Don’t believe for a minute girls that you can’t rock with the guys. If you roam around this very site you will see plenty of examples from Joan Jett to the Dollyrots to the Atomic Swindlers to Leigh Silver of woman who not only rock, they rock with attitude. Don’t give up the good fight!

Later.

Mark

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The truly eccentric Roky Ericson, the man behind the legendary 13th Floor Elevators is the subject of the documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me which is set to be released in theatres June 8th. Ericson’s tale is one that delves heavily into drug abuse and schizophrenia but he is still with us and is slowly making more and more public appearances. CMJ has a list of screenings of the film kicking off this month if you can’t wait for the DVD.

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I recieved this e-mail from Kim Cooper of the amazing Scram Magazine and thought it looked interesting. If any of you out there have a chance to attend let me know how it was!

7 DUDLEY CINEMA at SPONTO Gallery, 7 Dudley Ave, Venice, 310-306-7330, Free!

www.81x.com/7dudley/cinema

Come early - seating is limited

WED., March 14, 7pm preshow: Author Domenic Priore, Luxuriamusic.com DJ Becky Ebenkamp and anthology editor Kim Cooper screen LA’s rare back-door hit Shrimpenstein! Ostensibly a children’s puppet show (adult satire in disguise), this ‘66 KHJ-Channel 9 warper featured booze & LSD jokes. Local fans included the Rat Pack & Rod Serling.

8pm. BUBBLEGUM MUSIC IS THE NAKED TRUTH! (’05, 93min) Based on Kim Cooper and David Smay’s book, Kier-La Janisse’s compilation of prepubescent pop from ‘67 to ‘72 features rare footage of the 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Archies, Ohio Express, The Sweet, The Bay City Rollers, the Banana Splits, the Wombles & the Jackson 5 Cartoon. It dismantles the worst myths about how bubblegum is produced and identifies the gum tendencies of artists as varied as the Sex Pistols, Abba, the Monkees and the Ramones.

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Friday, February 16

8:00 pm

Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design

20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia

(215) 965-4099

On Friday, February 16, The Secret Cinema at
Moore College of Art and Design will revive a
special program last shown over six years ago.
NUGGETS: CELLULOID ARTYFACTS OF SIXTIES ROCK is a
unique hodgepodge of ultra-rare reels consisting
of various short films and television shows
showcasing mod, garage and pop music from the
mid-to-late 1960s. When we named that program
back in 2001, it was in naked homage to the
inestimably influential 1972 garage rock
compilation album of the same name. This year, we
are thrilled to announce that in addition to the
rare films, we will have with us the creator of
the original "Nuggets," Lenny Kaye.

Prior to his 30-plus years as Rock Hall of Fame
inductee Patti Smith’s chief musical
collaborator, Lenny Kaye was a prolific rock
critic and historian. He contributed to leading
rock periodicals, wrote legendary liner notes
(even earning mention within a Steven King
novel), and was one of a handful of rock critics
at the time to take serious interest in the
supposedly frivolous corners of rock history,
from doo wop to the previously-unlabeled genre of
garage rock. This work reached a pinnacle when he
compiled for Elektra Records a double-LP of what
were then considered regional obscurities and
"one hit wonders" of mid-late sixties rock,
titled NUGGETS: ORIGINAL ARTYFACTS FROM THE FIRST
PSYCHEDELIC ERA, 1965-1968. The collection
brought together great proto-punk singles by The
Electric Prunes, The Standells and The Seeds,
sides that had been recorded just a few years
earlier but had already been forgotten in the
wake of progressive rock and singer-songwriters.

NUGGETS insured that this music would never be
forgotten again. It first spawned a host of
similarly-named compilations of garage rock
(PEBBLES, BOULDERS, et al), and then Rhino
Records turned the name NUGGETS into something of
a sixties reissue franchise, culminating in no
less than three deluxe CD box sets of psych and
garage rarities. Lenny Kaye, meanwhile, moved on,
as leader of the Patti Smith Group, record
producer, teacher of a university class in rock
history, and author. His latest book is YOU CALL
IT MADNESS: THE SENSUOUS SONG OF THE CROON.

At NUGGETS, the film screening, Lenny Kaye will
discuss sixties rock and add his insightful commentary between films.

To make this an even more special event, we’ll
have Stewkey (lead singer and keyboardist of
Philadelphia’s greatest sixties band The Nazz) in
person to present a rare print of the promo film for "Open My Eyes."

As always, this Secret Cinema presentation will
be projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (that’s right, not using video).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A few highlights of NUGGETS include:

(more…)

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It’s finally official. After years of speculation, NME.com reports that Wayne¹s World and Austin Powers star Mike Myers is set to play The Who’s Keith Moon in the film adaptation of his life. Moon died in 1978 and his former bandmate, frontman Roger Daltrey, hand picked Myers to fill the late drummer¹s role, and he told us the producers had complete faith that he would find the right man. I think they trust me to be true to the character of this man with all his complexities and he was deeply, deeply complex as a person. He was incredibly, incredibly articulate. He was incredibly intelligent and he had an incredible gift of mimicry. I think he had genius qualities as a drummer. The movie now titled, See Me, Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked For Your Pleasure, was green-lit back in 2005. It is now slated for a 2009 release.

Source: 2007 Punmaster’s MusicWire  http://www.punmaster.com

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TORONTO – November 21, 2006 - North by North East (NXNE) is Canada’s best live music event dedicated to exposing the best in new music and music movies. Each year NXNE showcases over 450 live acts from across Canada and around the world, at thirty-five venues in downtown Toronto. It’s one heck of a music party. The NXNE Film Festival offers a unique program of music related feature films, documentaries and shorts where music is the star. Each year hundreds of music professionals from Canada and around the world flock to NXNE to discover their new favourite bands, network, catch up with old friends and have a few cold beverages in what historically is always a wonderful hot weekend in Toronto.

Do you feel that’s its about time the world heard you? Submissions are open so please visit www.nxne.com to submit your music through SonicBids. If you submit before December 31 the fee is only $25.00 Canadian and after December 31 it is $35.00. The Deadline for all entries is January 12, 2007. No mail-in submissions will be accepted.

To submit a film, documentary, short or animated short you must go through Withoutabox. No mail-in submissions will be accepted. Submissions start November 1st and close January 12, 2007. $15 Canadian for shorts under forty-five minutes $25 for features over forty-five minutes. Themes or subjects of films must somehow be applicable to the music industry as in documentaries about artists or genres; or films where music is the subject.

(more…)

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I respect noted LA KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. What that man has done for rock and roll is immeasurable as he has marched to his own drummer playing records by bands that most people hadn’t heard of (at least not that early in their carreers) because he has a genuine interest and love of rock and roll. To the so-called “Mayor Of Sunset Strip” music is the ultimate form of positive energy and Rodney on the ROQ cannot get enough. It’s with mixed feelings then that I write this review of the film Mayor of the Sunset Strip, the biography of the rock fan, journalist, promoter, club owner and radio DJ on KROQ.

Watching this film made me uncomfortable at times because it seemed like director George Hickenlooper (the man behind the awesome “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmaker’s Apocalypse”) was trying to purposely paint Bingenheimer as some sort of fame whore who just wanted to latch on to the musicians that he played and promoted on the radio. Now it’s debatable whether the music industry is more fucked up than the film or “fashion” industry but despite the directors intention, Bingenheimer comes off as a quiet, un-offensive and caring guy that is unfortunately situated smack dab in the middle of the “use or be used” capital of the world. Why the constant questions about whether it bugs him that he is not more famous? Or whether he could use more money (who can’t for chrissakes!). I mean, instead of fixating on his collection of autographs and his constant posing with bands like Oasis, why not go into more detail about the UK punk music he was playing before anybody had the guts to play it in the U.S.? To me, he was almost portrayed as some kind of lost circus freak which, while at times interesting certainly didn’t seem to shed any more light on Rodney Bingenheimer the music fanatic and promoter. A little less “People” magazine stuff and a bit more rock and roll would have certainly helped me enjoy this DVD a lot more.

If you really want to learn more about Rodney on the ROQ just go and listen to him on Sunday nights on KROQ. In addition, check out his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/rodneyontheroq and check out his playlists. There are always nuggest of rock and roll genius contained within. Is Rodney Bingenheimer some fame hunting hagger on or a rock and roll original? I’ll tell you what, Dick Clark might be more famous, but Rodney is rock and roll all the way and to me, that’s what counts.

Later.

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It’s HP Lovecraft a-go-go in "The Miskatonic Acid Test", the first feature from American Entropy Productions. It’s 1969, and cosmic horror infects a psychedelic rock "happening" in witch-haunted Arkham, Mass. It’s a zonked out brew of poetry, philosophy, cosmic horror, and 60’s-style acid rock; probably the first horror movie that’s more heavily influenced by the Monkees’ "Head" than by George Romero… This is the official trailer.

http://miskatonic.americanentropy.com

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On September 19th I posted the trailer to the film “What is Indie?” and now I am fortunate enough to have been able to watch the film on DVD courtesy of Montreal-based director David Cool and it was really quite an education, and the bloopers were funny too.

The concept of the film is quite straightforward: ask a bunch of indie musicians and other people involved in “the scene” the question “What is Indie?” and see what happens. At first things unfold the way you might imagine with talk of indie labels and owning masters and not “selling out to the man” but it soon emerges that the question of what constitutes “indie” is not as straightforward as one might think. With everybody from Derek Sivers from CD Baby and Panos Panay of Sonicbids chiming in with a multitude of indie artists, the question becomes a debate about things like modes of distribution and whether one can be “indie” on a major label that all add to a fascinating debate. At the end of the day I have to agree with the argument that “indie” is more of a philosphy than a way to distribute records. As Doug so eloquently points out on a recent article on CNN about the film:

“These days indie is more of a philosophy,” “If you can maintain control and integrity over your art, whether on your own or with a corporation — that’s what’s important.”

Indie truly is a different way to create art and it could very well be taking over the world. Take that Paris!

The film is currently being featured at a number of events and venues across North America:

# October 12th @ INDIE Week (Toronto, ON)

# October 13th @ OCFF (Ottawa, ON)

# October 18th @ Five Towns College of Music (New York, NY)

# October 26th @ Dale Pro Audio (New York, NY)

# November 4th @ C’est What? (Toronto, ON)

# November 6th @ Middle East Room (Boston, MA)

# November 9th @ Green Room (Montreal, QC)

# November 11th @ Hank’s Saloon (Brooklyn, NY)

# February 10th @ DIY Convention (Los Angeles, CA)

Later.

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Here is a great video of the 4 original members of REM performing with the legendary Minus 5 on "Country Feedback" live at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia.

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SideThree is a cool new blog that unearths all those hidden gems on You Tube that are just incredibly fun to watch. Check it out!

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What is Indie? That is the subject of a documentary called "What is Indie" produced by Standalone Records. According to their blurb on YouTube:

At a time when independent artists in the music industry have more power and control over their careers than ever before, "What is INDIE?" is a documentary film that tries to determine just what it really means to be ‘indie’, and also examines the changes in the music industry and what affect they are having on indie rock artists. The film features interviews with indie rock experts including Derek Sivers (Founder of CD Baby), Panos Panay (Founder of Sonicbids) and Suzanne Glass (Founder of Indie-Music.com), as well as with 20 artists including Ember Swift and Paul Cargnello.

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Title: Stoned-The Original Rolling Stone

Rated:R

My 5-star scale rating: 3-1/2 stars (1/2 just for hair and costume work)

The theatrical release of this movie was so limited, I thought it was worth reviewing for its DVD release. It recounts the rise and eventual fall of Brian Jones (played by Ian Gregory), founder of the Rolling Stones and the driving force behind their early blues sound. In the days filled with the giant cult personalities like Lennon and Hendrix, none was bigger than Brian Jones, who could be considered the father of the modern "rock star" image. Jones died tragically at age 27 shortly after having been booted from the Stones. Like so many other precocious artists before and after Jones, the emotionally dependent, paranoid genius turned to drugs and other eccentric indulgences. The portrayals of Keith Richards (Ben Whishaw) and Mick Jagger (Luke De Woolfson) are far from the caricatures that may have become the current Richards and Jagger, but thanks in-part to great hairstyling and costumes they pull them off believably. The movie’s chronology bounces around but focuses on the last 3 months of Jones life, when a builder by the name of Frank Thorogood (Paddy Considine) was hired to work on Jones’ home having just completed work on Keith Richards home.

According to the film, Jones eventually begins to rely on Thorogood for other duties as well; cooking, chauffeuring, cricket opponent, sympathetic ear. In exchange, Frank gets ordered around by Jones at all hours of the night, made to make changes again and again on the same wall at Jones’ home, stiffed for his building wages and stiffed by Jones’ girlfriend. Perhaps because Jones had so little control over the rest of his life, he enjoyed the opportunity to control someone else’s, which ironically may have led to his death, originally ruled as "death by misadventure". In 1993 however, Thorogood supposedly made a deathbed confession. Since the only two people who really know what happened, Jones and Thorogood, are now dead, we’ll probably never know for certain. The final scene proposes an interesting encounter between the deceased Jones and Tom Keylock, the tour manager responsible for hiring Thorogood. In it, Jones thanks him for making him a martyr. Indeed, if Jones had lived longer as he was, debilitated by drug use, unable to write new music of his own, he may well have died after his star had faded out and his popularity long past its peak. Dying while still in the white-hot lights of rock stardom guaranteed his place on the tragically long list of performers who departed far too early but will live on as cult icons of theirs and future generations.

If you’re looking for a movie about the Rolling Stones, this isn’t it. This is definitely about Jones. Interestingly and noticeably absent are any Rolling Stones songs. Whether done intentionally in tribute to Jones or due to licensing issues, the soundtrack contains no actual Rolling Stones performances. It also has no songs with writing credits going to any of the Rolling Stones, neither "Nanker Phelge", the collective group name for which Jones would have received partial song writing credit, nor Richards or Jagger, the Glimmer Twins or any other Rolling Stones’ members. It does contain several covers of Robert Johnson songs, including Stop Breaking Down by the White Stripes. Parents be cautioned, it also contains a fair amount of sexual content-it is a movie about the late 1960’s music scene after all. Except for a few deleted scenes, the DVD has no bonus features.

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