Stop Smiling

I just discovered this magazine. Where have I been? Touted as "The magazine for High-Minded lowlifes" it was just prententious enough to perk my interest. This particular issue (no. 25) is all about Documentaries. There are great interviews with Errol Morris, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert Maysles. It's well written (better than it needs to be) and it's got a minimalist layout. Far better than Res Magazine, which was trying to be the coolest magazine in the world, only they forgot to put in the all important ingredient known as substance. A friend of mine bought me a subscription a few years back and I held out hope for that rag for the longest time since every issue came with a DVD. More often than not the DVD had only one or two interesting things on it. Nowadays I only flip throught it halfheartedly as I pass by the magazine rack. Stop Smiling is more of a lifestyle magazine as far as I could figure as they don't really focus on just film and music but art, politics, books and humor. I noticed Vince Vaughn was on one of the back issues so they aren't afraid to go mass market as long as it's the best of the A-listers (Vince still has some street cred). It's more accesible than The Believer which I find a little too elitest but still in the same stylistic vein.

In the music section I found a spot-on and somewhat lenghty review of Cat Power's The Greatest CD. This issue had a lot of what I crave and reminded me that it's not all about the internet, print still has it's strengths. Hopefully the next issue will be as good.

July Inspires

Here is a fabulous piece of Apple propoganda starring Miranda July. She was responsible for one of my favourite movies last year so you should watch this.

What Up?

Been back to work now since the 14th. The month off was pretty great. Got some good stuff for the Doc, went to Whistler and just managed to relax.

Next week I'm off to The HOTDOCS Documentary Forum in Toronto. Werner Herzog will be there, don't think I'll get to talk to him though. What'll I say "Hey man, did you really eat that shoe?" We hope to pitch our Superdogs idea to broadcasters and get some much needed funding. Then and only then can we start seriously making this thing. We've got some great footage already but need a lot more if we want it to be a feature. So I'll post more about this after the forum.

In other creative news - Mona and I plan to do a series of 1 minute shorts. This is a way to keep our creative muscles pumping. As we finish them I'll find a way to post them on the web.

Movies and shows I've been watching:



V for Vendetta - Mona dragged me to it but I thouroughly bought into what they were laying down. This coming from someone who really found the matrix trilogy to be one of the sillier film events of the last 10 years. Portman was just great in this and they used a Cat Power song.


Brick - Film Noir set in a High School. Never done seen nothin' like it. The film creates a world we've never seen, commits to this crazy notion, and pummels us with truly unique colloquilisms, situations and dangerous females. They pull all this off in an organic way just like Donnie Darko did before it. The real coup is that it was made for 500 000 US$. Lukas Haas, who was great in Last Days, continues to surprise in this dark piece of magic.


Battlestar Galactica - Yes, I've lost my indie-cred. A recommendation from Kevin Smiths Blog, this new series totally reinvents the original sans the camp. Cylons are now soft, supple, sweaty and sometimes smokin' hot babes. They don't have those metalic silver shells and moving led eyes, thank god. Speaking of god, the Cylons are all hard-core Christians and if they're female they're thankfully nymphos. Oh, yeah and they're mostly Candadian. It's just a ruse that we're all friendly up here. Anyway, this show is totally compelling because of the strong female leads, great acting and fantastic dialogue - all rarities in Sci-Fi. Did I mention I abhor Science Fiction? See it and get back to me. Also, this is of local interest - it's filmed in Vancouver, making it the best series to be filmed in our fine city. No, I'm not forgetting X-files...cause' I wasn't a fan o' that roswell obsessed piece of poo.

The Hive: #2 - P:ano, When It's Dark and It's Summer

...most of October I had trouble remembering your name...

NICK KRGOVICH and LARISSA LOYVA are the only constant from the early days of P:ano. There's been lineup changes and incarnations since 2000 but they're still making the same great music they did when we recorded them in that damp East Van Basement.

They came to us at a young age (similar to the Ids). Nick was a 17 year old highschool student and Larissa was a little bit older. We saw them at the Brickyard with a couple of bands but the only one we could remember was P:ano. They had elements of all the bands we were into: Low, Yo La Tengo, Belle and Sebastian. One thing that Colin and I were fascinated by was the maturity of his song writing. To us, it was crazy that no one had recorded this band or even approached them to record.

Over the next 6 months Colin recorded their debut album: When It's Dark and It's Summer. He brought in all his friends from the Vancouver music scene: Josh Wells, Ida Nilsen, Andy Herfst, Stefan Udell and others I can't recall. We recorded this one on our 16 track 1 inch to achieve that munchy dark sound we so love on all our favourite albums. Colin knew what he was doing this time as 5 years had passed since the Id's and he'd recorded dozens of great bands in the meantime. From the start it was clear Nick was endlessy creative and wasn't interested in the status quo. Colin and Nick pushed each other to make something they could never have achieved on their own. Highlights from that album were All of November, Tut Tut and Dinosaurs but honestly this is an entity unto itself not just a collection of singles. Languidly beautiful intros and codas bookend stunningly written pop songs on this amazing debut. I was just far enough removed from the proceedings to fully comprehend the magnitude of this musical watershed of form and function.

After we had finished the album no labels were interested in putting it out. Today the mere thought of this seems ludicrus but back then nobody gave a shit. We had to take things into our own hands so Terry started our label Hi-Fidelity with the sole purpose of making this amazing piece of art availble to the public. We were very proud to have this as our first proper release. This time around it was one of the highest selling albums on our indie distributor, Scratch Records (a little different scenario from Nettwerk).

People loved this album and even though it's now out of print it's one of the best albums to come out of Vancouver in the last 6 years. Like Sean (the Ids), Nick also started off as a nice naive kid from the burbs whose personality changed but is now back on track and he's even turned into a respectable adult - albeit one who writes amazing songs. They toured the west coast of the USA with this album and even though many substantial offers were dangled before their eyes none ever transpired. No, they didn't get a coveted spot on the OC soundtrack but Nick eventually wrote a song called OC.

When it came time to record their sophomore album, The Den, things got a little tense but we won't get into that here. It's all behind us and we're glad to say this tale didn't include drug addiction but instead it was about big budgets, late nights and gargantuan ambitions.

Hive-Fidelity put out those two albums before they buckled to the pressure of the much maligned major-indie label. Thankfully they didn't sign to Nettwerk but the much superior (ethically and aesthetically) Mint Records. At present they are happily churning out pop gems for that imprint and we are all still friends.

Miss Terry

My good friend Terry Stewart is now a part of the blogsphere. Go to her site and see why she is the most powerful and opinionated woman in Vancouver's indie-rock scene. I've added her to my links so go there now.

Mogwai, now more than ever

My self-imposed exile from the isle of Mogwai is now officially over. These Scotch F—er’s simply rock. I don’t know why I’d been so apposed to these guys over the past 9 years. Yes…now I remember. The Beans (The Hive Top 10 review coming soon) are to blame for this. Back in 97 I was painfully attached to the sounds of said Beans and nothing close to that could shake my faith in them. Whether it be God Speed you black Emperor, Fridge, or whatever Post-Rockers were making serious inroads back then, none could enter the sonic domain that the Beans held. I now know there is room for many flavours of the tasty pudding that is Drone-rock.

I downloaded the album a couple of weeks ago and last week I decided to buy the physical Disc. I went down to Zulu (something I haven’t done for a while) and once I saw the gorgeous packaging and read that it contained a “making of DVD”; I couldn’t rightly ignore the impending purchase. At 16.98 it was a true bargain.

The sound: Solid and enveloping (Glasgow Mega-Snake) to ethereal and spare (Emergency Trap, I Chose Horses, Team Handed) but always with an undercurrent of tension. On Glasgow Mega-Snake the guitars come in heavy and continually up the intensity until you are wrapped in dense curtains of noise. It’s not all guitars all the time as there are enough synth-y bits and piano flourishes to keep the ambience alive. I know heavy guitars are an easy out when it comes to manipulating the listener but these guys have been at it long enough to know when to employ it for amazing effect. As always; listen and get back to me. I'm sure you'll agree. On I Chose Horses we are treated to Japanese spoken word via the singer Tetsuya Fukagawa of Tokyo Hardcore rockers Envy. Not knowing what he’s saying only adds to the aural scenery that Mogwai has captured on this impressive CD.

Since I have a background in recording I also can't ignore how great the pure sonics of the album are. When you have that many layers of guitars going it can almost get counterproductive. Eventually the whole mess can implode on itself and when you add too much in the end it sounds like a tiny muddy mess. Their producer/engineer Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian, Delgados, Mojave 3) knows how to keep things dynamic, alive and is extremly skillful in maintaining precise separtation throughout the stereo field. The quieter songs breathe beautifully which isn't an easy task for a lot of volume-centric knob twisters but that is his forte as he comes from more of a folk background, that was to be expected of him the latter was a great surprise. He's done a great job on this CD especially since it was all conceived and mixed in the digital domain. To me it sounds as good as any analog recording, so no, that isn't a small feat at all. I am glad I left the recording arena because guys like this make it seem too easy.

It’s a well rounded album that I have found works well to keep me motivated when I’m running through East Van with my ipod.

The DVD isn’t that great cause you can hardly hear their voices (it doesn’t help that those harsh Scottish accents aren’t the easiest for a Canadian to comprehend under the best of conditions) and not much of a story to it. It does look great and the mood of the album is captured pretty well. I guess that’s all you can really expect in a free DVD. I really liked the look of it though and if anyone knows that camera they used could you please email me the technical info ( I emailed the band but I guess they are too busy to respond).

I will be there once they play at the Commodore in May. Mark my words. Even thought it is pretty steep at 37 bucks people have told me they are best digested in the live setting. So I’ll see you there.

M for Movie

F for Fake - A late masterpiece from Orson Welles. This shows how doc and fiction can co-exist as well as giving us some truth about lying. Or is it the other way round?
Metropolitan - How come I've never seen this gem. Great dialogue and no, Vince Vaughan, you didn't invent the silver tongued asshole routine, Chris Eigeman did.
The Yes Men - Corporate hijinx has never been so funny. So great to see how two little guys can create P.R. nightmares for the evil Corporations. Manages to skirt the oft-used "preaching to the converted" formula by employing outlandish gags and glitter phalluses.

The music never stops

Listening to -
Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Yes...yes...OH YES...full review to come)
Banda of Horses - Everything all the time (tasty stuff, full review coming soon)
Sondre Lerche - Two way monologue (to soon to tell)
Loose Fur - Born again in the USA (Dunno...tell you later)
Assorted New Zealand stuff from the 80's courtesy of Rose (thank you, I'm loving it)
Morrissey - Ringleaders of the Tormenters (So far no good)

Back from the Prairies

I've been back for a few days now and I've had some time to reflect on last weeks events..

Due to legal issues and because I am involved in development for a film which may or may not get made I must refrain from giving away too many details.

I can however say that after viewing Incident at Loch Ness, that movie, although fiction, does ring true to what I went through this last week. In a documentary it's all about your subject, it can really make or break your film. We are still involved in the casting of this movie and we still don't have a concrete treatment. Every day something new and exciting shows itself. Who will be the star? What will the spine of the story consist of? In the next couple of months we will know for sure. This gets some people nervous and in turn creates a lot of stress for David and I. This film has been deep-sixed and resurrected a half dozen times over the last few weeks. Currently it's a go but for how long...

Sufjan Stevens wins New Pantheon award

No it's not some overpriced Volkswagen, it's an award given to the best artist to sell under 500 000 copies of their album. It's judged by so called taste makers like Frodo, Elton and Margaret "Fo Sho" Cho.

This was one of my favourite albums of last year so it gives me great pleasure to announce this. To me this is like the Grammys, as most of the bands nominated are what I listen to on a daily basis (of course with the occasional Pink song thrown in, but only when I'm at the strip clubs).

The Hive: #1 - The Ids, Psycho Babylon (1997)

This was the Hive's first serious girlfriend, if you will. We met up with the lead singer Sean McDonald when he was still in his late teens. He showed up at our basement studio, played a few songs on the acoustic and soon after we began production on their first album, Psycho Babylon. We took no money for the album as we wanted to see it get to the audience it deserved, such was the altruistic leanings of the early Hive. Their sound was compared to Beck, Sebadoh, Jane's Addiction and GBV. At the time Lo-Fi was hot and we almost rode that aesthectic to success.

After the first six months of bliss our relationship with them became less than ideal. They got signed to Nettwerk records (career suicide), egos raged, unnecessary rock videos were filmed, drug habits formed and elusive success never materialized. When we started to record the second album nobody was enthused and we felt the band had abandoned their unique sound for a shot at the coveted "radio friendly unit-shifter". Eventually they went to another producer/studio and if you ever lay your ears on that one, you will experience how unfortunate a sophomore album can be.

Psycho Babylon is a classic indie-pop album that Vice Magazine said was "the best release in the History of Nettwerk Records". As a result to it being so unique to the rest of their roster the album has the distinction of being their lowest selling album to date. That record still stands, hallelujah.

Today, Nettwerk still sucks and the album still stands as a testament to what you can do with no money and a lot of drive to get something done. Locked in a Room with death is a perfect indie-pop song that will be remembered years from now.

Flaming Lips: At War With The Mystics

I started listening to this album about a month ago but I thought I would wait to post a comment. I wanted to be clear headed when I piped in on this mega-release. Ya know, ya get over exicted about an album the first few listens but that sometimes fades (all that production voodoo f--n' with your aural recepters and newness of the moment shit). I didn't want to regret anything I said about this little CD and now I can truly say these are my sober thoughts on the music that is At War With the Mystics.

I haven't been an "official" fan of the Flaming lips since the 90's so this comes as much as a shock to me as it does to my dear friends: At War With The Mystics is a Masterpiece (a shallow one but a masterpiece none the less). This album cannot be ignored. All the elements I like are in place on this album - the fuzz guitar, unconventional song structure, analog tape effects, fragile Neil Young inspired vocals, great keyboard sounds, bizzare non sequitur lyrics - it's got it all.


Note of local interest: Pink Mountaintops are opening two CD release parties for the lips in New York. This may have already happened.

Brandon, Man

Man, little shit-splat towns like Brandon Rock. I went to the local Blockbuster Video to check out their previously viewed section hoping to find a few good deals.

I didn't realize I'd hit the motherload.

Va Savior - 2.99, YES, 2.99. I haven't seen it but it's suppose to be a Jacques Rivette classic.
Last Life in the Universe - 7.99 One of my recent favs
Goodbye Dragon Inn - 7.99 The incomparable Tsai Ming Liang
Incident at Loch Ness - 6.99 Werner Herzog + Faux Doc. I'm there.

Yes, readers, these are in Canadian funds and yes these smalltown folks know nothing about Cinema. I guess that's why they were sentenced here.

Actually, Brandon isn't as small as I thought it would be. It kinda reminds me of Lethbridge, Alberta. Still we drove around the entire town in about 15 minutes. We ate some food at a chain restaurant that played some amazingly bland neo-cuntry. The winter fair starts tomorrow so all hell will probably break loose. We will film some, have a meeting and come back a couple of seasoned fimmakers. This trip has been stressful but in a good way.

More as it happens

Winnipeg

My first time in this not-so-lovely city. I am involved in the filming of a documentary as we all know.

Heart of Darkness was an interesting movie. I'll let you think about that for a while.

I am tired and I will post more tomorrow.

On The Road

I am about to embark on my first Roadtrip as a filmmaker. Not that I am going anywhere exciting but it's just cool to be finally doing something creative and getting paid for it. I'm off to Calgary, Winnipeg, Brandon and finally Edmonton. My partner (David) and I are going to be interviewing several trainers for our Documentary on Herb Williams and the Superdogs. We'll also be attending the Brandon winter fair where we will see an actual Dog and Pony show. Yeah, I know, they really do exist. I'll be reporting from the road and maybe posting pictures. I'll be back here in Vancouver on the 30th.

10th Anniversary: The Hive

As you may (or may not) know, I was a founding member of Vancouver's best indie-pop studio: The Hive. Started in 1996, this studio has grown up n' out of it's humble beginnings in East Van and into the realm of legitimate business. It now resides in a 3000 square foot complex in the burbs, where on any given day, sleezeball rock stars can be seen gettin' their groove on.

Over the next several posts I will list the top ten albums that The Hive has produced. Even a couple of years ago this would only have been of local interest but hard work and not-taking-no-for-an-answer has made this shit the stuff of legends (or at least worthy of international blogdom).

Mr. Beast: the B.C. connection

Local artist manages to snare Mogwai cover. I just read about Amanda Church in the Georgia Straight last week. Glad to see she is doing well and that those crazy bastards from Scotland are taking notice to the wealth of talent in our amazing Province.

Imaginary Soundtracks

If I were to drop a "Feature-Length Narrative" into this world, right now, this would be the soundtrack-

Smog - Ex-Con
Boards of Canada - '84 Pontiac Dream
Low -Dinosaur Act
Sufjan Stevens- Pickerall Lake
Aphex Twin - Stone in Focus
Red House Painters- Song For A Blue Guitar
Pavement - Father To A Sister of Thought
Yo La Tengo - Our Way To Fall
Cat Power - The Greatest
Neil Young - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
µ-Ziq - Phiesope

Tarnation

I hate Jonathan Caouette

Reason 1:
He made the personal documentary I’ve always wanted to (albeit with a very different subject matter and aesthetic sense than I would have chosen).

Reason 2:
He stole my soundtrack. Anyone who knows anything about me knows how much music rules my day-to-day life. I have very discerning tastes and when I watch a movie I'm usually pulled out of the drama by the filmmaker’s crap music. That's not the case with Tarnation. Bands he chose include: Mark Kozelek (of The Red House Painters), Low, Iron and Wine, and Magnetic Fields. These same artists have had heavy rotatation on my iTunes for the last couple of years. Even songs I wasn’t familiar with: Cocteau twins, Lisa Germano and Marianne Faithful were expertly selected for this very stylized doc.

Reason 3:
One of my favourite filmmakers, Gus Van Sant was an executive producer. This is the dream of all young filmmakers: to have your first movie recognized by one of the greatest working directors of our time.

Reason 4:
He is so articulate and so friggin’ well spoken in the DVD commentary. This F—er is to-the-point and just goddamn succinct when it comes to explaining the themes and the overall construction of the film

Reason 5:
He put this film together using iMovie from Mac. Yes, the free software that comes with every Mac. I haven’t even opened that program on my Mac, cause I thought it was a mickey-mouse piece o’ junk. I might use it for my next short form project. Simplicity is sometimes best; that’s what Jonathon’s lesson is.

I Love Jonathan Caouette

Darkon

Darkon, beeotch, Darkon.

go here and watch it

Get me some of that, stat.