Songs About Dogs and Being Sick...Hype! The Seattle Anti-Scene Scene Documentary

Hype! is a very intelligent movie about the Seattle Music scene directed by Doug Pray in 1996. There are probably many people who rented this movie with expectations of getting the low-down on Grunge, the musical movement that went world wide with the sudden ascent of Nirvana to the top of the musical charts, after MTV put the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video in regular rotation. I can see people being disappointed with this movie because it is in no way a simple-minded glorification of Seattle grunge culture and the early days of SubPop Records, but a rather even-handed coverage of a diverse music scene with a variety of talented bands, and a narrative of how the eyes of the world turned to Seattle briefly, and how a mythology arose that locals found both baffling and amusing (and also somewhat disgusted). The very fact that a good percentage of the movie has footage of bands who have little to do with grunge is an indication of what director Doug Pray had in mind.

The movie start with an overview about the Seattle scene, and why things developed the way they did. The rainy weather is cited, combined with boredom. The fact that they are at the very end of the Continental USA was mentioned, and the fact that bands stopped touring there much by around 1980.
It may be that a certain isolation helped create a certain local scene that had its own uniqueness. I keep thinking about the great novel World's End by T Coraghessan Boyle for some reason, though it is set in my neck of the woods, the Hudson River Valley, jumping back and forth between the 1600's and the 1900's. Back at the beginning my town was the one at the edge. Producer Steve Fisk mentions that there were plenty of bands imitating bands back in the 1970's. True, but maybe you've got to paint a few bowls of fruit before you begin turning the art world on its ear. And there were good bands then--there always is, but like the old adage of a tree falling in the woods, is anyone listening?

You be the Cat and I'll Be the Mouse

Maybe the elephant in the room so to speak, is the book Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds written by Charles McKay more than a century and a half ago. Here it was the end of the 20th century and people were just as crazy as the fanatics portrayed in his book. Of course it took something special for the Seattle phenomenon to bust nationwide, and that was Cobain and Friends.
Outliers seems to be a big trendy thing these days and I suppose you could call Kurt Cobain a musical outlier. The right wingers are looking for a million Steve Jobs to emerge from somewhere like a scene from Night of the Living Dead, but that's kind of silly. In our society if such a crazy thing happened, the armies of techno whiz kids would all destroy each other until there was only one left. Sometime it seems competition doesn't work so well here anymore. Getting back to Cobain, in my opinion there are no longer conventional big rock stars like Jagger/Richards, Rod Stewart, Townshend, Vanilla Ice, etc., but if any band in recent memory had old school star power, it was Nirvana--whether they wanted it or not! There is no denying the visceral thrill of seeing that first performance of "Smells Like" which is part of this DVD. They may have been hyped to extremes, but their music was the real deal. Their success always seemed satisfying to, a great band getting its due. Unfortunately, it is a lot to cope with, probably beyond the capacity of a lot of people, not just the three lads from Aberdeen. But as Kim Thayil of Soundgarden said in retrospect, maybe not so much the fame, but maybe if we could keep the money.

So, this sleepy little town which happened to have a lot of good bands suddenly was overrun by media, journalists, record industry people, musicians coming to Seattle for their big break. In a way the subtext, as hinted in the movie that in a way, the whole thing could be seen as a hoax gone out of control. As much as Grunge was a homage to hard rock of the 70's, it was also seen as being a little cheesy, getting up on stage, having some fun in a "so bad its good" way. Besides playing loud, screaming loud, long hair, no shirt like Iggy---it's a Powerful feeling! Furthermore, what set the scene for the eventual deluge was mock PR of SubPop, hyping the scene to be more than the sum of its parts. Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt have a lot to say in this documentary, and some of it is true. You could say they marketed themselves as a "smartlabel", the scene rather than individual bands. And of course, Charles Peterson's black and white noir photography gave the label and bands a unique look. Inclusive and subversive at the same time. Today SubPop is a much different label, with a much more eclectic world-wide roster which I think is a pretty good thing. But even in its early heyday, there was plenty of bands that broke the stereotype. Additionally there were other great labels in the day like Popllama,  C/Z, Estrus & K Records.

The movie is treasure-trove of bands. In addition to Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Tad and The Melvins, some Nirvana footage. You hear a lot of other things. Great garagey punk like Dead Moon. The Posies are represented, as are the great band Flop. One of my favorite Seattle Bands, The Young Fresh Fellows are in the mix. The awesome Fastbacks are also on board! One of the best moments of footage is an electrifying performance by Mia Zapata and the Gits. If there was another great one in town, maybe it was her. You also get to hear cool bands like the Monomen, Coffin Break, 7 Year Bitch, Hammerbox, Some Velvet Sidewalk.

Hilarity ensued once the 16-25 year old demographic got out and voted with their credit cards, burning their spandex pants, and began dressing in thrift-shop Dinty Moore attire. I always found it kind of amusing, how this became a fashion trend seemingly from nowhere. When I was in High School, all the stoners wore flannels, concert shirts or one pocket tees, and work boots. Suddenly it was like the stuff was created by a Seattle based Vivienne Westwood. It's hard to believe that people may have actually paid hundred of dollars to get designer cloned copies of basically low budget clothing. I have to believe a lot of money was lost on that idea, ultimately.

Another hilarious bit was the hoax played by Megan Jasper, SubPop employee on a New York Times reporter, Rick Marin about the local lingo. The "Grunge Lexicon" actually was published in the New York Times, a short list of Seattle phrases and their corresponding definitions. Harsh Realm was a bad place. Cob nobbler was a loser, lamestain was an "uncool person". Swingin on the Flippity Flop was Green River patois for "hanging out". Big bag of bloatation was being drunk. When word came out that it was all a put-on, it was pretty embarrassing moment for the Times.

Of course there is the counter-argument. Maybe it was all very real. Let's me just say, as a Devil's advocate, that in reality, in an isolated city in the Pacific Northwest, hypercaffeinated by Starbuck's, a local language developed. You know like the Gullah languange of the Outer Banks of Carolina. Let's say, perhaps, that a certain Subpop employee let her guard down, and let the cat out of the bag. Perhaps, a few influential people gave her a talking to, and suddenly Damage Control Local #638 is on the scene, and the whole sorry incident is swept under the rug....I believe that someday, Rick Marin will find his journalistic vindication, and his Grunge Lexicon will be viewed as a Rosetta Stone for Seattle 90's Grunge culture. Call me crazy. Maybe I just want to believe. If I disappear, you'll know what happened.

In the final analysis, Hype! is a great documentary, intelligently done, very funny. Wise quotes abound, from Mudhoney, producer Jack Endino, the Connor brothers, Kim Thayil, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam (a guy I like personally a lot better than his music). If I had to do a chronological time line the Seattle storyboard would be:

1)Great Music Scene
2)Great Music Scene hit by Grunge Media Tsunami
3) Water recedes, bands come out again, do what they do, and keep making good music. Kind of like the scene at Hogwart's at the end of the last Harry Potter Movie, only they magic wands and not wack slacks and plats.

You don't have to be a Grunge fanatic to love this film. You can be a huge grunge fan and appreciate it too. I found a few bands I was unfamiliar with that I'd definitely like to hear more of. In addition to the film, there is also a pretty good soundtrack out on SubPop. And I probably will be checking out more documentaries by Doug Pray also, like Surfwise, Scratch, Big Rig, and Art & Copy. But definitely see Hype! music fans, for a fresh take on the Seattle Music scene of the 80's and 90's.

No Internet! No Cel Phones! No PC'S!--Bloodied But Unbowed---Historical Documentary of Vancouver Punk Scene now on DVD!

Bloodied But Unbowed is a highly entertaining documentary movie by Susanne Tabata, chronicling the Vancouver punk scene of the late 70's /early 80's. And now it's available on DVD!!  For $10.00!!! Go to www.thepunkmovie.com. Excellent product for a cheap price. The collectors 3-DVD version is sold out; they only made 150 of them, unfortunately. I held out and found myself out of luck last month. Luckily I managed to win one on Ebay. The single disc is still worth double what they are asking. If this project is successful, maybe more film makers will be encouraged to make more films like this.



This is a white hot, intelligent, humorous look at a special scene that like a lot of punk scenes, came and went in a short short period. And while things that happened there paralleled the trials and tribulations of other scenes, as in the early days places like Vancouver were islands in a mainstream ocean. Hell, they were an island in their own city! These days all bands are alternative, so this is something a lot of people probably don't understand. That punks had to travel in groups in order to risk getting mauled by complete strangers.
But the Vancouver had its own unique qualities, and that had to do with the unique personalities of the musicians.

A big part of this movie of course is D.O.A. and the Subhumans, excellent bands who are more hardcore punk. But the documentary includes a variety of bands, showing the diversity and experimental nature of the scene. In other words there was a high level of musical tolerance in those days. It wasn't like certain styles were considered verboten then.

One of the biggest problems was finding venues where punk rock was accepted, one of which was the Smiling Buddha, which seemed to be a bit of a dump but nonetheless a haven for the new sounds. Of course one of the problems was that places got wrecked, so there was not going to be a second booking. There is a lot of historic footage in the film, plus loads of contemporary interviews with many of the Vancouver groups and also American musicians of the era who performed in Vancouver and were fans of the music. San Francisco and Vancouver were very much kindred scenes with a lot of similarities. Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra and The Avengers' Penelope Houston have a lot of insight on the subject, as do Southern Californians like Black Flag's Henry Rollins and Circle Jerk's Keith Morris.

In addition to the above mentioned bands, there are interviews with Pointed Sticks, the amazing pop punks, Tim Ray, Jade Blade of the Dishrags. You have interviews with Buck Cherry and Mary Jo Kopechne of the Modernettes. Kopechne speaks with a great deal of candor about her punk experience. On the one hand, getting involved got her into a community, because she was going in a bad direction earlier. On the other hand, some of the things that happened to her in that period are absolutely harrowing. It's no wonder that she is disillusioned about the old days. As tough as it was to a punk rocker in those days, it was triply tough to be a female punker. You also have an interview with Art Bergmann of the K-Tels/Young Canadians, one of the most talented artists of the era, who unfortunately did not find the success his ability merited.

One of the most intelligent, engaging interviewees is Gerry Hannah of the Subhumans. Later on you find out that he was an extreme environmental activist, one of the Squamish Five, who did some pretty serious stuff. They blew up a factory building parts for cruise missiles and also a power plant. He did five years hard time out of a possible 10. Today he still holds strong convictions, but is contrite about how you go about achieving goals. Another one of the cautionary parts of this movie is the destructiveness of hard drug use. A lot of people who could have been in this were not around to do it.



I highly recommend this movie. By viewing this movie, you get a good idea of what things were like in those days. And the interviews are insightful and funny. It puts a face on the great music we listen to today. A lot of the recordings of these bands can be found on Joe Keithley of  D.O.A.'s music label, Sudden Death Records. It's great that classic Canadian punk music like The Modernettes, D.O.A.,K-Tels/Young Canadians, and Pointed Sticks and the landmark Vancouver Complication comp are readily available today. But check out this documentary sooner than later. I think you will really enjoy this. Kudos to Susanne Tabata and all involved in the making this important movie.

24 Hour Party People--Tony Wilson--Excellent Bio-Pic of Mr Manchester

Director Michael Winterbottom created a cinematic anomaly in 2002 with the film 24 Hour Party People. He managed to create a biographical movie that didn't suck. Though it purports to be a chronicle of the Manchester music scene from the early days of Punk Rock through the Madchester rave era, the reality is that it is about the late Tony Wilson, journalist, Cambridge grad, nightclub owner and impresario of Factory Records, a label that combined great music with equally great design. The movie is witty, hilarious, sad, ironic, at times ludicrously surreal. Wilson uses the tale of Icarus from Greek Mythology as an analogy for his boom to bust story.For the most part, 24 Hour Party People is everything a punk movie ought to be, though I do think it got bogged down a bit toward the conclusion. But then again, the same could be said about Good Fellas. I think it is definitely a must-see movie for music fans.

The funny thing is when I bought this DVD, I was put off by the cover.

It looked to me like they were touting this film as some sort of British version of the American "Spring Break" movie, but with ravers instead of drunken frat boys, at least judging by the cover. I get the impression that by placing a salacious design on the cover might enable them to cover their losses on this one in the States. I bet some people bought this on a whim and were unpleasantly surprised! My sentiments were the reverse.

At the center of the maelstrom is Steve Coogan, the actor who portrays Tony Wilson in this bio. I recall reading someplace that Wilson was not that pleased with Coogans performance and was full of criticisms. Coogan finally cleared the air and said to him, "Look, you're smarter than me, but remember, I'm funnier than you." (I paraphrase). Coogan is the heart and soul of this film, and gives a fantastic performance. There are so many great lines scattered throughout the film. One of the more hilarious moments during the film is in some of Coogan's chatter toward the conclusion of the film, where he modestly states that he is just a minor player in all this, and that the real story are the bands!! If you to go back and assess things, it is pretty clear that this movie is all about him, whether he is mugging his way through tedious human interest television spots, or pontificating on any number of subjects as a narrator. I enjoy how Winterbottom has Wilson in a present setting, talking about things that are going to happen like a punk rock fortune teller. While some accepted yarns are demolished, Winterbottom creates new piles of malarkey, which keeps the movie interesting. There was a quote about the Pistols show, if you have a choice between truth and fable, print the fable. I think that in some strange way a different, more revealing kind of truth can emerge that way.



One of the early classic scenes is a historic re-enactment of the famous Sex Pistols show in Manchester, where the punk fable gets deflated a bit. 42 people. So you probably were not there--maybe no one was. But the significant thing was, the people who did not wind up forming bands were in the minority that night. And many of those bands turned out to be pretty great!! Winterbottom actually spliced in concert footage of the Sex Pistols for this scene, but I can't help but be amused that most of the characters in the movie were portrayed by actors. It seems a bit surreal as if someone had a casting call to play me in a movie!

For instance:

Martin Hancock: Howard DeVoto
Andy Serkis (Gollum): Martin Hannett
Danny Cunningham: Shaun Ryder
Chris Coghill: Bez
Sean Harris: Ian Curtis
Dave Gorman: John the Postman
Raymond Waring: Vini Reilly
Simon Pegg: Mark Middles
Paddy Considine: Rob Gretton, manager New Order
Lennie James: Alan Erasmus, co founder of Hacienda

I wonder if they had a casting call and had dozens of Bezes dancing around in a studio trying out for the part!

Overall musically, the movie focuses mostly on Joy Division, New Order, and later Happy Mondays, though artists like A Certain Ratio and Durutti Column are not neglected. The interplay between producer Martin Hannett and Wilson is both humorous and terrifying as you will discover when you see the movie. The Joy Division period is both exhilarating and tragic--I think the staged live scenes were done quite well. I think after a while the movie moves away from its strengths and spends too much time panning across the crowds at the Hacienda and too little witty dialogue. There are some good bits with the Happy Mondays, especially when Wilson compares his lyrics to the poetry of Yeats, and his girlfriend responds by saying that everyone else think he's a fucking idiot. Sounds kind of like a drug allusion there. The Happy Monday's scene with the pigeons may not be to every ones taste however.

My favorite line was when Coogan turns to the audience and states "Don't judge me, I was just being post-modern, before it was fashionable." Of course some people prefer fart jokes, but if you listen carefully to Tony Wilson's wild digressions and shout outs to the audience you will really laugh like I did.

That's When I Reach For My Remote:Not A Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story

Not seeing Mission of Burma back in 1983 was another one of my brilliant moves.

One of my friends called in and won four free tickets to see them perform in Boston. But I was too busy with schoolwork and bowed out like an utter fool. My priorities were so skewed back then. Of course, not long after this the band called it quits due to the tinnitus problems of guitarist Roger Miller. Tinnitus is a condition that is a symptom of ear damage, in many cases from extended exposure to loud noise. It is the perception by the ear of noise in the absence of noise. Bob Mould of Husker Du also suffers from this affliction, which produces unremitting annoying tones. Makes it hard to sleep.  I had assumed I would get the opportunity to see the band, but the joke was on me. At least temporarily. Fast forward to the New Millennium.

They reformed! And not in an obligatory, make-money nostalgia fest. These guys broke out of the box as big and bad as they were twenty years earlier! And they were recording new material!!! But alas, these events did not occur because a cure was found for tinnitus. Because of Miller's affliction the band (and no doubt also because of job commitments) was not going to be doing extended touring, maybe only a few weeks at a time. So I made sure I got to see these guys. They are one of the most important American bands, influential but never imitated. Popular in the Boston Area, misunderstood an even reviled in their day in other areas (read their chapter in Michael Azerrad's awesome book on Post Punk, Our Band Could Be Your Life).

I saw the band in a fairly small club in New Haven, Toad's Place. I left work on a Thursday, but traffic on I-95 was utterly horrendous. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get there. But it was worth the drive, believe me.
They were absolutely tremendous--I was so excited to see this band after all these years, and they exceeded my already high expectations. Miller was awesome  playing a million low end chords a minute on guitar while wearing those big headphones that they use on airport runways to protect his hearing. Clint Conley jumping around on stage like he had never put his bass down for a few decades, and the mighty Peter Prescott hammering the drums and shouting along to the beautiful chaos. Hearing That's When I Reach For My Revolver, Trem Two, Peking Spring, That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate, Academy Fight Song, and much more. I'm pretty sure they played Mica, which is my favorite Burma song. I even got the t-shirt.



One of the best shows I've ever seen. It makes me a little teary thinking about it. So if you get the chance, go see this band while you can. They are one of the most interesting innovative intelligent American bands out there who are an astonishingly powerful live act, the closest this country ever got to having a band like Wire. And they rock harder than most current bands who are a generation younger than them.

So when this short documentary on Mission of Burma, This is Not a Photograph came out I was all over it.

It's a nice genial documentary, not a warts and all expose. The filmmakers recount the history of the group, beginning before the band existed when Miller and Conley played in Erik Lindren's band Moving Parts. They then go through the early days of the band, their recordings on Rick Harte's Ace of Hearts label, and finally to the band's breakup. Then they move to present day, where they interview and film the days leading to the bands rebirth as a touring entity.



All the band members contributed to this documentary, and it seems like they reassembled the band with little bad blood or baggage. No one seems to be able to explain why they decided to restart the group after so many years and so little appreciation beyond the Boston area. Martin Swope, who originally did the tape loops in the group, who was a significant part of the Burma sound was not able to participate in the band reunion and Bob Weston was brought in as a replacement. In addition to the band's commentaries there are cameo spots from friends, fans, music critics and fellow musicians, including Thurston Moore, Lee Renaldo, Mike Watt, Moby, Dave Minehan of The Neighborhoods, and Hugo Burnham from Gang of Four.

One of the interesting aspects of the reunion  was that Clint Conley was now an executive at a local cable news station, and that after the original demise of the band he put down his bass and never picked it up again for 20 years. He built a new career for himself and raised a family. Some people at the cable station had no idea that he was previously a local rock star. Peter Prescott was working as a buyer in a local record store. Hearing the commentary from the band is illuminating and often warm and funny. The fact that they came back to critical adulation and packed venues is like a punk rock fairytale come true. As was stated in the aforementioned Our Band Could Be Your Life, they went on tours and played before practically nobody, or they performed and people there petitioned the owner to get them off stage so they could play the jukebox.

One of the amazing things about Mission of Burma is the variety of qualities they brought to the musical table. As one fan said in the DVD, they were experimental, almost punk-progressive, but they were also a noisy abrasive hard rocking band. Finally on top of this there was a pop harmony element there also. I'm not saying that did this all at one time, but it was all definitely part of the package. You can see the tremendous enthusiasm in the faces of the people in this documentary when they talk about the band. And that's not just fans and friends either. There is a lot of concert footage intercut throughout the documentary, both from the past and from the reunion, including practice reunion shows and the big show at Irving Plaza in 2002. My only regret was that there was not a full bonus disc of just live performances by the band, instead of a few tracks appended onto the documentary.

And by seeing the live footage it is evident what a special group they were. They were questing to try different things, and they used a full musical palette to accomplish their goals. Time changes, Tempo changes, multiple chord changes, abrasiveness, aggressiveness, use of space, volume changes. The songs don't particularly sound the same. It's refreshing when you hear a band that makes uncompromising songs that don't pander to the flavor of the week or the fickle fleeting tastes of the general public. It's difficult to do and it requires a lot of bravery. And it took a long time for people to catch up to the visionary music they had made.



So let me repeat. See this band and be amazed. Check out this DVD and you'll see what I mean. They have just begun recording album number 5 so be prepared.

Smurfs set to descend on North American Continent--Not enough vaccine to stem an epidemic

If you thought we had enough trouble with climate change, a pimp slapped economy, reality television softening our skulls (i.e., Kardashageddon), monkey wrench shenanigans from our "Grand Old" party politicians, unending movies about superheros.... you might ask yourself, my god, what will befall us next?? We are already praying for rain as policy, what can we pray for next??

Now its Smurfs. And I all prayers will fail us here. The Blue Plague from Belgium is anon.




It's too late for me! Save yourselves!!


It seems to happen every 20 years or so. They suddenly arrive like locusts and suddenly disappear, but for the short term apparently in America there are no natural predators to keep their populations from reaching Malthusian proportions. I think there is a basic aversion to eating blue things in the animal kingdom. Perhaps something happened to them once they arrived here. According to our resident expert on Belgium, Mr Luc Sante, author of the great quasi-autobiographical guide to Belgian culture The Factory of Facts, the Smurfs are a lot cooler and edgier across the pond then here; berets and unfiltered cigarettes probably. I guess something must have been lost in translation. Because Belgians are gigantic cartoon buffs; I went to their Cartoon Museum in Brussels and though I was ignorant of most of what was there, it was a great museum. Certainly Les Schtroumpfs at least sounds kind of dirty. But that will no doubt happen later, with adult entertainers getting blue spray tans.



If you have seen Donnie Darko, you know I am not the only who was on to their devious plot to lower the IQ's of America's children even further than it was thought possible.
Knowing America, the movie will probably be bigger than Transformers.

The secret crunchy ingredient--bones.

I recall that those Cartoons from the 80's were pretty awful, banally dumb fare for kids. (Confession: I actually have a Smurfs Christmas Cd someplace that I break out during the holidays to help ruin Christmas.)





What a horrible language. Obviously J.R.R. Tolkien wasn't the person who developed the speech. They only have about 50 words or so. Smurf is used as a noun, adverb, adjective--it's used as much as we use curses. It's actually much more entertaining to replace Smurf with a curse when you hear the little blue monsters blather on and on. I have to admit I usually root for the bad guy. And the society is so high school. There's no Smurfs named Tony, Aidan, or Hailey. Its Builder Smurf or Brainy Smurf. If there were more characters I'm sure it would be meaner, Overbite Smurf, Morbidly Obese Smurf, or even Deadbeat Dad Smurf. And of course, the fact that they all have the last name hints of inbreeding. Smurfs are basically white trash hobbits.

And we all know the terrible truth about Smurfs if we feed them after midnight or let them get wet. The utter horror.

No Blue Card

So be sure you warn your friends and loved ones before it is too late--you may just save their lives!!!!