Film: Blank City

A love letter to New York, a cultural portrait of Manhattan in the days before Reagan, big money, and gentrification forever altered the fabric of the city. More;

 

Film: Sound It Out!

A distinctive, funny and intimate film about the very last surviving vinyl record shop in Teesside, in the North East of England. Over the last five years an independent record shop has closed in the UK every three days. A cultural haven in one of the most deprived areas in the UK, SOUND IT OUT  documents a place that is thriving against the odds and the local community that keeps it alive. Directed by Jeanie Finlay who grew up three miles from the shop.The film depicts the irreplaceable role music plays in our lives..High Fidelity with a Northern Accent. Highly Recommended!

Trailer

Get the DVD Here.

BLACK POWER MIXTAPE

Really looking forward to catch this amazing new documentary THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 mobilizes a treasure trove of 16mm material shot by Swedish filmmakers, after languishing in a basement of a TV station for 30 years, into an irresistible mosaic of images, music, and narration chronicling the evolution one of America's most indelible turning points, the Black Power movement. Featuring candid interviews with the movement's most explosive revolutionary minds, including Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Stokely Carmichael, and Kathleen Cleaver, the film explores the community, people and radical ideas of the movement.
Music by Questlove and Om'Mas Keith, and commentary from and modern voices including Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli, and Melvin Van Peebles give the historical footage a fresh sound and make THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE an exhilarating, unprecedented account of an American revolution.

Film festivals coming up;
London Int. FIlm Festival 12-27 October
Abu Dhabi Film Festival 13-22 October
Vienna Int. Film Festival 20 October to 2 November
CPH:DOX 3-13 November

Options in comments. 

Who IS?

There is currently, a documentary in progress called the Roy Ayers Project featuring the Man himself, as well as many hip-hop producers who have sampled his music and other people who have been influenced by him and his music. The documentary is planned to be released in early 2012. Keep your ears to tha ground, i can`t wait for this!

ATCQ on screen

Just caught the sundance screener of the new docu-film directed by Michael Rapaport Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels Of a Tribe Called Quest, charting the band's triumphant and turbulent 20-year career. ATCQ has been one of the most commercially successful and artistically significant musical groups in recent history, and regarded as iconic pioneers of hip hop. A must see travel around the groups up & downs.
I can still remember the buzz around the basement of the newly opened Black Market records in SoHo, London when their "Description of a Fool" promo dropped in the UK..

From July 8th around the US and soon the world!!



(download - 958MB)

JAZZ (2001) Ken Burns

A virtuoso performance by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns from 2001, JAZZ celebrates the music of America - from blues and ragtime to swing, bebop and fusion. The 19 hour series was created from over 500 musical selections, 75 interviews, 2400 stills and more than 2000 film clips. A MUST WATCH fine history of JAZZ.

Ep1 - "Gumbo"/Beginnings to 1917



Ep2 - "The Gift"/1917-1924
Ep3 - "Our Language"/1924 -1929
Ep4 - "The True Welcome"/1929-1935
Ep5 - "Swing: Pure Pleasure"/1935-1937
Ep6 - "Swing: The Velocity of Celebration"/1937-1939
Ep7 - "Dedicated to Chaos"/1940-1945
Ep8 - "Risk"/1945-1955
Ep9 - "The Adventure"/1956-1960
Ep10 - "A Masterpiece by Midnight"/1961 to present

ArtOfFlight

This will be awesome...BrainFarm has gathered an arsenal of the most advanced and progressive film making technology to bring the masses a snowboarding adventure of epic proportions. Filmed on location in Jackson Hole, Alaska, Chile, Aspen, Patagonia, British Columbia and more, FLIGHT brings the viewer along for the perfect blend of adventure/travel drama and high-energy snowboarding action. 'The Art of FLIGHT' releases September 2011.



Music by a collaboration between Anthony Gonzalez from M83 and Curt Morgan from BrainFarm, Artist: The Three Corners of The Earth, Title: "The Fire Shall Devour Us"
(download)

Dream of Drums..

A rare and unique assembly of some of the greatest drummers in the world. Explosive talent, passion, humour and irresistible personality come together in a magical setting when seven diverse drummers create a profound and unforgettable experience. You’ve never seen drummers like this before!
Featuring Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr, Dennis Chambers, Kenwood Dennard, Horacio “El-Negro” Hernadez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mike Mangini and Raul Rekow, the film engages us with the rich music styles and influences that are as dynamic as the performers themselves. We are lifted to another dimension as we connect to the powerful forces of nature embodied in the music of these master musicians. The creative and spiritual freedom of expression these artists display is overwhelming – from Latin rhythms to the wildly original compositions of Kenwood Dennard. Rock, jazz, Latin fusion, soul – these master drummers have backed up the likes of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Carlos Santana and now – each other.
At the center of the film is the warm-hearted Nasyr, and his musician friends who share their knowledge with forty students for this incredible, unforgettable week of music and camaraderie. The overriding philosophy of these musicians is driven by love, compassion and joy of life. At the end of the film you will be tapping the rhythms that live within us all and the positive energy these masters display will continue to pulse through you for days to come.

Film - El Cantante

Marc Anthony gave his all musically and theatrically in bringing to life the story of the rise and fall of salsa legend, Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993), as told from the perspective of his wife Puchi(JLo). It's a tale of talent - creating salsa with Willie Colón, with the Fania All Stars, and as a soloist - and a story of disintegration - fueled by drugs, alcohol, partying, and depression. Puchi's voice - proud and querulous - dominates off-stage as Héctor's does on.excellente!

Travelling Denim!

A short film of a girl wearing denim traveled over 50 countries in two years. The denim walks freely in the world, meets people, changes and fades.....Awesome!
By Takayuki Akachi

Sunday Matinee - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

The story of a man who battled severe physical setbacks to become a cultural icon. Punk's poet laureate - Ian Dury was a working-class hero whose drug and booze-fuelled career, Bohemian lifestyle and deft wordsmithery inspired fascination, fear and a fervent following. One of the true originals of the British music scene and the only man to successfully combine the energy and excitement of rock 'n' roll and funk with the bawdy humour, wit and home-spun philosophy of music-hall and of his native Essex.Ian Dury was born in Harrow. His father was a bus-driver and later a chauffeur, who split up with his university-educated mother soon after the war. The young Ian was struck down by polio at the age of seven. He spent several years in hospital and at a school in Sussex for the disabled. He left grammar school for the Royal College of Art, a stint teaching art and in 1971 the formation of his first band, Kilburn and the High Roads. They developed a minor following on the emerging London pub-rock scene and their first album, Handsome, was released in 1974.
But the defining moment came after Dury started writing with pianist Chaz Jankel and signed to the independent Stiff label and released the album 'New Boots and Panties'. With his band The Blockheads, Ian Dury exploded into the popular consciousness in 1978...

(wait a while to download if it buffers too much)

Sita Sings The Blues

Has an interesting mix of animation, Indonesian shadow puppet work and 1920's era jazz. Animator Nina Paley's indulges us in her own interpretation of the Hindu epic Ramayana
"the greatest break-up story ever told" and set it to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw to imaginative effect...The eclectic cultural tapestry that is Sita Sings the Blues, is an 82-minute feature that combines autobiography with a retelling of the classic Indian myth..Betty Boop rocks and you know it!

ANALOG

Made in 2009 ANALOG by Ebbëto tells the tale of a machine travelling in deep-space which has as a primary function the preservation of a living organism: a man.
Strange events with biblical analogies begin, disturbing the machine and making it rethink it's priorities.

This short extract features the music of OIL 10 "Passagen", by the French electronic music composer, Gilles Rossire.

ANALOG is Ebbëto's 2nd short film. His first, Lagartija Nika, can be seen online at Tokyo's CON-CAN Film Festival site.

Sunday Matinee

This documentary film is not for the squeamish, but a real eye-opener. The Cove which covers the annual dolphin slaughter in a small town in Japan called Taiji (Wakayama Prefecture) drew international attention to the brutality of the hunt when it debuted in cinemas in the U.S., Europe, Oceania and other parts of Asia last summer.It has now been acquired by a Japanese distributor hoping to educate the Japanese population who remain largely unaware of the hunt. (Japanese)

The film, directed by Louie Psihoyos, contains footage of dolphins being brutally killed (be warned if you don't like to see such things) and points out that meat from the mammals has high levels of toxic methyl mercury.

Anger and defiance in Taiji after 'Cove' wins Oscar

(wait a while to download if it buffers too much)




J. Ralph - The Cove (Original Motion Picture Score)

See also End Of The Line
How we will see the end of most seafood by 2048

Exit Through The Gift Shop

A Banksy Film his debut movie, self-described as 'the world's first street art disaster movie', is showing at the Berlin film festival this week and in UK cinemas by March 5th. Music by Geoff Barrow (portishead) & Roni Size....Check it!

Sunday Matinee

A compelling look into the spirits and circumstances of ten of his acclaimed rivals.Pete McCormack "Uganda Rising" and producer Derik Murray "Legends of Hockey" shoot an excellent insight into Ali's career from the viewpoint of his opponents. A riveting documentary with a superb soundtrack.

You'll need divX7 to view

Alone in Tokyo!

Phillip Blooms film shot in the city in April/May 2008 is a beautiful short on how it is to be alone in a big city. with some stunning views and some sad faces. check it out!...in HD here....via jeansnow - The music is by Air called "Alone in Kyoto"

Here is Frenchman Marc Nguyen Tan AKA Colder with his lovely deep mellow dubby track called "one night in tokyo" this just jumped out at me when viewing the film. Lifted from the album "Again"


colder - one night in tokyo

Film: ZERO

ZERO : Europe for an Independent Inquiry into 9/11
On Tuesday 26th February, Euro-parlementarian Member Guilietto Chiesa invited his colleagues and the press to attend the screening and debate of the Italian-produced documentary named 'ZERO, an investigation into the events of 9/11'. Object of the film screening was to create political awareness of the faulty official investigation into the events by the 9/11 Commission. Which they feel is an instrument to create awareness and a means to provoke a political debate in Europe.

You Decide!!

ZERO: An Investigation into 9/11, has one central thesis - that the official version of the events surrounding the attacks on 9/11 can not be true. This brand new feature documentary from Italian production company Telemaco explores the latest scientific evidence and reveals dramatic new witness testimony, which directly conflicts with the US Government's account.Featuring presentations from ; Gore Vidal, and Noble Prize winner Dario Fo, the film challenges assumptions surrounding the attacks. In the words of the Italian daily newspaper, Il Corriere de da Sera, "What results is a sequence of contradictions, gaps, and omissions of stunning gravity." The importance of this film can not be overstated. If its thesis is correct, the justification for going to war in Iraq is built on a series of outrageous lies.

The Full Length Film - (in english)

Film: Babylon 1981

Based in London in the early 80`s, it tells the story of "Blue" played by Aswad founding member Brindsley Forde. Directed by Franco Rosso, Blue is the main man who fronts a reggae sound system based in west London. The movie captures the trials and tribulations of young black youths in troubled London in those days...With the installation of the "Milk Snatcher" at 10 Downing Street, causing fits of gloom around the country, with punk rock starting to make a noisy exit from the music scene to be succeeded by the mod and ska revival of the 2 tone and the contining sounds of disco..


Download Veoh to see the full length

Along comes Babylon, a potent mix of music and social commentary and an instant classic, akin to that other legendary reggae music film, "The Harder They Come" Starring the legendary Jimmy Cliff.
Associated producer and screenwriter Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia 1979) crafted a superb, truthful film that stands the test of time, more than twenty five years later.
The final scene, in which police raid the dancehall while Blue and the sound system defiantly plays on, is both frightening and euphoric!!



Aswad - dub fire (mp3 download)
King Tubby - take 5 dub (mp3 download)

Funky Film Soundtracks.

Another idea i wanted to explore and share with you is some of the damn funky blaxploitation film sountracks that was recorded in the 7T`s, by the likes of Quincy Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Herbie Hancock etc.....First up for your sensual sunday, is two tracks from the first all black cast adult porn movie made in 1974 called Lialeh or Black Lialeh as it was known in the US...The director, Barron Borcovichy had a major coup to land legendary drummer Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie who composed, produced and performed Lialeh`s score, apparently while he was between projects with Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, The Last Poets, The Rolling Stones and James Brown, none the less....What a busy dude!!

The original released on Bryan Records is very hard to find and reportedly going for $600, but can be found re-released by Light In The Attic Records...check it out you won`t be disappointed.

Lialeh


hap'nin'


Tracklisting
1. Lialeh
2. Touch Me Again
3. Conscious
4. Easy
5. All Pink on the Inside
6. Pass Me Not
7. Hap`nin

Lialeh - (mp3 download)
Hap`nin` - (mp3 download)