If you are fortunate enough to live on the west coast and are a music movie enthusiast, Don’t Knock The Rock, the annual film fest celebrating the same, is just your scene. Now in its fifth year, the brainchild of director Allison Anders is as strong as ever, featuring two full months of summer music cinema. After directing such iconic independent films as Border Radio and Sugar Town as well as the critically acclaimed Grace of My Heart, she thought of the project while teaching at the University of California - Santa Barbara. While there she noticed that many of the students hadn’t heard much less seen the films she screened. Thinking this a shame and remembering a time when the seminal pictures were more celebrated was part of her impetus to start Don’t Knock the Rock, an annual film festival exposing new films by budding filmmakers.

This year DKTR partnered with Cinespia and Cinefamily and will be housed in two venues. Opening and closing nights take place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, with every Thursday night in July and August at The Silent Movie Theater. Additionally, there will be special Saturday Matinee Events. Returning for his 4th year as Master of Ceremonies is actor and musician Michael Des Barres.

Opening night featured an encore screening of Steven Binder’s rarely shown 1964 classic rock concert film, THE T.A.M.I. SHOW. In 1964 young Steve Binder was hired to film a concert at Santa Monica Civic featuring the biggest jukebox stars of the day, who would go on to become pop history legends: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Rolling Stones, Jan & Dean, Gerry & The Pacemakers, garage rockers The Barbarians, and more with house band The Wrecking Crew under the direction of Phil Spector. Just as interesting to pop culture enthusiasts, included is bonus never before seen material and Go Go dancers Toni Basil and Teri Garr back up the acts. The energy of the performances and the audience that Steve Binder captured has yet to be matched. If you weren’t that or wish you had, this was the next best thing.

DKTR Schedule:

July 3rd
THE WRECKING CREW by Denny Tedesco

Denny Tedesco’s love letter to The Wrecking Crew, a group of LA studio musicians which included his father Fender guitar player great Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Don Randi and Glenn Campbell. In the 1960s The Wrecking Crew played on over half of the country’s top 40 hits for Ricky Nelson, Johnny Rivers Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Mamas and Papas, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Tijuana Brass, and were Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Denny Tedesco was present for a post-screening Q&A, and Boyd Rice on-hand to DJ and VJ vintage scopitones both before and after the screening.

July 10th
You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story by Michael Wolk

Championed by the likes of Beck and Matt Groening, and obsessed over by record collectors, Gary Wilson’s album You Think You Really Know Me is one of the most unique, personal musical statements of the 1970s. Inspired by the seminal album’s 2002 reissue, director Michael Wolk set out to learn more about its creator, only to find that Wilson had vanished shortly after its release, making the story just as peculiar as the record itself. You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story is a look at the musician’s bittersweet life, ahead of his time and poised for rediscovery. As a special treat, Wilson is to perform live on the Cinefamily stage after the screening. Preceding is D. Sticker’s short film My Pal Foot Foot.

Dead Meadow members alive

July 17th
Such Hawks, Such Hounds by John Srebalus and Jessica Hundley

This is the Los Angeles premier of a heavy film exploring the musicians and music of the American hard rock underground from 1970 to 2007, emphasizing psychedelic and ’70s proto-metal-derived styles such as doom metal, stoner, desert and space rock, which have in recent years all formed a rich tapestry of ear-splitting sounds. The evolution of these styles is explored, while serving as a character study of artists on the fringes of both straight society and hip indie circles.
We are shown how these musicians live, work and sustain careers outside the rock mainstream. Bands featured include Pentagram, Black Sabbath, Dead Meadow, Earthless, Fu Manchu, Sleep, Comets on Fire, Kyuss and Nebula. DJ Tony “Tee Pee” Presedo will be presiding over the decks before and after the show, and following the screening will be a Q&A with filmmakers John Srebalus and Jessica Hundley, and a live performance by San Diego psych band Earthless.

July 24th
Far East Punk Triple Feature: Beijing Bubbles/Rock ‘N Tokyo/Wasted Orient

DKTR premiers three slices of the new Asian punk rock culture. Beijing Bubbles, is an intimate document of five bands in China’s capital city. Transcending beyond common cliches of life and society in China, the film is a well-paced portrait of the group’s struggle to maintain their individuality in the fastest-growing country in the world. Following is Rock ‘N Tokyo, a jolt of Japanese energy profiling some of their tightest and fastest bands, like Guitar Wolf and The 5.6.7.8.’s (featured in Quentin Tarantino’s, Kill Bill.)
Rounding out the evening is Wasted Orient, a profile of Chinese band Joyside (also in Beijing Bubbles.) Obsessed with Johnny Thunders and American punk, the film follows the band spreading their beer-soaked message across an unprepared Chinese countryside. Q&A with filmmaker Pamela Valente will follow the screening of Rock ‘N Tokyo.

July 31st
This Is The Life (L.A. premiere) & Return Of The Rub-A-Dub Style (World premier)

This Is The Life tells the little-known story of a group of teens who, starting in 1989, regularly met at the South Central L.A. health food store The Good Life and revolutionized hip-hop by innovating rhyme patterns, melodic concepts and lyrical styles used by many of today’s biggest rap stars. Directed by former Good Life emcee Ava DuVernay, the film features interviews and performances from members of Freestyle Fellowship, Jurassic 5 and more.
Return of the Rub-A-Dub Style, charts the dual history of reggae soundsystem culture in Jamaica and its renewal at L.A.’s weekly Dub Club, in Echo Park, where hardcore Jamaican micsmiths known as “deejays” come from around the world to “chat on the mic” with their lyrics of consciousness. Featured artists include Brigadier Jerry, Ranking Joe, Sister Nancy and U-Roy. Filmmaker Q&As and a live performance by Ranking Joe, Tippa Lee, and the Echodelic Soundsystem immediately follow the film.

The Chicago crowd

August 7th
Regional Punk Double Bill - You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk & DFW Punk (L.A. premiers)

This double feature celebrates two city’s overlooked vibrant punk scenes of the same early era. You Weren’t There is a gritty, exhilarating look back on the impact punk had on the Windy City. From what is now considered to be the first punk club in America (La Mere Vipere) to other proto-hardcore clubs and DIY venues, Chicagoans made sure that there were outlets for the genre that was often blacklisted by the mainstream rock scene. Featuring archival footage of Naked Raygun, Big Black and more.
Follwing is DFW Punk, which depicts the Dallas/Ft. Worth punk/new wave scene. If you thought Texas in the late ’70s was all about urban cowboys, country tunes and bible-thumping, get ready to be proved dead wrong. Filmmaker Q&As follow the screenings, and DJ Terry “Dadbag” Graham (Gun Club, The Bags) will be on-hand to spin tunes during the breaks.

 August 14th
If It Ain’t Stiff by Ben Whalley

By the mid ’70s, rock had disappeared up its own corporate “arse”. Thank goodness for Stiff Records, a ramshackle indie label formed by two penniless visionaries that took music out of the boardroom and gave it back to the fans. Stiff invented the new wave with Nick Lowe, put punk on vinyl with the Damned, gave the world Elvis Costello and Ian Dury, and dominated the charts in the ’80s with Madness. In its own words, “If it ain’t Stiff, it ain’t worth a fuck.”
The US premier features appearances from all acts mentioned, plus Devo, Shane MacGowan, Wreckless Eric and Larry Wallis with label bosses Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Filmmaker Ben Whalley will be present for a post-screening Q&A, Stiff founder Dave Robinson will bring along videos he directed for the label and DJ Wreckless Ian Marshall will spin the Stiff catalogue. Be sure to stick around for our live Stiff tribute concert with very special guests later in the evening, preceded by Carol Chiodini short film, Action Woman.

August 21st
Music Nerd Double Bill: Under The Covers & Let Me Be Your Band (L.A. Premiers)

Seen through the eyes of world-famous rock photographer Henry Diltz and three- time Grammy-nominated art director/artist Gary Burden, Under The Covers takes us through the classic rock era of the late ’60s and early ’70s via the iconic album covers the two friends designed together. Bill Day’s charming film contains candid conversations with The Doors’ Ray Manzerek, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and footage of Joni Mitchell, America, The Eagles, and many more. A Q&A with Bill Day and Henry Diltz follows.
Let Me Be Your Band, has been hailed as a joyous ode to the tradition of the one-man band. It’s a heart-pumping trek leading to the rockabilly sounds of Hasil Adkins, the punk-infused Delta Blues skronk of Bob Log, III, Eric Royer’s self-built five-piece bluegrass band, the haunting tones of the Lonesome Organist, Washboard Hank performing on his kitchen-sink tuba, and more. After the screening, filmmaker Derek Emerson will conduct a Q&A session.

August 28th
Far Off Town: Dunedin to Nashville by Bridget Sutherland

Founding member of the seminal 1980s band The Clean and a legendary presence on New Zealand’s independent music scene for almost thirty years, Far Off Town follows David Kilgour on a 2003 trip to Nashville to make his record The Frozen Orange with alt country band Lambchop. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Kilgour’s creative process, featuring David’s travels from Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner’s basement, to the recording studio of maverick producer Mark Nevers and the underworld haunts of the Nashville music scene.
Also performing in the film are The Clean and Kilgour’s other band The Heavy Eights. Strewn along his journey’s path are Yo La Tengo, Will Oldham, Billy Joe Shaver, Al Kooper, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and David Berman (of The Silver Jews). Following the L.A. premier is a live solo set from Kilgour, plus a Q&A with filmmaker Bridget Sutherland, preceded by the short film, Madison Class Of ‘64, from Sergi Rubio.

Saturday Special Events at The Silent Movie Theater

Don’t Knock The Rock presents these matinees combined with special workshops to be announced:

Saturday August 16
Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake by Michael Alrbight

In the summer of 2006, a group of seven Reno, NV high school students set out to make a documentary on Sonic Youth. As part of the non-profit organization “Project Moonshine”, the teens were given cameras and a few days training then set loose to record a day in the life of DKTR board members Sonic Youth. Shot on location in Reno on the 4th of July, this intimate verite documentary is a behind the scenes look at the influential indie band and contains insightful and candid concert footage ever recorded.

Sunday, August 31 Closing Night Film at Hollywood Forever
Showings are to be announced. Check in at DKTR for film and music workshops along with BMI special panel and guests.

Don’t Knock The Rock

Every Thursday night in July and August (and some Saturday Matinees)
The Silent Movie Theater
611 N. Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles 90036
323-655-2510

For more information go to:

http://www.myspace.com/dontknocktherock

To purchase tickets visit:

http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/thursday.html#july

This mention comes from the co-editor of the now past Harp Magazine. It’s been announced today that the late mag will return soon as Blurt Magazine.
They say that while the much beloved former is gone, the victim of market vicissitudes, the esteemed erstwhile editors are en route with the brand new, reorganized Blurt Magazine and Blurt-online. com.
They suggest that readers check back to the Harp MySpace page for details very soon, including how to become a Blurt Friend. Or you could just hang around here for the second-hand word.

Do you have anything personally or professionally newsworthy that you would like to let others know? How about running it by us so we might post it up?

Here’s a fun exercise in self-reflection. What can you say that you have accomplished in the past eight days let alone eight years? If thoughts of petty drug running, job loss and failed relationships came to mind you’re not alone, but for the sake of being adverse let’s take a look at one of ‘us’ who got back what he put forth with great effort.

Ivan Suvanjieff, as some recall as former Detroit Creemster, Mark J. Norton, has spent the past dozen years doing what some only see on Oprah: Dedicating himself to becoming an agent of positive social change. That is to say, Suvanjieff, after having the fortune of meeting some young people who had had a rough time of it, was so inspired to develop a mulit-dimentional program aimed at such a population.

The product was PeaceJam, an organization set up to empower youth by inspiring them to take an active interest in their environment, whether it be family, school, neighborhood our outer community, conducive to change. The PeaceJam organization is an international education program built around leading Nobel Peace Prize Laureates who work personally with youth to pass on the strength, spirit and skills they employ. The goal of PeaceJam is to create a new generation of peacemakers through educational outreach who will transform themselves, their communities and the world. Since the program was launched 12 years ago, in March of 1996, almost 40,000 teenagers worldwide have had the opportunity to participate.

And now it’s hit the big screen. PeaceJam, the documentary, follows the lives of five teens over a six year period as they face harsh realities of growing up in contemporary America, and as they work together with leading Nobel Peace Prize Laureates - including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Oscar Arias, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and the Dalai Lama, - to learn about peaceful solutions for leadership in their communities. Taken from over 500 hours of filmed interviews and field work, this documentary records their transformation into young people of purpose and conviction.

PeaceJam, which wrapped in 2003, contains footage of eleven leading Nobel Peace Prize Laureates working with youth in the USA, India, South Africa, Mezzo-America, and Costa Rica, with rare footage from inside Columbine High School both during and after the shootings.

The film, also in book form, has received accolades from Andrei Codrescu to Michael Moore and if that wan’t enough, Suvanjieff - along with his partner and wife, Dawn Engel, - has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by six of the eight laureates he acquired for his series. To find out more, visit the website and check back for an inevitable interview.

http://www.peacejam.org/pjdvd.htm

Ready to tackle some new depression with yet another article about the precarious state of the critic? Patrick Goldstein did just that yesterday in his Los Angeles Times column, The Big Picture: The End of the Critic. Culling sources ranging from his son to journalism students and other critics, he tackles multifaceted issues within the issue, namely the dearth of the print age, the rise of the blog and how crass commercialism can impact both.

Also discussed in the article is the role of the critic; elucidator versus arbiter of taste is a continuing theme, though it’s generally agreed upon that it’s the sharing of opinions that still matters. However the notion of critic’s ability to be honest while paying attention to their readers is still a confusing contradiction.

Surprisingly, an encouraging passage involved students who reveal themselves to be more discerning than one might think. Yet, reading through, one can find themself caught between concern about the state of writer’s opportunities and sheepish satisfaction at some of the more windbagier scribe’s decisions to opt out or move on.

This year’s SxSW Music Conference seemed promising enough; until Thursday, March 13th (might as well have been Friday) when word reached us that the glossy, Harp Magazine, was halting publication. While to some of the editorial staff, it didn’t come as a complete surprise, it was a shock nonetheless; one that rapidly reverberated down to other writers, publicists (who didn’t want to believe it at first, or second mention), and music journalism enthusiasts alike.
After receiving word via cel inside the Austin Convention Center from editor-in-chief Scott Crawford, managing editor Fred Mills, later emailed writers to break the news. Two Harp parties, which featured The Sadies and Golden Dogs along with Jay Mascis and Thurston Moore & the New Wave Bandits, were held on consecutive days and went on successfully, the staff hauling copies in for the public.
As for the matter of what turns out to be the final content, it looks like Dave Grohl gets the last word with his bid for the presidency in an Election 2008 Special.

Robert Christgau, of course otherwise known as the Dean of Rock Critics, will be editing the June 2008 edition of Perfect Sound Forever.

Needless to say, the folks there are pretty excited about the prospect of having the Dean serving as guest editor for the summer issue.

“We here at Perfect Sound Forever are very proud to be working with Robert Christgau on our June 2008 issue,” said Jason Gross, editor and main scribe. “So far, we’re mulling over the papers but I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen so far - this could be the next generation of music scribes.”

The Dean has been a longtime supporter of PSF, going from interview subject to contributor to editor (though, as Gross asserts, he likely won’t take the next step to become owner).

For this special issue, Christgau will select from his Princeton University class’ articles, many of which were final papers that the class submitted and cover a wide range of subjects (at this point is still being worked out). According to both Gross and Christgau, the promising young writers may turn out to be the next heralded generation of music journalists.

“Since PSF has long worked with up-and-coming wordsmiths, we’re also pleased to be giving these writers a forum and one of their first forays into the world of journalism,” adds Gross.

Yet, before that, the decision for Christgau to even take part was, according to him, very simple.

“I’ve taught a required music history and writing course for REMU, NYU’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, for four years, and also taught a course in cultural journalism at Princeton last fall,” the writer said by weekend email. He also shed some light into the student thought process.

“The REMU students usually don’t conceive themselves as writers, although every term one or two get the bug, and many more prove to be excellent writers once they’re shown how, with a special facility for describing music because a career in music is their life plan (and, quite often, music is their life). Most of my Princeton students were not music specialists, but I got a few good music papers there as well.

“Since some of this work taught me stuff, and much of it seemed much better than most of what I encounter online, I thought it would be cool to make the best of it available to the public, and Jason volunteered an issue of PSF for the purpose.”

But, Christgau shares that the process hasn’t been that even.

“There have been setbacks - lost manuscripts and files, students studying abroad, and in one case proprietary information that the student wasn’t supposed to use outside of an academic context. But we should have an issue, with topics ranging from pre-Stankonia OutKast and the metal band Killswitch Engage to Janet and Britney and The Hills, from the Shirelles to Cajun music. Still need to sort it out, but those are some candidates.”

Christgau graduated from Dartmouth University in 1962. While there, he explored his interests in jazz to rock. Ever the consumate east coaster, Christgau went on to writer for Playboy, Spin, aside from Creem. After teaching at the California Institute of the Arts, he became an adjunct professor in the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University (NYU).

Likewise, among other things, Perfect Sound Forever is the longest running and one of the most entertaining and successful online music publications.

We were as surprised as anyone upon hearing about being voted Best Music Blog by our fellow writers and rock journalism enthusiasts who read the Music Blog Report. The MBR is a tremendous reference for music news, the comings and goings of biz types and job availabilities.
We were up against some serious competition. Check it out for yourselves, and don’t trip all over congratulating us:

http://www.musicpressreport.com/2008/01/13/2007-music-press-awards-winners/

A couple weeks back, I was thrilled to receive my copy of the gigantic, gorgeously designed Creem anthology. Still haven’t read ANY of it, to be honest (that’s one thing about coffee table books that look great–they’re not especially conducive to delving in and spending time with; who wants to mess up all those lovely pages?), but a few perusals through the thing once the initial shock wore off and my excitement level dropped somewhat. For starters, as a few people mentioned in this ILM thread, the bulk of the book’s content is devoted to artist profiles, which, while certainly in the Creemspeak tradition, are probably the thing I was hoping to see the least of–certainly not as the bulk of the package. As “xhuxk” notes in that thread, it’s cool to see in there things like “Stars Cars” and “Backstage” and “Creem Dreem” reprints, but the book seems sadly lacking in record and book reviews (in fact, I don’t think there are any–I’d love to own a whole book of Creem record reviews, come to think of it). Also, the selection of writers and feature subjects just seems a little scattershot, occasionally making me wonder, “why is this here?” (Though, let’s be fair, no collection could satisfy everyone, and omissions are  both understandable and fully to be expected. That’s a tribute to the mag itself, the fact that a true “best of” could never be captured in a single anthology).

Anyway, I was (and am) still happy to own the thing, and there is some great stuff in there, but how much of it I’ll actually get around to reading… not a lot, I suspect. The mags themselves are always close by. (God forbid we should have a fire, the Creem stash will be the first detour on the way out the door–after my wife of course.)

Well, the story, as it turns out, is a lot more complicated.

Read the rest of this entry »

Former San Diego CityBeat music editor, Troy Johnson, addresses what many of us are thinking in this short, sweet interview with Culture Lust. He also defends his choice to jump to a “glossy” Riviera. Eat #34 Hi Brite, defector. There’s mention of a book drop, too (”Family Outing,” set for June, 2008).

Troy_Johnson_on_CityBeat_and_How_to_Avoid_Becoming_an_Aging_Rock_Critic