A big Noise Pop, 07 edition
By Dennis Harvey
I don’t want my MTV — the few music videos it shows now between reality shows are mostly for acts of greater marketable than musical interest. But I do want movies about music and musicians. There are possibly more of them now than ever, given that digital video has cut filmmaking costs for these projects and DVD has made them extra-fan-accessible. Yet rock movies, like rock shows, are best experienced in a crowd — not alone on your couch, or sitting in front of your laptop with the headphones on. At least we can count on satisfying that particular jones to enjoy canned (as in filmed or DV’d) musical magic and related hijinks in the company of fellow fans once a year, here in SF. Four years ago, the already desperately loved Noise Pop Festival added a Film Festival component, making it an alt-pop lover’s best friend in nearly every relevant medium. Much of what it shows eventually ends up accessible for download or disc purchase. But precious little ever gets to see the light of public big (or at least medium-sized) screen projection again.
This year’s five-day program offers a typical array of delights for the audio addict. Wednesday’s opening night offers double-bill documentary portraiture of two iconic yet underappreciated figures with a healthy dose of tragedy in their tales. John Scheinfeld’s “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)” looks back at the ’70s almost-superstar who died largely forgotten in 1992. An underprivileged, fatherless child with an alcoholic mother, Nilsson left home at age 15, finally landing smack in the middle of L.A.‘s exploding mid-‘60s music scene. Getting a tune (“Cuddly Toy”) recorded by The Monkees launched his career as a writer. A perfect pop tenor, topping charts with Oscar-winning “Midnight Cowboy’s” theme “Everybody’s Talkin’” (which he didn’t write), and the enthusiastic endorsement of John Lennon seemed to guarantee success as a performer.
But the pudgy-faced blond had a serious substance abuse problems and a stubborn streak that undermined his potential. His decisions were often commercially perverse and self-sabotaging. His partying with fellow legends of ’70s excess like Ringo Starr and Keith Moon loomed larger than his record sales.
Still, the myriad TV clips here (Nilsson performed for cameras and in the studio, yet was too insecure to play live concerts) make it clear he shone brightly even in an era of stellar singer-songwriters. Former buds including Brian Wilson, Jimmy Webb, Yoko Ono, and two Monty Pythons are among the interviewees.
Following that 7 p.m. program at 9:15 p.m. is “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” about legendary rock weirdo Roky Erickson. His is, contrastingly, a tale of survival (in fact he’ll appear live at the screening), but just barely — after founding ’60s garage greats The 13th Floor Elevator and being cited as Janis Joplin’s greatest influence, he pled insanity after a marijuana arrest and was thrown into an asylum.
Three years later, he was released, broken and reclusive. Yet he re-emerged in the late ’70s with even more eccentric songs and persona, newly appreciated by the punk generation. The drama ain’t over yet: Keven McAlester’s documentary follows a latterday courtroom battle in which Roky’s brother fought to free him from the guardianship of their “Bible-thumping” mother.
The remainder of the Noise Pop Film Festival schedule encompasses shorts, music videos, and more features — including a couple major world premieres. The latter are a big noise indeed: Friday at 7 p.m. is the unveiling of “Sleeping Nights Awake,” a July 4, 2006 Sonic Youth concert filmed (a la the Beasties’ “Awesome”) by a buncha fans with DV cams.
At 2 p.m. on Saturday there’s something even more special, the fully-assembled debut of “924 Gilman Street,” Jack Curran’s long-awaited documentary about the fabled Berkeley all-ages venue that birthed…you know, those freaking sellouts!!! Or so many a punker-than-thou type has opined. Performance footage includes such stellar lesser-knowns as the Fleshies, Pansy Division, Ted Leo and the fabled Operation Ivy. Yakking on-camera are Ian MacKaye and (does he ever do anything else?) Jello Biafra.
Other feature-length docs include “Far Off Town” (Friday 9 p.m.), which finds New Zealand cult fave David Kilgour recording in Nashville with an incredible lineup of helpmates including Lambchop, Bonnie Prince Billy, Allison Moorer, The Clean, Yo La Tengo, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and more. “Downtown Locals” (4 p.m. Saturday) profiles six diverse performers who do their thang for change in the “true underground”-NYC’s subway stations. Then there’s “Dangerous Highway,” a portrait of industry legend/public obscurity Eddie Hinton, who amongst peers is “widely regarded as the finest blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter-guitarist.” He wrote hits for Aretha AND UB40 — how much cooler can you get?
Even farther off the beaten track, “A Night of Instant Calm” (Thursday 7 p.m.) pulls together short films, readings (from the McSweeney stable) and “hygenic presentations with accompanying slideshows.”
Finally, local talent is invited to participate in Saturday’s CinemaSports event-in which teams have ten hours to shoot a music video (“with three secret ingredients announced on the day of the event”). The completed vids will be screened at 8 p.m. that night. Entry info at cinemasports.com.
03.01.2007