doc it out » Music

Goran Bregovic, Weddings, Funerals

Agnes Varnum — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:31:47 +0000

I had the pleasure of attending a Goran Bregovic concert this past week. It was one of the best concerts I’ve been to in a while! The music is so freakin’ happy, you can’t help but dance. The slower, poignant songs allowed us a moment to catch our breaths. From the Bass Concert Hall website description of the concert:

Balkan music icon and acclaimed film composer Goran Bregovic celebrates the music of Europe’s Gypsy tradition. Goran brings his 20-piece Wedding and Funeral Orchestra to the Bass Concert Hall stage on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 for one of a handful of concerts in the United States this year. This spectacular Orchestra includes a Serbian brass band, string ensemble, and choir. This is certain to be one of the most talked about world music events for years to come!

I don’t even think this video does them justice. If you see the concert near you, GO! You will have a fantastic time!

My 2-Year Meme: Once

Agnes Varnum — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:11:07 +0000

I haven’t had many great loves in my life but I have had a few minor loves. And while usually I don’t talk much about my personal life here, as seems to happen for those of us who watch movies for a living, my life has crossed into the world of fiction through a story called Once by John Carney.

You might know it from the Academy Award-winning song, Falling Slowly, from the tiny Irish movie in 2008. It was recommended to me through my 2-year meme project (which has dragged on into year 3 because I’m blog-lazy, as AJ pointed out) by fellow film blogger Chuck Tryon. But the idea that prompted that post was transcendent media—a movie or song or book that transcends its genre to be something of universal truth, or something that moves one outside of a comfort zone to connect with others. Whatever. It doesn’t matter what it transcends so long as it makes a difference to you. I wanted to see if any of the things that move my blog readers would move me, and that was happily the case with Once.

Which is what brings me back to the minor loves of my life. They have converged on me this very month! The third anniversary of my blog, also incidentally seems to be the Bermuda triangle of exes. Without bothering to go into the details, I’ve managed to keep the door just open enough with too many half-wits who decided now was a good time to get in touch with me. They were wrong. I’m tired of that crap. I need a new ex, at least.

And then I watch Once. A guitar player on the sidewalk plays his songs and a woman who really enjoys his music pushes him to open up about the source behind it. It turns out that lost love fuels his music, and the young woman who is so interested in the music also has an interesting love history. She is separated from her husband and living with her mother and toddler in a new city.

When our scrubby Irish musician delves a bit into her life, he finds out that she plays piano and sings in perfect harmony with him. The music is wonderful and romantic; the filmmaking is assured and seamless. They fall in love over their failed loves and through their connection in music. My emotions were so easily led through the story. They shared a wonderful moment in time, but their lives are complicated and the moment can’t last.

I guess that is a spoiler to the emotion of the film if not the plot. But it really doesn’t matter because if you are ready to be lead on a journey of love, this is a movie well worth the cost to rent or buy for when you need some genuine romance. It reminded me that minor loves are minor for just this reason. Their moment in our lives can’t compare to major love. Of that, I’ve only experienced it once, and maybe if the title of the movie is true, it won’t ever come again. But I’m not that cynical and I’m also no longer brainwashed enough to believe that an amazing moment between two people constitutes love.

It’s a really valuable lesson for me. Once by John Carney was a beautiful reminder of all that I have learned about love thus far with music I, dare I say it?, loved. That is pretty freaking awesome.

I wonder, Chuck, did you ever figure out what Once means to you? That’s not a challenge to write about it, I’m just curious if anything helped you close the loop to your thoughts since you posted about it.

2YM: Melody Gardot

Agnes Varnum — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:45:26 +0000

It’s time for me to get to my 2-Year Meme! Juliet recommended Melody Gardot’s album Worrisom Heart. She’s a fellow Jersey girl and like me, she bears little resemblance to the stereotype. After a serious accident, Gardot picked up a guitar, using music to aid in her therapy. The Washington Post review describes her as from a “generation of young women who are combining the elastic phrasing and harmonic sophistication of jazz with the personal lyrics of singer-songwriter folk.” If you enjoy kicking back on a comfy couch with a glass of wine and a fire to listen to the silky stylings of Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong, you will enjoy Gardot.

My idea with this meme was to identify some of the art that readers of this blog are interested in; art that transcends genre was my highest hope. I enjoyed listening to Gardot, but I have to admit to having no connection to jazz. I’ve tried and tried, but it doesn’t speak to me.

In early November, I attended the Sheffield Doc/Fest and was asked to moderate Q&A for a new film, The Jazz Baroness by Hannah Rothchild. The film delves into the story of her great aunt, Pannonica Rothchild, an heiress who left her family and fortune in England to become a patron to Thelonius Monk and his compatriots in the NYC jazz scene. When I watched the film, it seemed like a rather standard bit of biographical/historical fare. But the as the lights came up and folks started to chat with the director, it was obvious that for those who had an interest in the subject, the movie clearly connected on a deeper level. Hannah’s last memory of her aunt was in a smoky basement bar listening to the music she loved so much. I’d like to have the experience of falling into this music. I hope it is like eating mushrooms or onions; it takes time for the taste to develop, but once it does, you can’t imagine how you were so stupid as to not like them in the first place.

List-O-Mania

Agnes Varnum — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:38:41 +0000

Everyone loves lists! I find myself making lists but my mind wanders. I start thinking about other things related to what I’m making a list about and pretty soon, I’m off making cheese or buying dance shoes on the internet. But, I got an email from the folks at Coffee and Celluloid about a new list they put together, 25 Movies About Music You Haven’t Seen. Besides the pretentious title and absurd assumption that we won’t have seen at least some of the movies on their list, it’s actually a good list of films and their post has accompanying YouTube vids if you are interested.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Stop Making Sense would be on my top films of all time list, and there are some other gems like The Blues Brothers, The Last Waltz, Woodstock and Pink Floyd’s The Wall. I’m not sure Pump Up the Volume or Velvet Goldmine would make mine, but they are definitely worth watching. Thanks to Patrick Stafford for the tip.

Mark over at Docsider also pointed to a recent Vanity Fair list of their Top 25 Documentaries. I feel bad for publications that are mass market fare trying to delve into a complicated topic like documentary. There is no way they can win with movie people, but if you are wondering what docs should be in your Netflix queue, this is a good place to start. Take their audience award poll while you are at it.

Lou Reed’s Berlin

Agnes Varnum — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:17:16 +0000

I’m sitting here watching Lou Reed’s Berlin by Julian Schnabel and wrestling with it a bit. My own reaction is that I’m loving what Schnabel is doing cinematically. He draws us into a story via a concert enactment of a concept album by Lou Reed, of The Velvet Underground fame, called Berlin. Berlin, the album on which this performance is based, was panned critically when it came out in 1973 (according to the film’s opening titles). As I attempted to delve into the emotional landscape of the music, I understand why the critics panned the album. It’s tough. I’m not connecting. There is very little that is traditionally pleasing to the music; the “junkie lover” scenario is a bit of a stretch for us Y2K suburban honkies; and even with the “explanation” of Schnabel’s visuals, the whole of it isn’t very likable.

But I’m ahead of myself. The film chronicles a performance by Lou Reed of an album he released in 1973. It is what you might call a rock opera, and what Schnabel’s film attempts to do, is to fill in any holes left within musical and lyrical journey. This addition of a visual journey should help us to better appreciate the music via what is a largely performance-based film, but I’m sorry to say it isn’t working for me.

I had to stop by Warren’s review to see what he thought before writing my own post, and I see he had the exact opposite experience. The film gave him a new and profound appreciation for the music. I wish that were the case for me, as I love finding new ways to appreciate music, but it’s just not working for me here, though it is because of the music, not the film. Maybe the middle position is this… if you are drawn into the film right away, you will be able to follow the journey and perhaps have new appreciation for an artist with a mutifaceted musical persona. If you aren’t feelin’ it in the first 10 minutes, it ain’t gonna get any better.

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2-Year Anniversary: A New Sort of Meme

Agnes Varnum — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:36:26 +0000

We bloggers tend to get a little pensive as the years roll by; in such an ephemeral medium, it surprises even us that we somehow manage to continue. My blog anniversary coincides with SXSW. I started writing/self-publishing after becoming inspired at the festival a little over two years ago. So, my 2-year post comes a bit late, as I was waiting for the spirit to send inspiration, and funny, it came in the form of the Indigo Girls. Interesting that the Girls also inspired my very first blog post.

I’ve easily seen the Indigo Girls perform live on 8 or 9 occasions. I’ve been a fan since I dug their first album out of a discount bin when I was in 7th or 8th grade. They are the only band that has lasted with me so thoroughly over the years. When I go to their concerts, I feel a tinge of sadness. People assume that you have to be a lesbian to enjoy them, but to me, their music transcends such narrow labels. They are fantastic musicians–incorporating different instruments and musical styles; their lyrics are smart and meaningful; and they have great energy on stage, making live shows consistantly fun. Austin revealed its appreciation of the Girls at the show the other night with equal enthusiasm but the audience was still mostly lesbians and some straight girls with only a smattering of men.

Why am I going on about this? Their music, to me, is genre transcendent. You might not love to listen to them all the time, but if you really listen, I can’t believe that any music lover wouldn’t recognize their talent. This brings me to the meme aspect of this post.

I’m really irked that the most commented post on my blog in two years is a flame war, and I’d like to out-comment that post while at the same time connecting to my readers in a new way. Here’s the challenge: submit to me one book, movie, song, album, etc. that has made an impact on you and that you believe is genre transcendant and I will read, listen to, watch each and every one and write about it here. Yes, even if it is your own work! The only restriction is that the work has to be reasonably available. If not, you’ll have to help me out in getting a copy.

I can’t promise when I’ll get to it but I can promise that I will. I want to share art, discuss it and connect with people in new ways. That’s why I started doing this in the first place.

Leftover Matzah?

Agnes Varnum — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:45:05 +0000

Shot by the lovely Jesse Epstein. Enjoy!

iW: Music Documentaries Take Center Stage

Agnes Varnum — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:01:44 +0000

When the movie started to roll, the image was only a quarter the size of the screen. I’m wondering if I’m in the right place — the IMAX Theater at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin — just as black and white images of Martin Scorsese begin to flash across the screen. He directed the movie I’m about to watch so I’m convinced I’m in the right spot, but won’t it cover whole screen? Why show it at IMAX? I’m not sure of the exact moment, but suddenly the movie is filling the screen and like a roller coaster ride, we are at the top just waiting for the big drop that is The Rolling Stones as they take the stage of the Beacon Theater in New York City for a legendary performance. Read the entire article>>

doc it out » Music

Goran Bregovic, Weddings, Funerals

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