SOUND CITY (2012)

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Dave Grohl makes this love letter to this incredibly creative place as he famously recorded Nevermind with Nirvana here in 1991. We get some brilliantly informative talking heads with some of rock’s most influential musicians and technicians, but don’t let the technical put you off, this is a very entertaining documentary that is a must see for anyone with an interest in music and sound design.

The story of Sound City, the recording studio in L.A. where a plethora of musicians recorded in the latter part of the 20th century.

“It all started with this idea that I wanted to tell the story about the board. The conversation became something much bigger. Like, in this age of technology, where you can simulate or manipulate anything, how do we retain that human element? How do we keep music to sound like people?”

Rupert Neve is a sound engineer who created the Neve analog mixing console which was one of the main reasons why the studio managed to produce some of the greatest albums from 1969-2011. This is why so many bands wanted to record here. They didn’t go for the luxury of the place, as this was hardly the venue to go to for that. What they went for was the sound.

Featuring a wealth of talented artists such as Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Tom Petty, Trent Reznor, Lars Ulrich, Rick Springfield, Rick Rubin amongst many many others, this is one for the afficianados and music lovers alike.

3/5

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DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

20 FEET FROM STARDOM (2013)

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This won the Oscar for best doc in 2014, it was up against The Act of Killing (the rightful winner), Cutie and the Boxer (not seen yet), The Square (not seen) and Dirty Wars, and is probably the biggest crowd pleaser amongst them, though not the best of them.

Focusing on the backing singers and the wealth of talent that lays there; what it takes to break away from the sidelines and hit the big time and how it may just be in the alignment of the stars along with the personal journey of each individual.

This is an entertaining documentary that raises itself slightly above a VH1 doc by having some very different, incredibly talented women who, by all intents and purposes, should have been massive stars.

It features amongst many others, Darlene Love and her working relationship with Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound, Merry Clayton with her famous duet with Mick Jagger on Gimme Shelter, the incredible Lisa Fischer and Tata Vega. But it gets diluted the more subjects that are featured and therein lies the problem.

This is one for the music lovers and is pedestrian at best; entertaining but not as incisive or in depth as it could have been.

3/5

BUY THE BLU RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE