Fun With Insomnia Blog

Four-and-a-half months after the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an oil rig explosion explosion on one of Mariner Energy’s oil rig explosions sent 13 workers overboard on Thursday.

The oil rig explosion’s platform caught fire about 80 miles south of Louisiana’s Vermilion Bay. There were initially conflicting reports of whether the explosion generated an oil sheen on the water, but according to PBS News, the Coast Guard claims that there is no evidence of an oil spill at this time.

All 13 people onboard the platform were rescued and brought to emergency medical facilities, and all suffered only minor injuries.

Mariner Energy is a small, Houston-based oil-and-gas explorer company that operates 7 wells in the Vermilion 380 field.

The cause of the explosion is unclear. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement will perform a formal investigation of the platform explosion.

The Bureau’s director Michael R. Bromwich said, “We will use all available resources to ensure that we find out what happened, how it happened, and what enforcement action should be taken if any laws or regulations were violated.”

Meanwhile, BP may be facing up to $8 billion in damage costs after the April 20th disaster.

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Allison Iraheta’s sandpaper edges always seemed an pretty odd album fit for the American Idol bubble. She wasn’t a blond country sweetheart, an R&B diva-in-training or a poised pop princess. Her outfits were funny. Her interviews were awkward.

But onstage, Iraheta’s wildchild yell was a rock ‘n’ roll force — and made her Season 8′s last female standing.

Since then, Iraheta has released an album (Just Like You), collaborated with guitarist Orianthi (single Don’t Waste the Pretty) and reunited with a former Idol buddy. She’s the opener on Adam Lambert’s Glam Nation Tour �� “the opportunity of a lifetime” – which makes a sold-out stop Wednesday at the Hobby Center.

Iraheta, 18, still seems an pretty odd album fit for the tik-tok-pop world. But that’s also what makes her intriguing. She’s an enormous vocal talent and a lot of fun:

Q: How have things changed since leaving the Idol stage?

A: To be able to connect is something that I’ve really learned in the past few months. I’m always nervous right before I go on stage, but I feel like that’s a boost for me. I definitely do feel a difference from being on the American Idol stage and how freaking scared I was, and then the American Idol tour, where I was more confident, but not quite as much as I am now. It’s all been a learning experience.

Q: Why do you think your album hasn’t connected in a bigger way, despite some good reviews?

A: I know some people just don’t even bother. Maybe they weren’t a fan. “Oh, she has an album out? I haven’t heard it.” I think they should take a minute – just a minute – to listen to one of the songs. I’m pretty sure they can relate. I think that’s the problem with a lot of people these days, they don’t take a minute out of their time just to listen to something.

Q: What’s been the toughest crowd so far?

A: Pre-Idol days – those were always tough, when people didn’t know who the hell I was. I’d go to, like, community events, fair-type things. I remember, I think I was about 12, it was at the time I was singing Spanish ranchera music, and I totally sang that for the wrong crowd. They were not about it, man. They were like, “Sing something different!” That happened to me quite a few times.

Q: What Spanish-language artists did you cover?

A: A lot of Rocio Durcal, Linda Ronstadt, Vicente Fernandez. Selena’s ranchera stuff as well – I did (her hit) Tu Solo Tu a few times.

Q: Do you miss it?

A: For sure. I grew up doing that. It’s really in my roots, growing up singing the rancheras and also Julieta Venegas and Shakira’s old stuff, when she was doing Ojos Asi and stuff like that. I miss it a lot. I do really want to, one day, work on a Spanish album.

Q: Last music you purchased?

A: I think it was Janelle Monae’s album (The ArchAndroid). She is incredible, an amazing performer. I saw her on a late-night show, and she did her single, Tightrope. She killed it.

Q:Tell us something we don’t know about your touring partner.

A: It caught me off guard one day when I got offstage, and he’s supposed to be on like in 30 minutes, and he’s on his little treadmill. I was like, “Boy!” People might know that, but he does do his little workouts before he gets on stage.

Q: Most rock ‘n’ roll Iraheta moment?

A: They’d throw bras and thongs and all these types of things onstage while Adam would be singing. When we were doing Slow Ride on the American Idol tour, someone threw a jockstrap. When I walked on stage, and he introduced me, I was wearing it. It looked like I had some sort of big package just waiting for him.

Q: Least rock ‘n’ roll Iraheta moment?

A: Earlier this morning, there was an infomercial with Mr. T on it. I was really into it. I wanted to call in and buy this cooking thing (the FlavorWave Turbo Oven) he was trying to sell. I was really tempted. Man, Mr. T is selling me on this. I am a terrible cook, which is why I was all about it.

joey.guerra@chron.com

Is veteran hard rock act KISS recession-proof?

Singer-rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley certainly seems to think so.

“For all the talk about bands doing horrific business, we’re doing terrific business,” says Stanley, 58, down the line from Raleigh, N.C., recently, leading up to the band’s only Canadian summer date on Sept. 10 in Toronto.

“We had 14,000-15,000 people last night, and the night before pretty much the same. I think the only thing that’s changed is that people don’t want to pay a lot of money. You know if you pay for a Rolls Royce and you get a Chevy, then you kind of feel cheated. So if you’re paying to see something, you damn well better see something.

“I have nothing against a guy who sits on a stool with an acoustic guitar, but to pay the same amount for that as you pay for a spectacle is insanity. When you come to a KISS concert, you know where you’re money just went ’cause it’s blinding you, deafening you and pummeling you.”

When it comes to spectacle, few acts can measure up to the face-painting, costume and platforms-wearing KISS, who have been major road warriors of late. They staged their Alive/35 tour last year which morphed into their Sonic Boom tour (named for their 2009 studio album), which is being called The Hottest Show on Earth tour in 2010.

Still, Stanley said the platform boots, combined with the physical nature of the KISS show, have definitely taken their toll over the last three and a half decades with him undergoing two hip replacement surgeries.

“It wasn’t the platforms, it was years of doing a lot of roundhouse kicks, and basically you just wear out your hip, ultimately you wind up with bone on bone so I continued for years and finally it just reached a point where it needed to be replaced — but I’m basically good for another 50,000 miles,” he joked.

This current leg of the summer tour has also been taxing.

“We played last night in close to 100 per cent humidity,” said Stanley. “It’s kind of like trying to run a marathon under water. It’s taxing; it’s not for the weak-hearted.”

Speaking of which, Stanley missed his first show in the history of KISS in July 2007 when he was hospitalized with tachycardia, or rapid heartbeat, something he said he’s been dealing with since childhood.

“It has nothing to do with not being healthy. It’s this pretty odd album condition that will never kill you, but yet your heartbeat while your sitting can go from 70 or 80 beats a minute to 200 from one beat to the next and stay there. Finally, they thread a catheter up into your heart to find what’s going wrong and they just zap it, they burn it, and the next day you’re back in the gym. I had it done. Look, I’m the bionic man. They’ve gotten me up from a 103 temperature to do a show. The show must go on.”

Once The Hottest Show on Earth Tour wraps up in September, Stanley expects the band to hit the studio in February of next year to make a new studio album and he doesn’t expect the compilation DVD, Kissology 4, to see the light of day until 2011 despite rumours of a fall release.

“It’s really still in the planning stages,” he said. “We have so much incredible footage, and we’re just trying to make the most cohesive package.”

Band liked ‘Idol’ experience

Paul Stanley of KISS says the band enjoyed themselves when they appeared on American Idol in 2009 performing with that year’s runner-up Adam Lambert.

“When we were asked to be on the show, our ground rules were ‘We do our whole show as we want to or we don’t do anything,’ and they gave us carte blanche and we blew the place up so it was great,” he said.

But Alice Cooper recently said he didn’t think reality shows like American Idol gave rockers enough of a platform and now Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is rumoured to be one of the new judges.

Ultimately, Stanley, who was never approached to be a new judge (“They probably couldn’t afford me!” he joked), thinks changes are a good thing for the new season.

“I think the show could use a bit of an overhaul so I’m curious, now that (producer) Nigel (Lythgoe) is back. I’ll be really curious to see where the show goes ’cause I think it was time to breathe some new life into it just overall,” he said. “And I think he was the first person to say that. So it should be great.”

A Conversation with Fred Turner

Mike Ragogna: Let’s talk about your new album Bachman & Turner. First of all, the music is classic, and please don’t be offended by this, but much of it sounds it like classic BTO.

Fred Turner: Actually I’m not offended at all. I’m glad to hear you say that.

MR: The album starts with “Rollin’ Along,” which puts us on the same road as the great Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

FT: Old highway songs.

MR: When was the last time you guys played together?

FT: Randy and I have not played together since ’91. It’s been a long time for us. I retired from the BTO lineup in ’04, and I’ve been retired right up until June of this year. Randy came to me with an idea to put things back together two years ago, and we started planning this and getting an album ready two years ago. So, it’s been a while for the two of us.

MR: How does it feel to make music again together?

FT: It’s like an old shoe. Everything fits together perfectly.

MR: Some of the songs on here are such, as I keep saying, classic BTO. And you’re exploring many feels and styles.

FT: When you go back to the early BTO days, our albums did tend to be that way. There were some jazz things, there were some bluesy type things, and there were some rock things. So, a lot of people have said to us that it feels like the lost album we didn’t put out before we broke up. It seems to have that feel that we used to have, and we didn’t try for it, it just seems to be our characters. When we work together, that seems to be the way it goes.

MR: When you guys got together to record the album, was there a little bit of a courtship between both of you going on in the studio?

FT: It was almost like we hadn’t really left and it was time for the next project. You know how you can have a friend that you don’t see for a couple of years, and then when you see them, it’s almost like there’s been no time lapse in between, and you pick up where you left off? That’s kind of how it went for us.

MR: The album cover itself has metallic, machine-like logo. That sort of reflects the music and the band’s classic image, doesn’t it?

FT: Well, it does in a way. It kind of reflects what the musical voyage was for Randy and I when we were in the Bachman-Turner Overdrive thing. It has just kind of carried on, and the theme has carried forward.

MR: Randy produced the project, right?

FT: Yeah, Randy actually started this project as his own album and he had asked me if I would sing a track on it. So, I did a track for him, sent it back to him, and he said to me, “You know, we need to get back together. There’s something here that just comes together when the two of us are working together.” I said to him, “You produced most of the earlier BTO things, and you stayed in the business while I retired for awhile. Why don’t you just run with this and put this album together and produce it?” So, he took it on, and most of the work was his doing. I just sang and played a little bit.

MR: Well, that’s interesting. It feels like a nice amalgam of your talents, regardless.

FT: Yeah, well, we both wrote songs for it and such. We both had input to it, but as far as the recording process and the final picture for it, that’s pretty much Randy.

MR: Would you do me a favor and give me a loose timeline of what transpired from Bachman-Turner Overdrive to now?

FT: Well, the original band that did the lion’s share of the albums was myself, Randy, Randy’s brother Robbie Bachman, and Blair Thornton. In ’77, Randy left us, we added a bass player, and I went over to guitar and did two albums. The bass player was Jim Clench from April Wine. At that time, disco started coming in, so, we pretty much put the band on hold and just kind of went and did our own things. Then, in ’81 Randy got a hold of me and said, “I want to do another project. We’re going to call it Union.” So, we did one album in ’81 under the name of Union. With a lot of other business problems and things cropping up, that didn’t really go too far. The promotion wasn’t very good, and the rock thing wasn’t really coming back in at that point.

In ’84, we put another version of the band together, Randy and I, and Garry Peterson from The Guess Who, and Tim Bachman who was an original from the very first Bachman-Turner Overdrive. That carried on until about ’87 in a couple of different forms. Then, in ’88, our old manager, Bruce Allen, put the Not Fragile lineup–which was Randy, myself, Blair, and Robbie–back together. That lasted until ’91, when Randy wanted to go out and do some new things on his own, and Blair, Robbie, and myself carried on and added a fellow named Randy Murray to play. That carried on until ’04 when I retired and stayed retired until Randy pulled me back into this. How’s that for a mouthful?

MR: Awesome. Is there a single from this album?

FT: Right now, there’s a single out, and that’s “Rollin’ Along.”

MR: Now that we’ve got the history of Bachman & Turner, what’s the future look like?

FT: Well, Randy and I have committed to three years. Being the age that we are, we’re going to be older guys in three years, and we said to each other that we’ll sit down then and look at how we feel about music, and playing with each other, and writing with each other. If we have a desire to go on, we’ll carry on past that point. But we’re really enjoying this. We’re actually both really smiling on stage, and we shouldn’t be having as much fun as we’re having, I don’t think.

MR: Well, your music has always been fun, so why not smile? What’s your advice for up and coming artists?

FT: New artists? You have to do the practical side. You have to go out and play, and you have to be seen, and you have to be there when things happen. You’ve got to keep playing and you’ve got to be in people’s faces because it won’t just come to you. You have to be there, and you’ve got to be ready, when the door opens, to walk through it.

MR: Beautifully said. Thank you very much, Fred Turner. Take care of yourself, and thanks again for calling in to Iowa.

FT: Thanks Mike, it was fun. I actually like Iowa, it’s one of my favorite states.

MR: Why’s that?

FT: Well, I’ve driven down there a lot. The nice thing was that I drove down just as the cornfields were maturing, and it’s beautiful to drive through the hills and see all the corn. The feel that I get from Iowa is like going back in time twenty or twenty-five years. People are still really warm, it has a great feel to it.

MR: I love how you put it. My roots are in New York and L.A., but I’m with you. The people here are so warm and so open and interesting.

FT: You know what Iowa brings to mind? It brings to mind that statement out of Field of Dreams, where they’re out in the field and one of the baseball players that has come back to play on the field asks, “Is this heaven?” And the answer is, “No, it’s Iowa.” Do you remember that?

MR: I do. I actually thought the line should have been, for a little more effect, “YES, it’s Iowa.”

FT: (laughs) Right, that’s true.

(transcribed by Ryan Gaffney)

A Conversation with Randy Bachman

Mike Ragogna: Gearheads used to be the affectionate term fans of Bachman-Turner Overdrive called themselves. Do your fans still claim that title?

Randy Bachman: Yeah, there are a lot of people that still call themselves that, and we love every single one of them. We love everyone who has been a fan for decades and decades and decades. We’ve played a couple of shows in the States–in Cedar Rapids, Washington D.C., a lot in New England–and these fans come that have been fans for three or four decades. It’s amazing to us that they’re still there, and they’re loyal, and they love the new album. So, we’re happy to be back and giving them new music.

MR: I was talking to Fred about that, and–forgive me because I know that every artist wants to have their new creativity acknowledged as a new entity, and yours certainly is that–but it sure does have the feel of your classic Bachman-Turner Overdrive hits.

RB: Well, I tried for that specifically. The best compliment that I’ve had is that it sounds like it should have been released in ’77 as the next album that never came out, and I’m very pleased with that. I specifically tried to do that, to give the fans some comfort sound or comfort grooves that they really wanted to hear, and put in some new stuff, but really give them what they want to hear. If I go buy a CD these days or go to a concert, I expect to hear a certain thing, and I don’t mind the pretty odd album twist; but I really go to get my money’s worth. That’s what I wanted to do with this album, give the BTO fans–whether they’re new or old–they’re real money’s worth. I wanted to give them a taste of new classic rock, as if it was ’77. You can’t do that with guys in their twenties. It’s almost like blues, where if you want really great blues, you’ve got to get a Buddy Guy or somebody who is of a certain age and has lived it. It’s hard to get somebody twenty-two and really get an authentic evening or a whole album of blues because they’re only touching on it, they’ve only just started the journey.

MR: That’s a very interesting point.

RB: Fred and I have been on the journey, and we’re back in the vehicle. As you can see, we’re not quite in “overdrive,” but we’re in high gear, and when we do a concert, it’s rock like you haven’t heard or seen in, literally, three decades.

MR: Fred deferred to you regarding the production on this album. What went into it, and what were some of the things you focused on?

RB: Well, it started out as a solo album, and many friends had come to me and said, “Why do you do another album like you used to do with BTO.” I thought, “Okay, they’ve asked me, and that’s a good enough reason to do it. And I like doing it, so, I’ll do it.” So, I started creating an album, and going back to what I like the best from like the late ’60s, which was the major influence of BTO when I was putting BTO together in the early ’70s. That was Cream, Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, The Stones, and just the really classic three and four chord rock ‘n’ roll bands with great grooves and pretty good lyrics that you can sing along to in the chorus. So, I went back to that again for this album. I went back to get the old guitars and the old amps. Consequently, when you listen to this album really closely a couple of times, you can say, “Gee, that song really sounds like a Cream song, like Eric Clapton and Cream. That song sounds like an old BTO song from ’76. That song sounds like a Rolling Stones song.”

I particularly went to different groups that were, in a way, kind of a comfort food for people listening to it. Let’s face it, in music, there really is nothing new. You can just go back to the familiar and recycle it, remix it, or reformulate it, and hopefully, present it in a way that people will enjoy it. So, that’s what I did. Song after song on this album…like the first song “Rollin’ Along,” which Fred wrote, kind of answers the question of “Roll On Down The Highway.” If you were to play “Roll On Down The Highway” by BTO and “Rollin’ Along,” you would hear that’s an answer song. If you played “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” the next song, “That’s What It Is,” kind of fits into that. It’s the same groove in the verses, but I took a totally new kind of Steely Dan chorus with jazz harmony, and that really throws people for a loop, which I like. So, it goes from the comfortable groove of “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” right into a Steely Dan thing in the chorus that’s really unexpected in that kind of rock song.

The next track, “Moonlight Rider,” obviously I based that on “Sunshine Of Your Love.” Fred brought the song and I went, “This is great. Let me a try a riff that’s like ‘Sunshine,’ but only half as much. Let’s make it really simple.” He was also singing that line in part of the vocal, so, I started out with that riff, and people just love it because it is sort of like half of “Sunshine Of Your Love.” The next track, “Find Some Love,” there’s a radio station in the Netherlands that just started to play that track, and the compliment from them is that it’s the greatest sounding Led Zeppelin track since Led Zeppelin. To me, that’s a great compliment.

“Slave To The Rhythm” is kind of like a working man’s song. It’s kind of my follow up, lyrically, to “Taking Care Of Business.” People get up in the morning with the sun, and some people get up with the moon. Some people work all day long, some people work all night long, and we all become these slaves to the rhythm. The whole groove of the world is when all these rhythms work together and you find someone in the same rhythm as you, you become husband and wife, or guys in a band, or you become a great team that wins a championship because you’re all in this rhythm together. So, “Slave To The Rhythm” isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing. “Waiting Game” is a great shuffle. I liken that to a Robin Trower song because he was a great friend of mine and an opening act for BTO. So, you can go through every song on the album, and everything has a little reminiscence.

MR: And “Traffic jame” evokes another kind of sound, a Dire Straits approach.

RB: With “Traffic Jam,” I wanted it to be a Mark Knopfler kind of thing, and I wanted it to be the “Blue Collar” of the album. BTO’s first album was a heavy rock album, and in the middle of the heavy rock songs, we had “Blue Collar,” which was a very pretty odd albumball song for it’s day. It was a very jazzy song, so I did the same thing with “Traffic Jam.” I give you eleven songs of “in your face rock and roll,” and then suddenly at the end of it is “Traffic Jam.” If you’re a guitar player, you’re going to love this song. I played every lick I knew at the time in this song, and it sounds very cool. It’s the only song I played on a Stratocaster, everything else what on old Harmonies, Silvertones, and Les Pauls. So, that song sounds totally different than everything else.

Then, “Repo Man,” I basically wrote to record with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, but when I got Fred to sing on this album and decided to turn this solo album into a Bachman & Turner album, I decided to delay the Neil Young thing, and the Paul Rodgers and Jeff Healey tracks I had for a different project. So, I brought Fred into this solo album of mine, which was evolving nicely to be a Bachman & Turner album–bringing in songs of his, him singing on some songs, and me and him singing together on a couple of tracks. It was such a natural evolution, and the pieces came together so well it kind of amazed me, in a way, and I’m really thrilled with the results.

MR: Still, even though it’s got a classic BTO album feel, it’s also an obvious nod to the future as well, don’t you think?

RB: Yes. Just dropping “Overdrive” left a perfect door to go forward, and it shows we’re not a nostalgic act. We considered many other names, and fans were sending us names like, Bachman-Turner Afterburner. That’s kind of cool, but it’s still a little retro sounding. Then, we had so many people telling us to just drop it, just be Bachman & Turner and give us that missing album. So, it took us thirty years to do a follow-up album to Not Fragile, it took that long. Most BTO albums, when they came out, were one every nine months. At the time, we had three or four albums in the top one hundred, and a song was at number one, and we had three songs in the fifty at once. We really hit hard, and basically, you run out of songs, you run out of ideas, and you become redundant and copy yourself.

It took us going out and living a long time, and certain elements in the universe, I have to say though it sounds corny, just brought us back together. When we started doing this music together, when we heard the first track, which was “Rock ‘n Roll Is The Only Way Out,” I sent (Fred) that song, and when I got it back, I said, “This is amazing, Fred. I want to just put my album aside and bring you in. Send me some of your songs, and if they’re better than mine we’ll knock them out. Let’s have a little competition.” I think that’s what we did, so it’s kind of like a “best of” album. A lot of people have called it “The ’70s Greatest Hits” that never came out because each song is a very well crafted song. I think over the years, we both learned to write our songs better, perform them better, and integrate with each other better. We have an incredible band backing us up, and when we play live, it is literally a steamroller going ninety miles per hour.

MR: What are some of the titles that are originally from that solo record?

RB: I’ve had “Waiting Game” for quite some time. I’ve had “Can’t Go Back To Memphis,” which was recorded by me in the ’90s, and was also covered by Brian Setzer and The Stray Cats. In doing this album, I wanted to embrace what Cream, Zeppelin, and Hendrix did in the late ’60s, and I found myself listening to White Stripes and The Black Keys; just raw, gritty, rock ‘n’ roll. So, I took some of these songs that were older, and threw out some of the chords to make them more simple, more riff songs, and more two or three chords. I did the same with some of the songs that Fred sent me. Some of them had seven to ten chords in them, and it was just too much for rock ‘n’ roll, it was trying too hard. I said, “Will you trust me to chop these down? Because I’ve already got a jigsaw puzzle done, Fred. I’ll pull some pieces out of mine and make your pieces fit.” He said, “You know I trust you, go for it.”

So, I took his songs–like “I’ve Seen The Light,” and “Find Some Love,” and “Moonlight Rider”–and made a piece to fit the puzzle. In my mind, it made a perfect jigsaw puzzle of sound and song. I’m so happy that, if this is the last album we ever do, it’s a great goodbye, and a great hello to everybody. But I think we’re going to be doing another one of these in about eighteen months. This album is coming out in a short time, and we’re planning on plugging it all over the world. The response has been rewarding and heart warming.

MR: I heard that you have an end date to the group.

RB: Well, not really. I just said to Fred, “What do you think?” And he said, “Let’s give it three years.” So, I said, “Okay, let’s give it three years.” That means we’re going to look at it in three years and ask, “Is it still fun?”

MR: “I’ve Seen The Light” is Fred’s, and “Slave To The Rhythm” is yours, right?

RB: Yes, and that’s going to be our next single, “Slave To The Rhythm.”

MR: Well, see, that’s cool because your “Slave To The Rhythm” sounds like the sister track to Fred’s “I’ve Seen The Light,” proving the point about this reunion album being a comfortable fit.

RB: Well, Fred brought me that song, and it was very gospel and had a few extra chords in it, but he let me trim it down. I probably recorded that song four or five times. I’d send it to him–it’s great to have email–and he’d say, “It’s not really ripping me. It’s not ripping my face off.” So, I thought, “I’m just going to make it raw.” I listened to The Black Keys and The White Stripes, like I said, and I decided I was just going to start this thing with a smashing drum and a distorted guitar. I got an old Danelectro guitar, put it through a little amp, overdrove the face off it, and I just started to play this riff and I went, “Oh, this is great.” So, I just did it over and over, sent it to Fred, and he said, “Great.” I had that template to take to the studio to him, so I was kind of demo-ing the songs ahead of time, especially with his songs, because he had demo love.

MR: I know what you mean by “demo love,” you can get real attached to a recording.

RB: He had written some of these songs four, five, and ten years ago as demos, and he loved them the way they were, it’s just that they weren’t happening. So, I had to break him of this demo love for his songs, and get him to fall in love with them again. I kept saying, “Put this in your car, go for a drive, and listen to it ten times.” And he’d say, “Nah, I still don’t like it.” “Well, wait three days and listen to it again, as though it’s a new song.” Then he finally called me back and said, “I get what you mean. I get what you’re doing to the song.” Now, he loves “I’ve Seen The Light.” It’s kind of cool gospel, but it’s like a trio.

MR: Yeah, this is a really strong recording and an album that probably will earn you some more gearheads.

RB: I hope so.

MR: So, Randy, there’s somebody out there walking around with your name. There’s this kid, his name is Tal Bachman…

RB: You mean my son?

MR: Yeah. “She’s So High” was such a big hit. As Tal’s dad, you must have been so proud.

RB: I was very proud. I was just watching a movie on an airplane the other day called, She’s Out Of My League. It’s a cool movie about a nerdy guy with an incredibly hot blonde chick who takes a liking to him. Halfway through it, in came “She’s So High,” and I went, “Wow, fabulous.” I called Tal, and he said, “Yeah, I just did a deal for that song in the movie.” It’s starting to get played on classic rock radio again. Tal’s got a new album ready to come out, he’s just waiting for a break. So, hopefully, he’ll get a break soon.

MR: Yeah, I remember when the Tal Bachman album came out, I remember the songwriting was very strong. I’d bet he’s gotten some mentoring.

RB: He’s a great songwriter, and I’m actually playing rhythm guitar on “She’s So High.”

MR: Is that right?

RB: I went to Maui, where he was recording with Bob Rock, and me, him, and Bob Rock sat around with the acoustic guitars and played. It’s basically Tal playing the lead and singing it, but he was kind enough to say, “Dad, I’d like you to play on this track.” And I was thrilled to do it.

MR: When I saw that movie, the crowd sang along to “She’s So High.” What an infectious little pop song.

RB: It was great, and it was in the right part of the movie, also. Wasn’t it just great? I thought it was fantastic.

MR: When your kid asks dad to be part of his posse, that’s cool, huh.

RB: Yeah.

MR: You’ll be touring, right?

RB: We’re doing some selective dates. We’re playing, I think, some showcases for radio in L.A., New York, and Philadelphia in September and October to kind of play some old and new music to showcase the album. We’ve got to go to London to do the same thing, then we go to Germany. So, we’re going to be really busy. We got an offer for ten or twelve dates in Europe next summer, doing the big festivals, and three or four in England. We’re just fielding offers right now as they come in from the United States and Canada. We’re just kind of looking at it all with some amazement, and we’re hoping that when the CD comes out that the fans go for it and it’s really what they’ve been looking for.

MR: Are you also looking for song placements in movies and television?

RB: Yeah, well, you always hope that somebody calls you as a music supervisor and says, “We got an advance copy of the Bachman & Turner album, and we want to put this song in a movie.” Of course, that takes you to a whole new audience. You always, as a songwriter and a member of a band, really want that to happen.

MR: Of course, Bachman-Turner Overdrive songs have been licensed for all sorts of things, right?

RB: Zillions. I just did another one for “Taking Care Of Business” for Office Depot again because they’re now going to be sponsoring The Office. So, that’s a perfect tie-in.

MR: If you’re going to have an anthem, that’s one of the one’s to have.

RB: Exactly.

MR: Do you have any advice for up and coming artists?

RB: Well, it has to be your passion. You have to want to do it regardless. Whether you get paid, or shafted, or screwed, at the end of the day, you have to say, “That was a great gig, I really enjoyed it. Too bad the guy left with all the money and we didn’t get paid. Too bad we’re broke.” You’ve got to love it.

I’ve had decades, in all the different bands I was in–The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and every other band in between–of being shafted by different managers, artists, and labels, and just getting screwed. You’ve got to love what you do. It’s just like the business you’re in, radio…you have to love it, and you’ve got to see your way through the hard times. Be true to your craft, honor your craft. Don’t self-destruct with alcohol and drugs. Be straight, be true, be on time, practice, and give it one hundred percent all the time, and you will become better than someone else.

The great thing about our world is, when you’re better than someone else, or someone is better than you, we pay each other. I’ll pay a guy who is a better plumber than me to fix my broken sink or to fix my car, and he will pay me to hear guitar. So, whatever you do, guitar, bass, drums or singing, just practice, and practice, and someone will pay to see you. They’ll pay for you to rock their world for an hour or two every night, just as you’ll pay him to fix your broken leg if he’s a doctor. We all need each other, and we obviously look for the best, so try to be the best.

Tracks:
1. Rollin’ Along
2. That’s What It Is
3. Moonlight Rider
4. Find Some Love
5. Slave To The Rhythm
6. Waiting Game
7. I’ve Seen The Light
8. Can’t Go Back To Memphis
9. Rock And Roll Is The Only Way Out
10. Neutral Zone
11. Traffic Jam
12. Repo Man

(transcribed by Ryan Gaffney)

A Conversation with Bert Jacobs of the Life is Good Kids Foundation

Mike Ragogna: What’s your history and involvement with Bonnaroo?

Bert Jacobs: Well, we really just became friends with the Superfly guys who own and operate Bonnaroo. I’ve enjoyed the music, and been out there as a fan like anybody else. That’s my history with Bonnaroo.

MR: And this resulted in the Life is Good Festival which happens September 11th and 12th?

BJ: That’s right.

MR: Can you tell us about it like where it is and what people can expect from it?

BJ: Sure. It’s a private farm that’s about fifteen minutes outside of Boston. It’s at a place called Blue Hills, and it’s a wide-open field. We’ve made an arrangement to take it over for the weekend and produce a mini Woodstock.

MR: And who are some of the acts that you have there?

BJ: Well, we have Jason Mraz headlining on Sunday, then we’ve got Ben Harper & the Relentless 7 on Saturday. Ziggy Marley is going to open for Ben Harper, and Guster is going to open for Jason Mraz. We’ll also have Corinne Bailey Rae, Galactic, and many other notables.

MR: You also have OK Go, right?

BJ: We do, and they should be fun. They promised something theatrical.

MR: Maybe they’ll bring treadmills with them.

BJ: Their treadmills, right.

MR: And you’re also going to have Laurie Berkner for the wee folks.

BJ: Yeah, we’re going to build a stage so the kid’s acts will be on simultaneously. We’ve got three stages, and two of them will be devoted to adult music and the third will be devoted to the kid’s bands. So, we’ve got the Laurie Berkner band, we’ve got Dan Zane and Friends, we’ve got They Might Be Giants, and we’ve got a band from San Francisco that’s fantastic called The Sippy Cups.

MR: Isn’t it interesting how the world of kid’s music has proliferated with some pretty good artists now? Now, this event is for the benefit of kids.

BJ: It is. It’s to help children overcome life-threatening conditions. One hundred percent of the profits from the event will go to kids that need it.

MR: And you’re hoping to raise how much money?

BJ: We’re hoping to raise one million dollars.

MR: Is that a goal for ticket sales only or is that with additional sales of merchandise, etc.?

BJ: Well, there’s two buckets really, and one is the event itself, which includes anything from sponsorships to ticket sales to t-shirt sales. Since that’s our business, we’ve already sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of the Life is Good festival t-shirt. We’ve been selling that shirt nation-wide since the beginning of the year, so we’ve got a little bit of a head start. So, one bucket is the profitability of the event, with all of those things rolled up.

Then, we have a second bucket, which is just fundraising. We’re asking festival goers, which should be in the neighborhood of thirty thousand people over two days, to raise money for kids. It’s not unlike getting sponsored if you were going to be in a walk or a marathon. This event that they’re going to, while it’s fun and games and they’re going to hear their favorite bands, the event is to raise money. So, we’ve done things like, instead of a VIP lounge, we’ve got a VGP, which stands for a “Very Good Person.” If you’re able to raise one thousand dollars, you’re going to have an open bar, we’re going to take care of you with service, and you’re going to have your dinner taken care of. You’ll have preferred viewing, and you’ll have all the things that a typical VIP would do, except we’re not going to give this to anybody unless you’re raising the money for kids.

MR: How did the organization come about? How did you form the Life is Good foundation?

BJ: Well, we’ve been in business as Life is Good, the clothing line, since ’94. We learned something from our customers that we really didn’t know in the beginning, and that is, that the people who face the most adversity in their lives are the ones who embrace the message the most. When people go through hell and they come out the other end–that can be chemotherapy, growing up in the worst neighborhood, being exposed to violence it can be any of these things–we heard from them over and over again through emails, letters, and just bumping into people on the street who tell us their stories. We’d scratch our head and say, “Why are these people the ones embracing the message that life is good?”

Then, one day, it really hit us over the head like a ton of bricks. The reality is that when you go through such difficult things, you never take anything for granted again. So, it was just a natural that we created a foundation of some sort, and the reason that we focused on children is because children are the greatest optimists in the world. Children live their lives wide open and they think anything is possible. Unfortunately, as we get older, we tend to close down a little. So, one of the things Life is Good is dedicated to is sort of keeping that child in all of us alive; that playfulness, that openness, and that optimism. Not just because it’s fun and healthy, but because it’s powerful.

MR: Has there been anything in the Boston area, festival-wise, that was like this?

BJ: It’s different than anything that’s going on, and the area really needs it. My younger brother, John, who is my business partner, we spent the last couple of years traveling around to all the major music festivals trying to decide if we could get into this game and if we could, what space was open. We found that at any events that welcomed families with young children, the music was not so good. It might be good for the young kids, but it was a sacrifice for the parents, you know? So, our goal is to have it family friendly and welcome families to come, but for music fans to be side by side, listening to the best music in the country from all genres.

The other thing we found is that music festivals are just starting to move in the direction of embracing all genres. Forever, it was a blues festival or jazz festival or jam bands or whatever. We made a concerted effort to take on a wide array, a broad variety or types of music, and the only common thread that runs through them is that they spread good vibes and they all celebrate. They celebrate what’s right with the world rather than what’s wrong.

MR: Since you’ve had the foundation, are there any special stories that stand out?

BJ: There are so many we wouldn’t have time. Right now, we’ve got operations in Haiti working with children who’ve lost their parents and lost their homes. Now, almost one hundred percent of those children have shelter, food, and water, but they have no joy. We’ve merged our kid’s foundation with a 501c3, a non-profit that was called Project Joy and is now called The Life is Good Playmakers. They train childcare providers to deal with kids that are going through things like this. We did it after hurricane Katrina, and the stories are amazing. These are kids whose lives, in many cases, would end by the time they’re ten or twelve, and we honestly believe after the programs are done, they will be great citizens, and they’ll have a joyful life.

There are individual cases of children with cancer, because we also work with oncology departments who are so courageous, they blow you and I away, Michael. We had a girl named Lindsey, many years ago, who insisted on wearing her Life is Good hat when her little head was bald, and she danced around the hospital room, cheering everybody else up all the time. When we heard about it, it was actually on the radio in Boston, and we were down in our old warehouse packing t-shirts. So, we decided to pack up one of every hat that we had–some of them one of a kind–and we sent them to the children’s hospital, but we never heard anything back.

Now, Lindsey had a terminal bone cancer and about six months later, her mom called me, and I was sure she was going to tell me that Lindsey didn’t make it. Instead, she told me she did make it, and she wants to come in the office to show us something. So, she came into the office, this ten or eleven year old, and she showed us all the hats that we gave her on the heads of all the little girls on her soccer team. What those little girls did was, they shaved their heads in support of Lindsey. When she saw it, she was so happy that she reached over her hospital bed and put a hat on all of them and they took a picture for us, and we’ll cherish that forever.

MR: What a sweet story.

BJ: To make it better, it was a long time ago, and Lindsey was really the inspiration for the kid’s foundation. Last year, we went out to dinner with Lindsey and her boyfriend. She’s in college, she’s beautiful, she’s smart, and she’s just an amazing creature. So, we were very fortunate to meet her, and there are so many more stories.

MR: Beautiful. I’m curious about the Bonnaroo connection. Is the same team putting together these shows?

BJ: Yeah, that’s right. Superfly is our partner on this. Superfly operates Bonnaroo, and also Outside Lands. I mentioned to you that my brother and I did a little circuit to all the music festivals around, which by the way, is good work if you can get it. Neither of us are particularly great at any one facet of business, with the exception of making friends. It’s the way we built our business from the beginning. We make mistakes all the time, and people bail us out because they end up liking us. That’s what happened with Superfly, we just got to be friends with these guys, and we started asking a lot of questions. We exchanged information, and after we got back, we decided to take a trip to where they’re based in Manhattan. After a couple of meetings, we said, “Hell, let’s do this together.” So, they’re jumping in with both feet, helping us to understand how the live music industry runs, and we’re helping them to understand how the consumer product industry runs. Also, on the social side, I think we’re taking a lead, which they’re very interested in, and I don’t think they would have gotten involved if it weren’t for the kid’s foundation. The most important thing is there are no geniuses involved on either end. Everybody is just digging in and doing the best we can, and we’re going to try; no one can fault us for that. If we have success, who knows, we’ll probably do some more things together.

(transcribed by Ryan Gaffney)

Torquil Campbell of Stars Stranded in Lake Erie on a Rowboat — Freetime with Fuzzy Sunset Cruise Drifts into Unchartered Waters

Our heroes Fuzzy Logic and Ant Man Bee of the Fuzzy Stones chat with Torquil Campbell, Broken Social Scene-ster and front dude of the Juno Award-Winning Canadian indie pop band Stars. Torq really hams it up in this absurdly fun little excursion into the world of sexy pop music and narcissistic dolphins (did you even know there were dolphins in Lake Erie?). He also offers some intriguing insights about the parallels between post-Syd Barrett Pink Floyd and post-Ian Curtis Joy Division (aka, New Order).

Check out Part 1 here, and go to FreetimeWithFuzzy.com for Part 2, where you will learn that one need not be afraid of Canadians, and you’ll get the inside track on a very intriguing rumor involving Sarah Palin, Ronald Reagan and Mr. T. Personally, I don’t think it’s true, but I feel I have a duty to let you know what people…I mean cartoons…are saying.

Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/ragz2008

Sarah VonderHaar released her EP, “P.D.L.,” on Aug. 24. TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Jaclyn Baldovin spoke to the energetic and talented singer/songwriter over the phone about her new album, experience as a contestant on “America’s Next Top Model” and work as a photographer and motivational speaker for students.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What was the inspiration for your new album, “P.D.L.”?

Sarah VonderHaar: I guess the inspiration for the first track of the album would be this guy, Jace Everett. He’s a phenomenal songwriter. He actually did the theme song for “True Blood.” That’s how I discovered him and he��s a phenomenal musician. I bought all his music on iTunes. I guess the inspiration is just I hadn�™t released an album in a while and I got kind of antsy. I went in the studio and decided to record.

TCC: What would you say is the greatest difference between your first album, “Are You Listening Now?” and “P.D.L.”?

SV: I guess the greatest difference would be probably, you know, we grow up. When I first did my “Are You Listening Now?” album, it was fall of 2007. I had just turned 21 and right now I’m almost 24. So, it’s like, you grow up. Not only you�™re growing up as a person, but you grow up as a songwriter and you discover different things and different stuff you want to write about and I’m realizing that. For one of my favorite songs on the EP – it’s â��Howling at the Moon” and it’s basically, thatâ€�s one of those stops that I’ve taken to kind of show all my audience and all my fans where I’m headed with my career. You know, where I want to head. So I think it’s just that I’ve evolved. I’m evolving as a songwriter and a musician. A little less bubble gum is what I say.

TCC: I know P.D.L. stands for Pretty Damn Lucky. Why did you choose that particular title for you album?

SV: Well, we were going to do â€�Pretty Damn Lucky” on the album and then I realized putting a swear word on the front of your album is probably not a good idea. So I was discussing with my manager what we should do. He’s like, “Well, why don’t we do ‘P.D.L.’” You know with all the texts messages [abbreviations like P.D.L.]. He [VonderHaar’s manager] said, “Well, why don’t you do that one?” I said, “Sure. That sounds fun.” Itâ��s something different. It’s an attention grabber and I was like, “OK.”

TCC: I know your record release show will be held at Schubas in Chicago on Sept. 2. What other upcoming concerts and appearances do you have planned in the near future?

SV: I’m going to be at Goose Island here in Chicago. And then Oct.ł, I’m going to be out in Flatlanders in Lincolnshire, Ill. I’m playing there Oct. 2. But then I’ll be out on tour in October going to the East coast.

TCC: Are there any particular music artists that influence your music?

SV: Growing up I listened to music from Sheryl Crow. You know it’s so funny, lately there’s a club here in Chicago called Kingston Mines and it’s a blues club, like straight up Chicago blues. And I literally go there every week. It has such great music and great atmosphere and everything. They know me there by name. I think that lately with my musical style, it’s [blues music] definitely coming out [in VonderHaar’s music] because I love blues music. I think it’s just, it’s phenomenal. You get that grit in someone’s voice and it’s like, “Ahh.” You can hear the soul basically coming out.

TCC: Did being on ��America’s Next Top Model� influence your music in any way and if yes, how?

SV: I don’t know if it influenced my music. I guess a little bit in my songwriting basically talking about, you know, struggling. I guess I could say it prepared me for the music industry because it’s actually very parallel from being on that show. In the music industry some people can be extremely blunt, extremely harsh. Even being in the modeling industry since I was಑, if they don’t like you, they just don’t book you again. They basically say it to your face. But in the music industry they do too. I guess it kind of prepared me for that. When I think about “Top Model,” I say it was the most physically and emotionally draining experience of my life but the best at the same time. I would say they���re [modeling and music industries] very, very similar. Well, it’s different though. Here, you’re judged basically on your talents. But within the modeling industry, you can’t basically change who you are – what you look like or how tall you are or whatever. When it comes to the music industry, it’s a talent that you cultivate �“ songwriting and playing music and stuff like that. So you can always get better, better, better, better. But with modeling, I can’t grow an extra inch any more unfortunately. It’s fun because as a musician you can continue to grow. You continue to work on your craft. You can’t necessarily do that as a model, per say.

TCC: How did you initially get involved with music?

SV: I’ve always loved music. I’ve always played. I got my first guitar when I was like 12 years old for Christmas. It was in the little box set that came with the amp and the guitar. I still have that guitar. It doesn’t work anymore, but it’s awesome. I’ve always played. I’ve always loved to write. I��ve been into poetry since I was a kid but never really kind of looked at it as something I could do for a living until my mom met my stepdad and he said, “Why don’t you do anything with this [VonderHaar’s music talents].” And I’m like, “Well, I don’t know how to go about doing that. I don’t know that industry whatsoever.” But, I was like, �œWell, yeah, I would love to do this.��� So he kind of took me to the studio and kind of groomed me as a musician and helped write with me, so I decided I love this. I should’ve been doing this my whole life. I want this to be my career. You start with a song and you start with just maybe one lyric or one line and you just go through all the process of writing it. It’s like little the baby steps. It’s just an amazing process.

TCC: Where do you see yourself, in terms of your music career, in the next five years?

SV: Oh golly, that is a very good question. You know, I never like to look that far in the future because I try to live my life week by week because, especially in the [music] industry, people tend to look past you. You just keep on pursuing what you love and you keep on hitting the pavement. I guess five years down the line – touring, touring, touring, touring, touring and continually writing music and going around the world and being able to share my music with everybody. I guess that would be the best case scenario.

TCC: What has given you the motivation to work so hard at achieving your goals in music?

SV: It’s a love for writing and recording. I love music. I think it’s such a beautiful, beautiful thing because you can touch somebody’s heart with one song. Actually, when my father passed, a lot of music helped me through that time and that’s when I really fell in love with music and realized that music just has such a power, so powerful.

TCC: I know that you said you play the guitar. Do you play any other instruments or plan to learn?

SV: I play piano very poorly. I write on the piano, but I won’t play it live because I haven’t taken any lessons. I’m not very good. But I write on the piano, love writing on the piano. But that’s about it – guitar. I want to learn the stand-up bass because I think that – oh, that’s just beautiful. So we’ll see if I have time to do that.

TCC: I read that you do some photography. Do you have any plans to take your photography career further?

SV: I actually did finish a shoot the other day. But yeah, I still do photography, still love that. But I dream of being able to combine music and my photography. Possibly do a documentary of going on the road. Put something together, so people can kind of get a feeling for what touring is like and experiencing all these little nooks and crannies of the United States that you would never experience unless you were out on the road. Like who’s going to take a vacation to Kearney, Neb.? I don’t know anybody. But, it’s so much fun there. I would love to do that [put together a documentary]. I still shoot, love shooting so much, but it’s just finding time in between everything to be able to do that.

TCC: How do you balance all of your activities without getting overly stressed?

SV: My iCalendar. Everything’s in my iCalendar. Let’s say for some pretty odd album reason my Mac died, like it didn�€™t open up, I would have an anxiety attack. Like I said, I live life week by week, so I put everything in my iCalendar that I’m doing for every month and then Sunday comes along and I look in my iCalendar for what I have to do for the next week. I love the saying, Carpe diem – seize the day. So you just take every day and try to do as much as you can. Yeah, it’s a balancing act because sometimes it gets interesting. Sometimes you get worn out and get sick, like I am currently. But, you know, it’s fun. You have to pursue all the things that you love.

TCC: I read that you speak at schools to encourage girls to follow their dreams. How did you initially get involved with that?

SV: Actually, a good friend of mine and a musician here in Chicago, Mark, had originally said “Do you want to accompany me? I’m going to go talk at the school.” I’m like, “Oh my God, yes, I would love to!” So we started going around to a lot of different elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. I have to say, nothing has felt better, just basically talking to people about following their dreams and saying to them, “You’re so young. You have so much potential. You can do anything you want.” My mom had a great saying: You find something you like to do and you learn how to make money doing it, then you’ll never be happy in life. So, it’s so true. So I started doing that [speaking at schools]. I played at one middle school and it was like 500 kids or something like that on the auditorium floor. And I had everyone, literally 500 kids, singing na-nas with me for “I Got Sunshine [song from “Are You Listening Now?”]. It was by far such an amazing experience. Sometimes that works at shows, sometimes it doesn�™t and then I look like an idiot singing na-nas by myself. But yeah, it’s so great. I actually go back to my high school all the time. I speak to a girl’s group – basically if a girl is going through a hard time, and there’s a social worker in there for all the girls. And I was actually involved with that in high school as well, so I go back there and I talk to them. I play a couple tunes. I love helping those girls because I was in the exact same place as them back then. You know, offering a little bit of advice like, “You know what, I know that that guy dumped you and it seems like the end of the world but in reality no. You’ll get over it. Just wait for the boys you meet in college.” And my mom’s a teacher too, so I go to her school all the time and she’s actually an English teacher, so when she goes through poetry, she’ll have all the kids bring in song lyrics that they like and then I’ll come in and discuss writing lyrics. And it’s really fun to get students enjoying poetry.

TCC: Out of all your experiences you�€™ve had so far, as you’ve grown as a musician and promoted your music, which has been your favorite and why?

SV: Oh golly, that is a tough one. There’s so many. I look back on the experiences that I’ve had so far. I guess it would be touring and the one thing I can say is I celebrated my 22nd birthday out in Lincoln, Neb. and the crowd was so amazing. We had the whole house packed and I sang “I’m Just a Girl�€ by No Doubt. Oh my God, the crowd was just so energetic and so fun. Spending my birthday out on tour �“ I love touring. It’s so fun. I see every fun place. I got to go to, in Iowa, the largest truck stop in the world on I-80. I guess that would be a highlight moment. Even that first day going on “Top Model�� was a world-wind experience in itself. Doing my record. It’s hard to put one on top to tell the truth.

Mogwai is a band I know very little about. Blasphemy, right? I really don’t, but I want to find out more. Honestly, I do. I guess it is a little strange to be starting with their first ever concert video, I understand that. However, if you stop and think about it, what better way is there to getting intimate with a band other than to witness them live? I know this isn’t quite the same as actually seeing them in a concert, but it does go a long way to showing one what the band is really like, how they flow, how they fit together, and how proficient they are at presenting their compositions. It is the live setting that will expose the act for what they are: a studio-only band or one that can bring it to the stage in compelling fashion.

All right, I guess I should back up a little bit. I am not completely unfamiliar with Mogwai, although what I have heard is not exactly unfettered Mogwai. My first exposure came on the soundtrack album for Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, where they and Kronos Quartet collaborated with composer Clint Mansell. It is a strange and beautiful recording and one of my favorite scores. Ever since then I have been curious about Mogwai, but for one reason or another have never acted upon that curiosity. For this I take full responsibility.

This concert film was shot over a three-day span in April 2009 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, by Vincent Moon and Nathanaël Le Scouarnec. It is not what you would call a traditional concert. You are not going to get big shots of the stage in front of a sea of screaming fans. You won’t get cameras swooping in from the sky or shots from the photo pit in front of the stage. No, this is not that sort of concert film. Frankly, I am having a hard time thinking of how to accurately describe this concert. It is a distinctly different beast that looks to transcend what is commonly recognized as “the concert.”

 

Burning was filmed in black-and-white, and features elements shot on the streets of New York City integrated into the footage of the band. There are shots of fans watching the band, closeups of the band members as they play, pretty odd album angles of the instruments shown, and shots of the band intently playing their music. It is intensely mesmerizing.

The black-and-white adds a lot of texture to the concert. It lends an out of time feel, as if we are watching a performance from the 1960′s or 1970′s. I know we aren’t, but there is that effect. There is a noticeable amount of grain evident throughout, which further adds to the texture. The black-and-white film, combined with the concert lights, heightens intensity as it sometimes becomes oversaturated, while other times it is rather subdued, allowing more detail to be revealed. It is a fantastic look that blends perfectly with the music.

Yes, the music. This is why we are really here, right? As I mentioned earlier, I am unfamiliar with their material and could not tell you what any of the song titles are. Even looking at the track listing does not help me any, as I could not always tell where one song ended and the next began. What I can say is that like the gorgeous photography, the music is captivating. The mostly instrumental compositions take on a life of their own, bringing the video to life. Guitar-driven and effects-laden, sonic tapestries swirl through the air.

These guys are pretty amazing, definitely a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each instrument brings a new piece, as one weaves together with others, allowing the music to build and build so as to take on a life of its own.

Mogwai and the two directors take Burning out of the realm of the mere concert film and into the world of art. The best thing about it is that it never feels pretentious. It feels like they set out to accurately represent their music in a visual fashion more than just a document of the performance. This is a visual display of their sonic creation and it is fantastic.

Bottom line: Whether you are familiar with the Scottish purveyors of post-rock excellence or not, it really doesn’t matter. This film is really involving show. It features a band playing some great music, a creative collective who have a vision and know how to execute it.

Highly Recommended.

Tracklist:
1. The Precipice
2. I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead
3. Hunted By a Freak
4. Like Herod
5. New Paths to Helicon Part 1
6. Mogwai Fear Satan
7. Scotland’s Shame
8. Batcat

View the original article on blogcritics.org