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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
 Posted - 11/20/2006 : 06:53:43
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| thru the magic of Netflix, I just saw the documentary film "We Jam Econo," about the early '80s band the Minutemen. these guys were contemporaries of Black Flag, and had several records on their SST label, but sounded nothing like them. one could make comparisons to Wire, or perhaps some revved-up mash-up of CCR, the Talking Heads, and early REM, but to me they were one of the few bands that sounded completely and utterly unique, even today. disc 1 of the DVD set contains the complete documentary plus almost 2.5 hours of bonus mat'l; dunno what's on disc 2 since netflix declined to include it. my only 'complaint' is that relatively little time was spent on their landmark double-LP, "Double Nickels on the Dime". but overall, it's worth your time and $ if you're even moderately curious about the Minutemen.... |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2006 : 09:45:43
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| Thanks for the review, I was wondering how that movie was. I just got Bad Brains Live at CBGB from 1982 that was just released on DVD. Very intense and crazy footage. Audio quality not the greatest, nor the camera angles, but thats how punk rock is supposed to be at times, isn't it? |
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bosshog
Silver Member
Canada
493 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2006 : 23:07:09
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Hello,
Yes it is...and it is not just a camera or industry trick. It is the way it was. I haven't seen the documentary about the Minutemen but I know they were SST labelmates with Sonic Youth. A great Sonic Youth documentary is called "The Year Punk Broke". It also uses such shitty camera work...
It is a fantastic music documentary |
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tomwest
Silver Member
United Kingdom
436 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2006 : 23:29:26
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| I always preferred Black Flag, but Double Nickels on the Dime is a great album. Definately similar to Wire, it's just a shame about D. Boon. Are you a fIREHOSE fan pawnshop_trash? |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2006 : 04:31:55
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| Forgot to add that another great film from that era is Another State Of Mind with Youth Brigade, Social Distortion, and Minor Threat...also available on DVD as well... |
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 12/01/2006 : 19:22:07
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jack, thanks for the Bad Brains live review, and the ASOM review. I've heard a lot about Another State, but have never seen it. I'll have to be on the lookout for both of them.
another recent doc is American Hardcore, based on Steven Blush's book of the same name. haven't seen it yet (it was playing at the local art cinema for one weekend, then disappeared), but if it's anything like the book (or the soundtrack -- good grief, that Bad Brains song is jaw-droppingly fast, especially considering when it came out), it'll be a keeper.
I agree with albie333 about '1991: the year punk broke' -- it's essential if you're a Sonic Youth fan (like me), and worth the time to rent/watch for even the casual Nirvana fan. it's long overdue for release on DVD.
tomwest, I'm likewise much more into Black Flag than the Minutemen, or fIREHOSE for that matter. part of it is the visceral brutality of Greg Ginn's guitar playing (he was/is as utterly unique as D. Boon, but in a completely different way), which goes hand-in-hand with my affinity for distortion pedals (only need the BD-2 and I'll have every Boss overdrive/distortion pedal!). and after years of listening to Iron Maiden, Ozzy, etc., Black Flag's music certainly didn't fall very far from the Mighty Oak of HEAVY METAL....
... sorry about that, I almost had a flashback to my early '80s self. I'm feeling much better now....  |
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tomwest
Silver Member
United Kingdom
436 Posts |
Posted - 12/01/2006 : 20:01:17
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| Hahaha, Black Flag truly are great - especially The Process of Weeding Out, totally underrated in my opinion. Indeed I tend to acquire distortion pedals that I don't need, but feel I should have, although I don't think Greg Ginn actually used any pedals, just a Solid State amp with the gain all the way up. He's one reason why I prefer solid state - edgier sound and sharper attack. |
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2006 : 04:53:51
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true... Ginn used a tube amp on the Nervous Breakdown ep, then nothing but solid state amps (eventually settling on a PA head that sounded horrible for vocals but great for guitar) and no pedals. before his Lucite Ampeg/Dan Armstrong guitars were stolen, he got to the point where the pickup was hard wired to his instrument cable... now that's a minimalist setup! I think the distortion in his guitar tone came out of his hands (the whole 'start on one note, end on another, and flail in between' philosophy) and maybe tape compression. I'd really like to see remastered versions of Black Flag's catalog....
at any rate, have you heard the Rollins-produced Rise Above benefit (WM3)/'tribute' comp CD? I think it's great, but be aware that even though the guitarist used an Ampeg/Dan Armstrong guitar for all tracks, the guitar sounds somewhat compressed/tube-y (like a Marshall-type amp was used). still, songs like Black Coffee never sounded better, to my ears anyway.... |
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tomwest
Silver Member
United Kingdom
436 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2006 : 11:17:10
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I've never seen it, but I keep picking it up in a local music store, I may have to buy it next time. As for Ginns guitar, he got so much sweat and blood into it he had to hardwire it (he kept getting electric shocks and shorting the pots). He was the reason I wanted an Ampeg Dan Armstrong, but since Dave frigging Grohl used one in All My Life the prices have skyrocketed |
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StratoSphere
Double Platinum Member
Canada
2232 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2006 : 16:54:06
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^^^^dont ya hate that? i call them "gear killers". such as Mike (forgetthelastname) from Incubus. he killed quite a few pedals. Jack White killed Silvertone amps. theres plenty more gear killers out there! |
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tomwest
Silver Member
United Kingdom
436 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2006 : 17:02:27
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Yeah, Mike Einziger killed the DOD Gonkulator ring modulator, they're a piece of crap but they fetch huge prices these days. Jonny Greenwood did the same to the Marshall Shredmaster, Jack White for Silvertone Amps, and the Airline Res-O-Glass. I always hated the Foo-Fighters, now I hate them a lot more |
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2006 : 04:50:54
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personally, I thought it was kind of cool that Grohl used an Ampeg/Dan Armstrong in that video. (it was too bad the 'spirit' of that model guitar didn't really permeate the rest of that album, though.) supposedly Ampeg is again reissuing the Dan Armstrong model, but I still won't be able to afford one either.
and the high prices are also keeping me away from the Gonkulator, but one day I want one... the old joke about mixing live sound is to make sure you turn down the 'suck' knob, but with the Gonkulator I'd want to crank up the 'suck' all the way past eleven! (who were DOD's marketing gurus that came up with the dumb knob names? Beavis and Butthead?)
oh yeah, IMHO two more 'gear killers' are the singer from Radiohead (a 1970s Fender Telecaster Deluxe could be had for under $1k about 10 years ago, now they're 3x or 4x that amount) and the guy from Green Day (although to be fair, '50s Les Paul Juniors were already pushing $2k when I saw Blaine of Nashville Pussy wield one onstage many years ago)....
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tomwest
Silver Member
United Kingdom
436 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2006 : 09:02:58
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| Billy Joe actually has a signature Les Paul Jr. now, they reviewed it in Total Guitar this month, it's ok if you like white and the tiger plush lined case. DOD's knob names are probably part of what put people off 'wtf does stab do?' but they can be accredited with making some pretty weird pedals in their time. Radiohead are the prime gear killers. |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2006 : 16:19:28
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This "GearKilling" is all about hype eh? It makes people curious if a cetain piece of gear is really as great as some of us make believe.
It can be fun to try out certain pieces of gear which do suffer from the hype, just to see if they are really that great. Sometimes you feel: "YEP I can see the point" Sometimes it is just not justified at all. Really it is all about opinions and people's taste, and it seems that we are very good at talking people into things ["You really should use anologue delay, much warmer bla, bla, bla"]
All of this hype has always been around us, but internet has just sped it up a little, also the amount of mediacoverage artists get these days [and the vast amounts of money which is involved in the game these days!!!],detailed discussions about gear ect. all of this has contributed to rising interest [and prices] in cetain types of gear.
The earlier discussion you guys had about Minutemen and Firehose and other bands: It seems that those times were very different, there was something in the air[ the big demonstrations about the Cruisemissiles in Europe, the whole Cold-War debate--Meggie/Reagan---[Think of a band like U2, what made them tick in their early days?~songs about social injustice and other political issues~] ect.ect. You miss that these days[although I am sure a lot of people still care about these issues but it is just not that popular anymore today]. Sure there is much more variety to be found these days, but sooo many bands do sound the same and I feel the idea that they do not stand for something. It just seems that people want to be cool, but just cool without having something to say really.
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2006 : 05:16:50
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quote:
Originally posted by visserman
This "GearKilling" is all about hype eh? It makes people curious if a cetain piece of gear is really as great as some of us make believe.
...
It just seems that people want to be cool, but just cool without having something to say really.
it really is all about hype, but those laws of physics sometimes get in the way too. case in point: apparently, the Les Paul Jr./Billie Joe Armstrong signature model comes with a non-compensated wraparound stop-tailpiece... which means that you can spend over $1000 for a new guitar with crap hardware that guarantees it can't be intonated properly! I mean, there's authenticity, and then there's WTF?
and about that last point, I think James Brown said it best: such folks are "talkin' loud but sayin' nothin'"... |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2006 : 21:41:01
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quote:
Originally posted by pawnshop_trash
quote:
Originally posted by visserman
This "GearKilling" is all about hype eh? It makes people curious if a cetain piece of gear is really as great as some of us make believe.
...
It just seems that people want to be cool, but just cool without having something to say really.
it really is all about hype, but those laws of physics sometimes get in the way too. case in point: apparently, the Les Paul Jr./Billie Joe Armstrong signature model comes with a non-compensated wraparound stop-tailpiece... which means that you can spend over $1000 for a new guitar with crap hardware that guarantees it can't be intonated properly! I mean, there's authenticity, and then there's WTF?
and about that last point, I think James Brown said it best: such folks are "talkin' loud but sayin' nothin'"...
Nothing new under the sun eh???
I still seem to believe that one of the goals is to find your own sound, and one way to achieve that is by experimenting with all the soundtools you have, and making us of all the information around us, in itself this is a task which will keep one occupied throughout your whole working life, it is one of the ways to keep yourself awake, inspired and on top of your feet. |
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Topic |
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We Jam Econo (doc about the Minutemen)
