Tag Archive: koyaanisqatsi


THE CITY IN MOTION

Filed under: Movies, Music — 1 Comment
May 29, 2012


MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA directed by Dziga Vertov (Russia, 1929)

Michael Wood’s Short Introduction to Film which I blogged about yesterday prompted to plug a major gap in my movie knowledge by watching this silent classic.

This is a film I previously knew about only through two soundtrack albums which I own – one is a dreamy and beautiful ambient piece by Biosphere (aka Norway’s Geir Jenssen) released as part of a double CD set with his masterpiece Substrata.

The other is a jazzier affair by Britain’s Cinematic Orchestra and its with this music that I watched the film on You Tube. There are occasions when the music doesn’t seem entirely in synch with the images but on the whole it works pretty well.

The movie has a remarkably modern look and the director’s wife, Elizaveta Svilova, who edited the shots should take the credit for the dynamic juxtaposition of scenes of urban life filmed in Odessa and other Russian cities. There is no story but it is structured in such a way that it shows that cities have their own narratives. Continue reading →

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GRIZZLY SWOT ROCK

Filed under: Music — 2 Comments
July 12, 2009

Thanks to the popularity of their  current album, ‘ Veckatimest’ , Grizzly Bear are the latest band to challenge the top slot currently held by fellow Brooklyn-ers Animal Collective on of  my  New Weird America Last.Fm group chart .

They are not particularly ‘weird’ and, despite their name,  there’s nothing fierce or threatening about their music. On the contrary, their richly melodic and meticulously structured sound could almost be called cuddly – more ‘Teddy’ than ‘Grizzly’.  Pitchfork calls Veckatimest “compositionally and sonically airtight”.

Jonny Greenwood is a big fan and this helped the band to land a prestigious support slot on Radiohead’s North American tour in 2008.  There may be a cultural divide between these two bands, but they both inhabit the more studious strand of contemporary music – a kind of swot-rock.

Grizzly Bear are ostensibly an Indie band, albeit one whose pop/rock sound covers more territory than your average chart combo. The choral interludes, for instance, would not be out of place on Phillip Glass’ Koyaanisqatsi .

Animal Collective may retain the crown as number one New Weird crossover band but the widescreen pop of Grizzly Bear (along with similar groups like Fleet Foxes)  emphasises how modern day Americana makes a genre like Alt. Country look very outmoded.

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A LIFE DISINTEGRATING

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June 22, 2008

movie still

The 1982 movie ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ is a movie where the combination of stunning visuals and a pulsating Philip Glass soundtrack make the need for commentary redundant.

It is a nightmarish vision of a world spiralling out of control.

The movie’s arresting title comes from the Hopi language and an on-screen translation of the word tells us that this can be translated either as “a state of life that calls for another way of living” or even more starkly “a life disintegrating”. Continue reading →

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