"Every summer since 1972, Rainbow Gatherings have occurred in a different U.S. National Forest, drawing tens of thousands of counter-culture types to the wilderness to set up a temporary city. Filmed at the 38th Annual Rainbow Gathering Of Tribes (Big Sandy, Utah), 'We Love You' allows the audience a glimpse into this rarely seen sub-culture, the violent oppression of Federal Agents who target them and their ultimate victory as they pray for peace the day after a siege by Federal Agents."

That's the official description of "We Love You", a short and to the point (and award winning) (and, full disclosure: made by someone I know) documentary that gives a positive (like the attitude of those in attendance) spin on the annual gathering of hippies in the woods. Like Burning Man, rainbow gatherings aren't technically music festivals, but they share many characteristics including live music. Entertainment options at gatherings range from random people with guitars to drum circles to full on G-Funk Collective performance theater. Unlike most music festivals though, rainbow gatherings do not come with toilets.

LAist: What did you hope to do by making the gathering accessible to people who've never attended?

Director Jonathan Kalafer: It's weird because people always want to compare it to Burning Man or a music festival, but it's really unlike those things. They've created this place, there's a quote in the movie about it, where magic can happen. You're far away from everything, off in the woods and people are amazingly kind to each other.

LAist: What do you hope viewers will walk away with after seeing your film?

JK: I had some people tell me , "Thank you for making the film," because they showed it to their grandma and she understood what they're doing when they go and that they're not caught up in some crazy cult or something.

If you'd like to check this move out, it happens to be screening as part of the NJ Film Festival at Rutgers in New Brunswick today (10/4) and again on October 9th.

If you happen to be part of the Rainbow family, well then you probably already know that NY Rainbow's 24th Annual Prospect Park Picnic is taking place on October 11th. This year's actual Gathering took place in New Mexico.

The "We Love You" trailer, and other Rainbow Gathering videos, below...

Continue reading "a Rainbow Gathering documentary, NJ screening & BK picnic "

On 9.23.09, we invite you to New York City's Central Park, East Meadow for Feel Free, an event that celebrates and pays tribute to the National Parks. Feel Free is designed to engage you in celebrating what has been described as one of America's best ideas. Join Ken Burns, Alison Krauss, Carole King and [Eric Benet, Gavin DeGraw, Jose Feliciano and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas] for an evening of song and film. NO TICKETS REQUIRED. JUST ADDED: COUNTING CROWS AND AUGUSTANA

The event is the public premiere of Ken Burns's upcoming film The National Parks: America's Best Idea, and will be broadcast "via satellite to PBS affiliates and other partners assembled in various locations around the country." A video preview of the movie, and the event flyer, below...

Continue reading "Ken Burns' National Parks party in Central Park Wednesday - free show w/ Alison Krauss, Counting Crows & more "

Legendary UK folkie Vasthi Bunyan will be appearing at 92YTribeca in NYC for a live performance on Friday, October 16th, and with director Kieran Evans for two screenings of the documantary Vashti Bunyan: From Here To Before on October 16th and 17th. Tickets for the concert, film and both are on sale now.

From Here To Before is a feature length documentary that chronicles the story behind the writing of a classic 'lost' album and the re-emergence of its critically acclaimed singer/songwriter, Vashti Bunyan. Filmed and directed by Kieran Evans, this beautifully shot and wonderfully evocative film is a lyrical, modern day road movie that retraces Vashti's extraordinary journey from London to the island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides of northern Scotland and sets it against the backdrop of her first high profile London concert.

Andrew Loog Oldham, Joe Boyd, Robert Kirby, Devendra Banhart, Max Richter and Adem Ilhan all appear in the film which premiered in London in October 2008.

Vashti videos (there doesn't seem to be a trailer...) and more info on the film, below...

Continue reading "Vashti Bunyan playing with her documentary in NYC "

DOWNLOAD: Jay Reatard - Wounded (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jay Reatard - It Ain't Gonna Save Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Box Elders - Stay (MP3)

Jay Reatard's bassist @ the Stuy Town Oval (more by Tim Griffin)

eMusic: Judging by the altercations you've had with a few of your fans, it can be tough walking around with a moniker like Reatard.

Jay Reatard: Their perception of the name, which I think of as being just mildly offensive, is what puts those negative thoughts into their heads. They anticipate something completely different from reality, and they react that way.

When I first started the Reatards, I just wanted to get to make a record. As long as I could survive until then, I could make that one and then survive until I made the next one. A lot of that early work was focused on being youthful and ignorant -- feeling immortal and thinking I could get away with whatever I wanted. After I turned 26 years old, I started thinking about things a little differently. I started to realize I'm not going to live forever, my heath is going to fail, I need a place to live. So either I grew up, or society broke me down. Either way, I started thinking more about my future, which was the opposite of everything else I'd ever done.

At this point, it would be easier to get to certain levels in the music industry if I wasn't called Jay Reatard, because it's an immediate turn off. I would definitely be playing to larger crowds, and have more money. Everything I didn't care about when I first called myself Jay Reatard, I could have more of now. But I'm fine with it -- I look at it as a litmus test for assholes. If you can't get past the name, then you can't afford the price of admission.

Jay Reatard's new disc, Watch Me Fall, is out August 18th on Matador. NYC will get a free listening party for the album at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Monday, August 17th, while the West Coast gets a slightly better deal. Jay Reatard will be playing a series of free record shop in-stores from LA to Vancouver through the end of August. Those dates are below.

This September, Jay Reatard reunites with his first band, the Reatards, for a set at Goner Fest in Memphis.

On Thursday, October 1st (a few weeks before CMJ) he'll headline a Shattered Records showcase (his imprint) at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Also on that NYC bill are Box Elders (who have other NYC dates coming up too), Useless Eaters, Hunx and Nobunny (both featured HERE). Doors are at 11:00pm. Tickets are on sale.

Two tracks off the new album, including the first single "It Ain't Gonna Save Me," are above. The video for that song, with the trailer for "Waiting For Something," a short documentary about Jay Reatard, and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Jay Reatard - a NYC Shattered Records show (tix) & West Coast record store tour (dates) + MP3, video & documentary"

Passing Strange

Spike Lee got this Broadway hit on film. Now you can see this coming-of-age Bohemian rhapsody on the big screen.

A reminder (and this is from the tickets page): Never Say "Sold Out" - Even if advance tickets are no longer available, don't give up--just think RUSH TICKETS. We admit those standing in the RUSH TICKETS line approximately 15 minutes prior to a film or panel's scheduled start time, until a theater is at capacity. Lines begin forming approximately 60 minutes before each screening, so be sure to arrive early.

This reminder applies to quick-selling flicks like Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful, Burning Down the House: The Story of CBGB, and Soundtrack for a Revolution. Don't forget: there is also the chance of additional screenings being added.
[A Song For You: The '09 Festival's Musical Films]

The forthcoming and still-untitled next Wilco album is nearing completion. Jim Scott and the band spent the last few weeks mixing in Jim's studio in Valencia, California and [below is] a list of song titles spied on the reels -- note this is not necessarily complete and not in sequence.

Rumors and blogs regarding a guest appearance on that last track are, amazingly, quite true. Feist does indeed lend a great vocal to You and I. Other details will emerge in the coming weeks. The release is currently scheduled for late June on Nonesuch.

Wilco's live concert film "Ashes of American Flags" will have its New York premiere on Monday, April 13 at the IFC Center as part of Movie Night with Fred Armisen, go here for more details. The film had its world premiere February 20 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana where it won an award for Best Cinematography. The DVD is now available for pre-order via the Wilco store by clicking here.

More information about the film is available at ashesofamericanmovie.com, including a full screening schedule and we've just added a Google calendar as well which you can access here. The DVD release via Nonesuch Records is set for April 18. You can watch the trailer here, and [BELOW].

The film was co-directed by Fugazi's Brendan Canty who will also be at the IFC screening in NYC on April 13th. He, co-director Christoph Green and Fred Armisen will be discussing the movie after the show. Tickets are still on sale.

Wilco don't have any NYC dates coming up, but Fugazi member Joe Lally does, as does but Feist. She plays the Dark Was The Night fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall on May 3rd.

Wilco member Nels Cline has also been playing guitar as part of the Jenny Scheinman Trio at the Blue Note here in NYC. You can catch them twice a day tonight (4/9), Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

No other Feist dates at the moment, but all Wilco ones, and the movie trailer, are below...

Continue reading "new Wilco album & documentary, Feist, movie night w/ Fred Armisen, Nels Cline & Jenny Scheinman live & whatnot"

DOWNLOAD: Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band - Nikorette (MP3)

Conor Oberst @ Terminal 5 (more by Eric M. Townsend)

Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band are set to release "One of My Kind" on April 15th, a documentary that will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the band's journey over the past year and a half. Made by the band's guitar-tech Phil Schaffart and presented by causecast.org, "One of My Kind" traces the group's ever-growing bond as friends and collaborators. Footage from Tepoztlan, Mexico, where they recorded their first album, Conor Oberst, their worldwide tour in 2008, and the making of Outer South in El Paso, TX takes viewers on a 60-minute musical journey around the world.

The film will be available as a free stream or HD download exclusively on Causecast.org, IFC.com, conoroberst.com, mergerecords.com, and wichita-recordings.com.

Unlike any film release before, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band are donating the documentary, "One Of My Kind" for FREE, in the hope that viewers will make a donation to one of the many nonprofits or causes on Causecast.

The trailer for One of My Kind is below.

Oberst's new record Outer South will be releaesd May 5th, but is streaming now (and available for preorder) at Merge Records. "Nikorette," above, is also from the disc.

Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band have dates scheduled across the country. Stops include April 17th at Coachella and XX Merge, the label's 20th anniversary fest which runs from July 22nd-26th (Merge isn't announcing the nightly lineups, so Oberst could be playing any of those days).

There are no NYC dates scheduled, but they are playing CT on July 3rd and nowhere on July 4th... Oberst was also featured on the Dark Was the Night comp, which is having a charity show at Radio City on Sunday, May 3rd. That's a lineup he seems much less likely to be added to at this point though.

All tour dates, the doc trailer, and Outer South art and track list below...

Continue reading "Conor Oberst - new Merge album (MP3, stream, pre-order), documentary (trailer), 2009 Tour Dates (July 4th???) "

The Icelandic environmental documentary Nattura-Summer 2008 [was] released exclusively on iTunes on March 10 (One Little Indian) via an exclusive digital distribution partnership with E1 Entertainment Distribution U.S. The film focuses on the current environmental issues that face Iceland and includes interviews with Björk along with many other well-known Icelandic figures. All proceeds from the documentary will benefit the Nattura Campaign.

Directed by Charlie Lightening, Nattura-Summer 2008 focuses on the proposed plans to increase the use of aluminum smelters as a means to harness Iceland's natural energy. As an alternative to these industrial practices, the documentary offers innovations and attempts to reinvigorate a larger discussion and debate on these key issues. In addition to Björk's commentary, the film features interviews with well-known Icelandic politician and environmentalist, Ómar Ragnarsson, as well as Andri Snaer Magnason. Magnason is the author of the award-winning, best-selling book, Dreamland: Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation, which offers a detailed critique of the Icelandic government's current energy-harnessing practices.

The documentary continues Björk's close involvement with the Nattura Campaign, which was founded in an effort to generate alternative, sustainable and eco-friendly ways to utilize Iceland's natural resources. In Björk's own words, "It is now more important than ever before to emphasize a respect for nature...I believe that profits, technological advances and working together with nature can all go hand in hand. None need to be sacrificed at the expense of the others."

If you weren't able to get tickets to the upcoming Bjork / Dirty Projectors show at Housing Works Bookstore, "In addition to online ticket sales at www.housingworks.org/bookstore. There will be a very limited number of $50 tickets for sale by lottery at Housing Works Bookstore in SoHo and select Brooklyn locations on April 15. Online auctions begin April 10 for front row tables for two."

In related news, Dave from Dirty Projectors will NOT be performing with Bang on a Can on April 2nd.

by Andrew Frisicano

Cloud Cult @ Bowery Ballroom in November (more by Chris La Putt)

Cloud Cult is set to release a full-length documentary, titled No One Said It Would Be Easy, on April 21st, with a supporting US tour.

Offering an annotated history behind each of Cloud Cult's seven official full-length releases, the film deconstructs the back story, including the recruitment and inclusion of band members, as well as the tragic loss of singer/songwriter Craig Minowa and wife and visual artist Connie Minowa's son, Kaidin....Echoing the emotional catharsis required of a Cloud Cult performance, the film ebbs and flows, is filled with soaring highs and crushing lows, and is about what happens when a group of people commits to something much larger than themselves.

The band's website reports that "members of our email list [which you can sign up for here] will receive a special pre-release offer on limited edition collectors DVDs in March."

The DVD-supporting tour stretches across the US, hitting the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn with Margot and the Nuclear So and So's on Thursday, April 9th (tickets still on sale) and this year's Coachella Festival in Indie, CA on April 18th.

The band last played a NYC show in November at Bowery Ballroom. Since then we took a look at their "Lucky Today" Esurance ad in an edition of This Week In Music Licensing. All tour dates, the doc trailer, and a Margot & NSS Take-Away show video, below...

Continue reading "Cloud Cult - a new documentary & 2009 Tour Dates (many with Margot and the Nuclear So and So's)"

DOWNLOAD: Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers - Filthy And Free (MP3)

Shilpa Ray @ Bowery Ballroom 1/29 (by Ebru Yildiz)

Academy Award winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple is currently at work on a documentary about the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Woodstock.

On this night, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers and the Midnight Show will both be interviewed and filmed for inclusion in this documentary. Each act will be doing some Woodstock covers. If you feel like coming dressed like a hippie, now's your chance...

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers 10 PM
The Midnight Show 9 PM

$10.00 advanced tickets are on sale for tonight's show, or you can get them at the door. The show will be Shilpa's last before SXSW later this month where she and her Happy Hookers will be performing at the BrooklynVegan official showcase at Club De Ville on Wednesday, March 18th (full details on that shortly). After SXSW, Shilpa has another NYC show scheduled at Mercury Lounge with Efterklang. Those same dates listed below...

Continue reading "Shilpa Ray & her Happy Hookers playing Santos Party House TONIGHT & the BrooklynVegan official showcase @ SXSW "

Vagrant Records and The Hold Steady announce an April 7 release date for A Positive Rage, a double disc package featuring a documentary on DVD and their first-ever live album. The set will be released on April 6 on Rough Trade Records in the UK and Europe.

A Positive Rage captures the excitement and high spirits of both the band and their fans in the days surrounding the release of their third full-length, Boys and Girls in America, (Vagrant) and ensuing world tour in 2006.

The 53-minute documentary begins with The Hold Steady's first ever London performances with never-before-seen live footage, back stage interviews with the band members, fan commentary and the original, raw audio. Cameras follow the band as they return to the US for a 24-date tour that culminates on screen with an especially poignant performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

The live album was recorded on October 31, 2007 and includes seventeen songs that Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka, Franz Nicolay, and Bobby Drake performed on the second of their two-night sold-out stand at the Metro in Chicago. The enhanced album will also feature five bonus studio tracks: "Ask Her For Adderall," "Cheyenne Sunrise," "Two Handed Handshake," and the previously unreleased tracks "Spectres" and "40 Bucks."

The booklet features personal photos and the band's memories of the tour, including this excerpt from Craig Finn... "It ended up being a fantastic suburban blow out with band and audience on the floor, Frisbee and tailgating in the adjoining parking lot, and everyone singing along to every song.... It reminded me of the hardcore shows I loved as a kid, everyone sweating and screaming together in a rented hall. And drinking in the parking lot, of course. The next night worlds converged.... "

The Hold Steady, in addition to appearing at SXSW in mid-March, will kick off their late-March-into-April tour at Irving Plaza in NYC on March 30th. $25.00 tickets to the "WRXP Anniverary Show" will go on sale Friday February 20th at 10AM via LiveNation.com. Openers TBA.

In related Vagrant news, they just announced that they signed the UK's Olivia Broadfield. "I have been blown away by how well things have been going for me over the past year and signing with Vagrant is quite simply the cherry on top," said Broadfield. "I am so excited to be working with Vagrant, they have shown such faith and belief in me as an artist and I know that my album will be in good hands. It's taken a lot of hard work to get this far and I can't wait to take things to the next level with Vagrant by my side."

In related Hold Steady news, the band covered Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" for the new "War Child Heroes" charity comp. "A Postive Rage" tracklist, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Hold Steady tour dates (Irving Plaza, SXSW) & a documentary"

by Black Bubblegum

Kevin Seconds @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Kevin Seconds is hitting the road. Not literally, because that might bloody his knuckles, but the folkin' punk rock legend will tour the seabaring portions of these United States (the east/west coasts) starting Jan 31st and concluding in late February including THREE NYC shows and one on Long Island! The Long Island show (TBA) takes place on Feb 17th with ex-Groovie Ghoulies frontman Kepi Ghoulie. The two then continue on Feb 18th with a double header....a FREE daytime in-store at Generation records with KS & KG followed by a show that night at Pianos. The next night, Feb 19th, the pair take on Europa (tix here). Full tour dates are below.

...And speaking of punk frontmen who recently played Fun Fun Fun Fest, John Joseph and his Cro-Mags (Jam) have scheduled a show of their own at Europa on March 29th with Maximum Penalty and Dump Body. Tickets are on sale.

...And while we're on the subject of NYHC legends who played Fun Fun Fun Fest, Bad Brains are the subject of a new upcoming documentary! Details are sketchy at best, including the title of the film, but their myspace page professes that the film is "currently in post production" and "follows the music and the life of the Bad Brains from 1979 to present day". Film trailer below.

Bad Brains print by Shepard Fairey

Meanwhile, wheat-paste-ninja-turned-media-mogul-turned-Obama-Campaign-poster-designer Shepard Fairey will release a limited edition silk screening of the band on his website "in a few weeks". It's a collaboration with the mighty Glen E Friedman, check it out above.... pretty much rules.

Oh, and did we mention Daryl Jennifer of Bad Brains has a solo album due this spring?!? Details are sketchy, but as they arise, we'll post 'em.

We didn't catch the show, but HR recently appeared on the bill of an Inauguration show at Le Poisson Rouge here in NYC. How was that one?. The Bad Brains only upcoming date is at the Langerado Fest in Florida on Friday March 6th.

Documentary trailer & tour dates below...

Continue reading "Kevin Seconds tour dates, a Cro-Mags show, Bad Brains documentary, Shepard Fairey poster & Daryl Jennifer solo"

"January 2009 will be a time of reflection for the entire country. As America looks to a future of change, the pundits will provide their own spin on what the last 8 years have meant.

CRAWFORD, an extraordinary documentary by first-time filmmaker David Modigliani, provides a unique perspective on the Bush presidency: through the eyes of the 705 residents of Crawford, Texas.

B-Side Entertainment is proud to announce a nationwide grassroots exhibition program for this exceptional film - "Host Your Own Farewell to W. - CRAWFORD's 50-State Screening Party". Through February, we will be coordinating grassroots screening events in all 50 states - red, blue, and everything in between."

One such screening is taking place for free tonight/Monday (1/12) in NYC at Chelsea Market.

"Before the film, Matteah Baim will be performing live, and throughout the show there will be free Radeberger Pilsner for all in attendance." I know Matteah most as a friend and collaborator of Cocorosie, Devendra Banhart and Antony, but she makes her own music too. Joining her at this free show, as her band I assume, will be Birdie Lawson and Hisham Bharoocha. I know Hisham best as an ex-member of Lightning Bolt and Black Dice, and most of all as Soft Circle.

All screening details below...

Continue reading "George Bush subject of documentary of Crawford doc, free NYC show tonight w/ Matteah Baim (and Soft Circle)"

The documentary film THE GITS has been confirmed for theatrical release on July 7 [today], the 15th memorial anniversary of death of lead singer Mia Zapata. For all you unfamiliar with the band of the same name, this is the story of the Seattle punk band led by lead singer Mia Zapata who was senselessly murdered with the band on the brink of breaking.

While this is indeed a tragic story, THE GITS is a truly moving and loving documentary that is also uplifting and hopeful even after many years Zapata's death was thought to be unsolvable. This July, THE GITS will receive national theatrical screenings in selected cities throughout the US and Canada along with a DVD release around the same time.

The movie is playing at Pioneer Theater. This party is happening tonight:

THE GITS MOVIE OFFICIAL NYC PREMIERE PARTY

Monday, Jul 07, 2008 9:00 PM EDT (9:00 PM Doors) at The Delancey

THE GITS MOVIE OFFICIAL NYC PREMIERE PARTY AND VIGIL with Special guests KATHLEEN HANNA (Bikini Kill/Le Tigre), ALLISON WOLFE (Bratmobile) and featuring the RRRIOT! Girl Tribute show and Bands : GRRRL FRIEND , SWEAR ON YOUR LIFE , DORMITORY EFFECT , CHERI LOVE AFFAIR and special guest DJ DARIO SPEEDWAGON

Tickets are still on sale. Movie trailers below...

Continue reading "The Gits movie, party tonight w/ Kathleen Hanna & more"

The family of Bob Marley has refused to license any of his music for an upcoming Weinstein Co. film drama about the late reggae star even though his widow, Rita Marley, is its executive producer.

The reason? There is a competing Martin Scorsese documentary being produced by the Marley family-owned Tuff Gong Pictures and Steven Bing's Shangri La production banner, the first theatrical documentary to license Marley songs. [Reuters]