Best known as the creator of the Foo Fighters and drummer from Nirvana (for those of you who don't follow great music) he has also starred in some of the best music video clips, been on countless interviews and has one of the best personalities of any famous person I've ever been privy to. So apart from being one of my favourite people in the world, a brilliant musician, and an astounding stage and screen personality, he has also become a director! Since I heard this was in the works a year or so ago I have been on tenterhooks waiting to be able to see it.
The doco is about a sound recording studio in California called Sound City where many a famous band has recorded a platinum or multi-platinum album. It started up in the late 60's and was made famous by Rick Springfield when he broke out with his song Jessie's Girl. From there it boomed for a decade or so until the 80's rolled around offering digital music making. Suddenly spending lots of money on analogue recording sessions became a thing of the past and the studio almost went under. At the last minute a group of misfits rolled up at the door and recorded a little album called Nevermind and everything changed once again.
Suddenly it was back! Rage Against the Machine, Queens of the Stoneage, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other amazing bands all recorded there in the coming years and it was once again a booming studio. After the 90's ... well, we all know where Top 40 music has led us to since then ... it finally reached time to close its doors. Yes, in the world we live in now: an Auto Tuned YouTube Katy Perry world, there is no place for a studio without a computer in it.
Given its historic and significant past Dave decided to film a Doco about the studio and purchase the famous sound board used there for all those years. He and the Foo Fighters recorded their last album Wasting Light on it aswell as the new Sound City album released along with the doco. The last part of the film is a love letter to writing music and standing in a studio just playing music and recording it all onto tape. It also serves to cover the recording process for making the new album. At first I didnt like the change in direction away from the interviews and recolections of such an amazing place, but by the time the credits rolled and the music was pumping I was jumping around the living room like I was at a concert. Watching people like Trent Reznor, Paul McArtney, Krist Novoselic, Josh Homme and others working together to make music is really one of the amazing things about the world we live in. That normally hidden and idolised existence is now on full display to the world, and I guess thats one good outcome of this mass media consumption, YouTube kinda world we live in.
SCORE: 7/10
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