Bill Morrison's approach to film is much like most modern day composers or musicians. With primarily discarded archival footage as his main axe, his visual storytelling resembles sample-based music. Often the origins of his source material become greatly obscured by the final expression in his work.

Decasia, Spark of Being and Light is Calling utilize multi-layered images that create a dreamlike translucence. Visually, they lend themselves naturally to music, which further puts a point on an intended (or unintended) meaning or narrative.

Gimme Noise had the opportunity to talk to Morrison about his films last week. Describing his process and ultimately how music works as an inspiration and companion for his films, Morrison, who has worked with ambient guitar master Bill Frisell as well as Walker regular Laurie Anderson and modern composer Michael Gordon will be present to discuss his work at the Walker Art Center tonight.

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Courtesy of Light in the Attic

Back in the late '60s, the singer-songwriter Rodriguez was slated to be Detroit's own Bob Dylan. Although he made a couple of terrific records, they only made it as far as the cut-out bin in the United States. Over time, however, his music caught fire in South Africa, and he became revered from afar, influencing countless revolutionary punk and protest singers through the years.

Now, this bumpy road to late-life stardom is the subject of the new documentary Searching for Sugarman, named after one of his signature songs. Rodriguez was in Minneapolis recently to promote the film, and right when Gimme Noise met him in the lobby of the W Hotel last month, it was clear this wouldn't be the typical interview. More »

Re:Generation: The mighty Skrillex makes a cameo

​ If the Grammys showed us anything this year  -- aside from the apparently difficult pronunciation of Bon f'ing Iver -- it was that electronic music is here in a big way.

Now, in association with the awards show, documentarian Amir Bar-Lev introduces a one-night engagement of his film Re:Generation, which explores the musical skills and style of five DJs he sees as most influential today: Skrillex (who won big at the Grammys last weekend), DJ Premier, The Crystal Method, Mark Ronson, and Pretty Lights.

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​"How many famous women drummers do you know?" Hit So Hard: The Life and Near-Death of Patty Schemel is a no-punches-pulled portrait of the life and times of hard-hitting drummer Patty Schemel. The film tells a raw, intimate story about openly gay Schemel, and provides an up-close look at her struggles with being different, addiction, the deaths of her close friends, her near-devastating descent into drugs after a major betrayal, and ultimately her journey back to a clean, new life. 
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Lydia Lunch in a scene from Blank City

​"If you could be anybody, who would you be?"

"An outlaw, a film director, a rebel, a rock star!" yells a '70s gangster shooting a gun at the Super 8 camera, cutting to a rapid-fire Mars punk song over a killer montage of '70s film clips of punk and no wave musicians and actors.

Such is the beginning of riveting, no-holds barred documentary Blank City. It was New York City, 1970s, and a crew of artists, newly armed with hot Super 8 cameras, began shooting their lives and the punk and no wave musicians around them with no permits, no restrictions.

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​Rare indeed is the music documentary which flaunts the fact that not a single note of its subject's work is heard throughout the duration - but considering the subject in question is the infamously fractured 'Mats, maybe not all that surprising either?
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​Unlike his heroes Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald and Abba, who "wrote incredibly simple songs with extremely well worked arrangements giving every song an iconic quality you couldn't believe it hadn't been done before," Stephin Merritt has remained an enigma and somewhat still obscure genius of contemporary music who never really fit in with the 90's slacker bravado or the modern day indie-band beardo personas that are so popularized today.

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For his first serious lead role, Sacha Baron Cohen, who has made a name for himself playing caricatured roles like Borat, Bruno, and Ali G, will star in an upcoming Queen biopic as lead singer Freddie Mercury.

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​The Sound Unseen festival, which celebrates independent films about music, will celebrate its 11th season with a dozen films at three separate locations October 6-10. This season, the festival will show a selection of films at the Southern Theater on the West Bank in addition to hosting events at its longstanding partner the Trylon Microcinema and one at the Red Stag Supper Club.

Highlights include a documentary about troubled and iconic producer Phil Spector, live concert footage of David Byrne, a documentary about the life of Lil' Wayne, and a film inspired and partly created by members of Broken Social Scene.

See below for the full schedule of films, as well as a few accompanying performances by local musicians.



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Local filmmaker Brady Kiernan's debut film, Stuck Between Stations, has been selected for IFP's 6th Annual Independent Filmmaker Labs. First profiled here, Stuck Between Stations' story of two young people searching for meaning over the course of a single random night in the Minneapolis underground has drawn the attention of major actors Josh Hartnett and Michael Imperioli, who both play supporting roles. Now, with the film being selected for an Independent Film Lab, Kiernan and his collaborators have a plethora of resources and opportunities in the independent film community at their fingertips, starting with a series of workshops this week in New York City.


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