MEDIA
Preview
Books
Motörhead: In the Studio
By Jake Brown with Lemmy Kilmister
“I’ve just always been in
a hurry for everything…
I’m a very impatient
man,” quips Lemmy
Kilmister. That summarizes Motörhead’s attitude
in the studio, which has
helped form their distinctive sound and far-reaching influence. Thirty years
ago, Motörhead’s fusion
of punk and rock changed the world on a scale
they couldn’t have dreamed of. Some would
argue that without Motörhead bands such as
Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer wouldn’t exist.
For eveidence, they point to a slew of unrelenting Motörhead albums that started in the late
’70s and has carried their seminal sound over
three decades and through countless trends.
The new book Motörhead: In the Studio
chronicles the band’s 26 albums, from their
self-titled released in 1977 to 2008’s Motörizer.
Sure, the band took liberties and risks with their
sound here and there—the closing shanty tune
“1916” from the album 1916, to name one—
but author Jake Brown shows (with plenty of
Lemmy anecdotes) just how grounded the band
has been—and seemingly always will be—in
their core sound. In the Studio is peppered
with great moments and stories, but what’s
really fascinating is the band’s self-reflection.
“Well, I make rock ‘n’ roll records; I don’t make
heavy records,” said Lemmy to Inferno’s producer Cameron Webb. While Motörhead claims
they’re not heavy, their catalog, from Ace of
Spades to Orgasmatron, is clearly more than
just straight-up rock. They drink, breathe and
sweat a rock ‘n’ roll attitude, but it’s a no-holds-barred attitude on steroids. It’s palpable in their
performances, interviews and most importantly
documented on all of their records. And In
the Studio does a great job of capturing the
machismo and swagger that is Lemmy and
Motörhead and putting it into words. —JW
List $24.95
johnblakepublishing.co.uk
Video
Meshuggah – Alive
Since 1987, Sweden’s
Meshuggah has constantly pushed the
boundaries of how
metal sounds and is
constructed. Their
penchant for odd
time signatures and
extreme downtuning
defines their signature
chugging sound, but
Meshuggah’s pinnacle
is their live performances. Their jams are revered
as some of the tightest musicianship in metal,
if not all of rock. And the Alive DVD vividly
snatches their music’s intensity and the intrica-cies of their performance and puts them in your
lap for at-home consumption.
Seeing and hearing how incredibly tight this
band is is not only a treat for the casual listener,
but for the musician as well. In an era when
lower tuning and intense riffing may be starting to lose its luster, Meshuggah shows just
how powerful it can still be when played with
precision and attitude. The performances here
are more than entertaining—they’re lessons for
practicing a craft and locking in with a band.
Intertwined with the performances commentary
from the band about tour life and spending
months at a time away from loved ones. There
are certainly some straightforward moments,
like the brutally heavy renditions of songs such
as “Bleed,” “New Millennium Cyanide Christ,”
and “Lethargica.” Also included in the package is a CD featuring 12 tracks performed on
the DVD. The audio quality of both discs is top
notch. The tones are clear and audible from all
of the instruments, however, there are times
when the guitars could be a bit louder. Concert
DVDs have become the norm—especially for
metal bands—but it’s not every day you find
a band that can stand atop a heap of downtuned mush with a powerful performance like
Meshuggah’s Alive. —JW
List $19.98
nuclearblastusa.com
Electric Purgatory:
The Fate of the Black Rocker
Without black guitarists and musicians, we
wouldn’t have rock
‘n’ roll. From Robert
Johnson and Leadbelly to
Jimi Hendrix and Prince,
black musicians have
been some of the most
innovative and influential
artists of the last century.
But in the past 20 years,
the black rocker’s scarcity has been increasingly
apparent to musicians and fans alike—where
have they gone?
Directed by Raymond Cayle, Electric Purgatory
poses a racially charged question and presents
a very thoughful response. By first providing
a thorough history of black musicians’ roles
in rock music, Cayle provides the context to
appropriately examine this polarizing issue.
Instead of inserting his own voice into the
documentary, Cayle allows a roster full of black
rock’s leaders—Vernon Reid, H.R. of Bad Brains,
members of Fishbone, and Doug Pinnick of
King’s X—and music journalists to express their
opinions and ideas on the matter. They do so
with such forthrightness and honesty that at
times it’s disheartening, but ultimately their
tone and message provide answers rather than
excuses for the racial lopsidedness in rock music.
The participants rarely resort to finger-pointing
and references to “the man,” but address
this situation as a matter of concern to all.
Furthermore, the last portion of the film examines
ways to promote black musicians in rock, destroy
the stigma of being a black rocker, and bring
black audiences back to rock concerts.
Electric Purgatory isn’t a lighthearted, ho-hum
documentary—it’s a significant film that spotlights the black rock community’s introspective
look at their history, importance and current lack
of representation in the genre. —CK
List $19.99
microcinema.com
