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Control
(Momentum)

Come on, try and recall the last music biopic you saw which didn’t stink worse that a two week old halibut (like those made for TV Beach Boys and Buddy Holly farrago’s). Yes the recent Ray Charles and Johnny Cash efforts were a step in the right direction but both suffered from what could best be described as ‘factional’ interludes, and don’t get me started on the execrable Great Balls Of Fire, Sid and Nancy or (lord help us) Hendrix. In short the history of music biopic’s is not one littered with gems. All of which makes Anton Corbjn’s telling of the story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division, even more of a triumph. Of course the problem with films which arrive in a blizzard of superlatives is that they’re already on a hiding to nothing as expectations are sky high and anything short of perfection tends to disappoint, however, at the risk of making things even worse for Control, this genuinely is the best music biopic ever made, period. It may be as grim as an old ‘60s kitchen sink drama but then Curtis’s was a grim tale, and it’s told here with passion, honesty and subtlety by all of those involved.

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Nice Cave is shaping up to be the sort of artist who’s career will bear continuous watching, heading for the rarefied realms of Young, Reed, Cohen, Waits and Cash, something his early gothic years with the Birthday Party didn’t necessarily portend – hell at one point he did his level best to join Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and Cobain. This live document of his finest work to date (more here) is up to Mute’s usual high packaging standard spreading live material over two DVD’s and two CD’s (plus a smattering of video’s) and proves that in full flow the suited and booted Cave & Co. are an infinitely more fearsome live proposition than any number of be-tattooed metal merchants. Cave, a stick thin master of ceremonies testifying, throwing shapes, never less than totally involved, pouring sweat, Warren Ellis scraping away on the violin like the hounds of Hades are snapping at his heels, James Johnston pummelling his battered keys and guitars as if his life depended on it, this is the sort of live effort that justifies the existence of performance DVD’s. Simply put if you have an even passing interest in the man this is an essential addition to an increasingly essential body of work.

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John Cale
John Cale
(Warner Music Vision)

We follow Cale on a journey back to Wales to trace his early roots, roots which would grow into experimental work with composers like John Cage (Cale participated in the 18-hour piano-playing marathon that was the first full-length performance of Satie's ‘Vexations’), his groundbreaking work with The Velvet Underground and beyond to his sporadic solo projects and production work with people like Nico, Iggy Pop and Patti Smith. The usual suspects, like Warhol acolyte Billy Name are wheeled out for talking head purposes and author Victor Bockris follows Cale around the foothills of Wales, but the documentary also draws some fascinating inputs from the likes of La Monte Young, Chris Spedding, Moe Tucker, and yes, even notorious grump Lou Reed – who is unexpectedly easy going throughout, although flatly refuses to talk about booting Cale out of the band on film. Needless to say the soundtrack is tremendous and there is some wonderful tape and film archive material of the Factory, VU and Cales own family (although the graphic Slaughterhouse footage seems unnecessarily gruesome and tacked on, even given Cale’s occasional penchant for onstage chicken mutilation).

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Johnny Cash
The Line: Walking With A Legend
(WHE)

Something of a peculiarity this as the initial stilted voice over leads you to assume this is going to be another duff cash in (ha!), timed to coincide with the recent hit biopic, but just as you’re about to reach for the remote up pops some grainy old concert footage, and lo and behold up pops some more, then more, and we’re not just talking clips here, these are whole songs. Indeed so much of this rare footage is there that the story is more or less relegated to brief bullet points leaving you desperate for more depth whilst simultaneously hoping the voice over would bugger off so you can watch performances of ‘Pickin’ Time’, ‘I Got Stripes’, ‘Frankie & Johnny’ or old TV interviews with Pete Seeger. If you’re after an in depth look at the life and times of Johnny Cash then this ain’t it, if however you’re after shed-loads of truly wonderful old black and white concert footage then you’ve come to the right place as the vast majority of this DVD is just that. There’s also a bonus CD featuring, in the main, scratchy old live solo classics by the million dollar quartet of Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee and Carl Perkins.

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The Cars
The Cars Unlocked
(Warner Music Vision)

Very much a band of their time, the Cars bestrode the ‘80s like a nerdy new wave synth rock colossus selling millions of multi-platinum records, packing stadiums and grabbing a major slice of Live Aid kudos when their, actually rather lovely (and totally out of character), song ‘Drive’ was used to soundtrack horrific documentary footage of the Ethiopian famine. This collection of live tracks comes interspersed with wacky (generally poor quality) home video footage, and obscure interview sections - sad to say the lads come across as rather irritating and bratty (Elliot Easton in particular has the sort of personality only a mother could love) – and includes all the hit’s like ‘Just What I Needed’, ‘Best Friends Girl’, ‘You Might Think’ and of course ‘Drive’, all this and plenty of ‘80s new wave costume changes and feather cuts. Produced by Ric Ocasek, who steadfastly refuses to reconvene the band (Benjamin Orr died on October 3, 2000) this is probably now the closest you will ever get to live Cars shows (if you don’t include Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes joining forces with Todd Rundgren in the ill-conceived The New Cars in 2005), and also includes a 14 track bonus live CD.

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Eric Clapton
Live At Montreux 1986
(Eagle Vision)

It’s no secret that some of the grumpier gits at TM Towers just don’t rate EC in the guitar god stakes, indeed they don’t even consider him the best guitarist in the Yardbirds and point gleefully to his most recent, admittedly lacklustre, albums as proof positive that Clapton is a spent force. Rewind twenty years however and we find not only a positively energised Clapton grinning like a loon, singing up a storm and playing like a man possessed with Phil Collins, Greg Phillinganes and Nathan East but also happily playing both early Cream material like ‘Badge’, ‘White Room’, ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ and ‘Crossroads’, and solo hits like ‘Cocaine’, ‘Layla’ and ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ (he even let’s Collins loose to do ‘In The Air Tonight’). It’s perhaps telling that by mid set he’s sweating buckets and still clearly having a ball – you seldom see such evidence of workmanlike toil staining his Armani nowadays. So we have yet another little gem dug out of the vaults at Montreux and this is going straight into the office for a date with the naysayers, if you’ve ever had any doubts about the mans talent here’s your starter for ten.

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Ivor Cutler
Looking For Truth With A Pin
(Claptrap)

First seen on television (and recorded before the great mans demise) this wonderful and touching documentary looks at the life and work of an artist who genuinely deserves the epithet ‘unique’. Including plenty of absolutely cracking archive footage and populated with admirers like Paul McCartney, Billy Connolly and Robert Wyatt – plus more personal insights from Cutlers son Dan, his partner Phyllis King and from the visibly amused chap himself – what emerges is the truly remarkable story of a man wilfully out of step and knowingly out of time but who despite these handicaps, and despite making his convoluted way into the entertainment industry very late in life, managed to create an enormous, and enormously influential, body of work (read our Class Act feature here). What makes this an even more desirable item are the extras, including interview outtakes from the original film and Cutlers last performance at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall recorded in Feb 2004, wherein a visibly frail and shaky 81 year old Cutler proves nonetheless to be in fine lugubrious voice and utterly charms the audience, it's a great shame he is no longer with us but this film serves as both a wonderfully entertaining portrait and a worthy memorial.

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Alice Cooper
Live At Montreux 2005
(Eagle Vision)

That ragged growl is reassuringly intact, if occasionally a little short of breath, but let’s cut him some slack here, the show is over an hour and a half long and he doesn’t stop even though he’s surrounded by people a good deal younger than himself nowadays. Fans of old will be happy to know it’s all here, costume changes, dancers, dismemberment, crutches, guillotines, coffins, swordplay and more. You could of course argue that in these days of Marilyn Manson much of this stage show looks a little tame but it is equally true to say that without Alice losing his head, dismembering babies and slashing all and sundry with his rapier none of the above would even exist. So yeah, on occasion this does smack of ghoulish pantomime, but it’s great fun and with a soundtrack that includes ‘Schools Out’, ‘No More Mister Nice Guy’, ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, ‘Eighteen’, and ‘Under My Wheels’ it’s the best sound-tracked pantomime you’re ever likely to see (an amusing coda to the main skimpily attired dancer being it is actually Coopers Daughter Calico to whom he growls ‘put something on’ during introductions). Comes with the added bonus of a live CD of the show.

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Cream
The Making Of Disraeli Gears
(Eagle Vision)

Another in the excellent Classic Albums series looking at the album which turned Cream from UK blues purveyors to psychedelic rockers. If you caught this on the TV you will already know all the main players are involved - a fit looking Eric Clapton a haggard looking Jack Bruce and a beyond haggard Ginger Baker (ciggie permanently glues to hand or lips) – including important input from Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun, lyricists Pete Brown and Martin Sharp (who also designed the cover) and more. Sadly as producer Felix Pappalardi and engineer Tom Dowd are no longer around there’s none of the usual Classic Albums mixing-desk deconstruction but Clapton (and to a lesser extent Bruce and Baker) helpfully break down tracks, happily acknowledging influences by bands like the Byrds and Loving Spoonful along the way. Bonus material includes over thirty minutes of new footage brand new interviews, acoustic performances of ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ and ‘Outside Woman Blues’ by Eric Clapton, ‘We’re Going Wrong’ by Jack Bruce and previously unreleased full band performances of ‘Tales Of Brave Ulysses’ (recorded in ‘68) and ‘We’re Going Wrong’ (recorded in ‘67) .

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****************************************************************** Elvis Costello
The Right Spectacle
(Demon Vision)

The most remarkable thing about this collection of twenty-seven videos from early romps like Pump It Up, Radio Radio and (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea onwards is the consistent quality of song-writing on offer, Costello fans will of course already be aware of this but for the casual listener tracks like New Amsterdam, Every Day I Write The Book, Veronica and the hugely underrated I Wanna Be Loved are just a few of the positive smorgasbord of choice cuts on offer. Extra bait for the faithful, who may already own the VHS video collection, includes four videos which were never released as singles, and therefore seldom, if ever, seen and the man himself chatting about each and every video. Generally commentaries on these things are at best superfluous at worst plain rubbish but in this case the self deprecating voice over is almost as entertaining as the tracks themselves, add another dozen and a half live tracks from shows like Revolver, So It Goes and The Tube and booklet with further EC musings on the live offerings and you get a pretty definitive guide to the first fifteen years of what has since become an incredibly varied and impressive career

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Johnny Cash
Live At Montreux 1994
(Eagle Vision)

Another live set dug from the vaults of the Montreux Jazz Festival – although it’s probably best not to look for any of the man in black’s album releases in the jazz section of any sane record shop. Recorded in 1994, just after the first of his revelatory recordings with Rick Rubin on American Recordings, Cash cherry picks highlights from his new album (Delia’s Gone, Tennessee Stud, Bird On A Wire, Let The Train Blow The Whistle, Beast In Me and Redemption all follow in quick succession) alongside a string of classics like Folsom Prison Blues, Ring Of Fire, I Walk The Line and San Quentin. Given that he was already less than in full health (and by this time in his sixties) the performance is remarkably assured, that deep rolling rumble of a voice completely intact, indeed, as it later transpired, this was to be just the beginning of an astonishingly creative decade (including several more brilliant albums with Rubin), his muse becoming increasingly more vibrant and alive as his body sadly crumbled and failed him. But all of that was yet to come and this is a fine document of Cash moving into his seventh decade with all guns blazing.

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Videos (Mute Film)

If, like me, you had mistakenly assumed Nick Cave was simply a skinny-assed, gloomy, goth bastard with an overpowering death, hell and damnation fixation, an affinity for whacking journo’s and for seriously overindulging in life threatening banned substances, then you’re going to be pleasantly surprised by this. Not only does Cave prove to have a very dry sense of self-deprecating humour, he’s also not averse to completely derailing his own projects – in this case seriously lamping almost his entire video output in the interview sections which precede each new clip. And in truth the majority of the videos here don’t really do justice to songs as powerful and disturbing as ‘The Mercy Seat’ or ‘Stagger Lee’. In fact it’s generally on the less produced efforts (Cave and PJ Harvey’s star crossed lover schtick on ‘Henry Lee’ or Cave and Shane McGowan’s droll take on ‘Wonderful World’). However it’s not all clips of various Bad Seeds reinventing ways to say ‘this next video is not much cop’, the Kylie featuring ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ is fab as is Cave and Blixa Bargeld’s daft two-men-in-a-boat take on ‘The Weeping Song’. Cave is still a skinny-assed, gloomy, goth bastard though.

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Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Live In Memphis
(Eagle Vision)

Fast approaching his thirtieth year as a performer (doesn’t seem feasible does it?), Elvis Costello, unlike the vast majority of his peers, still genuinely sounds like a man deeply in love with music, and for a very lucky few - queuing for many long hours in the baking sun to try and bag tickets for this 250 capacity performance - this show allowed them to get up close and personal with a performer still in seriously fine form. Whether morphing Alison into an impassioned romp through his namesakes Suspicious Minds, hammering out old standards like Pump It Up, High Fidelity or Peace, Love And Understanding, glowering magnificently through lesser known but equally fine EC moments like Blue Chair or sharing the mike with Emmylou Harris for some sing-a-long-a-country there really is no one else from the class of '77 playing with such passion and intelligence. Add a genuinely fascinating road trip with EC and drummer Pete Thomas taking a musical tour around the history steeped backwaters of Mississippi and you have a DVD that does proper justice to the format and artist alike.

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