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Dixie Chicks
Shut Up And Sing (Momentum)

It’s highly likely that some of our readers will not have bothered to read this review as they will equate the Dixie Chicks with the sort of hi-gloss country music which engenders as much loathing as it does love. But the music really is secondary to the proceedings here as this excellent documentary captures the gals in performance around the US and London between 2003 and 2006 and consequently captures singer Natalie Maines unknowingly dropping her band in front of the mother of all shit-storms when she declares, from a London stage on the eve of the Iraqi conflict, that she is ashamed Dubya is from her home state of Texas. So what you may think? Many Texans must think the very same thing, but when a demented right-wing group pick up on it, the band find their patriotism being called into question, cue record burning sessions and plenty of spittle flecked rabid expostulating as pro- and anti-war Americans join the free for all. Filmmaker Barbara Kopple’s fly-on-the-wall doc captures the next three tumultuous years with Haines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire dealing with the backlash in dressing rooms, on stage, and in recording studios, before producer Rick Rubin helps the band find a new lease of life. Tremendous stuff, and highly recommended.

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Disinformation
(Rykodisc)

Imagine a counter-cultural televisual national enquirer hosted by a curiously detached man (in this case Richard Metzger), a program which seeks to prove, if proof were needed, that the world is full of eccentrics from thought provoking left-field thinkers to demented, educationally sub-normal, mentalists. So we are introduced to overweight Satanists; mind control sex slaves; white trash relative immolating retards; less dangerous but no less tiresome artists who use blood, cysts and shock tactics to make up for the fact they have no talent plus outsider artists like the manualist Cecil Dill (basically he makes musical farting noises with his hands), husband and wife blues performers Mark and Lois Kennis or comic book artist Grant Morrison - and of course no late night shock-show would be complete without transsexuals, fetishists and sundry porn action. There are genuinely funny moments like the fetishist who insists he got into dressing up in full body PVC to lose weight or Rocket Boy, a space mercenary who crash landed on Earth and can’t get back to space, and appearances by the likes of Genesis P Orridge and Marilyn Manson will ensure this becomes late night essential viewing for touring bands and sensation seekers alike.

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Deep Purple
Live At Montreux 1996
(Eagle Vision)

Always assuming they are still around – and only a fool would bet against it, especially given that last years Rapture Of The Deep was something of a return to form - Deep Purple will be forty years old in two years time (Oh, alright they briefly ceased to exist between 1976 -1984, but they never stopped selling records). The only part of the original holy trinity of metal – that would be the Purps, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin for all you younger types - still treading the boards today having worked their way through fourteen members and eight different line-ups. This show features the Mk VII line-up (Gillan, Lord, Glover, Paice and Steve Morse), and despite most of the extended soloing going to the youngest/newest member Morse (he’s very good by the way) plus a few strained reaches from Gillan and a couple of tiresome jams in search of an ending the guys seem to be as capable as ever, Glover and Paice hammering out old favourites like ‘Fireball’, ‘Black Night’, ‘Speed King’, ‘Highway Star’ and of course ‘Smoke On The Water’ (how could they not in Montreux?) to a large and appreciative crowd.

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Bruce Dickinson
Anthology
(Sanctuary)

Quite possibly more solo Bruce Dickinson than you could ever want – Three, count ‘em, three! DVD’s, two packed with live material (forty tracks spread over three live sets filmed in 1990, 1998 and 1999 respectively). In truth the live sound, especially on the second DVD Scream For Me Brazil, isn’t that brilliant but fans will doubtless still be overjoyed to get such a plethora of live action in one purchase – and let’s be honest here there’s many a metal outfit who would have stretched this into three separate releases so props to Bruce for that. Far more entertaining for the casual viewer is the third DVD’s collection of Dicko solo videos, especially the fencing metal-heads first appearance on video in a short film directed by Julian Temple with Brucies early outfit Samson wherein a hideously bewigged roadie bashes up security staff (who for some reason look like Tango men with blue heads) for being heavy handed with audience, a naughty lady then cuts said roadies hair (the band are called Samson don’t forget, keep up at the back there), roadie pushes amp-stacks over and venue collapses, impressively naff stuff, introduced by a clearly highly amused, and amusing, Dicko.

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****************************************************************** Bob Dylan
Rolling Thunder & The Gospel Years
(Wienerworld)

This was always going to suffer from comparisons with the recent (excellent) Martin Scorsese effort especially given that, as it points out on the cover, this contains no Dylan music at all. So pretty much a non-starter you may think, but actually not so as this goes into a great deal of depth uncovering enough new and interesting detail to keep any Bobcat happy, including insights from people like producer Jerry Wexler, Dylanologist Al Weberman, any number of contributing musicians from this era and some mind boggling nonsense spouted by the man himself during his gospel reincarnation. The in-depth nature of the DVD means it’s way too long to watch in one sitting (over four hours), although offering several nights viewing is no crime, but whoever decided to whack intrusive graphics all over the shop – for example someone says ‘chance’ and lo and behold cartoon dice pop onto the screen – has no business making grown up documentaries. One can only assume they thought watching someone talk was not entertaining enough, which frankly is pretty insulting when you are talking to fascinating subjects like Wexler, or Ruben Carter who’s story inspired ‘The Hurricane’.

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Derailroaded
Inside The Mind Of Larry Wildman Fischer
(Plexi)

Adding to the plethora of excellent music doc's around right now – including Some Kind Of Monster (Metallica disintegrate and then get some therapy), Dig (Brian Jonestown Massacre Vs Dandy Warhols) and the Mayor Of Sunset Strip (poignant documentary about DJ and professional hanger-on Rodney Bingenheimer, the bizarre nature of celebrity and the infatuation it breeds) – Derailroaded follows manic depressive paranoid schizophrenic Larry Wildman Fischer around and talks to the few brave souls who have persevered with him despite bouts of extremely volatile behaviour – Larry believes, amongst other things, that Steven Spielberg, Dr Demento and Weird Al Yankovic have tried to kill him and producers Barnes and Barnes intended to cut his penis off. This is a fascinating, if excruciatingly sad, document of a leftfield performer who’s art ensured, initially at least, that his demented behaviour was celebrated rather than curtailed, and for a short while at least allowed him a career of sorts (although it’s debatable how many people were genuinely moved by the hyperactive yelping of Fischer’s autobiographical songs and how many just drawn to ogle the car crash of his life). You need to add this to your ever growing collection of must see DVD's now.

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Devo
Live 1980
(Wienerworld: DualDisc)

Formed in Akron Ohio in 1972 by Kent State art students Jerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh (the name came from their concept of ‘de-evolution’ - the idea being that instead of evolving mankind had actually regressed) Devo created a highly stylised amalgam of Kraftwerk, Talking Heads and the Residents, hitching a ride with (and in consequence helping establish) the new fledgling MTV Network through early classic videos like the flowerpot head western soap opera ‘Whip It’. Their time in the limelight was brief - and not always comfortable as Rolling Stone completely missed the point and decided they were fascists - but this concert filmed in the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma, California at the height of their powers in 1980 indisputably proves that off-the-wall songs like ‘Jocko Homo’, ‘Mongoloid’, ‘Uncontrollable Urge’, ‘Come Back Jonee’ and their spastic shudder through the Rolling Stones ‘Satisfaction’ still sound fresh and vital today. Visually arresting, Devo were clearly something to behold live, especially Mark Mothersbaugh who’s frantic, uptight, stage presence becomes positively unnerving by the concerts end. Extras include more, seldom seen, concert footage and the complete concert in CD form on the flipside of the disc.

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Deep Purple
Live In California
(EMI)

One of the biggest selling acts in the world in the mid ‘70s Deep Purple had just entered their third incarnation having replaced the recently departed Ian Gillan and Roger Glover with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes and, despite fans worst fears (the Mk II line up was, and still is, considered by many to be the best), delivered a cracking album in Burn. This show captures the band in full flow at the California Jam in 1974 which, Richie Blackmore’s petulant arsing about aside (more of which later), obviously remained a rock solid proposition in the noise making department even if they did have utterly dismal taste in stage cossies. Of course, as we now know, band relations were hardly cordial, but when they locked into the heavy rock groove DP excelled at its easy to see why they inspired such devotion. Sadly the entire shebang winds up with Blackmore doing his tiresome (and very choreographed) smash/blow the gear up routine, which even he must have tired of as he also indulges in some unscripted ‘let’s wallops crap out of the onstage camera’ antics which almost got the band, erm, banned from the US but, inane destruction aside, this is well worth a look.

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Dr Feelgood
Going Back Home
(EMI)

The camera swoops from the acres of industrial complexes along the mouth of the Thames Estuary, up along the faded grandeur of Southend pier, onto the Kursaal Ballroom and straight into a homecoming gig by Canvey Islands finest suited and booted R&B merchants Dr. Feelgood. Generally relegated to a footnote of the ‘70s - slipping into the gaping maw left after the pub rock boom of the early to mid seventies went crashing into the bug eyed lunacy of punk – Dr Feelgood are in fact one of the great lost rock’n’roll treasures of the era, due in no small part to their wired, intense and seriously seedy lead vocalist – here sporting a magnificently grubby white suit - Lee Brilleaux (whose sneering aggression and ‘wanna punch up?’ demeanour was certainly picked up on by many a punk outfit), and of course the, frankly, demented antics of pudding bowl haircut sporting guitarist Wilco Johnson, all greyhound out of a trap lead breaks, careering wildy across the stage like a souped up bumper car, and wielding his guitar like an offensive weapon. Add a second CD of live faves and you get a pretty much indispensable document of just why you should care about Dr Feelgood and why they mattered.

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****************************************************************** Duran Duran
Live From London
(Coming Home Studios/SRS)

Love ‘em or loathe ‘em (and certainly there are many here at TotalMusic-Online towers that fall into the latter camp) the classic Duran Duran line-up – Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Rhodes and LeBon – have, despite experiencing the massive highs of worldwide success and the desperate lows of break-ups, drug addiction, has-been-ism and sinking boats, somehow managed to drag it all back together again for a massive sell out tour of the UK in 2004, and you don’t sell out places like Wembley on the strength of a few die-hard fans. Basically it seems Duran Duran are (whisper it) cool again. Nothing has changed in camp Duran, the short feature highlighting a few extra pounds, a few more lines, and a few less hairs, and yes, LeBon is still about as graceful and natural a live performer as a mattress balancing on a bottle of wine. Indeed nothing about this occasionally lumpen (albeit immensely flashy) stage show is likely to convert the nay-sayers, but there really is absolutely no doubting the huge regard in which they are held by the, bloody huge, audience and it’s almost worth tracking down the neat double disc box set for the 3D bonus song (glasses included), alone.

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