In 2008, Dylan Connor, a Latin teacher and musician from Berkeley, CA, was at Burning Man Festival wandering the streets with a guitar and singing songs for anyone who needed the gift of music. Breakaway Republic is the result of this adventure and it’s full of uplifting melodies and gentle harmonies. Opening with “Breakaway and Burn” Connor’s soft vocal and gentle chords bring to mind John Mayer. The next song “Stunning Insights” is a pure pop treat with humming minor chord changes similar to McCartney or maybe Evan Dando. “Blood Like Fire” is a Johnny Cash styled blues track that has lots of soul here. Every song here is pretty good, and some of my favorites here “Don’t Let Me Wash Away” and the rocking “Pave Me.” It isn’t too flashy, and the smart lyrical approach avoids most songwriter cliches about relationships. Worth picking up with some great melodies and it’s all very accessible to even the most jaded music fans.
This weekend, I wanted to list my favorite rock and roll movies. Some on Blu Ray, others still on DVD.
1. Purple Rain
This movie not only brought Prince into the mainstream and spawned multiple hit songs, it altered the musical landscape as we knew it back in 1984. The screenplay is compelling, and the supporting cast is stellar, especially Morris Day and The Time. Prince is also at his narcissistic best, preening and rocking throughout the entire flick. Next to the recently departed MJ you’d be hard pressed to find an artist who brought more changes to mainstream rock/pop/hip-hop/soul. Why is it at the top of this list? The Academy Award-winning film grossed more than $80 million in the US alone, and has proved to be Prince’s biggest cinematic success. Nothing else here can make that claim. (and “Saturday Night Fever” is a disco movie so it doesn’t count here). The Lotus Flower site (official) | Let’s Go Crazy
2. This is Spinal Tap
Fresh on the heels of a new album “Back From The Dead” – see the movie that takes it up to “11” on the best “rockumentary” ever filmed. See this legendary British heavy-metal group, featuring lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), lead singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and a succession of ever changing drummers. The Blu Ray has a bevy of extras: almost an hour of deleted scenes, videos, trailers, and commentary to die for. An keep in mind prior to Tap, they were called The Pudding People, a power poppy hippy band, playing “(Listen To) The Flower People.” If we are talking about rock comedy, this one is number one on my list. Remember “Mime is money!” MySpace | The Spinal Tap Site
3. That Thing You Do!
This is Tom Hanks love letter to the mid 60’s rock and roll era. The movie tells the story of a one-hit wonder rock band, called “The Wonders”, following their whirlwind rise to the top of the pop charts, and just as quickly, their dissolution. The film also resulted in a real life hit with the song, “That Thing You Do” by Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger and played by Mike Viola. This is maybe the ultimate “power pop” movie where the soundtrack parodies several sounds of the era, including The Beach Boys, the Beatles’ Hard Days Night and some of the band’s songs resemble The Dave Clark Five as well. Add on to this Liv Tyler (at her peak) and Charlize Theron and you’ve got everything you need to add this one to the list. The Song | The Trailer
4. High Fidelity
Nick Hornby’s book, turned into a movie with Rob (John Cusack) as a record store owner and a self-confessed audiophile, who has no clue on how to deal with women. For me this film feels a little bit biographical and that’s why it’s on the list. But I never worked in a record store (just hung out there). Rob spends his days at his record store, Championship Vinyl, where he holds court over the customers that drift through. Helping Rob in his task of musical elitism are Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black), the “musical moron twins,” as he refers to them. They compile “top five” lists for every conceivable occasion and so in that spirit, this list was made. Although why did they use Elvis Costello’s “Shipbuilding” and not “High Fidelity” in the soundtrack? The opening scene of the flim
5. Xanadu
One man’s guilty pleasure is another man’s cinematic torture. A movie so bad it’s good, and it helps if you grew up in the 80’s and were obsessed with Olivia Newton John and ELO. Heck, if you didn’t have a crush on ONJ after Grease, this movie sealed the deal by making her a goddess. Lots of dated 80’s things (roller skates, leg warmers and neon, oh my!) makes you look back fondly at this film musical so cheesy, it should’ve been sponsored by Kraft. Or maybe Sid & Marty Kroft. Basic plot: A Greek muse named Kira inspires an male artist to open up a nightclub called Xanadu. But complications arise when she finds herself falling in love with the human artist which is against the rules. Jeff Lynne and ONJ’s excellent soundtrack is the reason you can see this again and not cringe at Michael Beck’s acting. Hey, if it’s so bad how come it’s considered a cult classic and spawned a Broadway show? The Broadway Show
The best of the rest: 6. Almost Famous 7. Hedwig and The Angry Inch, 8. A Hard Day’s Night, 9. La Bamba 10. The Doors/The Buddy Holly Story/The Who’s Tommy
Coby Brown “Stars & Curses” While going through a cancer treatment Los Angeles singer-songwriter Coby Brown has been writing and recording these songs, which are full of melody on the opener “Daylight” but knowing his situation songs like “Madman” resonate with great lines like “Standing at the water’s edge/ landing on a window ledge/ I’m looking for some way to get back in.” But rather than get all depressing, Brown’s theme is a stubborn hope wrapped in a soulful indie shell. Songs are sparsely arranged, and thus more powerful. “Run Like I’m A River” is both catchy and mellow, this will appeal to fans of Josh Rouse, David Mead or Ryan Adams. The most pessimism here is the piano riff “Drop Down Dead” with it’s Lennon meets David Essex (“Rock On”) defiant rant about being in the hospital. Nothing here is fast tempo, but each song here is powerful, “Rise and Fall” being a Bono-like ballad that sounds a triumphant chorus of “up from the ashes..”. The album is a worthy and powerful statement, almost a religious experience without the religion.
Adam Bones “Feel For Tomorrow” EP LA based rocker Adam Bones is traditional power pop artists with modern flair and youthful style. Fans of Bleu, Jet and Ok Go will find his debut EP fresh and compelling. His band has opened for several power pop groups including The Wellingtons, The Click Five and Bleu. Opening with the energetic “I Had You” he vocally reminds me of Elvis Presley’s rich baritone, and combined with those melodic guitar riffs, it’s a winner. He recently finished IPO in LA and after the country-pop of “Shouldn’t Love” I’m sure it was a great show. The gentle ballad “Feel For Tomorrow” is a deceptively simple, but an effective song that builds into an arena rock anthem styled after The Who. The buzzing hooks in “How Hard I Needed You” is another keeper along the lines of Lenny Kravitz, and I can’t wait for the full length album already. If you’re looking for a future power pop star — here he is.
Doug Gillard is best known as the lead guitarist and songwriter in Guided By Voices. An Ohio native, Doug began his solo career with his 2005 debut “Salamander,” but has been in several other bands (Death of Samantha, Gem and Cobra Verde). Doug’s skill and musicianship are impeccable here. Everything that gave GBV a melodic sheen is shown on the opener “Time is Nigh” with steady jangle melody and ascending chords. The title track, “Call from Restricted” has that up-tempo energy and catchy riffage that recall the “Isolation Drills” era. But the crown jewel here is the memorable “For What I’ve Done” – crunching guitar energy that is one of the best garage tunes I’ve heard. It strays from the GBV sound, with “Entwined” sounding a bit like Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. The gentle finger picking style of “Gibraltar” brings to mind Big Star or McCartney at his most wistful. Other highlights include “Gogol Was Rollo” and the “Sun Glow (They Don’t Know)” There are a few spacey excursions (“Without This Light” and “Contractors”) but overall this is a brilliant album. For GBV fans, and if you are getting all of Pollard’s new stuff – then this is a “no-brainer.” Even GBV non-fans will love the variety in tone and pop smarts here. Highly recommended for sure.
Robby Fulks, a fantastically talented country pop singer does his best parody of a typical FOW song here. Called “Fountains of Wayne Hotline” Fulks dissects each part of Adam Schleinger’s typical songwriting approach perfectly. On a sadder note, it was recently reported that the outdoor furniture/sculpture store that bears the original name “Fountains of Wayne” is out of business. It was kind of an New Jersey icon, located on Route 46 in Totowa just before the Willowbrook Mall. Urban legend has it that lead singer Adam Schleinger was related to the owners, but it’s not true. They just lived in Wayne, NJ and thought it was a cool name for the band.
