Category "Performing Arts"

We all respond to music – whether clicking our fingers, humming along or dancing – there’s something out there for everyone. In this series Goodall looks at melody, rhythm, harmony and bass to establish how music is made and how it comes to reflect different cultures. Setting out on a journey that spans the globe and moves through the centuries, Goodall uncovers the elements that are shared by all styles of music. Following a trail of diverse musical talents from Mahler to David Bowie; the blues to Bulgarian folk songs; medieval choral music to disco; he reveals the tried and tested tricks of the composer’s trade. Read more & Watch...

When the Clash was labeled “The Only Band That Matters,” it may have been record company hype, but when I was a teenager, there was probably no band that mattered more to me. The idealism, the earnest anger, the democratic, sometimes clumsy way of mixing styles and sounds, I am almost as susceptible to it now as I was at 15. Directed by Julien Temple, an able and tireless chronicler of the pop life, “Joe Strummer” assembles clips and interviews into a fast-moving timeline. Read more & Watch...

Join filmmaker Brett Gaylor and mashup artist Girl Talk as they explore copyright and content creation in the digital age. In the process they dissect the media landscape of the 21st century and shatter the wall between users and producers. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil’s Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow also come along for the ride. Immerse yourself in the energetic, innovative and potentially illegal world of mash-up media with RiP: A remix manifesto. Read more & Watch...

Writer-director Dana Brown, whose dad, Bruce, helmed the classic surfing flick The Endless Summer, follows in his father’s footsteps and takes a 21st-century look at the sport, employing up-to-date cinematographic technology to bring the audience right into those monster waves. The film stars dedicated surfers Ken “Skindog” Collins, Laird Hamilton, Rochelle Ballard, and Gerry Lopez as they test the waters around the globe. Read more & Watch...

Ever since MTV arrived in our living rooms, there has been an inordinate amount of emphasis on beauty and youth and appearance, none of which enters our consciousness through our ears. Never have so few companies controlled so much of the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores. At the same time, there are more bands and more ways to discover their music than ever. Music seems to have split in two, the homogeneous corporate product that is spooned to consumers and the diverse independent music that finds devoted fans online and at clubs across the country. Read more & Watch...

In GLOBAL METAL, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West’s most maligned musical genre – heavy metal – has impacted the world’s cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world’s emerging extreme music scenery, from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. Read more & Watch...