LoudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies

Pixies

Overview

The band that inspired some of the most innovative rock acts of the new millennium reunites to conquer the globe 12 years after calling it quits, and filmmaker Steven Cantor is there to capture all the low-lights and highlights of their tentative reunion in a probing documentary exploring the re-birth of Gen-X alternative giants the Pixies. Plagued by personal problems from the beginning but driven to create such classic albums as Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, Frank Black, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering smashed convention to deliver a wailing wall of chaotic but catchy riffs that, when combined with Black's disjointed lyrics and volatile vocals, gave birth to an entirely new sound. Initially self-destructing in 1993 and fragmenting into a variety of compelling offshoots, the Pixies weathered out the remainder of the decade and the first years of the new millennial crossover on their own before a series of jam sessions between the former bandmates led to a wildly successful 2004 North American tour.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/07/2006
UPC:	0022891452997
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	NR
Source:	MUSIC VIDEO DIST.***
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:25:00
Sales rank:	48,818

Special Features

Bonus scenes; Commentary featuring ditrectors Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin with editor Trvor Ristow; 16-page booklet with directors' notes and an essay by Ben Sisario

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Pixies	Performer,Primary Artist
Daniel Lanois	Composer

Technical Credits

Steven Cantor	Director,Producer
Matthew Galkin	Director
John Krasno	Executive Producer
Pax Wassermann	Executive Producer
Daniel Laikind	Producer
Julie Goldman	Executive Producer
Krysanne Katsoolis	Executive Producer
Caroline Stevens	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

This is a well-deserved documentary film on the Pixies, though a bit ostentatious in its premise. The band is one of the greats that emerged out of the 1980s Boston scene, but the opening quip calling them "one of the most influential bands of all time" is the kind of overreach that takes away from the fun, and a philosophy that holds this elegant -- and at times gorgeous -- production back. What should be an important addition to their musical catalog quickly evaporates into a DVD fanzine -- not a bad thing in itself, but not the type of vehicle that will recruit many new fans or beg repeated plays. Frank Black (aka Black Francis) doesn't have the presence of a Willie "Loco" Alexander, a huge Boston cult figure who is a most intriguing and captivating character. As the first artist to perform at the Boston Tea Party, and later as a member of the Velvet Underground, Alexander has the "street cred" that would make a mere phone conversation compelling. Watching Black Francis engaged on the telly about the ego conflicts with Kim Deal is hardly as enlightening as, say, Ralph J. Gleason presenting a legendary 1965 Bob Dylan press conference. Therein lies the problem: David, Kim, Joey, and Frank (or is it Black?) are not John, Paul, George, and Ringo, nor does this film contain the supreme irreverence of A Hard Day's Night or Help! And just as one Boston area WZLX disc jockey asked on-air, in all seriousness, "Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starkey? Who is this Starkey guy?," few people on the planet could ever find the missing Pixies link, Charles Thompson. This film is not for the masses, but for Pixies fans, a cult that loves the sound and wants the music, and it's the music here that is the most powerful thing. Sadly, there's just not enough of it. The personalities don't jump off the screen, so the home movie's best footage outside of the snippets of music are some of the sights -- the band recording in Iceland, a hotel front in Chicago. The DVD becomes as frustrating as the group's breakup. You can't put bald ego on tape and expect to find the magic. The magic with the Pixies has always been the music -- not their looks, not their persona -- but simply the sound they blasted from the stage of the Rat in Boston way back when. Gee, if only if only that fantastic set was what was inside this DVD case. Kelley Deal wielding a camera and asking a woman why she's there is supposed to be ironic. "My daughter Kim's in the Pixies; I'm here to see her." The home movie is great stuff, Kelley, of course, and being the woman's daughter is as well. But wouldn't it have been more fun to see mom running the camera and a great Breeders song appear from out of nowhere? Now, had these drawn-out moments been edited down and dropped into one of the many Pixies music videos out there -- for example, the December 15, 1986, appearance at WJUL (now WUML) in Lowell, MA, or the Los Angeles footage from October 30, 2004 -- this project would have taken on lots more meaning and historical importance. There is a cool 16-page black-and-white booklet with commentary from directors Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin, but what they fail to note is that many of the bands that the Pixies influenced, with the exception of Nirvana and perhaps a handful of others, never reached the level of Roxy Music, the Cars, R.E.M., or other latter-day pioneers that the Velvet Underground spawned. The Cars inspired many more bands than the Pixies, for example, and a quirky documentary on those personalities would be more entertaining. Without the Cars there would be no "Every Breath You Take" from the Police, arguably their greatest hit. Without the Pixies there's a very good chance Kurt Cobain would have still made his mark. The filmmakers do nothing here to dispute that, which renders Loudquietloud: A Film About the Pixies a great concept that misses. The group -- and these filmmakers -- need to borrow the Barre Phillips Live in Vienna DVD (on the same label, Music Video Distributors) to see pure genius, and a simple interview with more value than egos continuing to get in the way of the creation of intriguing sounds. One would think after all these years they'd get it. ~ Joe Viglione