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Best movie of this year hands down!

A different way of telling a story

Blistering performances.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

There's people that prefer the drafting board to computers, prefer a typewriter to word-processing software, prefer film to digital cameras, etc. The list is extensive and the people on it are usually dismissed and eventually forgotten as technology moves forward. CGI creates better special effects; digital images can be deleted without wasting film; and Computer Aided Drafting and Manufacturing creates better, more accurate products. However, the case for analog over digital methods in music continues to be made. Musicologist Dave Grohl brings this debate to the court of public opinion in "Sound City." Called to the witness stand is a variety of fellow artists from the 60's to present which includes Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Barry Manilow, Rick Springfield, et al. All these participants not only testify to their in experience with the studio but on the influences and differences of digital over analog methods on music culture. It's made apparent early on that this documentary is more than just a "day in the life" of musicians and how they created the art we enjoy as Dave later affirms: "It all started with this idea that I wanted to tell the story of the board. The conversation became something much bigger. Like . . . in this age of technology, where you simulate or manipulate anything, how do we retain that human element . . .? How do we keep music to sound like people? That feeling that I got when I was young, Oh, I could that too." And so the case is made that it's the analog imperfections that retains the human quality much like hand-made furniture as compared to the mass produced. But the film is not a total dis on technology. It's stated quite clearly that it was the "Neve" sound board that much homage is paid to including an interview with sound engineer Rupert Neve himself. For although this was the pinnacle of technology, it was still analog technology. As the film's humble narrator/producer conducts a multi leveled journey spanning many decades of music, digital methods continued to penetrate the music culture. In all these examples there are those who reject it, those who embrace it, and those who find a middle ground for old and new technologies to coexist in their vocation. Some prefer a set of drums and others use an electronic drum machine. Eventually, Sound City couldn't compete with the digital world where artists steadily became more like computer music "file makers" rather than instrument trained musicians. Through many examples we are shown that in music, in spite of the advances in recording and producing technology, many musicians can preserve the "human" quality with state of the art "analog" technologies. Come to think of it, one of my favorite composers "Vangelis" uses a variety of electronic and digital methods. But he's still very much in charge of the mood his music inspires. This quality would probably be lost if he just programmed a computer to play his compositions. Dave never forgot where he came from. This was the impetus for making this film and the reason for preserving the Neve board which now resides in his private studio. He waxes some heavy philosophy but never comes off preachy which could easily turn this movie into a "vanity project." In fact he comes off very altruistic with his many homages to the staff and studio where he cut his first album with Nirvana. And to top it off is Jam sessions including many of the artists who were interviewed throughout the feature.

The best thing about this documentary is how the studio Sound City gained a legendary status: it took two crucial, million-selling records. Fleetwood Mac, looking for a studio, heard the recording of singing couple Bukingham and Nicks. Not only were they sure they found the right place, but also the right people to complete the band. The album called Rumours is where it all gets together. The second album is of course Nevermind by Nirvana, through which Sound City survived its demise in the digital eighties. Unfortunately, the studio is closed now. Luckily Dave Grohl got the mix board, and made a film about it.Made out of love for music, sound,and analogue, this rockumentary is highly entertaining, and not just for music aficionados. Read the entire review and others on: casparsongs.blogspot.com.

I've never been a huge fan of Nirvana or Foo Fighters (I do like a few things here and there but overall they're not my thing) but as a person I have a lot of respect for Dave Grohl. He seems like a great guy and it's really cool how he's dipping into film with his directorial debut Sound City, a documentary about the studio which is home to Nevermind, Rumours and all kinds of classics. I had no idea about these connections. I love a good Fleetwood Mac origin story, so although it was a few things I knew, it was still interesting. The first half works as a great chronological account of anecdotes, focusing on acts like Fleetwood Mac and Rick Springfield, and the highs and lows of the company. It really showed how Sound City was unique for its Neve soundboard and makes me want to seek them out. The documentary is shown in a very typically MTV way with its graphics and soundtrack but it makes it very entertaining (even if there's a very irritating use of flashing frames back and forth). However, the last half hour is devoted to the recording of the Sound City soundtrack that Grohl collaborates with artists formerly mentioned and as we only get snippets of each track, it feels like it's simply an endorsement to buy the soundtrack and it knocks the doc down a peg. Still a good start to 2013.7/10

Perhaps at times a bit self-indulgent, Dave Grohl's movie, Sound City, should be of interest, as well as entertainment, to those who grew up with music in the seventies/eighties. The viewer witnesses the heart-felt awe Grohl has experienced as a world-wide appreciated musician which points back to what happened when Nirvana's producer Butch Vig decided to use Sound City to record Nirvana's first major label release.The viewer gets to meet the three integral men, the original owner, the financial group bail-out guy whose wisdom (he kept the original owner) and vision (he ordered at the time the most expensive mixing console perhaps extant), and the house producer who enabled the tremendous successes to follow. Like in most of life there was a woman behind the great men, in this case two who "kept the train on the track" and it's nice to see their contributions deemed of tremendous importance.After the studio's first modest success when Neil Young decided to use it for a complete re-recording of vocals on his Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere release things kind of stalled. Enter the Neve mixing console. Knowing that Sound City's room and collection of microphones needed the perfect foil the owners took a chance and spent what in today's dollars would be more than a "half-a-mil" and commissioned Rupert Neve to build a worthy mixing board. The first album recorded on it was "Buckingham Nicks" by the then unknown Lindsey Buckingham and Stevi Nicks. An amazing album, it did absolutely nothing...Except in central Alabama (the duo's last concert was fittingly in Alabama). The song "Frozen Love" was the most requested song for Birmingham Alabama's burgeoning progressive FM station WJLN. It spread to The University of Alabama's student station and created a firestorm of popularity that the artists couldn't quite comprehend and Polydor failed to be able to satisfy. I mention this because I was one of those Birmingham listeners fortunate enough to get a copy. The failure of Buckingham Nicks set up one of the most serendipitous unions, that of the definitive Fleetwood Mac, cementing Sound City's success. This isn't to downplay another strange brick in the house though, that would be Rick Springfield. If there are three artists whose recording at Sound City paved many years of success it would include Rick at the start and, when it seemed the dream was over, Nirvana in the early nineties. Three more diverse platinum artists would be harder to imagine. The phrase "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been" comes to mind and strangely The Grateful Dead recorded Terrapin Station there too. The bands gave Sound City clout, but the star was the Studio A room and the Neve board. No matter what technology came and went there simply wasn't a better live drum sound on planet earth and the board just made everything sound so much better the studio had legs long past it's prime. This in spite of it's ever widening lack of comfort and amenities as Sound City remained a hair north of a dump. Finally, the rise of a gazillion home studios and refinement of digital recording (still stinks more than it should) made a 2011 closing eminent. While sad as the end of an era this movie rightfully celebrates the fact Sound City had only a few less than nine lives leaving a joyous recorded legacy.All is not lost, when a door closes another often opens and Dave Grohl turned the knob on this one. Dave, not a filmmaker by his own admission, believes Sound City paved his destiny and the Neve was the biggest reason...Dave is now a filmmaker in addition to his other talents. Grohl bought the board and installed it in his Sound City inspired studio. All in all, this movie is for music fans and musicians, but it has a heart at it's core, as a result "Sound City" is a plain good human-interest story too. If something said here sparks with you, by all means make the effort to see "Sound City". There's some magic in music bringing people together and the film is a very genuine love letter to it.