[Moshe]

Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake

(Documentary)

By ROBERT KOEHLER





A Project Moonlight production. Produced, directed, edited by Michael Albright.

With: Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Mark Ibold.

Sonic Youth has been documented by a host of filmmakers ranging from Jonas Mekas to Braden King, but the leading band of the No Wave movement has never been quite as expressively and thoroughly captured as by the high school crew behind "Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake." The Reno-based students, loosed with their vid cameras by director-producer-editor Michael Albright, form a solid unit in lensing the seminal band in top form during a July 4, 2006, gig at Reno's Sierra Casino and Resort. Serious fest noise should resound for the rest of the year, followed by a cultish DVD reverb.
This is one of the most engaging and single-minded film studies of a band since "Instrument," Jem Cohen's 1999 film on Fugazi, and Cohen's influence on the filmmaking is felt in several respects. For one, the cameras -- as well as Albright's choices as editor -- pay far more attention to band members Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (lead guitar, vocals), Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals), Steve Shelley (drums) and Mark Ibold (bass) than to the enthusiastic Reno audience. For another, the beautifully rendered black-and-white imagery layers the gig with a timeless mood that, like Cohen's best music docs, will give pic a long-lasting impact.
Best of all, the music is uncompromised, full-bore Sonic Youth, a band distinguished by a rare gift for blending pop attitude with avant-garde taste and daring. Albright, having trained under Albert Maysles, shows that he's learned (and imparted to his talented students) Maysles' central documaking lesson, which is to always be ready to cover the moment with one's camera and to do so without visual or narrative trickery.
Brief timeouts away from the stage show Moore, Gordon and Ranaldo, as unassuming and unpretentious as they've always been, comfortably and casually discussing their act, which combines some song-list planning with minimal preconception. Fortunately, the band and students clearly get along, and this simpatico makes for a smooth yet wide-ranging musical survey. Albright's editing is consistently intelligent and never ostentatious. Pic marks the second work by Project Moonlight, Albright's ongoing mission to develop high schoolers into filmmakers in his native Reno.
More than one option

• (Person) Steve Shelley
• (Person) Steve Shelly

More than one option

• (Person) Kim Gordon Actor, Song
• (Person) Kim Gordon Digital Effects Artist

More than one option

• (Co) Jonas Mekas
• (Person) Jonas Mekas

More than one option

• (Co) Sonic Youth
• (Person) Sonic Youth

Camera (B&W, DV), Ali Alonso, Noah Conrath, Charlie Hayes, Danielle Hauser, Ben Kolton, Nathan Lower, Allana Noyes; music, Sonic Youth; sound (stereo), Alonso, Conrath, Hayes, Hauser, Kolton, Lower, Noyes; assistant director, Brad Bynum. Reviewed at Cinevegas Film Festival, June 16, 2008. (Also in Milan, AFI Dallas film festivals.) Running time: 84 MIN.

[Moshe]

http://losangeles.metromix.com/music...492166/content


Cinefamily presents Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake

Silent Movie Theatre

 

 

611 N. Fairfax Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90036

When: Saturday, August 16 4:30PM Price: $8 members/$10 non-members Cinefamily and the Don't Knock The Rock film fest present an awesome documentary on Sonic Youth, produced by a group of 6 high school students.
Here's the story: In 2006, a group of high school student from Reno, NV set out to make a documentary about Sonic Youth. 'Project Moonshine', as it was called, gave the student cameras and a crash course in video production then let them loose to film "a day in the life of Sonic Youth" on the 4th of July.
All the major players including those behind the scenes at the show are included in the film. A Q&A with director Michael Albright will follow the screening.

[Moshe]

Sleeping Nights Awake at Sound Unseen

In preparation for Sound Unseen, kicking off this Thursday, MN Dialog will review many of the documentaries that are part of the fest. The documentary Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake screens on Thursday, October 23 at 9:15 at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis and again on Friday, October 24 at 9:15 at St. Anthony Main in Minneapolis.
Reviewed by Elwood Fisher
As a celebration of the alternative rock band, Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake builds an impressively intimate portrait out of performance, backstage footage and interviews from July 4th, 2006.
The film, produced by teenagers, uses a deliberately static and sloppy composition in its photography that matches Sonic Youth’s music and aesthetic while depicting them at their most candid. With the disjointed and all-telling eye of a home movie, it demands honesty from its subjects.
Presented in black and white, the gritty and hard-edged imagery quickly leaves the realm of amateurish cam-cording and becomes visceral and abstract, complimenting its aural counterpart. Many rock-performance films tend to rely on excessive cutting, presumably out of an effort to generate a complimentary rhythm to the music. But Sleeping Nights Awake features lingering shots that lend themselves to a more detailed and honest portrayal of Sonic Youth.
That is not to say that all the shots drag. Rather, sequences of lengthy shots are punctuated with sensibly rhythmic cuts and screen compositions, generally in tandem with live musical performance.
Direct soundboard recordings give it a live soundtrack of great quality, which boosts the production value to the point where it should be considered a complete and self-validating filmic representation of the band, whether that be performing live, preparing, or simply shooting the breeze. The choice not to show the audience during performances also reinforces the sense of intimacy. They may as well be playing on a stage in the recess of the screen before you.
Whether a fan of Sonic Youth or not, the film makes for enjoyable viewing and may inspire an elevated appreciation for the band. However, the abundant self-description found in the many interviews with the band gives too much room to the debate concerning the band’s ideals. A camera-wielding teen at one point observes “that’s very artsy.” In an eloquent response, Thurston Moore responds, “We’re an artsy band.”
Sonic Youth has no doubt solidified their place as a definitive band of their era of origination, artsy though they may be.
As for the band’s position in the contemporary American music scene, the film addresses the issue, perhaps accidentally if not a deliberately. In one particular scene, a wall in a venue in Reno, Nevada, is combed over for its various signatures left by acts that have graced its stage. Most of the acts could arguably be past their respective primes. One of several local Sonic Youth fans then remarks about how the venue serves as a place “where bands go to die.”
I assume Sonic Youth would beg to differ, if they would reduce themselves to trying to change an audience’s opinion. Left with the feeling that I now know them on a more personal level, I would suspect they wouldn’t be concerned with such matters but concern themselves instead with the demands of the music.
Elwood Fisher is a screenwriter/actor/musician based out of Minneapolis. Originally from the small slice of Americana known as Eyota, MN, he has come to Minneapolis seeking simply a larger pond. An avid fan and proponent of mixed martial arts and organic and local farming, Elwood advocates, in all areas of life and culture, the mentality of “thinking globally and acting locally.”

[greedrex]

Moshe, come on join the do you miss fun.

[nancykitten]

Wow.

[sy2004]

http://yakaristyle.blogspot.com/

[tscaw]

Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake gets its Wisconsin premiere tomorrow night:

Screening Schedule
Thu, Apr 2nd 10:45pm
Play Circle Theater $7.00

[noisereductions]

I want DVD!

[barnaclelapse]

I second that!

Heh.

[Moshe]

http://badgerherald.com/blogs/arts/2...h_sleeping.php

review


Posted Monday, April 6, 2009 at 8:15:45 PM


What did you accomplish in high school? Were you captain of the soccer team, did you star in your school’s play? Or did you have the chance to film one of the most well-known alternative rock groups of the past 20 years? “Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake” is the beautiful result of the latter, and yes, you should feel both jealous and foolishly inadequate.

The 2008 documentary was directed by Michael Albright and captured by Project Moonshine, a non-profit group training teenagers for filmmakerdom. Their assignment, worthy of endless envy, was to follow Sonic Youth in Reno for their July 4 2006 show. Far from being amateur, what these ambitious high school kids did with three digital cameras and an artistic eye is astounding.

The documentary, shot in black and white, is a sophisticated portrait of the famed noise rock troupe that knows how to stay relevant. Considering Sonic Youth’s legacy, these young filmmakers are all the more impressive in their brilliant visual feat. Instead of being intimidated, the young protégés let their curiosity drive their endeavor and the result is a multitude of honest and powerful frames.

Interviews alternate with live footage from the concert, providing points of contrast between the candid vulnerability of the band members and crew with their raw power and energy onstage. We all know what Sonic Youth is capable of, but their humility is drawn out by questions ranging from “what would stop you from continuing?” to, “we hear you really like burritos”. What results is a feeling of conversational depth that matches the film’s richness of visual splendor.

Some of this depth may be purely coincidental. Perhaps the visual flatness of interview style is what creates such high contrast with stunning montages of fingers picking strings and mouths kissing microphones being illuminated only by strobe light. Yet it is through a lack of manipulation and pure creative vision that so many memorable shots of barely-lit profiles and guitar close-ups permeate the screen. It isn’t difficult to imagine yourself behind the lens, because what is shown is exactly what you want to see.

The ease of interaction between the band and young film crew provides a revealing vignette into the dynamics of the band members. One moment Kim Gordon is divulging her hesitations and the ideology of the group, and then we enter variety hour with the ever clever Thurston Moore. We hear from the men manning the technical equipment that they are still mystified by the shows, we emerge with a sense of respect for the humble, grounded powerhouse that is Sonic Youth.

The sensitivity shown in both capturing and editing the footage of actual performed songs is compelling. The speed of the cuts match the energy of the band, creating an atmosphere that would otherwise have been lost in translation. It’s as if the ticket for the film has suddenly become your backstage pass into an electrifying show.
Near the end, Moore admits that the band had a choice between having a day off or partaking in their Reno show. You can’t help but feel a pang of shock in contemplating a universe without this experience that Project Moonlight was determined enough to capture, and gifted enough to make beautiful.

[RanaldoNecro]

Toronto Screening

[Superfuzzmx]

So, are there any plans for this to come out on DVD soon? Or is there anyway to watch it on line?

[Superfuzzmx]

Originally Posted by Superfuzzmx

So, are there any plans for this to come out on DVD soon? Or is there anyway to watch it on line?

Almost 4 year bump to this...Has this thing will ever come out? is there a way to watch or get this thing on line?

[mil_pl]

Originally Posted by Superfuzzmx

Almost 4 year bump to this...Has this thing will ever come out? is there a way to watch or get this thing on line?

Yeah, I also wonder.

[noisereductions]

EDIT: I'm thinking of the wrong movie. So this never came out on DVD then huh?