Beautiful Noise is an amazingly intelligent, thorough, and detailed film that chronicles the formation of a style of music that many refer to as Shoegaze. The term Shoegaze was originally coined by a talentless hack of a "journalist", and was meant to disparage the lack of showmanship employed by these bands who preferred to let the music speak for itself, instead of prancing around on stage.
The film does an excellent job of introducing us to the bands responsible for the birth of the genre, like the Jesus and Marychain, My Bloody Valentine, and the Cocteau Twins. They didn't set out to start a movement, they simply wanted to play THEIR music, but their unique style ended up having an influence on many other musicians.
What they started, developed into a more cohesive movement in the late 80s and early 90s, with British bands like Ride, Catherine Wheel, Slowdive, and Chapterhouse using heavily effected guitar sounds and an overall mood that was influenced by the bands mentioned earlier.
Beautiful Noise follows the chronology of the movement to weave an entertaining story and includes many rare interviews with members of the most important bands of the genre. There is also some excellent input from a few legendary musicians from outside the movement, like Robert Smith, Trent Reznor, and Billy Corgan, all of whom are fans, and most likely influenced these bands in some form, as well.
Beautiful Noise never actually mentions the name "Shoegaze", and most of these bands would probably never consider calling themselves "Shoegaze". For me the term is merely a convenient way of grouping a bunch of bands that have obvious similarities. I like taking back the power of the word.
If you're a fan of the genre or any of the bands in the film, Beautiful Noise is a must. If you are interested in music on any level, then Beautiful Noise is a must. It would be an wonderful introduction to this music if you have always been interested but never really listened to any of the bands. The film does such a fantastic job of capturing the essence and spirit of the movement and detailing the motivation and driving force behind the artists.
I was lucky enough to see Beautiful Noise at a festival in Hollywood, and it's a shame more people haven't had a chance to see it yet. I can't wait for it to come out on Blu-Ray so I can watch it again and again.
The film does an excellent job of introducing us to the bands responsible for the birth of the genre, like the Jesus and Marychain, My Bloody Valentine, and the Cocteau Twins. They didn't set out to start a movement, they simply wanted to play THEIR music, but their unique style ended up having an influence on many other musicians.
What they started, developed into a more cohesive movement in the late 80s and early 90s, with British bands like Ride, Catherine Wheel, Slowdive, and Chapterhouse using heavily effected guitar sounds and an overall mood that was influenced by the bands mentioned earlier.
Beautiful Noise follows the chronology of the movement to weave an entertaining story and includes many rare interviews with members of the most important bands of the genre. There is also some excellent input from a few legendary musicians from outside the movement, like Robert Smith, Trent Reznor, and Billy Corgan, all of whom are fans, and most likely influenced these bands in some form, as well.
Beautiful Noise never actually mentions the name "Shoegaze", and most of these bands would probably never consider calling themselves "Shoegaze". For me the term is merely a convenient way of grouping a bunch of bands that have obvious similarities. I like taking back the power of the word.
If you're a fan of the genre or any of the bands in the film, Beautiful Noise is a must. If you are interested in music on any level, then Beautiful Noise is a must. It would be an wonderful introduction to this music if you have always been interested but never really listened to any of the bands. The film does such a fantastic job of capturing the essence and spirit of the movement and detailing the motivation and driving force behind the artists.
I was lucky enough to see Beautiful Noise at a festival in Hollywood, and it's a shame more people haven't had a chance to see it yet. I can't wait for it to come out on Blu-Ray so I can watch it again and again.