MUSIC DVD ROUND UP
Blur, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Britney
The words ‘bonus' and ‘extra’ have never been so over-used as in the context of music DVD. If we were all honest with ourselves that’s why we buy music DVDs: for the bits in
between the bits - the
off-stage antics, the tour bus tomfoolery, and the general self- indulgent arsing about that shows any artist up as the goofs or geniuses they really are.
Nowhere is this so keenly illustrated is in Blur’s Starshaped (Parlophone) O... which gets a welcome DVD reissue. It follows the band from their signing in 1991 through performances at huge
festivals and cramped
toilet venues, all interspersed with lots of quality messing about. The extras, however, illustrate
just how dull one man
with a camcorder at a gig can be but show just how far the band have come from their floppy fringed Neanderthal years. The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1969 Vol 3 (Hip- O) O... is another musical history
82 THE LIST 18 New; Doc
lesson - with rarely seen footage of blues legends Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Son House and many more in their prime, in glorious monochrome, while Warp Vision (Warp) CO... is the pioneering Sheffield record label’s similarly bedazzling lesson, collecting 32 videos from its back catalogue. Directors like Chris Cunningham, David Slade and Pulp’s own Jarvis Cocker get in an audio-visual tangle with Aphex Twin, LFO, Squarepusher and Plaid. Some, well plenty actually, are weird, but most are mind-blowing, showing everyone how music videos can and should be done.
While this lot are the cream of the crop, there are plenty of others to make the bun in this sugar techno pastry. Mary J Blige ruins some perfectly good songs in her flabby Live in Concert (Sanctuary) 0. , while Christina Aguilera at least puts on a show in Stripped (RCA) .0. but nowhere
near as much as Britney, who reminds us that she’s had more ups and down in her career than a lift operator with her occasionally tremendous Greatest Hits (Jive) .0.
Far more respectable is Goldfrapp’s Wonderful Electric (Mute) COO. , a double disc jamboree of twin live shows and documentaries showing off her borderline lunacy to fine effect.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs in Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow (Polydor) I... make good with a tidy heap of random footage. See them autograph body parts, sweat profusely and explode in a squall of energy like any good pretentious artpunk band should. If that doesn’t float your boat then why not learn to DJ with the X-Ecutioners on Built to Scratch (Koch) 0000 or go on a magical trippy jaunt with Super Furry Animals with their expansive greatest hits collection Songbook (Sony) 0.. ?
(Mark Robertson)
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NEKO CASE The Tigers Have Spoken