This weekend Char and I rented Sound City, the documentary about the legendary recording studio that gave rise to some of the best music of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and early 00’s. It’s an incredible directorial debut for Dave Grohl, who has already had one of the most amazing second acts in musical history. As drummer for Nirvana, and mastermind behind the Foo Fighters, the man has built an incredible catalogue of music so far.
It’s pretty awesome that at 44 years old he adds “Director” to his list of accomplishments.
The movie is awesome, the first half of it is a chronological telling of the history of Sound City, as told by the people who were there. You not only learn about the early years of the studio, but the creation of bands like Fleetwood Mac (which literally would not exist were it not for Sound City), and the rise of Rick Springfield. It charts the studio’s improbable rise, inevitable fall, and rebirth after Nirvana’s Nevermind is recorded there.
As the story of Sound City comes to a close, the film focuses on a reunion of many of the major acts with the Foo Fighters providing backup. You get to see the Foo’s with Stevie Nicks, Springfield, and finally Paul McCartney.
As awesome as the movie was, my favourite part was that I watched it digitally while it is still in theatres. See, this movie only made its debut at Sundance in mid-January. Meanwhile, here we were a couple of weeks later, watching it on our Apple TV (for only $7.99).
Digital distribution is the future. This is a movie I would never have been able to make it to in theatres, and in a few weeks I’m likely to forget about it. The album just came out, so there was a decent media push. They still got my money, and I’ve talked about the movie several times since I saw it, highly recommending it to others.
That’s the way it should be. A good product, at a fair price, getting a push from passionate fans who believe in it.