SCOTT EVANS Mostly about pointing microphones at loud things.

I almost never watch movies these days. All I want to watch are band documentaries, preferably ones that have a lot of studio footage. I love that shit. I think it started with the DVD that came with the some of the European copies of Muse’s Absolution. Anyone who’s into studio porn should seek out that DVD. Killer.

Anyway, here’s the handful I’ve seen recently:

• Failure Golden: I was surprised to find this on cdbaby – I guess you’re buying directly from Ken Andrews? Pretty nice documentary, great footage of them recording with Albini. And good commentary tracks. Don’t do drugs, kids. [cdbaby]
• Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon: Very enjoyable. Pretty high budget as these things go. Includes Alan Parson and David Gilmour sitting down with the masters (well, probably Protools copies of the masters) and soloing up tracks.
• Punk – Attitude: Saw this on IFC and enjoyed it. Lots of vintage live footage and good interviews with Chryssie Hynde, Jim Jarmusch, Thurston Moore, and probably the best interviews I’ve heard with Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins. They’re selling it for $32, which is crazy, but it’s worth netflixing or whatever.
• Lamb Of God Terror and Hubris and Killadephia: No studio stuff but okay live footage and amusing tour hijinks.
• Iron Maiden Number of the Beast: Part of the same series (“Classic Albums”) as the Floyd DVD. Pretty good but not nearly of the same weight as the Floyd. This album meant a lot to me when I was 13, but I guess the story behind it isn’t as riveting as Dark Side. Not surprising.
• Judas Priest British Steel: Same series again. Pretty much a waste of time. Way too much interview time talking about the meaning behind songs like “Living After Midnight”. Uh.
• AC/DC Family Jewels: Awful. 2 DVDs worth of promotional AC/DC stuff, i.e. standing on soundstages lipsyncing. Avoid.
• Neil Young Year of the Horse: Also saw this on IFC. Very Neil Young… low-tech, raw, a bit spotty – but nice.
• Radiohead Meeting People Is Easy: Beautiful, slow, artsy. The band’s a bit whiny, which they have since explained elsewhere. I really like this DVD; it captures them in the midst of blowing up to mega-dom, trying to figure out how to deal with everything they didn’t realize they had signed up for.

I have a few others in the queue… Wilco I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, John Zorn A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky, Metallica Some Kind Of Monster, Lightning Bolt The Power of Salad, Dandy Warhols DiG.

I’d love to see more. Suggestions are welcome. There are a lot more in that “Classic Albums” series but I’m not sure how interested I am – maybe the Stevie Wonder one, maybe the Steely Dan one. If they have
footage from back in the day, sign me up.

I wonder if hobbyist/semi-pro programmers would enjoy watching footage of a software company’s day to day workings. “Check it out, he’s got Windows Explorer sorted by date. Huh.”

During a short east coast visit last week, we took a walk around the block in our old Virginia neighborhood. We saw a lot of changes since we were there eight months ago.

The house at the top of the street, which sat halfway done for months, is finally complete. It’s now surrounded by an inviting brick wall. Before and after pics:

The house on the adjoining corner sold over a year ago but was only recently torn down. Also, spires!

The asbestos shingles are gone from the little house up the block. This one had a “new homes” sign on it in my first McMansion entry, and I figured it would be gone months ago.

The house that disappeared in a June entry last year has been replaced:

Finally, here’s one more that’s nearly complete – with an impressive wall of pain. The first pic here is not the same lot, but it’s a good example of a nicely kept original model, one street over.