Just got back from the screening of Jimi Tenor's 'lost' documentary "Sähkö The Movie" at the Cube cinema. As expected it was a pretty lo-fi production, mainly shot on hand-held camera, with clunky edits between scenes. The fidelity of the film varied dramatically - some scenes were recorded on reasonably good standard video tape, others looked like they'd been captured on grainy b&w super-8 film. Some scenes looked so ancient they could almost have been recorded in the 1940s rather than the mid-90s. But that kind of added to the appeal. What little dialogue there was was mainly in Finnish, but there was a vague narrative, beginning with Mika Vainio at home in the studio surrounded by his incredible collection of analogue gear, then gradually introducing other members of the 'cast', including Jimi Tenor himself, as they went on their various adventures in Helsinki, Glasgow and New York. It combined live performance footage with oddly mundane scenes of the guys playing pool, drunkenly singing along to Lee Perry records or just sitting around glumly in train stations. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Before and after, myself and Under_score's Jim Petherwick played out the Sähkö 'classics' in the bar, along with other related/sympathetic sounds from the likes of Sleeparchive, Plastikman, Emptyset, Sandwell District etc, drank a few beers, had some good conversation with Duncun, Luke, Mike and others. Best fun I've had on a Sunday evening in ages! Watch out for the next Under_score event on 1st March, with the mighty Marcell Dettmann headlining! Full details here.
17 February 2008
SÄHKÖ NITE
Just got back from the screening of Jimi Tenor's 'lost' documentary "Sähkö The Movie" at the Cube cinema. As expected it was a pretty lo-fi production, mainly shot on hand-held camera, with clunky edits between scenes. The fidelity of the film varied dramatically - some scenes were recorded on reasonably good standard video tape, others looked like they'd been captured on grainy b&w super-8 film. Some scenes looked so ancient they could almost have been recorded in the 1940s rather than the mid-90s. But that kind of added to the appeal. What little dialogue there was was mainly in Finnish, but there was a vague narrative, beginning with Mika Vainio at home in the studio surrounded by his incredible collection of analogue gear, then gradually introducing other members of the 'cast', including Jimi Tenor himself, as they went on their various adventures in Helsinki, Glasgow and New York. It combined live performance footage with oddly mundane scenes of the guys playing pool, drunkenly singing along to Lee Perry records or just sitting around glumly in train stations. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Before and after, myself and Under_score's Jim Petherwick played out the Sähkö 'classics' in the bar, along with other related/sympathetic sounds from the likes of Sleeparchive, Plastikman, Emptyset, Sandwell District etc, drank a few beers, had some good conversation with Duncun, Luke, Mike and others. Best fun I've had on a Sunday evening in ages! Watch out for the next Under_score event on 1st March, with the mighty Marcell Dettmann headlining! Full details here.
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Hi
ReplyDeleteI was at the Cube last night too. I agree the ancient quality of the footage was the most interesting thing about the film. Otherwise I was disappointed, although I enjoyed the tunes you were playing in the bar beforehand. Not really familiar with Sahko, although I have heard some Pan Sonic.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to get in touch with someone that has the Jimmy Tenor DVD. We have him booked for a show and I think those visuals would add a lot to the atmosphere.
Thanks.
why don't you just ask him to bring a copy along with him...?
ReplyDelete