http://www.harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=11340 ??Beautiful Noise? in the Works
Fred Mills
June 19, 2007
With nearly two years of filming under his belt, filmmaker Eric Green of L.A.-based Hypnagogia Films is nearing completion of his documentary chronicling the 1985-91 shoegaze movement of Great Britain. Titled Beautiful Noise, it??s about the influence of the Cocteau Twins, Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine and the subsequent rise of outfits such as Ride, Curve, Slowdive, Lush, Chapterhouse, Swervedriver, Pale Saints and Boo Radleys, as well as more ambient-inclined and experimental artists like Flying Saucer Attack, AR Kane and Seefeel.
According to Hypnagogia, these stories will be told through contemporary interviews and via archival concert footage, outlining how, for the most part, the groups ??resisted having a marketable image and sound, and how their individuality, while sabotaging their mainstream commercial appeal, eventually led to an indelible impact on modern music.?
Among the personalities interviewed for the film: Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins), Jim Reid and Bobby Gillespie (Jesus & Mary Chain), Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), Dave Pearce (Flying Saucer Attack), Mark Gardener (Ride), Neil Halstead (Slowdive), Martin Carr (Boo Radleys), Emma Anderson (Lush), Alan Moulder, Alan McGee, Wayne Coyne, Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan and Robert Smith.
The film company adds that the documentary is a labor of love????a DIY, passion project.? Aficionados of the shoegaze scene would no doubt agree, and suggest that such a welcome project is long overdue.
Incidentally, raise your hand if you recall the shoegaze music festival held Feb. 11, 1995, in Phoenix, Arizona, and featuring the indigenous talents of dreampoppers Half String, Alison??s Halo, Scenic, the Aprils, Six String Malfunction, Loveliescrushing and Nostalgia Drags. The event??s name? ??Beautiful Noise.? The influence of the UK shoegazers extends far and wide?
