Most interesting this year has been the slew of films actually about music. While every year seems to bring along biopics or docs, this year has produced a host of films actually about music and it’s effects on interpersonal relationships. Films like We Are the Best and God Help the Girl acted as a celebration of the bonds created through music. These films explored the nature of relationships created on the foundation of a shared appreciation of music and how strong said foundation can be. Sometimes you bond with someone over the same fringe indie-pop band and have a relationship that lasts you a lifetime. While other films this year, like Frank, explored the limitations of this very same concept. A film that explores what happens when you find music may be the only thing you have in common with another.

Then there was Whiplash, arguably the year’s greatest film, an intense emotionally-charged rollercoaster of a film that shows how one can forego social relationships entirely out of sheer passion and determination to create music. The film explores just how much one is willing to compromise in their life to create art and gives their audience no answer on if it’s worth it.

In 2014, music became more than just a stylistic accessory to films, it explored the warmth and damage, the sheer force it’s capable of. In 2014, film began communicating with music on a deeper level than in any recent memory. 2014 was a classic year for the convergence of art.

The post Column 21: A Look Back at the Music Related Films of 2014 first appeared on buffaBLOG.

Sievey rarely did interviews out-of-character and was notoriously secretive, which makes the new film, Frank, so incredible compelling. The film, co-written by former band member Jon Ronson, loosely follows his experiences playing in the Oh Blimey Big Band and gives a certain insight into the mindset and creative process of Sievey. There’s been a lot of films made about the creation of pop music over the past decade, but few feel as honest as this one. The nervous competitive tension between band members and the effect of months spent in isolation during the record process clue into a part of the creative process rarely seen in film.

Frank strays more from the life of Frank Sidebottom as it reach it’s finale, instead taking inspiration from other avant-garde artists like Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefheart’s stories. It’s still a natural fit. The film clues into the sort of bizarre lifestyles and writing techniques that inform experimental pop music. Sometimes in this unusual genre of music, it’d be easy to mock the approach and methods of these artists, but director Lenny Abrahamson always avoids the ease to do so. Rather, the Abrahamson seems largely reverent of the artists that inspire his story and never questions the honesty and passion that goes into their creations. While Frank is consistently amusing and hilarious, the jokes are less targeted at their subjects, but rather society’s uneasy relationship and difficulty in understanding them.

The songs in the film, while influenced by those of Frank Sidebottom, are all original works and actually performed quite admirably by the cast of the film. The songs convey the kind of goofy humor and childlike warm-hearted sentiment that backed the best of Oh Blimey Big Band’s best work.

Frank is an absolute must-see, even for those unaware of Frank Sidebottom and his place in British pop-culture. The film provides a rare look into the creative process of pop music with an insight rarely seen on screen. Abrahamson at once shows the familial environment of being in a band that creates such harmonious work while capturing the the internal pressures that push musicians to be better. Frank is a fascinating look at the world of avant-garde music and one well worth checking out.

The post Column 19: Frank Sidebottom and the Craft of Avant-Garde Pop first appeared on buffaBLOG.