Halloween 2010 was incredibly eventful and if we didn’t go see Jose and Nancy in Dallas, it would’ve been a tough series of choices on what to do. The (satellite) Rally for Sanity, the Aeros game, the nearby Ren Fair and the longshot…Moogfest in Asheville, NC. This year Moog-heavy using legends Devo headlined with Caribou, Massive Attack, School of the Seven Bells and Hot Chip.
Then I figured this 2004 documentary I missed at Alamo Drafthouse during the Summer of 2005 would fill the void. Hooray Netflix streaming!
Sadly…no. It became a demonstration on how not to make a documentary. Hell, I’m not sure it even qualifies as one thanks to all the holes.
This man, his cohorts and companies were instrumental (no pun intended) in changing the music across multiple genres. It could’ve been packed full of interviews with hordes of musicians from the Sixties to today stating how much they love his invention. It could’ve been a little biography about Bob from his teenage years when he built his first theremin up until his (then) current life in Asheville, NC.
Instead, it’s about 70 minutes of random pieces showing some performances by contemporary acts, Moog wandering in Japan, NYC or Asheville; rambling from the subject about his garden, anecdotes by Rick Wakeman (Yes, Asia) and Bernie Worrell (Parliament); etc. In short, a meandering, pointless mess.
Such a shame especially in light of his death a year or so after its initial release. Bob Moog deserved better and maybe somebody will fulfill this longshot wish.
Meanwhile, there was a silver lining, its soundtrack which I bought at Waterloo as a surrogate until I got around to seeing the movie. This double-disc collection is a fantastic collection of new compositions (disc one) by contemporary artists: They Might be Giants, Tortoise, Bootsy Collins & Bernie Worrell, 33 and (obviously) Moog Cookbook; and a few historical pieces (disc two) everybody knows: Gary Numan’s “Cars,” New Order’s “Blue Monday,” and ELP’s “Lucky Man.”
In addition, there was a recent episode of Sound Opinions covering the Moog synthesizer’s history with special guest Brian Kehew; his musical resume blows away the two hosts’ entire careers. I only recognized him as the less-famous half of Moog Cookbook, the other being Roger Manning (Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, Beck).