Pre-order the 'Sonic Highways' documentary series

A release date for the DVD/ Blu-ray editions of Sonic Highways has been announced. Pre-orders for physical editions, as well as DRM-free downloads of the series are now available, with the release date set for 7 April.

Foo Fighters on Sonic Highways

'Sonic Highways' full trailer

Every time more details are released regarding the Sonic Highways album/ T.V. series I get even more excited about the project. From the trailer, the series looks as though it is going to be the best thing on T.V. since Game of Thrones finished a few months back. The audio sounds very promising too. 

It would be great if Sonic Highways were to be performed in it's entirety during the Foo Fighters' South African tour. This could tricky though, given the number of additional contributors featured in the video, and on the album.

Coming soon: Dave Grohl's 'Sonic Highways'

Sonic Highways - Fall 2014

By the far the studio album I am most looking forward hearing this year is the eighth offering from the Foo Fighters. Even more exciting is the decision to record the album at various studios around the United States, document the recording process, and then turn it into the HBO TV series, Sonic Highways!

Unlike Sound City, Sonic Highways will share more of the stories of the musicians, and the music scenes that influenced them while living in cities renowned for their impact on global music trends. in Grohl's own words, "a love letter to the history of American music."

The series will run for eight episodes, with each episode centring around a new location. These are rumoured to be Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Seattle, and Washington D.C. 

Chicago, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles are high on my list of "places to go," and New York is at the top of my "places to go again" list, so those are the episodes I'm looking forward to. In all honesty though, I reckon the entire series will be worth watching, and I'll definitely be asking my (future) family in the States to get this for me on Blu-ray once it's been released.

Overview: a documentary by Planetary Collective

On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.

The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.

OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo.

Get 'Sound City' for only $10

Dave Grohl will be hosting an Ask me anything (AMA) session on Reddit on 8 February 2013. In the meantime, you can download Sound City for only US$ 10 by using the discount code provided on the following site.

This is another excellent opportunity to get a DRM-free download of Sound City at a reduced price. I'm going to continue to be patient and wait for the DVD release of the documentary. I'm a sucker for the physical product.

Sound City - Real to Reel full track listing

The soundtrack to Dave Grohl's rockumentary, Sound City, will contain 11 original tracks, featuring collaborations of many of the greatest artists in rock. The album is set for release on the 12 March 2013, and is available for pre-order from iTunes. Folks who pre-order the album will receive an instant download of the first single Cut me some slack, featuring Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, Nirvana), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Pat Smear (Foo Fighters, Nirvana).

Here is the fill track list:

1. Heaven and all (Robert Levon Been, Dave Grohl & Peter Hayes)
2. Time sowing down (Chriss Goss, Tim Commerfors, Dave Grohl & Brad Wilk)
3. You can't fix this (Stevie Nicks, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins & Rami Jaffee)
4. The man that never was (Rick Springfield, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel & Pat Smear)
5. Your wife is calling (Lee Ving, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Alain Johannes & Pat Smear)
6. From can to can't (Corey Taylor, Dave Grohl, Rick Nielsen & Scott Reeder)
7. Centipede (Joshua Homme, Chris Goss, Dave Grohl & Alain Johannes)
8. A trick with no sleeve (Alain Johannes, Dave Grohl & Joshua Homme)
9. Cut me some slack (Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear)
10. If I were me Dave Grohl, Jessy Greene, Rami Jaffee & Jim Keltner)
11. Mantra (Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme & Trent Reznor)

At this point, I'm most excited to hear the last track, as it has contributions from three of the musicians of my 'dream team.'

Fron left: Grohl, Reznor & Homme in the studio.

First song from the album Sound City: Real to reel

Credited as being written by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, an 18 second video snippet of Cut me some slack has been uploaded to cutmesomeslack.net. 

The site also contains a link to the 121212 Benefit Concert, at which the song was performed, and another link to pre-order a DRM-free download of the Sound City Movie for US$ 12.99 10 (for a limited time only).

Official trailer for Sound City

Set to première at the 2013 Sundance Festival, the official trailer for Sound City has been released.  The documentary will featuring a host of prominent musicians from the past and present, as well as an interview with Rupert Neve, creator of the iconic Neve 8028 analogue mixing console that Dave Grohl purchased from Sound City Studios.

Sound City: Real to reel

Directed by the god-like genius that is Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures), Sound City is a documentary  about the legendary analogue recording facilities of the Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, CA. 

To date the film's website has featured musical memories from prominent names in the music industry including those of Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave), Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), Rick Rubin (producer), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails, How to Destroy Angels), Pat Smear (Germs, Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Lee Ving (Fear, MD.45), Lindsey Buckingham (solo, Fleetwood Mac), Butch Vig (Garbage), Ross Robinson (producer), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stonesour), Tom Petty (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys), Alain Johannes (Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age), Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal), Joe Barresi (producer), Rick Springfield (solo, Sahara Snow), Jim Keltner (session musician), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and Rupert Neve (electronics engineer).

From additional photographs posted on the website, it looks as though many of the artists and producers involved in the project are collaborating in the recording of new material that may become the films soundtrack, or possibly be released as an accompanying album. 

The initial trailer for Sound City: Real to Reel