Thread: DIG! - Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhols movie

I have been on a Netflix bender lately and have rented a few music documentaries, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart(Wilco) and Fearless Freaks(Flaming Lips), both were pretty good. I watched DIG! last night, it's a documentary about The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre(BJM).

I knew little about these bands, I am a BRMC fan and I didn't realize that one of the guys from BJM was/or is in BRMC. So if you like BRMC you'll probably like the music. After seeing the movie I am probably going to check out some BJM albums.

The bands know each other, Dandy Warhols have some "success" and BJM is always on the verge of meltdown.

Great movie, especially if you like good music, drug fueled fights, tambourine players, rock egos, VH1 behind the music type of stories.

Seconded, really good music documentary.
Makes you sort of hate both bands, but like the music, and feel sorry for most of the people in the bands.

I should watch that because I like both those bands.

Ever seen "The Kids Are Alright?" Not so much a documentary, but a collection of interviews mixed with live performances of The Who.

i haven't seen it yet, but want to.

All I know is this:
BJM fucking rules!
Joel Gion is a god among men.

Oh and BJM and BRMC are quite a bit different.

[Arty cues up Methodrone]

BJM are (were) awesome...when they could pull it together. they are still touring, and in fact, will be playing @ Mezzannine in SF later this summer - i plan to see 'em again. always an adventure live, these fellows...

One of my favorite rock docs. Re-watch it every six months or so.

Originally Posted by commonlaw

One of my favorite rock docs. Re-watch it every six months or so.

me too...

Originally Posted by freshies

BJM are (were) awesome...when they could pull it together. they are still touring, and in fact, will be playing @ Mezzannine in SF later this summer - i plan to see 'em again. always an adventure live, these fellows...

Sat, Sep 1 Los Angeles CA Echoplex
Sun, Sep 2 Los Angeles CA Echoplex
Mon, Sep 3 San Francisco CA The Independent
Tue, Sep 4 San Francisco CA The Independent
Fri, Sep 7 Portland OR Bebatis Pan
Sat, Sep 8 Vancouver BC Commodore Ballroom
Sun, Sep 9 Seattle WA Neumo's
Wed, Sep 12 SLC UT Urban Lounge
Fri, Sep 14 Denver CO Red Rocks
Sun, Sep 16 San Diego CA Belly Up

YES!!!!!! I'm so there. It's been way too long since I've last seen them.

i got dragged to a BJM show last fall in boulder, there was no intensity, and they did not play any where near fast enough, the crowd was disconnected. and all the songs were super repetitive

there was no compassion to a punk show, where the crowd is involved and the band has energy

Before seeing Dig I had listened to the Dandy's alot but never BJM. That movie got me hooked.

Never saw/seen live. Even on albums they are hit or miss (not surprising since they recorded albums in 4 day time periods).

That said.....you can put together an amazing mix by grabbing the gems off each album.....it never leaves my shuffle, one of my favoriting things to work out to!

Originally Posted by Huckwheat

Before seeing Dig I had listened to the Dandy's alot but never BJM. That movie got me hooked.

Never saw/seen live. Even on albums they are hit or miss (not surprising since they recorded albums in 4 day time periods).

That said.....you can put together an amazing mix by grabbing the gems off each album.....it never leaves my shuffle, one of my favoriting things to work out to!

Their last couple of albums were meh, which is rather disappointing.

Arty's ratings of BJM albums (in chronological order):
Spacegirl and Other Favorites - a sort of early greatest hits...it was a rare vinyl album which got released on cd years later.
Methodrone - one of the best albums ever made...by any band...period
Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request - Anenome, (Baby) Love of my Life, and All Around You are good tracks but the rest is so so
Take it from the Man! - This album fucking rules.
Thank God for Mental Illness - good stuff on this one too, but more of an album for people who are already fans
Give it Back! - Picks up right where TIFTM leaves off. Fucking awesomeness!!!
Strung Out in Heaven - The album that should have made them superstars...if they gave a shit about that sort of thing.
Bringing it All Back Home - Again - Good stuff. Nice continuation of SOIH, but not quite as good.
Zero EP - Despite going through a period of major upheaval, this EP has some amazing tracks. The song writing is incredible.
Bravery, Repetition, and Noise - Zero led right into this. The songs are a little darker, a little slower. Just amazing work on this album, all from the same dark period if you can call it that.
...And This is Our Music - Zero and BRN made me so excited for this album, but it ended up sucking. I haven't even loaded it in iTunes cause I just can't get into it.

So to sum up:

Best albums: Methodrone, Take it from the Man!, Give it Back!, Strung out in Heaven, Bravery Repetition and Noise

Good but not "great": Spacegirl and Other Favorites (only cause it's a compilation of sorts), Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request, Thank God for Mental Illness, Bringing it All Back Home, Zero EP (only because some of the tracks show up on BRN)

Don't bother: ...And This is Our Music

Along similar lines, be sure to check out Miranda Lee Richards. She sang on a bunch of BJM songs and has one album out and another forthcoming. She's a great songwriter and has an amazing voice. Oh and it doesn't hurt that she's super fucking hot and really cool. Her music is quite a bit different from BJM, but definitely a worthy purchase.

I finally saw this tonight. It's pretty much the perfect movie about BJM.

There has always been so much promise, and it always seems to just get pissed away. I've been very lucky in that I've seem some of their best live shows. Shows where they just shut up and played. No fights, no bullshit, just the music. When you can catch them like that, it's an amazing experience. But I've also seen a couple of the bad ones. The ones where Anton just can't leave that asshole in the crowd alone, or where his quest for perfection goes a little overboard and ends up killing what was a great show up to that point. I will say the movie paints a bleak picture of him, but I have to admit it's honest. I've hung out with him and the band on a couple of occasions and they can be an absolutely amazing bunch of people. Super fun and pretty damn nice.

It's just a shame. Not that they didn't become huge. But that they have all this opportunity to have an impact on people and manage to piss it away somehow. I just wish they could leave all of the bullshit behind, cause all it does is put up this wall between people and their music.

Well as I detailed before. Got to see them in Portland. Seems like the band would be served by anton putting down the needle/bowl/whatever, but somehow he seems like the kinda guy who would still have issues. Good concert, totaly crazy atmosphere. I like their music so much better live, plus there is always the opportunity of a fight.

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(Odin I Love You) Since I Was Six

Yup, they can be mindblowinglyunfuckingbelievable live. As in "they were so amazing, I had a religious experience" good.

Don't they show them shooting up in this movie?!

Guy I went to college with is featured in that film: Rob Campanella. He was one of the many guitarists BJM had during their latter period and he's interviewed in the film a few times.

Cool cat. He actually got me into the music industry, so to speak, as he was the host of the Classic Rock show on our college radio station. I used to sit in on his shows and eventually I took over his slot when he graduated.

Regardless, it is a solid music docu and actually made me appreciate Dandy Warhols music more after watching it (managed to grift their catalog from the label, too!).

It was definitely an interesting slant to take two bands that aren't terribly huge, but started out around the same time and track their success.

Dandy Warhols always kind of remind me of Swell, a band who was from SF and always much bigger in Germany and Europe than they ever were on their home turf.

A final FWIW: I interviewed the director, Ondi Timoner, back before the film came out. I thought I wrote it up, but alas cannot find it anywhere on the Net. Oh well. She was tres cool at the time as I recall.

Speaking of Rob, have you heard the Sunstorm EP? Really good stuff.

great flick. its in my Quiver...er dvd player

Excellent little look into the state of the music industry these days.

"well you know, all those 60's bands got into drugs, but, they were famous first." ....and, I'll add, they didn't have to promote themselves doing a CMJ or whatever performance. bizarre.


What else did that guy up front do but just look goofy and bang a tamborine?


My favorite moment : "Sophie left Anton, and never returned. She actually joined the band The Minstrels and fell in love with the lead singer George, and together they moved to Tahiti."
I mean, WTF?

Originally Posted by Benny Profane

What else did that guy up front do but just look goofy and bang a tamborine?

Joel is a god and you are unfit to even speak his name.




If you've seen a BJM show with him, you'd understand.