LAUNCHING a new annual retrospective event at the Edinburgh International Film Festival is a screening of Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme’s classic 1984 concert film featuring Talking Heads.
Shot over three nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater, it was the first film to be made entirely using digital audio techniques, an expense the band funded themselves with a breathtaking £1.2 million. Given the record they were touring was the peerless Speaking In Tongues, you wonder why they bothered: the likes of Psycho Killer, Burning Down The House and Once In A Lifetime would sound essential played in a dustbin.
At the time famously sharp New Yorker critic Pauline Kael described Stop Making Sense as “close to perfection” and its continued acclaim and popularity vindicates Demme as capturing a genuinely iconic band at their most magical. And this event’s none-too-shaby line-up, programmed by Summerhall’s music strand Nothing Ever Happens Here, makes for an honourable tribute to Demme (Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia), who died in April aged 73.
The screening will follow sets from three acts longlisted for this year’s Scottish Album of the Year Award: singular electronic composer Ela Orleans, guitar angel RM Hubbert and Sacred Paws. By the time they play Summerhall, they’ll at least know if they are one of the ten albums featuring on the SAY Award Shortlist, which is announced on June 15 as part of a BBC Quay Sessions before the winner is named at Paisley Town Hall on June 28.
Retrospective Live! will also feature a performance from Indigo Violent, a fast-rising local team whose tropical pop is a fine complement to that served by spearmint-fresh duo Sacred Paws.
Stop Making Sense will also screen on June 29 (Filmhouse, 8.50pm, £8, £6 concs) June 23, Summerhall, Edinburgh, 6pm, £16, £14 concs. Tel: 0131 623 8030. edfilmfest.org.uk www.summerhall.co.uk www.sayaward.com
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