Various Artists - Pick a Winner CD/DVD
(Load)
A new strain of independent film began with Jim Jarmusch’s 1983 classic Stranger than Paradise, which, at no fault of Jarmusch’s own, was the beginning of a movement in American cinema. The term “independent film” slowly (and rather subconsciously) came to signify a particular style of film rather than an independence, as it were, from the big studios and Hollywood money. Long before now, a cliché was defined, and America’s independent film movement, at least as it became to be defined by those who failed to look below the surface, became almost as stagnant as its larger, more corporate, brethren. Of course, a more subterranean brand of independent film has always existed, surviving in an almost guerilla manner, indifferent to and completely separate from big money, distribution deals, and national cinema chains. In a celebration of the true film underground, Pick a Winner collects short films (often, music videos) from artists related, mostly, in some way, to the label’s Providence locale or their roster of musicians. The release pairs a DVD of the films with a CD containing the soundtracks to the films (where applicable), conveniently containing many bands whose music’s been previously released by Load.
The disc begins with a short film that introduces the menu screen, the sole contribution by Xander Morro, whose protagonist Lady Longarms is sorely missed on the compilation. Her film is in the minority, not specifically created as a visual representation to the music it contains. Others are included in the same capacity on the dvd, but the marriage of music and visuals in a twist on the music video format is the order of the day. Brian Gibson’s “Barkleys’ Barnyard Critters,” another clip not linked specifically to any music, is an eleven-minute, animated super hero saga. But, things like Paperrad’s canine tribute to Wolf Eyes’ “Burn Your House Down” and the clip of Forcefield’s infamously hypnotic abstractions are the norm on this dvd. Fluorescent colors, kitschy visuals, and lots of almost childlike verve are perhaps Pick a Winner’s most obvious hallmarks, but, as with many of the bands on the DVD, to ignore the underbelly of the videos is a mistake. There’s a rather wide array of stylistic interplay here, with some of the artists concentrating on abstract geometrics, and other favoring more cartoonish vibes, and while the more stodgy viewer may have trouble stomaching some of the fluorescent pyrotechnics, there really is a little something for everyone in this lot.
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