experimental music
38 movies and shows
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
Thu, 10 Sep 2015
A Frank Zappa show goes way beyond a mere concert – it is an experience…a flight of improvisation, musicianship, and cerebral cynicism. An unparalleled Composer and Guitarist, Zappa redefined rock n roll paradigms by introducing into the mix his favorite influences from classical music, jazz, blues, doowop, traditional and non-traditional music. And he did so with unparalleled humor and audacity. But it was the music itself that influenced generations of musicians and, quite frankly, blew minds. Roxy: The Movie, filmed over three nights in December 1973, at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, CA, is a powerful display of this experience, and reveals what made him such a pioneering musical revolutionary.
Sisters with Transistors
Wed, 01 Sep 2021
Think of early electronic music and you’ll likely see men pushing buttons, knobs, and boundaries. While electronic music is often perceived as a boys' club, the truth is that from the very beginning women have been integral in inventing the devices, techniques and tropes that would define the shape of sound for years to come.
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye
Thu, 08 Mar 2012
An intimate, affecting portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) and his wife and collaborator, Lady Jaye, centered around the daring sexual transformations the pair underwent for their 'Pandrogyne' project.
Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko
Tue, 01 Jan 1991
For the past ten years Zappa in composing has turned away from Rock and Roll music - for which he first became famous - and has been working on new, contemporary, orchestral electronic music; in solitude and beyond any commercial conventions or commitments. It is the first time that Zappa has allowed a film crew to study him during compositional work, actually filming the first moments of a new compositional process. By contrast, in a staged interview Zappa gives comments on music. This film seeks to reveal the sensetivities of Zappa's personality and character also beyond narrative content.
Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980
Thu, 12 Jun 2008
Recorded Live in Paris in 1980, this is a rare recording of Frank Zappa performing at the peak of his career with his incredible backing band, including Ike Willis (guitar/vocals), Ray White (guitar/vocals), Tommy Mars (keys), Arthur Barrow (bass) and David Logeman (drums). It was the year after Zappa released two of his greatest albums - Sheik Yerbouti, and the masterpiece Joe's Garage - and this cracking live show includes the classic Zappa songs Joe's Garage, Dancing Fool, Bobby Brown and The Illinois Enema Bandit. Tracklist : 01. Chunga's Revenge 02. Keep It Greasey 03. Joe's Garage 04. Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? 05. Dancin 'Fool 06. Bobby Brown 07. Ms Pinky 08. Illinois Enema Bandit
Knock Down
Wed, 01 Jan 1975
Impressions about fighting the passing of time, living in a constant hurry and the uphill battle of finding the natural tempo to life itself.
Phantasia
Wed, 13 Mar 2024
X-ray images were invented in 1895, the same year in which the Lumière brothers presented their respective invention in what today is considered to be the first cinema screening. Thus, both cinema and radiography fall within the scopic regime inaugurated by modernity. The use of X-rays on two sculptures from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum generates images that reveal certain elements of them that would otherwise be invisible to our eyes. These images, despite being generally created for technical or scientific purposes, seem to produce a certain form of 'photogénie': they lend the radiographed objects a new appearance that lies somewhere between the material and the ethereal, endowing them with a vaporous and spectral quality. It is not by chance that physics and phantasmagoria share the term 'spectrum' in their vocabulary.
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
Fri, 07 Jan 1994
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa is an Italian documentary that aired on the Videomusic channel on January 7, 1994. It includes footage from Zappa's Universe, Video From Hell, Does Humor Belong In Music?, Baby Snakes, The True Story Of 200 Motels, The Late Show, Zappa's May 17, 1988 show at Palacio de Deportes in Barcelona, Spain, The Dub Room Special, various other interviews and performances.
The Yellow Shark
Thu, 17 Sep 1992
This live recording was culled from seven September 1992 concerts given in Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfurt by the Ensemble Modern, a Frankfurt-based chamber orchestra that performs only contemporary music. Composed and conducted by Frank Zappa.
Madeleine (a short film)
Thu, 27 Feb 2025
A stop motion/collaged based independent short film plays with the recontextualisation of memories and how time distorts them.
Electronic Vibrations: A Sound Changes the World
Tue, 15 Feb 2022
The amazing story of electronic music: its epic journey from its origins in Europe, at the hands of the great artists of the post-war classical avant-garde, to the great post-industrial cities of the USA, where this genre of genres took over music stores, shady clubs and, eventually, the big stages.
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
Fri, 21 Jun 2024
Shot on July 23, 1968, this historical 16mm footage of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, CA has been newly restored from the Vault! The film has been newly synced to the 2023 mixes, marking the first time it's ever been seen with audio. Frank Zappa never had the opportunity to see this footage synced to the music. Now you do. The film was shot in increments and features silent performance footage of The Mothers along with scenes involving The Freaks and the premier of The GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously). In the audience were Flo & Eddie (The Turtles), John Mayall, Elliot Ingber (The Fraternity Of Man), Alice Cooper and members of the Rolling Stones.
The Goddamn Tooney Lunes
Sun, 19 Feb 2023
A group of geeky teens in backwoods New Hampshire start a punk band as a way to make sense of their high school angst, raging hormones, and raucous personalities. When they accidentally attract a cult following and become local town legends, they struggle to balance their wayward persona with the looming pressures of adulthood.
Khamsin
Thu, 31 Jan 2019
Lebanon today. The traces of the civil war are all too tangible as government corruption becomes unbearable. In a country where conflict and peace are caught in an endless cycle, musicians from different backgrounds pool their talents to create an underground music scene. Each evokes his or her representation of Lebanon: its shifting geographical, political, historical and social borders, its painful passage through conflict and instability. A touching portrait of a young generation trying to build an oasis in a hostile environment where the forces of destruction continue to wreak havoc.
Here to Eternity with The Godz
Tue, 29 Jan 2019
Here to Eternity with The Godz is a psychoactive documentary about The Godz, one of the first psychedelic rock bands.
André 3000 - New Blue Sun (Listening)
Thu, 16 Nov 2023
"I swear, I wanted to make a “visual album” but this is literally the way the wind blew me this time."
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: Write Your Own Code
Tue, 02 Jun 2020
As Genesis and I were working on the documentary film "Change Itself” (released in 2016), we agreed that it would be great to also have Genesis reading poetry in the film. One clip was eventually used. "Write Your Own Code" contains all of the material we shot in Oslo, Norway, 2014. These sessions also became the creative ignition for the spoken word album we made together in 2017, and which was released in 2019 by Ideal Recordings: "Loyalty Does Not End With Death." I have left the casual tone of the sessions, including some mishaps, as untouched as possible. Write Your Own Code! – Carl Abrahamsson, 2021
Before the Freeze
Mon, 04 Dec 2023
Before the freeze, there was beautiful garden. "Before the Freeze" is a short psychological thriller with experimental elements, about an overstressed, newly-single mother, her daughter, their dog, and what happens one afternoon when a friend comes over. "Before the Freeze" is Tenley E. Raj's debut film. Written, directed, shot, and edited and by Tenley E. Raj.
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
Wed, 16 Oct 1985
Tom Waits 1985 performance of "16 Shells From A 30.6" and “In the Neighborhood” from the album 'Swordfish Trombones' and "Cemetery Polka" and “Walking Spanish” from the album 'Rain Dogs' Live On The Tube.