Looking for a Thrill: an Anthology of Inspiration review
Issue #23
Directed by Braden King
By Laura Paisley
Published: March 1st, 2005 | 11:59am
If gathering your favorite musicians together and asking them to describe a moment of musical inspiration isn't in your 2005 daily planner, then consider as an alternative Looking for a Thrill. An anthology produced by Thrill Jockey Records, it asks this very question of more than 100 musical artists.
Conceived by Thrill Jockey label founder and owner Bettina Richards and directed by Braden King, the compendium yields several hours of fascinating ruminations from the likes of Björk, Yo La Tengo‚s Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan, Ian MacKaye, Edith Frost, Thurston Moore, Archer
Prewitt, Sally Timms, and Califone’s Tim Rutili.
Many of the featured artists talk about early experiences that transformed them into regular record buyers, concert-goers and musicians. Moore tells a hilarious tale about taking a spontaneous high school road trip from Connecticut to New York to see the Cramps and Suicide play at Max’s Kansas City, while Hubley discusses the sacred role human error plays in the music-making process. Vic Chestnutt, looking plenty tripped out, shows up to proclaim that “rock is the rock,” and Ian MacKaye waxes rhapsodic about his high school memories of the Ramones and Ted Nugent.
While the DVD attempts to include a diverse group of artists, it remains rather generation-specific — since most of its subjects came of age in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the Cramps, Ramones, and Minutemen are repeatedly cited as sources of inspiration and awe. But true to Thrill’s intentions, even if you don‚t know who certain artists are, their experiences and inspirations as musicians will resonate. And as an added bonus, all of Looking For a Thrill’s profits benefit Greenpeace.
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