Pitchfork

[Posted Thursday, September 4th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Consider your Friday nights in October booked: you, my friend, have a date with the TV (what a nice change of pace). Next month, the Sundance Channel is bringing back its two critically-acclaimed, month-long series "Hi-Fi Fridays" and "Sonic Cinema." What's more, none other than Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore will be hosting the latter show. The episodes run back-to-back, beginning with "Hi-Fi Fridays" at 9pm EST, followed by Sonic Cinema at 11pm EST.

Each week for four weeks, "Hi-Fi Fridays" will feature recent documentaries that look at people who make music. "Sonic Cinema" is a magazine-style hodgepodge (think 60 Minutes for indie music and film) with each episode comprised of four segments that highlight the convergence of film and music-- including music videos, profiles of people who work on the musical aspects of filmmaking, and a look at musicians who have gone behind the camera themselves. Although the musical styles featured on these two shows are relatively diverse, you can expect to see some of your favorite artists in the mix. Here's the week-by-week rundown of the schedule:

10-03: The "Hi-Fi Fridays" documentary is Tom Dowd and the Language of Music, which chronicles engineer/producer Tom Dowd and his work with such influential artists as Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Cream, Charles Mingus and Otis Redding among others. "Sonic Cinema" will feature the videos for Spoon's "Everything Hits at Once" and DJ Shadow's "Walkie Talkie" as well as Wayne Coyne talking about his trials and tribulations as the Flaming Lips' video director.

10-10: The "Hi-Fi Fridays" documentary of the week is If I Should Fall From Grace, which (as you might guess from the title) is about Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan; and "Sonic Cinema" features the work of photographer and director Floria Sigismondi, who has created videos for Marilyn Manson, Sigur Ros and Amon Tobin.

10-17: The television premiere of Song for Cassavetes kicks off the "Hi-Fi Fridays" part of the evening. This documentary looks at the world of underground rock from the perspective of the musicians, and features concert footage and interviews from Sleater-Kinney, The Make-Up, Unwound, Dub Narcotic Sound System and more. "Sonic Cinema" features videos that unfold in one take, including the infamous clip for Radiohead's No Surprises, and checks in with the British electronic legends Underworld regarding their design collective, called Tomato.

10-24: The "Hi-Fi Fridays" series closes with Rising Low, which was directed by Phish bassist Mike Gordon (yes, the same Mike Gordon who was recently arrested for taking "art photos" of a nine-year-old girl in a secluded boathouse... ahem). The documentary follows Gov't Mule through the recording of their first album following the death of their bassist (in a secluded boathouse?). Interestingly enough, rather than replace the deceased bassist, they summoned the talents of twenty-five different bass masters-- including Flea, John Entwistle and Bootsy Collins. "Sonic Cinema" concludes its run with videos from Supergrass, and John Cale discusses his career as a film score composer.