See Hear

The origins of popular American and English music forms like blues, jazz, rock and folk are well documented in the English-speaking world (and possibly the non-English speaking world). So, when a film comes along that looks at something outside of that realm, I find my interest piqued. Welcome to episode 135 of See Hear Podcast. Greek-Australian film maker and academic Mary Zournazi decided she wa...

Those of us fortunate enough to have employment in our chosen field should have (in theory) a pension / superannuation plan to take care of us in our autumn years. Sadly, some professions including ones that bring us most joy don’t always look after the practitioners. Opera composer Giuseppi Verdi knew that so he did something about it.   Welcome to episode 134 of See Hear Podcast.   It’s our firs...

Maurice makes an announcement about See Hear's's status for a period of time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaaaah, 80s cinema. When asked to think about films from the 80s, chances are you recall blockbuster adventures featuring an archaeologist carrying a whip or dancing as a form of rebellion or taking a day off from school and getting into hijinks. If the backers of a film by Allan Arkush hadn't decided to go adopt the Bialystock principle to film production, it's possible that a chaotic comedy abou...

Backstabbing, faux-sincerity, clawing one's way to the top, class division, those at the top thumbing their noses at those further down the ladder....all political concepts, right? Actually, all of this is in reference to the 1975 Robert Altman film “Nashville” about the country music scene....which in itself serves as a political allegory. Welcome to episode 132 of See Hear. In the early seventie...

So many biopics feature the story of an artist from cradle to grave....all in 2 hours. Those of you who know me or have listened to the show before know I'm....uh....not a fan of these types of pods. They're often a cherry picked list of moments in the artist's life until the moment of triumph – artistically and in overcoming personal obstacles. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere does it backwar...

History is full of famous tales that are told from one perspective. As we all know, everyone has their own version of how something went down....even if it doesn't contradict the popular narrative, there's always something that happened in the background whose importance is diluted or not told at all. Welcome to episode 130 of See Hear Podcast. In 1974, a German teenage jazz fan named Vera Brandes...

Punk music branched out in the late 70s / early 80s into a harder, faster, thrashier style than its earlier predecessor. If (as is often claimed) the original wave of punk was a reaction to the complexity of prog and the lack of danger in other forms of popular music, then hardcore was the next phase of that during the era of post-punk. It was about catharsis and screaming out about injustice. The...

There’s a moment in Mel Brooks’ “History of the World Part 1” where we’re told that shortly after the first artists came the first art critics…..I’ll leave you to determine what happens…. The music world is certainly not short of people with opinions in regards to others’ ability to perform and provide nuance to the work they present for us as music lovers to listen to. In the classical world, int...

Frank Zappa is an odd duck. His massive back catalogue of albums attracts both reverence and ambivalence from music fans. Stylistically, he covered so much ground covering doo wop, blues, psych, jazz fusion and dissonant orchestral music. Unlike many of his rock and roll contemporaries, he always believed in infusing a sense of humour into his music – both compositionally and lyrically….though sin...

It's not too often that a story will make a connection between Linda McCartney, The Beastie Boys and The Clash, but this month's film does just that. Welcome to episode 126 of See Hear Podcast. When the average person is asked to name a single important figure in reggae music, they'll most likely say Bob Marley. Without taking away from his importance, reggae's production giant, who helped Marley...

The use of non-diagetic songs in cinema is often designed to provoke a type of nostalgia, or at least an understanding of the era the film is set in. Apocalypse Now opens very effectively to the sounds of The End by The Doors. Goodfellas keeps updating the jukebox as the story travels over the years (Scorsese is a master of that). So, if you watch a film set in the 50s like American Graffiti or Th...

We've recently lost one of the great directors over the last few decades in David Lynch who was known for showing the dreamy and nightmarish side of America (and we need you now, David). The other great tellers of American stories over the same period have been Joel and Ethan Coen. They have protagonists who start out in precarious positions in life....then things go downhill. Welcome to episode 1...

1981.....music and film fans could only guess as to what the coming decade held – both in art and in the real world. If art reflects the real world, then a portmanteau film centred around a force that contains the sum of all evils seemed like a reflection of the environment the film was born into. Welcome to episode 123 of See Hear. In 1981, following on from the magazine it aligned itself with, C...

When you attended high school, did you have a music program? If so, were you enthusiastic about playing what was selected for you? In the early days of music tuition, chances are you had to play dull tunes that were in line with your limited abilities....on a recorder!!!!! Within 3 or so months of picking up an instrument, could you play tunes made famous by, say, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman? N...

Do you like music films? Dumb question, I guess, because if you've deliberately downloaded an episode of See Hear, you know that music films are our niche in the podcast world. For us to discover that there was a new book about the subject that drives this very podcast....well, there was much cheering and jumping for joy. Welcome to episode 121 of See Hear Podcast. We welcome to the show Professor...

Movie music – any movie fan will acknowledge that a film score or a soundtrack can make or break how well a film works. The acting and cinematography and production values all count obviously, but imagine putting the 3 Stooges theme in place as “Mother” goes to see how Marion Crane is faring in the shower scene of Psycho. Welcome to episode 120 of See Hear. If you haven't caught up with the previo...

As you know, our mission at See Hear HQ is to discuss, chew on, and pontificate (in that order) about music films. But.....what if we DIDN'T do that for a couple of episodes????? Shock horror!!! Welcome to episode 119 of See Hear Podcast. Don't panic....we're not straddling too far from our mission. This time around, instead of talking about films that are ABOUT music, we'll discuss the music itse...

Every major city with a healthy music scene will have hometown heroes….that band or artist that the locals love and wish the whole world knew about. One of those bands is Toronto’s “The Lowest Of The Low”. Welcome to episode 118 of See Hear. The Lowest of the Low started in the early 90s as a follow up to the band punk band, Popular Front. Ron Hawkins had previously written overtly political songs...

Did you ever read rags with headlines like “I had an alien love child” or “Psycho seagull stole dog from my garden” or “Monster rats the size of cows”? No? You're missing out on a Wild...Wild....Life. Welcome to episode 117 of See Hear Podcast. Writers Stephen Toblowsky and Beth Henley met Talking Head, David Byrne, and had a conversation about newspaper articles he'd read with bizarre things happ...

We all have musicians that we wish everyone else knew about. THAT person who deserves a wider audience, but life circumstances didn't allow for it. Knowledge of that musician seems to be like the secret handshake into a special club. Nick Drake was one of those people until a TV car advertisement that used his music got more people curious....thank goodness. Judee Sill's music is not likely to be...

Back in 1980, I recall going to the cinema to see a new film, The Blues Brothers. Music and car chases…..what wasn’t there to love? The critics hated it because….ya know….that’s what they’re paid to do. A few years after initial release, it became THAT cult film that everyone watched – on TV, on video or at late night cinema screenings (in Melbourne, it became an audience participation phenomenon...

There's a song performed by Peter Allen that seems to be more relevant than ever: Everything Old Is New Again. Film plots are recycled, songs are recycled (through covers or the same chord structures).....and the media we use to play those films and songs are back in fashion. Records have been popular again for a while, some people are rediscovering VHS, and as this month's film focus shows us, th...

Back at episode 110 of See Hear, Tim, Kerry and I had a round table discussion (Broadway Danny Rose style) about Denny Tedesco's 2015 documentary, The Wrecking Crew. That film was about the session musicians of the 1960s LA scene that made the “name” performers sound great. These session musicians were not known by name outside of that community until their achievements were lauded decades later....

When you think of American folk songs of the 60s, you'd think of political injustice, civil rights, hardships due to economic burdens, and war, right? Or do you think about the comforts of food always being laid out on the table, boundless optimism 'cos “its THAT kind of day” or kissing at the end of an optical illusion caused by the dispersion of light in water droplets? 'Cos both work, ya know....