Last Shop Standing inspired by the book of the same name by Graham Jones takes you behind the counter to discover why nearly 2000 record shops have already disappeared across the UK. The film charts the rapid rise of record shops in the 60,70 and 80’s, the influence of the chart, the underhand deals, the demise of vinyl and rise of the CD as well as new technologies. Where did it all go wrong? Why were 3 shops a week closing? Will we be left with no record shops with the continuing rise of downloading? Hear from over 20 record shop owners and music industry leaders as well as musicians including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, Norman Cook, Billy Bragg, Nerina Pallot, Richard Hawley and Clint Boon as they all tell us how the shops became and still are a part of their own musical education, a place to discover and cherish new bands, new music and why they might just have a brighter future.
It’s accompanied by Apocalypse: A Bill Callahan Tour Film. Bill Callahan seems an unlikely subject for a music documentary. For most of his career the indie singer-songwriter formerly known as Smog has seemed thoroughly uninterested in explaining his music or himself, to the point where articles about him often focus as much on his supposed introversion and inarticulacy as on his songs. Which the article writers invariably love; Callahan’s allusive, elusive monologues of internal apocalypse have won him critical plaudits and an adoring cult fanbase. It was as a fan that Hanly Banks, then a video maker for music/style magazine The Fader’s website, approached Callahan last year (through Drag City, his longtime record label) about filming him as he toured behind his latest album, Apocalypse. from musicfilmweb.
Recommended rating: Cert 15.
