Sugar - Film Review

The American story or ‘dream’ has always been rooted in the fundamental premise that if you do your best and stay true to your beliefs you will succeed. The country’s literary, political and cultural history is a vast catalogue of underdog tales and ‘bootstraps’ mythology, from the novels of Horatio Alger Jr through to the sweeping oratory of Barack Obama, and it is consumed and digested to varying effect the world over. But if such ideas are seen to free-float in and out of the collective psyche with the ebb and flow of cultural change within the country, nowhere are they more distilled than on the sports field, where they are woven into the very fabric of the shirts worn by the nations sporting heroes.

This is the jumping point for Sugar, the latest offering from the filmmakers of the Oscar nominated Half Nelson, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. It is the story of Miguel ‘Sugar’ Santos (Algenis Perez Soto), a talented Dominican baseball player, whose aim is to make it to America and the Major Leagues. However, very early on in the film we are presented with the challenging duality of Miguel’s motives; on the one hand he is gifted pitcher whose advancement seems assured with focus and hard work, but on the other we see a vulnerable young man required to support his family following the death of his father. Nowhere is this duality better illustrated than in the ailing family home; a perpetual work-in-progress that Miguel no-longer has the time to complete because of his commitments at the baseball academy. So when he finally gets called up for spring training in Kansas City, it would appear that the breakthrough he and his family have so longed for has finally arrived, summed up in the shriek of delight from his mother on receiving the news.

Sugar’s arrival in ‘the States’ (the preferred term in his home) heralds a new chapter in the film. Whilst still in the Dominican Republic Miguel was able to bathe freely in the American ideal, boasting with friends and loved ones of the Cadillac he is going to buy – that eternal symbol of advancement and progress – but stepping from the dream to reality reveals how monumental the task in front of him actually is. Again the filmmakers come to our aid with a convenient juxtaposition: Miguel the economic migrant, hampered by the language barrier and the cultural differences he comes face to face with, and Brad Johnson (Andre Holland), his teammate, educated at Stamford and with all the guarantees of development the Ivy League offers (we are told that Johnson has signed straight from college for one million dollars). Needless to say the two become firm friends, but somewhat predictably it is short-lived as Johnson is quickly promoted through the ranks. Not that this separation signals an immediate downturn for Miguel. He makes it to the next level and with a move to the Kansas City Knights affiliate in Brigetown, Iowa, he quickly gets a taste of success on the American sports field and all the adulation that has to offer.

Now lodging with a local elderly couple on their farm, we quickly notice the change in landscape both geographically and personally. With the better part of the baseball season complete, Miguel has learnt to assimilate – his English improves and he begins to make friends outside of the small band of Spanish speaking players which up to now he has stuck to rigidly – but when he sees the demise and final departure of a teammate and close friend, his true motivation becomes painfully clear. And when he finally succumbs to injury and is ultimately trumped by a new star pitcher, he rapidly loses faith in baseball as the answer to his question of existence and all-to-quickly rejects it in favour of a move to New York.

New York as a setting for the final section of the film is fitting in many ways. For Miguel it provides the imagined platform on which he can begin to build a life honestly (the irony being that his visa has now expired), but in contrast it also serves to perpetuate the myth of the American dream he has never really been able to disconnect from, or really ever wanted to. In New York he finds modest employment in a cafe, returns to friendships uncompromised by language, and in doing so is quickly lost to the city which for so long has promised salvation for those seeking a more rewarded life. Baseball is relegated to an enjoyed past time and one, by way of a final piece of social comment, he shares with the cream of appropriated foreign resource; a timely metaphor on which the film closes, as we are presented with a line-up in which each player announces the Major League team he once played for.

Sugar is a film to be enjoyed and disliked on many levels. In many ways it is a more detailed sports film that many others in the genre – it relies heavily on an actual interest in baseball and freely explores the mechanics of the sport – but this doesn’t necessarily compromise it as a piece of entertainment. Rather, problems lie in the somewhat hammy approach to storytelling that the filmmakers have adopted. Metaphors lie thick and heavy and big questions are approached but are rarely, if ever, resolved to satisfaction. It’s not a classic (I would rather watch Rocky) but Sugar does offer a welcome relief from the spread of anodyne films doing the rounds, and that’s because, for its faults, it undeniably has at least one key ingredient, soul.

The Hinterland Festival 2009

I have just got back from a long weekend in Scotland with Elks. We journeyed up there via the usual hospitality of la famille Tat in Leeds to play at The Hinterland Festival in Glasgow, a new urban based festival dedicated to showcasing leftfield, up-and-coming and established multi-genre acts across a number of venues in the city over the course of two nights. Taking its lead from the likes of the Camden Crawl, Brighton's Great Escape and SXSW in Austin, Texas, it's a tricky formula to get right. First and foremost how much do you ask the 'music loving public' to pay for the privilege of running around the city trying to see as many acts as their legs will carry them to (there were far more hills than I remember to)? Hinterland was £23.50 a day (£42 for the two days) and although this in theory breaks down to something in the region of 50p a band, for many I spoke with it was just too much. This inevitably led to people swapping wristbands etc. in local pubs and within hours of the start of the festival there were large numbers of people enjoying it for free! This might not have been a problem for the bands - the bigger the audience the better - but for the organisers it's not so good.
Festivals in fields don't necessarily suffer from a ready-made crowd primed to storm the gates (Glastonbury being the exception to this rule, well maybe a few years ago at any rate), but for a bunch of twenty-somethings at a city centre event the temptation to wriggle their way in was too much to resist. This is in no way a reflection of the organisation of the festival itself, which seemed to cover the bases. Most bands played when they were supposed to play and the management of the wristband exchange at The Arches was faultless. It is, rather, systematic of peoples unwillingness to invest in such events - by this I mean that outside of the mainstream. As with the nonsensical practice of giving music away for free, this is yet another example of the belief that we all deserve something for nothing. The music industry doesn't always help itself, although it's the ones who can afford to give themselves away that are more than happy to perpetuate the scheme, but it's the little guys at the bottom - bands, artists and festival organisers alike - that suffer. Despite this being a genuine cutting edge or at best a challenging event, it appeared as if much of the audience treated it with a mainstream disposability that was rather sad to witness. There were NME cover stars (at least potential ones) involved, but they were the tip of the iceberg. The greater percentage of acts were little known but had all put in the miles to be there and deserved their place and the attention. These events need cash-cows to attract attention (some events take this to the extreme considering their supposed ethos'. The Great Escape being a prime example) but why have audiences become complacent to the extent they will not use their own intuition and perception to seek out great new music? And there was some great new music there, as there is at many other far smaller, far less promoted festivals all around the country. Elks were one of the lucky ones. We were playing with Jeffrey Lewis (a big pull) at King Tuts (a great, well-known venue), but I know many of the smaller venues on the hinterland of Hinterland did struggle to get going.
This is where lessons should be learned and these festivals are a great idea in principle, so they have good foundation to build on. They allow people to enjoy a massive array of music on their doorstep (The Camden Crawl has proved this, although again I would argue it's losing its focus to a certain extent) but I think Hinterland went too big too soon. They could have used less venues and kept them closer together and maybe either had less acts or added a third day to compensate. Ultimatley however what really needs to change is the culture of music consumption in this country - be it on record, download or live. Music as a product is becoming so devalued now that audiences are losing faith in its validity. Regarding live music the issue is made worse by idiotic and unreasonable ticket prices at the top end of the scale which has the trickle down effect creating the perception that events such as Hinterland seem expensive, when in reality for what was on offer it was very reasonable.
I sincerely hope this event happens again next year and that they stick to providing a platform for introducing genuine unknown, quality music, and not feel pressured into giving a larger piece of the festival cake to headliners doing the rounds. Events like Hinterland could play a vital role in shaking audiences out of their complacency by being a major player outside the mainstream if they keep their focus. The UK not only deserves events like this, it needs them!

Review: Nicker Hill Orchestra - All The Different Deaths...And Rebirths

If you had asked me this time last year to name one alternative or at the very least one guitar band from Italy I think I would have struggled...Wait! I know I would have struggled. I'm not so ignorant to think they wouldn't exist - I know that Continental Europe has produced some music world leaders and therefore would obviously have healthy independent and underground scenes (where else do leaders either come from or get their ideas!) I guess like so many other people I was Anglo-centric. So much easier to follow a band or an artist when language isn't a boundary. What you soon learn about many of the great bands from Italy, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands etc. is that many of them are actually caught in the same trap of Anglo-centrality which forces them to sing in English and generally emulate the heroics of past UK & US masters of the genre. I can understand this though because it's a vicious circle and if the only bands that are seen to make it beyond the national frontiers are doing it then what motivation is there to stick to your own? That's no-longer the kind of world we live in...of course one way round it is to be instrumental! That way you can only be judged on the music and not your accent...a global solution.
This is what I hear in the Italian four-piece, Nicker Hill Orchestra's new album All The Different Deaths...And Rebirths. It's 95% instrumental (the brief vocal moments in tracks 2 & 4 are arguably textural rather than lyrical) and it encompasses many of the great attributes you look for, or have come to expect, from instrumental albums of the last few years. It's delicate to a point of fragility before building along repetitive and menacing themes, then exploding in soaring episodes, all underpinned with heavy down-tuned rhythm. There is a large amount of hat-tippin' towards two of the great instrumental bands of recent times Mogwai & Explosions In The Sky, but I can also hear moments from other lesser known European bands that have caught my attention, including two worth looking up, We Vs Death from the Netherlands & Enemies from Ireland, which help confirm the ease at which instrumental music can and does travel.
For all this, Nicker Hill Orchestra have still produced a fantastic sounding five track album. If it doesn't struggle with national boundaries, it unfortunatly does with those of genre, but with this type of instrumental album that is less important because it's such a simple pleasure to listen to. The danger lies in it fading to background music, but then that's what a good heavy section is for - to grab you by the throat and demand your attention - and this album has them in all the right places and with that oh-so-satisfying rumbled fuzzy distortion that Mogwai used so effectively on Mr. Beast. Perhaps this album's greatest achievement however is it's ability to achieve the epic without becoming dull, and remain technical without appearing to overstretch the musicians. It would certainly be great to hear these songs live and hopefully it won't be long until the band find their way to the UK...or I head back to Italy! 8/10

Distribution Distribution Distribution

Since the demise of one of the UK's biggest independent music distributors, Pinnacle, back at the end of 2008, finding anyone to take on the job that isn't completely overrun with new business of all shapes and sizes is near impossible. It's certainly making my life hell. I started this company pretty much as members of the unknowing public where about to push off into the turbulent and rough waters of this ere' recession and it leaves little room for traditional thinkers. I have global digital distribution sewn up - that part was easy - but I love physical product and I know that there are other people out there that do to. Whether it be vinyl, CD or tapes for God sake, it is still preferably for some people that like to have and to hold, and pour over an inlay, either for the artwork or those other seemingly useless pieces information that can be stored for conversations with contemporaries. Thankfully there are already a large number of independent labels that are fighting the good fight, some as though digital doesn't exist, so what I say here is not new. But what I'm looking for is the road through and ultimately following economic recovery, the one that says that spending is good because it's a way keeping the cogs greased and turning. Don't get me wrong, I'm at odds with big budget record company nonsense, as all it really serves to do is flatter the creativity out of talent. Everyone is now in a position to see that frivolous spending at all levels was the cause of the present economic problems, but music is music! It plays such a vital and necessary role in all our lives that it should be supported, and especially those that make it, and that means financially. Because we are all feeling the pinch is no reason to look to a free society. Think about it - what do you really get when you get something free? Poor quality, poor workmanship, temporary, disposable...they are not words I would associate with music from the past-how-many-decades, so why settle for it now? So I'm an idiot for wanting to start a label when most where looking for ways out because they could no-longer afford the inflated, magniloquent lifestyles. I feel this is a good time to exercise my 15 years of experience in the music business because a lot of the chaff will finally be heading where it belongs. All of a sudden the playing field doesn't look quite so daunting. We have a chance to wrestle music back from advertising agencies and sponsorship deals if what it! All we have to do is convince music lovers and lovers of music to do the honest thing and put their hands in their pockets. It's not a hard response to administer, if people believe it to be right...

Emerging from the mountains...Emerging from the woods...

I started this label about six months ago in the hope of following so many other labels from around the world that I love. I don't have much money so the DIY ethic runs strong. It's fundamentally a game - trying to find ways of giving new music and other things I love a platform. As I see it I can get involved with so much more than just music (I want to), so herein begins a new chapter for The Great Outdoors - a name that seems apt to me now in so many ways (it's a rough and untamed world out there...)