At Rooftop, we love the quiet, lovely experimentations of The Quavers (who played our festival in 2007), and are glad to post about their latest music-film collaborations. So it's sure to get us excited when you set up this scenario: T. Griffin from the Quavers, Guy Picciotto from Fugazi (other members of which played at Rooftop in 2006) and Athens, GA, indie-folk hero Vic Chesnutt, brought together by a screening for Brooklyn indie-film legend Jem Cohen . . . on a rooftop!

Observe, listen, reflect and enjoy.

* * *

"Holed up in a basement once used as a bolthole for Latvian sailors, Brooklyn's T. Griffin teamed up with singer/violinist Catherine McRae for this spectral third album. His grainy blend of electro-folk and found sounds (he calls it "porch techno") resembles a hushed collision of Vic Chesnutt, Low and Jim O'Rourke. Deathly strings and lonely guitar - allied to telephone static, samples and snatches of Casio - make this record appear salvaged from some creaky urban junk shop. It holds together admirably, though, its wounded ambience both delicate and dense." - Uncut Magazine (UK)

Saturday, November 15th, 8PM
The Quavers play at Barbes
376 9th Street, Park Slope Brooklyn
all ages
$10 suggested donation

By Rooftop Films in Home Movies, Rooftop Music, Watch Short Films | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (9)

Tags: Fugazi, Guy Picciotto, Jem Cohen, Music, Rooftop, T. Griffin, The Quavers, Vic Chesnutt, Vienna

Sound Fix presents O'Death at Rooftop Films on June 12th, 2008 (Sarah Palmer)

On October 28th, Rooftop vets O'Death released their third album, Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skins via Kemado Records. The album, which was written over a span of three years, was co-produced with Alex Newport (Two Gallants, the Locust). Before heading out on a national tour, they're celebrating their album release at Music Hall of Williamsburg TONIGHT!

Thursday, October 30th, 2008
O'Death, Hoots and Hellmouth, La Strada
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Doors 8pm / Show 9pm
$12 advance / $14 day of show, 18+

By Rooftop Films in Rooftop Music | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

Tags: Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skins, Music, Music Hall of Williamsburg, O'Death, Rooftop Films, Sound Fix Records, Williamsburg

On Wednesday, October 29th, Rooftop Films returned to Chelsea Market for the first of three off-season shows. This being Halloween week, we screened a madcap selection of independent horror shorts from around the world. Needless to say, it was a harrowing and bone-chilling event.

Before the films, Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers played an energetic live set, all done up in face paint and robed in the vestments of the undead. Approximately 350 people packed the house.

Many thanks to Metalbelly Michael Ginsberg from Chelsea Market for all his help, to Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers for a rollicking performance, and to Dana Vessa and Radeberger for the beer!

Want some more Horror action? Check out Program Director Dan Nuxoll's top five underrated independent horror films on Flavorwire HERE!

By Rooftop Films in Rooftop Music, Rooftop News, Rooftop Weekend Recap | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (2)

Tags: Chelsea Market, Dan Nuxoll, Flavorwire, Horror, Indie Horror Night, Radeberger, Rooftop Films, Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers

Rooftop favorites Frances released their first full-length album All the While via Gigantic Records this week. Produced by Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen, White Rabbits, Asobi Seksu), the record is replete with catchy pop arrangements profiling the virtuosic stylings of the each member of this versatile sextet.

The group will be celebrating their album release and the end of a busy and successful summer (which included two awesome Rooftop events at Solar One!) at three of the most hyped shows at the CMJ Music Marathon. Buy tickets now before they sell out!

All the While is available on Amazon, iTunes, Insound, and at your local record store.

Wednesday, October 22nd
The Bell House / 9pm / $8
w/ La Strada and The Loom

Thursday, October 23rd
Mercury Lounge / 10pm / $12
CMJ Showcase w/ Jukebox The Ghost, Pela, Muslims, more

Saturday, October 25th
Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos) / 8pm / Free!
CMJ Party w/ The Mae Shi, Drink Up Buttercup, Radio 4, lots lots more

By Rooftop Films in Rooftop Music | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (9)

Tags: All the While, Bell House, Frances, Mercury Lounge, Public Assembly, Rooftop Films

Rooftop Films events are more than just a movie screening--there's films you won't see anywhere else, live music, filmmakers in attendance, and a communal energy that exceeds just about anything you'll get in a theater.

Which is why we're so crazy about Brent Green--his shows have all that magic and passion, pinched together with wires and duct tape, and blasted forth though old phonographs, scratchy woodcuts, and a creaking, plaintive voice. Brent makes astonishing and inspiring animated films about strange old houses, alcoholic Santas, and bringing our soldiers home from an unnecessary war one piece at a time, and he sings the lyrics to a driving, indie-folk gospel.

With an ever-changing lineup of musicians to collaborate with (Fugazi, Califone, The Quavers, Sin Ropas, etc.), every show Brent does is unique. (I've written more here, and Brent played at Rooftop in 2006 and 2007).

On Tuesday, October 14, Brent will be playing two shows at The Stone in New York, the second of which will be with Rooftop's very own Drew and the Medicinal Pen, led by Rooftop staff member Drew Henkels. Drew's own brand of indie-carnival-folk-rock should provide a uniquely upbeat backdrop to Brent's euphoric despair. It will be a fantastic show, so don't miss it.

Tickets are $5, available at the door (no advance sales at John Zorn's cool new downtown club).

You can watch some of Brent's films online, but oh how it pales in comparison to the live act. Here's a taste. Come eat the full meal at The Stone...

By Rooftop Films in Animation, Home Movies, Rooftop Filmmakers, Rooftop Music, Watch Short Films | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (5)

Tags: animation, Brent Green, Califone, Drew & The Medicinal Pen, Fugazi, John Zorn, live music, NYC, Rooftop Films, Sin Ropas, The Quavers, The Stone

A new trend in interactive music/performance has found its home on the internet. The Black Cab Sessions, They Shoot Music Don't They, and Possibly 4th Street are just a few of the web shows that capture live performances in intimate and unique locations for an online audience.

The eponymous Black Cab Sessions are all filmed in the back of, you guessed it, black cabs (usually in London). They Shoot Music records live sets in unconventional spaces in Vienna while the latter asks musicians to meet at an undisclosed NYC location where they then shoot impromptu jam sessions. Not to be forgotten, one of the first websites to host such performances was La Blogotheque, who are famous for having the Arcade Fire do a mini-concert in a freight elevator somewhere in Paris.

Given the recent appetite for lo-fi and DIY recordings, these videos have have gained cult followings and can be found on both the aforementioned websites and YouTube.

Check out Rooftop veteran Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent in Black Cab Sessions (above) and in a They Shoot Music video here.

By Rooftop Films in Rooftop Music | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (2)

Tags: Black Cab Sessions, La Blogotheque, Music Video, Possibly 4th Street, Rooftop Films, Rooftop Music, They Shoot Music Don't They

Deertick played to a sold-out crowd at Rooftop's June screening of Romance Shorts on the Lower East Side and since then has been touring nearly non-stop with both Jenny Lewis and The Felice Brothers.

The group recently announced that they've been signed to the Brooklyn-based Partisan Records and will re-issue their debut album War Elephant on November 25, 2008. Songwriting prodigy John McCauley III wrote and recorded War Elephant at the age of 20, and plays every single instrument on the album. [Brooklyn Vegan]

Deer Tick is scheduled to return to the NYC area on Sunday, November 2nd to play at the travelling performance-art circus, Spiegelworld. We hope to see you there!

By Rooftop Films in Rooftop Music | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

Tags: Brooklyn Vegan, Deer Tick, Jenny Lewis, Partisan Records, Rooftop Films, Sound Fix, Spiegelworld, The Felice Brothers, War Elephant

Friday, September 26th is the final Rooftop Films event of the year. Please come and enjoy highlights from the 2008 Summer Series!

Prior to the films, Sound Fix presents live music by Brooklyn based trio Chairlift. Show up early to catch their super danceable live show!

Having already played with Ariel Pink and MGMT, Chairlift is revving up for an upcoming tour with Yeasayer and will release their first full-length album Does You Inspire You on October 28th. You may have heard their single "Bruises" in the new "nano-chromatic" iPod ad!

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Tags: Chairlift, iPod, LES, Music, Open Road Rooftop, Rooftop Films, Sound Fix

FRIDAY: RURAL ROUTE SHORT FILMS
Friday Night temperatures were still hovering in the 90s, which often dampens people's spirit for going out. But we had yet another huge crowd at Rooftop Films, as people packed the lawn at Automotive High School to cool off in the pastoral grass for our annual collaboration with the Rural Route Film Festival.

Sound Fix Records helped book Goddamn Rattlesnake a wild acoustic indie honky tonk band, who playfully batted each other around the head as they flicked bugs from each other's faces in between songs. A big group of people sat right up at their feet, kicking off the energetic vibe for the evening. It's great to see so many folks enthusiastic for the live music at our shows!

Normally our collaboration with Rural Route highlights the pastoral peace of country living, but this year we were celebrating the rougher side of the rural life, and burning rubber in the rural route. People were hooting and hollering throughout the evening, and we almost got a riotous ball game going, inspired by
The Hardest Goal.

Filmmaker Max Finneran, who directed the opening short Pumpkin Hell was in the crowd, and had some kind things to say in an email the next day:

"The screening looked and sounded fantastic--frankly a lot better then many indoor festivals I've been to. I kind of underestimated how cool it would be to see my movie outside! And with 400 plus out on a hot sweaty night it was a great experience. I also thought the programming line-up was a really solid collection of shorts--nice and diverse with unexpected, original ways of defining "rural route," the cornerstone of it all being that little Outhouse horror show that capped the night off."

SATURDAY: INDUSTRIANCE - THE LIVELONG DAY (Short Films)
One of the most rewarding things we do as programmers is take a challenging theme and find a solid and intelligent set of films that form an entertaining and informative program. On Saturday, Rooftop Films continued our collaboration with XO Projects Inc. and our INDUSTRIANCE series, programs about the changing landscape in industry, architecture, agriculture, labor, and related fields, and the ways those changes affect individual lives. Making such a concept personal and engaging is difficult, but the hundreds of people who came out on Saturday were enthralled by the diverse selection of films about labor.

In part, that may be because we had in the program two of the most perfect films for our festival: City of Cranes a perspective-shifting documentary about crane operators, and Behind The Glass, a film that focuses on the passion of outdoor film projectionists. There's really nothing at other festivals or screenings that can compare to seeing films like those on rooftops, outdoors--where the films and the venue and the view all come together to make a magical, memorable event. With filmmakers Gabriel Rhodes and Jesse Epstein (director of 34x25x36) in attendance, what seemed like a relatively low-key Rooftop show turned into another spectacular evening.

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Tags: Automotive High School, Goddamn Rattlesnake, Max Finneran, Rooftop Films, Rural Route Films, Sound Fix Records, The Hardest Goal

Music has always been an important part of the Rooftop Films experience, and we take great pride in all the amazing musicians that perform both before and after our films. Highlights have included TV on the Radio, The Mountain Goats, members of Fugazi and Califone, Air Waves, Frances, Parts and Labor, Apollo Heights, O'Death, Deer Tick, Dirty Purpose and more!

This summer, Rooftop is expanding our connection to the New York music scene and staying true to our mission to support independent artists by partnering with Sound Fix Records to present the music for The Rooftop Films 2008 Summer Series.

Opened in 2004, Sound Fix has become one of New York's finest independent record stores and live music venues. Located in Williamsburg, the record store holds a diverse selection of both recent releases and rare vinyl, and the back-room bar is known for its exceptional and free live acts.

Rooftop's partnership with Sound Fix will highlight the innovative new music being produced in and around New York and will bring the best up and coming bands and performers to the rooftops.

Sound Fix presents at Rooftop Films: Dirty on Purpose, O'Death, A.R.E. Weapons, Silver Haunches, Deer Tick, Sharon Van Etten, Artanker Convoy, New Rap Order, Yerbabuena, She Keeps Bees, Goddamn Rattlesnake, Pwrfl Power, Balun, Nacotheque, and much more!

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Tags: Music, Rooftop Films, Sound Fix, Summer Series 2008

For those of you who know don't know much (or anything) about Rooftop Films, here is a brief introduction:

Rooftop Films is a non-profit film festival and production collective that has been screening and producing independent films since 1997. We are most famous for our annual Summer Series, a summer-long outdoor film festival that features more than 35 screenings each year. All of our summer screenings take place in stunning outdoor locations--either on rooftop or in parks, along piers, or in other scenic outdoor locations all over New York City (and occasionally beyond). We have screened more than 1,500 films over the last twelve years, and the work we show includes everything from award-winning films and world premieres by established filmmakers, to home videos by amateur and part-time film enthusiasts.

Though we are best known for our spectacular outdoor shows, Rooftop Films is more than just a festival--we are a film community. We believe that we have a responsibility to bring filmmakers, artists and musicians together with one another and with our audiences, and we believe that independent films flourish when they get out of the indie-plexes and art-house theaters and work their way into the lives and communities of people all over the world.

Of course, that is why we show films outdoors--but that is also why we are so excited to have partnered with IFC.com to bring many of our favorite short films to the internet. Too many fantastic short films never reach the audience they deserve, and even the best and luckiest of them tend to make their way through the film festival circuit and then disappear from the public eye completely. By partnering with IFC.com, Rooftop Films can keep these films alive and bring them to thousands of new people who don't get the chance to see them at festivals.

There is much talk about how well-suited the internet is for showing short films, but so many of the internet video portals are filled with clips from TV shows and battles between wildebeests and lions. Of course, we love some of those clips, too, but the Rooftop Films page offers a quality, curated alternative to the anarchy of YouTube. We receive more than 2,000 submissions every year, and all of the films we select for IFC.com are chosen from the most extraordinary works in our library of shorts, so these films are truly the best of the best. Our goal is to create a virtual place where viewers can peruse hundreds of films in all different genres so that they can get a sense of the truly ground-breaking work being done all over the world.

And now that we also have a blog on IFC.com, the information doesn't just have to flow one way. All year long, we will be posting interviews and other bits of information about the films we select, and we highly encourage you all to respond with comments and questions for us and for the filmmakers who have made these films. We'll answer your queries, and create an online community that captures the enthusiastic spirit of our live shows.

We'll be posting 100 films between now and the end of 2008--3 a week, every week--so bookmark the page and check back in daily to watch great films and read about all of the things going on with our festival and in the indie-film world.

Rooftop Films--Underground Movies Outdoors and Online.
Check out www.rooftopfilms.com for more information about our shows and other programs.

By Rooftop Films in About Rooftop Films and This Blog, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Environmental Films, Home Movies, Personal Narrative, Political Films, Rooftop Filmmakers, Rooftop Music, Rooftop News, Watch Short Films | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (4)

Tags: 2008 Summer Series, Rooftop Films, Underground Movies Outdoors, Watch Short Films