Sound City

"Sound City" is the wonderfully entertaining documentary by Foo Fighter Dave Grohl about legendary recording studio (wait for it...) Sound City, located in a dumpy part of the San Fernando Valley. It's legendary status is due to all the great (or best-selling) albums recorded there over the years. When digital recording arrived, Studio City found fewer and fewer clients, and finally Dave goes back to Sound City to remove the massive analog mixing/recording deck and put it in his own home studio.

The interviews include Tom Petty, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsay Buckingham, Barry Manilow (!), Trent Reznor, Paul McCartney....and a cast of thousands. They all have sweet stories of how much they loved the dumpy little studio with the big sound. There are embarrassing shots of '80s hair, and confessions of crushes on the receptionist.

There's a companion CD, and it's not really the soundtrack, because most of the performances aren't in the movie (or are woefully short snippets). Paul McCartney records with the remaining members of Nirvana, and it's in his throat-ripping mode. For me, the best song on the CD features Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on the grindingly mesmerizing "Mantra". Lee (Fear) Ving's "Your Wife Is Calling" is fun, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a knowing reference to it in a Simpson's episode someday.

As Dave says about the studio, "it might not be pretty, but it's for f-ing real". It's a fond look back at a process and a legacy that's still hanging on, thanks to fans like Dave Grohl.