this page has my favorite video from the past twenty years. Only thing is I’m not sure which one it is!
Tarka Movement One
Anthony Phillips and I recorded this music back in 1987 in London. It was inspired by my late fathers classic novel ‘Tarka the Otter’. It was supposed to go with a a film but thats another story that will probably never be told.
Could be a favourite video
However in 2009 I traveled back to the UK to film in the areas of Devon that Tarka lived, and made a film about the land ( without the notoriously shy otters). This is a bit of it.
Huon Boatshed
Harry made this video for Liam Gerner. We absolutely loved his live performance at Cygnet Festival 2019 with a stellar band including Lucky Oceans on slide. We videoed the whole three days and had many different camera-people volunteering as assistants. Please forgive the slightly improvised camera-work.
The view at the start was from our lodging on the Huon estuary. Quite apposite!
Choosing a favorite video is like asking who is your favorite child? It depends….and in my defense your honor, embedding these videos from the worlds favorite video player is another type of nightmare.
Ho how I love the algorithm.
Cygnet 2020
Here is a little compilation of Cygnet 2020 made just before lockdown. Remember that?
Shaking the Tree Choir
We shot ‘On the turning away’, at St Kilda Pier in Melbourne.
Men in Suits
Below Men in Suits tee up a dig at Melbourne’s famously chaotic suburban railway network.
Train after train passes by, failing to stop at this once busy inner city station. This leads to consternation when Melbourne’s Men in Suits are passed by in this favorite video. We recorded the audio for this version at a memorable Gig with the Spooky Men in Northcote which therefore led to the idea of re-enacting the event at the actual location.
Michael Kennedy -Dhungala
Songwriter and poet Michael Kennedy wrote and performed this beautiful original song.
The Melbourne Millennium Chorus was for this night conducted by Carl Pannuzzo and Penny Larkin. Always varied and exciting to witness, this memorable choir was initially created by The Boite, who manage and promote music from around the world, for a single performance at the Millennium Celebrations in 1999-2000 and was so popular, it continued for over twelve years.
Dungala is a Aboriginal name for the mighty River Murray. Michael Kennedy’s plea for the health of this vast river, heart of our continent, is ever more poignant as time passes. The responsibility for the health of our heart has been bandied around between competing governments for too long.
Melbourne Millennium Chorus Compilation
This is a rather short compilation of various songs more or less at random. If anyone is really interested, maybe I could dig some more of it out of the store and make something of it if you let me know.
Men In Suits – Rub me the Right Way
Men in Suits was originally formed for a performance at The BMW edge produced by The Boite.
The Men’s choir, open to all comers, was immediately popular, especially singing the highly unusual arrangements created by their eccentric and brilliant conductor, Stephen Taberner.
Men In Suits traveled to Canberra’s National Folk Festival in order to to appear in the choir competition. They were a huge success with their dangerous semi-striptease act ( no kidding) and their honed sense of the absurd.
Their choice of this MoTown cover and the striptease of one game and fit tenor gave them a chance at first place. It certainly added to the humor of the evening. One of our favorite videos.
This clip is Especially Recommended if you want a laugh – please wait for the end!!
Love and Justice by Kavisha Mazzella
Kavisha Mazzella is a much loved and highly talented performer and songwriter. She manages to delve into the soul of every subject she explores and so it was always a pleasure to record her wonderful albums over the years.
Victorian Women’s Trust commissioned this lovely song to celebrate the centenary of Women’s suffrage in Victoria. Several hundred women sang this song at Deakin Edge, Federation Square in the building affectionately known as ‘the Glass House’ so Melbourne would remember the promise.
Activists and politically minded women passed this stirring song around the world which resulted in a number of other international performances of the work.
Cale Sexton – Sustain live at the Federation Bells
Cale Sexton created a whole album of original music which led to a performance at Federation Bells, Birrung Marr in 2019.
Spring Studio filmed the concert and created this impressionist video from the evening’s images. Harry listened carefully to the music and chose images from his library to illustrate this Melbourne art video.