{"id":11512,"date":"2015-06-02T21:06:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T01:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=11512"},"modified":"2015-06-03T12:25:22","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T16:25:22","slug":"film-yello-electro-pop-made-in-switzerland-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=11512","title":{"rendered":"Film: Yello \u2013 Electro Pop Made in Switzerland (2005)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Yello_doc_2005\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/strong><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Brisk, highly informative documentary on the iconic Euro synth-pop team of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank, the duo behind Yello.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anka Schmid\u2019s documentary is filled with unexpected revelations of the main duo that makes up the iconic Euro synth-pop band Yello<\/a>, best known for the bass-pounding \u201cOh Yeah\u201d that was heavily featured in John Hughes\u2019 teen comedy Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/strong> (1986).<\/p>\n

Yello was formed when indie experimental filmmaker \/ anarchic industrial musician Dieter Meier met Boris Blank, an absolute wizard at the controls of any electronic instrument and mixing board, and Blank’s collaborator Carlos Per\u00f3n<\/a>. Since Per\u00f3n’s departure from Yello in 1985 for solo endeavors, Blank and Meier have maintained their ongoing partnership largely because they\u2019re a perfect fit, and best friends who feed off the other\u2019s unique skills.<\/p>\n

Independently wealthy Meier characterizes himself as a dilettante whose pre-Yello years \u00a0as an artist blossomed because he worked within a unique vacuum that completely isolated him from labels, producers, agents, and other critics who could\u2019ve imposed more commercial concepts on his work.<\/p>\n

Beginning as an experimental filmmaker and performance artist, Meier eventually moved into music, where he thrived in Switzerland\u2019s music scene, whereas Blank kept building his arsenal of instruments by buying more gear with every paycheck, eventually becoming a one-man composer, musician, producer, engineer, and one can argue, theoretician.<\/p>\n

As Blank recalls, even as a child, when walking to school he\u2019d clap his hands to note how the echo would travel along the walls of an alley to understand the way sound is created, channeled, and could be manipulated. He requires no manuals \u2013 Blank just uses instinct to feel his way through new gear \u2013 but the end result of Yello\u2019s efforts were songs that sounded like nothing else on the market during the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Yello\u2019s music is highly eccentric \u2013 looped \/ loopy English lyrics predating sampled vocals, backbeats and elaborate yet danceable rhythms, brass emulations \u2013 but the way Meier describes the sound, it\u2019s electronic music made human through accessible forms and a sense of humour. The pair characterize themselves as two boys that never grew up who sometimes do idiotic things. What\u2019s composed is readily identifiable as Yello, but it\u2019s all proved quite influential over the decades as samples of their vocals and instrumental passages have appeared in other works.<\/p>\n

Schmid\u2019s doc is very personable \u2013 the pair open up in their working environments which, during their peak development period, included the use family members in videos \u2013 but what\u2019s remarkable is how timing and smart decisions aided the band in their success and longevity.<\/p>\n

Meier describes Yello\u2019s music as material written for unmade films which he\u2019d later shoot in 16mm; this quirk to make experimental movies in tandem with music allowed the band to gain recognition when MTV debuted years later, a new cable channel deeply in need of music videos.<\/p>\n

When movies and TV commercials started to use their music, Blank was involved in shaping the pieces to suit other needs, hence custom versions of work, such as early music drafts in the action-comedy The Adventures of Ford Fairlane<\/strong><\/a> (1990).<\/p>\n

As their fan base grew, the pair remained content in Switzerland, composing \/ recording \/ mastering music and making short films within a large warehouse, although Meier would ultimately have satellite homes throughout the world, whereas Blank enjoys consistency, privacy, and isolation. Meier is the camera-friendly front man, but Blank is an equal participant in filmed and live performances.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the band\u2019s most surprising decision came when they discovered how much and how often their work was being sampled. Rather than reciprocate with lawsuits, they launched a project where artists could come to their studio and access the master tracks from classic works and remix them as they pleased \u2013 a move undoubtedly coming from a band quite financially stabile, but perhaps more from a curiosity to see what could be created by another generation of keen artists.<\/p>\n

Even if one regards Yello\u2019s music as eccentric, quirky, and a distinct slice of Euro electro-dance-pop, the ingenuity of Meier and Blank is amazing, and in many ways they live the dream lifestyle and career in which art is created without the fear of bankruptcy or critical lambasting. It\u2019s just two guys having fun with their inner child for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

Schmid\u2019s doc also includes several interviews with former colleagues, associates, and collaborators, and there\u2019s a meaty segment on their work with Shirley Bassey. The film work with Hollywood is given a quick mere mention at the end, but this is a highly entertaining, informative, and witty hour-long doc originally produced for Swiss TV.<\/p>\n

Although unavailable on home video, a German-dubbed version is accessible via YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a>\u00a0 — Composer Filmography<\/a>\u00a0– IMDB Composer Filmographies: Yello<\/a> \/ Blank<\/a> \/ Meier<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anka Schmid\u2019s documentary is filled with unexpected revelations of the main duo that makes up the iconic Europ synth-pop band Yello, best known for the bass-pounding \u201cOh Yeah\u201d that was heavily featured in John Hughes\u2019 teen comedy Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off (1986)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[3678,3676,3674,3675,3673,3677],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-2ZG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11512"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11537,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11512\/revisions\/11537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}