Documentary review - OUR VINYL WEIGHS A TON by Jeff Broadway

Fans of hip hop and the style of avant garde music indepdendent label Stones Throw Records are certainly not going to want to miss Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton, directed by Jeff Broadway and shown at the 59th Cork Film Festival. Chances are, anyone else is not going to give a hoot.
 
A bit of background info on Stones Throw Records. This was an independent L.A. records label owned by Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter, that produced notable and deeply influential hip hip, howuse and avant gard music and that has managed to remain independent in the face of big business take overs. Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton pretty much chronicles its history since its inception in 1996, and despite its strong focus on the artists that almost reads like a celebratory representation of the independent label's back catalogue with most of the artists getting a more or less equal amount of attention and screen time, Jeff Broadway's film also has time to look at some of the more intimate sides of his subject and deal with more personal issues of the people that have come and gone, lived and died and played an important part in the establishment and fortification of the label's legacy.
What is incredibly striking about the film is how much info it is able to squeeze into its little over an hour and a half length. The list of musicians and artists that it talks about, really seems quite endless. Nevertheless, this restless and quite possibly complete representation of this list of names is so rich and full that it paradoxically ends up undermining the music, that ends up filling the role of background music. This would be okay for anyone familiar with the subject itself, and even at that probably more rewarding for the real, true fans of the history of Stones Throw Records. Chances are, however, that for anyone who is not familiar with the subject, the music and this particular world Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton is going to be a novelty at best and quite a useless introduction.
 
However, having settled the fact that this is a film for fans by a fan, the list of contributions from big names such as Flying Lotus, Common, Kanye West Mike D and so on makes for quite an entertaining watch, aided by a really well balanced rhythm that makes this documentary fun and exciting. It is also enriched by the use of authentic archive footage, that provides a further behind the scenes look at the world of independent records in general, a naturally fascinating world. One of the most rewarding elements of Jeff Broadway's work, however, is hearing about the influences of these musicians and artists, their different waves and even genre switches, that in a broader sense ended up influencing the music scene in a remarkably indelible way.