A Thousand Farewells

Nahlah Ayed’s memoir, A Thousand Farewells, is riveting collection of life experiences relative to the author’s connection to the Middle East. The authors personal account of war in the Middle East presents a relevant perspective on the effects of modern warfare: The book illuminates not only the scars inflicted to soldiers and infrastructure, but also the (emotional and physical) scars worn by countless families caught in the crossfire as they struggle to manage their daily lives.

When our Western hand of intervention turns into a fist to force change, it is common for our media to censor the graphic violence that is prevalent in the regions of conflict. Most of us are quite disconnected from death in Canada, even living in the murder capital of this nation, many of us will never see death in our streets. War coverage on American television pacifies the violence even further by showing The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator dropping bombs with the press of a button—while the operator sips his morning coffee in the Nevada command centre. This glorification of tactical assault is eerily familiar to the Call Of Duty video games that dominate modern teenage hobby interests. It is apparent that we as civilians are disconnected from seeing the full effects of our intervention in the Middle East and other areas of involvement. A Thousand Farewells highlights the daily devastation felt by the people of the region and is not diluted to appease the faint of heart.

The reporting by Nahlah Ayed is very observational and sometimes poetic in its nature: I found this stimulating and enjoyable. I often felt that I was looking through her eyes, as a looking glass, when she was describing vivid events. Reading Ayed’s work has given me respect and appreciation for the small, specific observational details included in compelling journalism. When Ayed wrote about the shaking ground from the dropping bombs, I felt as though I was next to her tasting the dust in the area with remnants of black powder. During the reporting of bombs dropping in the distance, the author does not include descriptions of her emotional state because the scene is so descriptive the reader is engaged to connect their own emotions to the circumstances. It is so effective when a writer can show you a scene and not tell you; this makes the reading experience much more intimate and vivid. I believe many journalists can take a helpful example from Ayed’s work when using poetic language to help color a scene. Notably, the scene with the “angel of mourning” really captured the emotional state of Hillah when its dark secrets were being un-earthed. Ayed is really an expert at painting a detailed scene for readers with her extensive and carefully selected details. They say, “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” I felt the same effect from Ayed’s descriptive language painting a picture in my minds eye.

Ayed’s writing bears the professional structure and prose of a veteran journalist, which is demonstrated with every stroke of her pen (but most likely keyboard). There are many interesting metaphors contained in the pages showing the delicate balance of observational poetic expression and facts that add to the story. For example: the connection between candy bars and characters that sound as if they were crafted in a child’s imagination.

The use of similar names was often confusing for me throughout the book, but there isn't exactly a way around that while still maintaining integrity. Perhaps some non-essential characters throughout Ayed's experiences could have been omitted, such as, one of the many Abdullahs in the story. I was also surprised that there were never any mentions of romantic interest while traveling in the Middle East. Many details of the authors personal life are investigated and analyzed heavily while other areas are completely ignored. 

A very close family member of mine was in the Middle East for a short diplomatic objective, so in addition to the emotional response from an already compelling story I felt a strong connection when Ayed was feeling fear for her safety during the onslaught of conflict. Reading Ayed’s accounts of the dangerous elements in these troubled Middle Eastern cities prompted me to think of my family member and what he must of felt when touching down in that region for the first time.

I can honestly say that I have learned many important and practical lessons that will be a helpful influence on many future journalistic projects. I have always had a lot of curiosity about the recent invasion of Iraq and what the Iraqi citizens must have thought of George W. Bush’s allegations that subsequently led to war in their homeland. I strongly believe that it’s infinitely valuable for two cultures engaged in conflict to understand each-others perspective because war ultimately is the product of indifference affecting diplomatic failure. Books such as “A Thousand Farewells,” contribute to the very antithesis of war itself: understanding.

Daemoness Guitars!

Alright, it's time to talk guitars... And I ain't talkin' about the rows on the assembly line at the factory.

I have recently come across a very cutting edge guitar company hailing from Bristol, England, which is operated by Tom Waghorn and Dylan Humphries, who are world renowned professionally trained luthiers. The company is called Daemoness Guitars, they are determined to make the worlds best metal guitars for the modern player by integrating original designs and an ethos that is true to the metal player. The first thing I noticed about this English guitar builder is that each guitar has a central design concept; each guitar is like a work of art that boasts breakthrough creative concepts. Many of the central themes embody genre specific occult themes of death and demons—such is the way of the metal—but there are also many designs that are truly a thing of artistic beauty. Below is one of the customized guitars called the Shark Star. I really can't think of anything more hardcore than a shark inspired guitar...

Courtesy of Daemoness Guitars

I was first exposed to the small boutique guitar company through one of my favorite modern metal bands, Periphery, as their lead guitar virtuoso Misha Mans slung a big beautiful blue guitar (shown below) with the most intense 7 string tones. The Daemoness Guitars are installed with boutique pick-ups as well, and most of them are equipped with fellow English company and guitar innovators Bare Knuckle Pick-ups. These pick-ups really accentuate the playing style of the band Periphery, as they are central figures in the new metal genre (or guitar tone style) known as 'Djent.' Below is the gorgeous guitar that inspired me to seek out this company and research some of their other creations.

Courtesy of Daemoness Guitars

To me personally, there is something breathtaking about a thing of beauty like this guitar crafted from nature that unleashes a heavy wall of sonic ferocity.. Yes it is quite safe to say that I am quite captivated by this instrument.

Daemoness Guitars uses a variety of different wood for the body for different purposes. They often use combinations of Redwood, Mahogany and quilted maple layered together. Also the guitar neck is layered with three different varieties of wood to prevent warping and twisting. This method of layering wood is a very advanced and technical procedure only masters of the craft can pull off in an economical way. There are no prices listed on the website, but there is a section to send in your specs to receive a quote. With this kind of craftsmanship I wouldn't be surprised if the guitar build is well out of the price range of many of us mere mortals. The website confidently boasts, "Daemoness guitars can build you an exact replica of pretty much anything you want,"I definitely believe they can back that one up!

I was surprised to un-cover that all inlay work on the guitar neck is custom drawn out on a drafting table in the middle of the shop, a combination of white mother of pearl and abalone are custom cut and fitted into place to create yet even more character to these guitars.

Courtesy of Daemoness Guitars

All in all I am very impressed with the quality and world class expertise that goes into these guitars—larger guitar manufactures just cannot ever come close to this quality and attention to detail for logistical and economical reasons. 

These guitars are clearly designed for gods among men and if I ever get the chance to play one of these beasts, I am sure the under world would salute me with lighters in the air. Here is another pic for your enjoyment, cheers!

Post-production project complete!

I have recently completed the post-production audio edit for a 35 minute film I have been working on since the July. I was sceptical at first taking this project because of the very rough location audio that had a lot of destructive wind noise and interference throughout many dialogue intensive scenes. I saw the opportunity to take on an intensive challenge that would further refine my ADR and audio masking skills and add impressive elements to my portfolio and freelance business reputation. My freelance audio production business, Vigilant New Media, has finalised yet another post production project, but this one wasn't a cake walk.

The first stage in production was to do a rough edit the director and myself could determine which scenes will need ADR recording. After many review sessions we determined that roughly 1/3 of the film needed to be re-created in the studio, which by comparison to other indy films, is quite a lot. I would normally recommend re-shooting some scenes under these circumstances but the scenes were quite difficult to re-create and many of the actors are from Vancouver and Toronto, basically I was asked to make a miracle happen. The production company agreed to pay all the studio time and production expenses required to get the audio to a professional level, so I called up my good old buddy Andrew from Precursor Productions and booked about a week of studio time.

The ADR sessions were a lot of fun, all of the actors did a fantastic job despite the many takes we went through! It is a key tactic in ADR recording to use the same microphone at roughly the same placement as it was recorded on set-It is usually a safe bet to have the mic pointing downward from a raised mic stand to emulate how the boom mic is typically used on set. I was using Apple Logic Pro and engage the look take recording feature made it ideal for capturing the perfect ADR takes, because it allows you to seamlessly cut individual words from a variety of different takes to suit the scene.

Next on the agenda was a rigorous Foley recording session that took a couple months to completely re-create from the ground up. The wind noise was so destructive on some scenes that they had to be deleted completely, so every gust of wind rustling branches to every footstep and passing car had to be fabricated with some studio magic. This process was very challenging and time consuming at times, but the finished product really is something impressive. I can barely tell that the audio was re-created, it sounds to me like pristine location audio!

The most difficult Foley, however, is the roller skating scenes. I used contact microphones and boom mics spatially position around the streets at 4am - 5am when there was little traffic noise. The mixed roller skating now sounds dynamic, thunderous and amazing. After many mixing sessions with the director I finally have the finished product ready for the Cinematheque and film festival release this spring. I highly recommend checking out this film!

The Waiting Room

The Waiting Room blog post

It is easy to take for granted our free health care system as a Canadian citizen. If we were presented with receipts stating the cost of our latest doctors visit paid courtesy of the Government of Canada, I am sure it would put it in perspective just how fortunate we are to live in a nation where visits to the family doctors office feel like a basic inherent civil right. Sure we have our share of problems with the system here in Canada, but have we ever been frustrated enough to consider trading places with our Southern neighbours? The documentary film, The Waiting Room, offers an 81-minute candid journey into the perseverance and daily reality facing patients, doctors and staff caught up in the American healthcare system at the Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. This film offers an insider’s perspective on the inner workings of a health care system that is so different from our own in some ways.

Many young Canadians learn, in the early years of junior high school, the basic fundamental differences between our two healthcare systems and that we are privileged to be living in a nation that will not turn away it's citizens in our most vulnerable moments. The American healthcare system is often a hot topic for debate between Republican and Democratic leaders during election time, which in turn spills over into our Canadian media content. When I hear about the healthcare debates in the U.S I often wonder: how can a nation with an estimated GDP of $15.8 trillion in 2012, according to the U.S National Economic Trends, deny its citizens a very basic right to be treated in the direst times? It was curiosity that motivated me to see Michael Moore’s film Sicko in 2007, to shed light on this issue that is merely 140 km away from my hometown. I thought Sicko was a great and informative journey into the backward policies of American healthcare, but of course some of the messages were extremely dramatized to garner shock-value in true Michael Moore fashion. I appreciated the journey by boat to Cuba too seek health care, it made for great entertainment, but the majority of Americans aren’t travelling in boats making highly dramatized entrances for medical care. You will find most Americans in the countless waiting rooms strewn across their vast nation, many of them nervously waiting with their fate in the hands of their insurance provider, if they are lucky.

This documentary film The Waiting Room covers the very diverse and captivating stories of Americans inter-woven in the system at the Highland Hospital. The documentary is shot in an observational style, often called cinema verité, which presents a reality soaked multiple-character driven account of the many trials facing an un-insured patient in the U.S. health care system. The filmmaker, Peter Nicks, skillfully chooses diverse characters that have very different outlooks and are facing very different situations to color the greater message of the film looking at the broken system in its entirety. I was heavily captivated by each characters story and often pulled into the characters shoes: from a father fearful for his daughters well-being to an elderly man needing dialysis but more accepting to death than another waiting room at the hospital. The filmmaker does an amazing job empathetically connecting the audience to each patients fears and frustrations by offering a strip down bare bones account of their thoughts and reactions to the developments in their medical problems. The sound was predominantly natural ambiance in each setting, which evoked connectivity to the environment, and effectively transported the audience to the sensory surroundings of the waiting room. The film demonstrated journalistic objectivity by showing positivity in the systems as well by showing cheerful staff members trying to make the most of their daily work—the nurse with red rimmed glasses giving a gangster  patient a comical tongue lashing—and also glowing results from patients that had undergone emergency procedures stating the superiority of American emergency room surgeons.

One relation that Canadian and American health care systems share, is the inevitability of wait times. It was shocking in the film when patients of the Highland Hospital were given wait times as long as a month for MRI scans, it was a dramatically highlighted point in the film. In Manitoba, Canada, the average wait time for an MRI at the Health Sciences Centre is 16 weeks according the Manitoba Government's website: a very similar range of time.

In a recent experience of mine at the Health Sciences Centre I was waiting in the emergency room untreated for 7 hours suffering from severe food poisoning. After wait times were pushed back yet again, because of an insurgence of ambulance patients—not un-common for Manitoba—I decided to leave un-treated so I could attend school in the morning. This all-too-common situation allows one to see a common factor between our two systems: that health care is often a safety-net institution. This speculation is also tactfully suggested in the documentary. In fact, most of the patients that were ahead of me on the waiting list at the Health Sciences Centre knew the staff by name.

I wonder if the Highland Hospital has ever had mortality in their waiting room like the tragedy that happened to Brian Sinclair who died while waiting untreated for 33 hours in the Health Sciences Centre. Perhaps the U.S systems has mortality problems of their own. On May.15^, 2012, a message was given to physicians by T.R Reid, a notable journalist specializing in healthcare systems, at the 67th annual Ogden Surgical Medical Society conference that stated:

“Roughly 22,000 Americans die every year from treatable diseases because they can't afford to go to a doctor.”

Upon watching the documentary film and experiencing the Canadian health care system for myself, it is evident that each of our healthcare system’s in our affluent nations are far from perfect. But one thing was definitely made very clear by The Waiting Room documentary: the Americans health care system has a long way to go.

Signal Path for Guitar Pedals and Audio Effects

Hello Sonic Manipulators

In this blog post I will explore the considerations relating to signal path processing for audio effects predominantly focussing on guitar pedals. Most of us can relate to having that guitar player friend with a 'mission control' looking command centre full of tone manipulating gadgets; however, to chart into original compelling tones you dont have to break the budget to fill your pedal board rack with the latest 'space ship controlling' equipment. Often less is more when it comes to layering effects, because every pedal that sits in the signal path to your amp will color your sound and affect the signal even when bypassed.



Source: wodumedia.com, The Tom Green Show.

Before I get into signal path theory, it is appropriate for me to note that many guitar players are diverse in their approach to maximize tone, this is meant to be a guide, so when it comes down to it trust your ears and break some rules. This guide will help you break some rules with confidence. You may hear some killer tones taking the backwards approach!

Quick Theory Note: Think of your signal like a cooking recipe for delcious tones that has an order of operations to achieve concieved results. The order in which you add elements to the chain will be cummulatives in their effect to the final product (the sound that comes out of your amp.)

Choosing the Input path for your effects:

If your guitar amp is fitted with an effects sends and return signal chain I would highly suggest using this path for your pedal board; this option will allow you a clean direct signal for your over drive and clean channels allowing you to dis-engage your pedal board if you choose to use amp direct FX. You can also use the effects channel as a boost for solo'ing with solo specific effects or simply just dry (without FX).

Courtesy of louisvillemusic.org

First up in the signal chain!


Tuning Pedals: I always recommend using the guitar tuner for the first pedal in your signal chain. Tuners work most accurately with a clean signal that is not colored by additional effects.

Wah Pedals and Filters: These guitar effects are triggered dynamically by signal attack so it would make the most sense to add them here in the chain.

Courtesy of MusiciansFriend.com

Compression: Compressing your signal hear will allow the effected signal to reach the other effect pedals with optimal signal levels, maximizing the clarity of FX down the signal chain. This is a great way to tame the swellls that come out of your Wah pedal so they are sweet and not over bearing.

Over-drive and distortion pedals: 

These mighty pedals will colour your sound with gritty heavyness and additional gain; further, they add harmonics to your signal that can really add complexities travelling through the rest of your effects.

Modular FX section:

This section of the pedal board is highly objective and can influence your tonality in many diverse ways, which complete is dependant on the sort of style you are hoping to achieve. The pedals have the most character in this place of the signal chain. Modulation pedals such as: Flanger, Chorus, Phaser Etc.

Last in the signal chain:

Delay: This is the optimal spot for delay units. Having the delay record (and play back) all the elements of your tone from your pedals at this stage, will ensure that you dont loose any characteristics from your other pedals in your delayed sounds. If you engage the looping trigger—that many delay pedals are equipped with these days—You can shift gears into your distortion pedals for solo without affecting the looping signal.

Reverb: Reverb pedals are spatially constructing your guitar tones final image, it always sounds the best at the end of your signal chain. Feeding a reverb signal through all the rest of your pedals is a sure way to "muddy" up your sound. The spacial response from the reverb pedal at the end of the chain will react brilliantly with volume pedals and other pedals that manipulate the signal amplitude of your guitar tone.


Get out there and Experiment fellow axe slinger!

Courtesy of Boss

This is a starting point so get out to your jam space and experiment with your tone using these tried and true tips to maximize your guitars euphonic qualities.

All this writing about guitar pedals has seriously motivated me to grab a new pedal myself today. I am gonna go buy me the Boss DD-20 Digital Delay unit. I'll post on how it works in my rig next week. Cheers!

New CreComm band!

Good evening

I have really been itching to start a new band and play some shows since I moved here from Calgary two years ago and left my former band.




Former band FrontLine Infantry

The last band I played guitar in was really gaining some momentum and we were starting to headline some great shows; but unfortunately two of the band members moved to Vancouver for work, and shortly after I moved to Winnipeg for film work.

I have been keeping busy as a session guitar player since being in Winnipeg collaborating on tracks with Selektah Coda, DJ Tubescreamer and many other comrades in the electronic music       scene, but I've really been hoping to take it out of the studio and back on to the stage.

Former band FrontLine Infantry

I discovered that my motivations were shared with CreComm pals, Nolan and Logan. After some discussion about starting up a music project but lacking a place to practice with a live drummer, I began searching for a rehearsal studio. I did a ton of shopping around and started getting the word out to many collective local music organizations that we were looking for a good secure artistic space. My close friend and drummer for the band, Nick Hook, mentioned that his buddy Tom was renting a commercial studio space on Erin street and they currently had an opening that was spacious and secure. Without much delay we booted down there, took a brief tour and then signed the lease! This character space is a former bus depot that apparently has become haunted after a band-saw broke in the repair station and killed 4 people—perfect for some ghastly guitar riffs!



It was officially ours that night, so we celebrated our new piece of dingy real-estate by hauling all of our gear to the location on the worst possible evening ever: During that furious blizzard last week. For those of you who have never experienced natures fury in the form of a Winnipeg blizzard, trust me, it's definitely a devastating occurrence. We could have delayed the move a couple days for the on-slaught of snow to pass, but we decided to haul the massive Pearl drum kit, guitars and amps in the middle of being ruthlessly bombarded by winter turbulence. Not even mother natures icy wrath could keep us from making noise that night. So we had a great first jam and our sounds peaked interest of bands renting studio space around us, which are 3 other groups. Our closest neighbors are this hip-hop group with a band name coined from the room in which they reside, Rm.220, which they have converted into a hip-hop production studio, hang-out space and basketball court. We have been there a couple times now writing original heavy rock tunes and providing 16 bar funky flavors for our hip-hop neighbors for MC battles. If you cant make out the lyrics, then you can trust me that it was good clean fun that night. I will be posting songs as we record them in the upcoming weeks. Cheers!

Gathering at Mid-Can's Studio

Hey all

It was a very rare event that happened on Tuesday, January 8th @ Mid-Can's production studio: An email was sent out to central Canada's small elite crew of unionized audio engineers for a free pizza and beer gathering to sample some new audio products entering the market for the first time—let me just say, if your looking to get a crew of sound guys together, that's how to do it!

We all made our way into this world class facility and into the production studio that was suited up with chairs, 50 inch plasma screen T.V's playing a Led Zeppelin concert for their rock'n roll hall of fame induction, and a couple of cold ones on ice. Since the Sound Department Caucus of Manitoba is a relatively small collection of specialists (roughly 20 members) one would make the assumption that we all would have known each-other quite well. This is true for some of us (especially the veterans) but for many of us we have heard many mentions of each-other but never actually met face to face—this shocked and amazed all of us, especially Mid-Can's rentals manager Kelly Dodds!

So we enjoyed a couple "wobbly pops" as the old timers there call ice cold beer and we began to watch an operation video for Sound Devices new 664 record unit.

I have been a big fan of Sound Devices portable recorders for a long time now, they are my go-to most reliable field recorder for working on documentary or drama films. The 664, however, is optimized for many channels of un-scripted dialog, which is perfect for reality T.V!

We all got a chance to fiddle around with the settings while the video was playing tricks and tips in the background but Kelly was sure to tell us "greasy scum-bags" to wash our hands before pushing any buttons!

The evening was really fantastic, I got to catch up with some of the veteran sound mixers that mentored me and really taught me everything I know when I was fresh out of college many years ago when I was a young entry level audio engineer. I am really grateful for all of the experiences I have had working with them, they have all been really positive and constructive.

The thing with the Sound Department, is that we are relatively small crews usually 2 or 3 of us on a team for many films, so most of us just know the small sound teams we continually work with. This was a great meet up of long time collaborators pushing out serious quality out of Manitoba ensuring great sounds make it to the worlds stage. I am really glad that we all posed in the picket line for a photo opportunity at the end of the night, I really quite like the caption: "Central Canada's audio engineers, I'm sure you've heard us!"

Building a bi-weekly song series

Good day!

Since the time sucking vortex of CreComm is taking a month long hiatus—Not complaining, I quite enjoy being busy!—I will be kicking of my bi-weekly song blog series! I needed to invest in a little bit of technology to get this done, which is almost complete. Soon there will be nothing holding me back from presenting you all with this exciting new production series. I will be building a song from the bare bones up in Apple Logic and Reaper! Ive determined that this is a great way to teach some audio production concepts while having some fun and being creative!

I will record screen shots while offering a commentary explaining the steps I have taken to create the sounds which build the song. I will be using my set up of Waves plugins and some additional peripheral software, but the tips will mostly be with the DAW workspace which is very common. I have a couple song ideas in the works and I will be sending the process your way over the break. I hope to keep you tuned in and if there are any particular production subjects or even additional elements to the songs you want me to cover send me a message and I will do what I can to entertain and inform! Enjoy the break!

Colective Studio Space Meeting Re-Cap

Hello Producers!

The meeting on November. 23rd attracted an impressive turn-out with a wide variety of producers tuning out to offer some insight as to what their needs might be with a collective space. We have a couple places in mind for the space to lease. Ideally with enough member we have our sights set on the 72 Princess Street space, which I must say is incredibly immaculate and gorgeous old architecture. Basically with our current financial projections we estimate that we only need 40 committed members contributing $60 a month for full space rental and access to equipment. That's really all we need to turn this place into a full out music production collective space.

Our level of excitement really grew when a representative from the real estate company distributed pictures of the interior, which could easily be designed to hold a DJ up top the dance floor and accompany fund raising events. The more revenue this place generates with fund raising events, sponsorships and the grants that have already come in, will reflect in the membership pricing. We hope to have the membership pricing just below $40 dollars a month by the end of 2013.

Pictures of the inside, be prepared to be amazed:

http://www.shindico.com/index.php?option=com_estateagent&act=showEO&id=298

During the course of the meeting we managed to divide the core planners including myself and 8 other professional sound engineers into departments to handle the diverse duties and challenges that are present with getting this dream off the ground. I will be handling seminar programing—which I will piece together with many years of teaching audio production and music theory—and also I am on the board of financial planning and membership. This venue can comfortable hold about 30 working producers at one time, more if additional gear from the individual is brought with (laptop to patch into the sound system.) I am proud to announce that one of our executive directors is part of the PK Sound crew, western Canada's most recognised custom sound system engineering firms. PK provides the sound for the Shambhalah Music Festival and Burning Man festival and are always on tour with the biggest names in electronic music, Skrillex and Bassnectar just to name a few. I'm not giving away any hints, but our new venue could definitely in the near future be fitted with the best PK has to offer. I believe there is a strong market for this space and will continue planning to achieve the best scenario for our members, I recommend reserving year memberships before they run out due to the limited work space. Drop in fee pricing will be released in January. Our goal is to acquire the space before February 1st, 2013 and we are well on track.

Great documentary about a forgotten songwriter!

Searching for Sugar Man review

A riveting documentary about a forgotten Detroit songwriter once thought of as the next Bob Dylan has hit select theatres in Winnipeg. The film, “Searching for Sugar Man,” documents an incredibly bizarre circumstance surrounding the career of songwriter, Sixto Rodriguez.

The film begins with the featured song, “Sugar Man,” which plays through the low fidelity speakers of a car cruising down a winding highway etched in the side of a mountain. Hearing the song in low fidelity for the first time doesn’t do the song justice, but thankfully a higher quality version is dubbed in midway through the film and during the credits. The film cuts to a beautiful montage of Lake Michigan landscape photography and impressive pencil sketches of Detroit’s skyline, as we are transported to the early roots of the artists, Rodriguez.

The movie begins to construct the myth of the songwriter known as Rodriguez by interviewing record producers from his first album, Cold Fact. The producers tell the story of Rodriguez as the wandering mysterious poet from the shadows of Detroit. Digital illustrations are used to detail Rodriguez’s early career, which are used effectively to express the dream like sequence of him singing in the cigarette haze of a bar with his back turned to the crowd. Since there is only limited footage of Rodriguez in this era, illustrations are effectively employed throughout the film to add a compelling visual element to accompany the gripping recollections during interviews. The film frequently uses landscape illustrations that fade into time-lapse photography; this technique adds very sophisticated B-roll footage to the film and demonstrates high production value and originality.

The setting suddenly changes to a very unexpected place, Cape Town, South Africa, which is introduced with the song, “The Establishment Blues.” This song is a great selection to accompany the dated footage from the apartheid, which is edited tightly on the beats of the song. The film then takes on an unsuspecting twist and shifts gear into a great mystery being uncovered by music detectives Stephen “Sugar Man” Segerman and Craig Bartholomew-Strydom. Every leg of their journey is impressively documented with exciting and sometimes heated interviews with leads. As each small clue is uncovered, the film keeps you on the edge of your seat, pulling you into the shoes of these truth seekers, as they gain momentum towards finding the man responsible for writing, “The record that gave us permission to think freely,” during the times of apartheid.

This mythical songwriter is finally revealed at the climax of the search in absolute modesty, opening the window of his rundown Detroit home in old age, this is a brilliantly captured unforgettable moment. The pace of the film slows down during an interview with Rodriguez; his mannerisms make it really easy to relate to this modest man, he embodies the unsung forgotten hero that is in all of our hearts. The film does a great job skillfully presenting details that solidify Rodriguez’s character identity in this light, as a working class hero that is constantly unfairly cut down by society.

This documentary film has it all: An incredible touching story, seamless editing, brilliant song selection and great cinematography. As the film ended, many in the theatre stayed in their seats even after the credits, wiping away tears.