Fans
like to think there is something about the Muscles Shoals mud that makes those
records sound so good. Maybe there is something about the Gowanus Canal that
gives recordings at Martin Bisi’s BC Studio a similarly intangible quality. The
unusual extent of his space is also a contributing factor. Bisi and the
eclectic artists he waxed, taped, and now digitized tell studio stories in Ryan
Douglass & Sara Leavitt’s Sound and
Chaos: the Story of BC Studio (trailer here), which screens
this Thursday at the Anthology Film Archives.
Bisi
started in the music business as a roadie for Bill Laswell’s band, Material. It
might sound like a humble beginning, but it involved enough face time with the
band that Laswell appointed Bisi the task of opening an underground-friendly
recording space. With the backing of Laswell and Roxie Music’s Brian Eno, BC
was born. Despite their high profile patronage (and Bisi’s lack of experience),
BC quickly developed its own identity.
The
real fun of S&C comes from
gawking at the roster of artists who have come through BC doors. While it is
closely identified with No Wave, Post-Punk, and assorted Downtown artists, like
avant-garde jazz and experimental composer John Zorn, the darnest sessions were
laid down there. For instance, Herbie Hancock’s “Rock-It,” widely considered
the first commercial single utilizing turntable and scratching techniques, was
partially recorded at BC. Even more surprising, a then unknown singer named
Whitney Houston recorded her lead vocal debut on a Material track there, also
featuring free jazz legend Archie Shepp on tenor.
S&C works best as
grungy nostalgia trip, but it loses some of its charm in the final quarter of
an hour, when the talking heads get more political and Bisi starts fretting
about the gentrifying effect of the new Whole Foods that opened right across
the street from BC. Actually, it is sort of amusing when he reluctantly admits
he is not so very different from the rest of the store’s clientele. Regardless,
the simple truth is neighborhood either evolve or die.