Andrew W.K. – Who
Knows?
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Concert: C+
I did not know who Andrew W.K. was, but the new Who
Knows? DVD offers 80 minutes of a main program that shows a collage of the
long career of the singer and keyboardist on tour, with fans and reflecting on
life in general. The result is a primer
on the artist and his music, but after all of this and extras, this did not
stay with me as much as I wanted it to.
Everyone is interesting and serious about their music, but
something is missing. Something
journalistic that could say more is absent, though this is meant to fire up
fans. The relatively free form is not
bad, but maybe one more extra would have helped. The music itself is pretty good and consistent, with the band and
audience all fired up. Energy is not
lacking here, which is a plus these days with Rock in trouble. Ultimately, it is party music, but maybe
next time, we’ll get more ironic distance in looking at that party meaning the
time and place seem lost throughout beyond anything montage does. Tracks include:
1) Violent
Life
2) Victory
Strikes Again
3) Long
Live The Party
4) We Want
Fun
5) Ready To
Die
6) It’s
Time To Party
7) Take It
Off
8) Make Sex
9) Totally
Stupid
10) Girls Own Love
11) She Is Beautiful
12) Tear It Up
13) I Love NYC
14) I Get Wet
15) Never Let Down
16) Party Hard
The 1.33 X 1 image varies in quality throughout, combining
footage from 1992 to 2005 and the booklet explains this is done in part with
“synch-stacking” so the images follow a soundtrack seamlessly without missing a
beat. Some images are in the 1.78 X 1
aspect ration. I do not know if that
cut into the sound quality, but I doubt it highly. The film is here in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes, but both are
lacking surrounds and some bass, though the 5.1 has the slightest edge. Extras include a nice full color booklet
with text inside the DVD case, four deleted scenes and 14.5 minutes of bonus
footage.
- Nicholas Sheffo
