Kalistan

[Doc]

Republican Pictures Releases "Bounce:  The History of Kalistani RF"
Retrospective covers Highs and Lows of the Scene
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
May 8, 5608


Republican Pictures "Bounce" chronicles the History of RF in Kalistan, including Devon and Waterfall (pictured here)

The new documentary called Bounce: The History of Kalistani RF has been released at theaters and has drawn millions of music fans from across Kalistan to the theaters.  RF, or retro-futurism was a movement in music which had its roots in Kalistan more than 1500 years ago.  It is now more of a niche genre in Kalistan than a mainstream one, and only a handful of RF clubs still exist in the much more conservative social environment that is the Empire than once existed.  But the music has a special place in the history of Kalistani music, as film goers and music lovers both have announced by ticket sales.

"Bounce covers the history of retro-futurism in Kalistan, just like the name says," said film critic Michael Andrews, for Kalistani Rawk Monthly.  "It's fairly straight forward, and there is near unanimity that it is historically accurate from the music history set."  The first part of the film deals with the cultural roots of RF, which are mostly in electronic and dance music.  "There is this weird fusion during the cultural explosions in Kalistan during the dawn of the 4000s, where people were experimenting with sound, new technology and new recording techniques," said Andrews.  "All of these, plus a healthy dose of drugs, leads straight into RF."

The film documents proto-RF bands like Louisie Sue and Dave, who were primarily Alternative Electronica, and bands doing synth-rock, like Jim Short and the Miserable 5 who added a science fiction element.  Other early influences like the band "Men Are Always Ready Somewhere" reinforced the connection with technology and a techno future that never was in the early RF and trip hop bands like Angst Experience brought in hip hop elements into this growing movement.  It all led to the first true RF song by Kelli Minelli "Can't Get You off of My Mind" which tied the electronic dance music, the synth-rock energy and the themes of Science fiction and overt sexuality into a single package by 4397.

"Following the massive success of Kelli Minelli's hit, the scene exploded," said Andrews.  "Lots of electronic bands switched over and club after club opened.  They were basically dance clubs with a, shall we say, very VERY permissive attitude."  The RF scene very early embraced the weird, and was incredibly sex positive.  "Everyone was literally having sex with everyone in that scene," said Andrews.  "It was very...  well, I don't think the term 'dirty' really describes it.  Maybe more like greasy, very weird, and thank god for socialized public health, because...  well...  Let's just say they weren't using a lot of protection back then.  But it's also important to remember that the fashion and the music were the connecting factors in the scene back then.  It was what people from that time thought people from the past thought the present would be like, so it was bizarre and random and chaotic, and everything."  Eventually the scene dissolved back into its constituent parts, due to exhaustion more than anything else, a fact which the film emphasizes numerous times.

The second Act of the film covered the rise, and eventual fall of the first wave of RF, with performances of Kelli Minelli, Das Crack, 12 Second Toaster, and probably the biggest band in the first wave of RF, Devon and Waterfall.  Devon actually was the person that KMI chose to feature on the cover of the companion album for the film.

The final act discusses the rise of the Second, and perhaps more mainstream, wave of RF which attached itself to Pop, and was actually more pop than alternative.  The wave begins with Christina Shakespeare, who was herself the grand-daughter of pop star and FOMAT winner Madysin Shakespeare.  Shakespeare brought overt and brazen sexuality back into pop and kicked open the doors for the return of sexually charged electronic dance music.  Both she and Tonya X led the way to bring RF into the Mainstream.

"For about 10 years, the template laid down by Shakespeare and Tonya X dominated the airwaves in Kalistan," said Andrews.  "And then you had a number of crossovers, like La Sol and Jenny Huerta and even Chaparra from Gaduridos who were mixing that second wave RF with KME and Gaduri Music and producing whole new sounds.  The emphasis in the Second Wave was on the sexuality, rather than the robots and space aliens.  I suppose people looking at it from the 4800s had a different view on what people in the past thought the future would be like than people in the 4300s."

The film also explores various incidents that defined the Second Wave RF scene, such as the Orgy/Brawl at GanJam 4886 during the overnight RF set and the Kaliburg Earthquake of 4891, which caused the destruction of M7's operations studios, but interestingly enough, not the transmission facilities or the Shout Cast computer system that scheduled programming.  "This freak accident led to M7 broadcasting Tonya X's 'Bouncin'' More than 9000 times over three weeks, before techs could make it through the wreckage to take the station off the air," said Andrews.  "It was a really wild accident and the funniest part of the movie, where they showed archival clips of Kaliburg residents just furious that every time they turned on M7, Tonya X was on TV..."

The earthquake, and the freak accident that led to Tonya X obtaining a record for repeated plays of her video on M7 which will never be broken, ironically is what led to the Second Wave's demise.  Following that time, analog music makes a come back and RF once more becomes a niche genre as people move away from pop.  "You see the rise of Noise Alternative not too long after this time," said Andrews, "and also of Dana Ska Punk, which is a whole thing in itself.  Like most pop, the market oversaturates the population, and you get changes in taste which wouldn't be otherwise accounted for, if not taking in the oversaturation thesis."  Second wave RF still made the charts, and some argue that the de-emphasis of sex and the focus on the musical aspects of RF led to a third wave, but that's still a subject under debate, because the third wave never really gained the level of acceptance the way the first and second waves did.

"One interesting fact, however," said Andrews, "was that a member of this so-called Third Wave, actually married into the Ananto Family and became Empress Elizabeth Ananto.  I suppose this is the ultimate confirmation of RF's legitimacy in Society."  An RF Concert movie featuring several local Kaliburg RF bands called "white Light" had moderate success in Kalistan during the 5400s, but that was essentially the last real effort to restore RF to a mainstream prominence, and it has mostly been a feature of dance clubs ever since.

"In a lot of ways, RF never really went away," said Andrews.  "You still hear echos of the various booms in most Pop&B songs, which are fairly heavily dependent on electronic dance music.  Both Megapipe and La Reina drew heavily from RF styles and themes at the beginning of the last century, and brought that sound out to the world.  But For the most part, RF is now just pop music.  The success of singers like Christina Shakespeare was both tremendous, and also quite destructive to the scene as such, because it made the music accessible to everyone.  Once the sexuality was de-emphasized, all of a sudden, it became just normally what you would hear on the pop station.  And meanwhile, the ballads and the crooners fell completely off the dial.  So.  The influences are still with us and RF is synonymous with R&B style pop these days."

The Film "Bounce: The History of Kalistani RF" is already number 1 this week across Kalistan and Ananto and features performances from most of the major artists.  "It's a little long," said Andrews.  "Three hours of heavy bass, drug excess and just in your face sexuality from archival footage really got exhausting.  but I suppose, that was kind of the point:  That was the experience of those who were in the scene at the time, so...  in that sense, it was like sensory overload to kind of make the point that RF was just that, sensory overload."  The film also has a companion record produced by KMI of RF's biggest hits and deep cuts, which comes complimentary with each ticket sold at the theater.

"They've given away more than 3 million albums over the last couple weeks," said Andrews.  "Which means that in every record collection everywhere will likely be a copy of the Companion Record.  But KMI reports that most people accept the album with the ticket, so, there must be demand for the music."  

Below is the Track Listing for "Bounce" on KMI, and you can listen to it yourself without even seeing the movie.  But check out this Cultural Historical Documentary anyway, and get the experience.


"Bounce:  The History of Kalistani RF" -- Companion Album Produced by KMI
(Watch all clips here on M7)
(Stream whole Album on your fav streaming service here)

Side A Proto- and 1st Wave-RF

1. Angst Experience - "Foreigners" (4092)
   
2. Louisie Sue and Dave- "Fell in Love" (4102)
   
3. Men Are Always Ready Somewhere- "MAARS Needs Women" (4350)
   
4. Kelli Minelli- "Can't Get You Off of My Mind" (4397)
   
5. Bwah Krew- "Gunshot Means Rewind" (4405)
   
6. Das Crack- "The Producer" (4408)
   
7. Devon and Waterfall- "The Low End" (4414)
   

Side B 2nd Wave-RF

1. Madysin Shakespeare- Philanderer (4787)
   
2. Christina Shakespeare- "Sugar Baby" (4878)
   
3. Jenny Huerta featuring Tonya X- "Bajo" (4882)
   
4. Dave and the Drugs- "Planetary Good Vibe Zone" (4886)
   
5. Tonya X- "Bouncin'" (4887)
   
6. Amphetamine- "Mimic" (5148)
   
7. Jean Pierre du Rue and Molly Shepherd- "Not Interested" (5148)
   

Remastered by Alexander Talmadge for KMI, 5608
Album Art- "Devon Collins, Kaliburg, 4413"