Buck 65

For his debut DVD release, Buck 65 and director/editor/animator Christopher Mills string together live video interspersed with stylishly shot monologue footage held together ― barely ― by the flimsy premise of lost film footage stolen during Buck's Situation tour. The live videos ("1957" and Cadence Weapon-guesting "Benz" amongst them) are heavily edited affairs patched together from various live performances, giving these songs a hectic pace and a sense of energy and urgency. Exceptions are the live video for "Satan Your Kingdom," a hoe-down style welding of "Wicked and Weird" with popular old folk tune "The Cuckoo Bird" that's captured by a few longer shots; "Out Of Focus" lovingly combines fan-shot concert footage and photos with tour video; and "All There Is To Say About Love" places some black and white animation over aerial footage shot by Buck's significant other, Emily Keene. However, the centrepiece is the extended video version of "Shutterbuggin'," Buck's epic re-interpretation of Trent Harris's obscure The Beaver Trilogy, in a role previously played by Sean Penn and Crispin Glover. The bonus materials are light, with a photo presentation, as well as a number of instrumentals accompanied by Montreal artist Nicole Aline Legault's illustrations ― the same visuals as projected during the live show. But the commentary with Buck and Mills not only offers memories of people and places, it also reveals the existence of "lost gems in the treasure chest," such as an interview with Sole and Jel that should have been included. On the other hand, there is also 20 Odd Years: Volume 1 – Avant, a bonus four-song CD of collaborations inspired by his CBC Radio 2 day job. Three of the songs reach back to his Talkin' Honky Blues days and the fourth, a collaboration with Jorun called "Superstars Don't Love," is like something from Situation. The Lost Tapes is a unique project sure to please any Buck 65 fan.