Movie of the Week 10/13/2023 (coming to you from 10/20/2023)

Oct 19

Shakey Graves’s Movie of the Week is more than it seems. Alone, it’s a collection of solid songs meant to be the soundtrack of a movie that doesn’t exist, but where Graves and Co. really outdid themselves was filling that void with not just one movie, but thousands. The Movie Machine, found on shakeygraves.com (Shakey! Graves! Dot! Com!), turns users’ prompts into an original movie poster, pitch, and most importantly, soundtrack consisting of dozens of alternate Movie of the Week takes, new tracks, instrumentals, and even more goodies. With Movie of the Week and its supplementary media, Shakey Graves has created a unique nook of exploration and individual experience in the information age—an adventure that’s special because it’s unmapped. That’s why I spent seven cumulative hours cataloguing every track within the Movie Machine for one, tell-all compilation post. Just what he was going for, right?

No, but seriously, while I understand that my neurotically categorical brain needed to go on this filing bender one way or another, I implore you to try this in its intended form first—go in blind, enter a prompt, and enjoy whatever it is you find. I love me a good guidebook, but a cornucopia like the internet can be just as much a curse, and it’s sort of sad to see the extinction of obscurity—everything is accessible through the same avenues, and the stories that come alongside the search for hidden treasures aren’t so individual anymore. I think The Movie Machine is so brilliant because it brings back the fun of finding music that’s uniquely yours, and also the uncertainty of never truly knowing everything up a musician’s sleeve. Check it out the way it’s meant to be experienced first, and then, in Shakey spirit, let’s break the mold (in the most lawful good way possible) and bust The Movie Machine wide open.

MANSPLAINING THE MOVIE MACHINE

I spoke a little on this last week, but since I gotta have all of this in one place, I’ll say it again: alone, Movie of the Week didn’t quite live up to its fantastic concept, but in tandem with the Movie Machine, it has become one of my favorite Shakey Graves projects to date. That’s not to say Movie of the Week wasn’t a strong album on its own—I’d say a good six out of ten songs (excluding interludes) are still on constant repeat weeks after its release, making them instant Shakey essentials in my book—but its imaginative premise was begging for something beyond the scope of just thirteen tracks. Movie of the Week itself was born of orphan demos Shakey Graves originally wrote for a director who rejected them (apparently, he didn’t order artistic genius and just wanted to license Shakey’s old sound, because I can’t think of any other reason why someone would pass up this opportunity). Where anyone else would see an uncomfortable faux pas, Shakey saw an opportunity: build a new soundtrack from the scraps for a nonexistent movie. Of course, I ideally try not to get my hopes unrealistically high, but upon hearing the news, my body was ready for Shakey Graves to announce a full-on movie to accompany the album. Alas, ain’t nobody got time for that, though what we got instead might be even more impressive—why not make a movie when you can score infinite movies instead?

The Movie Machine does exactly this: just enter a genre (or title, but not too long!), and it will compile an AI-generated movie poster, synopsis, and ten-song soundtrack composed of alternate album takes and other rarity goodies. In Alejandro Rose-Garcia’s full statement, he explained that this concept harkens back to shuffling his music onto random CDs as a teenager. As he says, “I'd shuffle my vast and varied music library, burn it onto blank CDs, and give each one an edgy teenage title like ‘A Nice Place to Sleep’ or ‘Death and Taxes.’ […] The serendipitous sequencing juxtaposed with the random CD title always caught me off guard and tended to curate a unique and memorable soundtrack to our journey.” That’s already a pretty relatable experience—buried somewhere in the landfill of my notes app, I also have a list of song transitions I’ve discovered purely through shuffle—but to compile enough songs to make a decently variable randomizer sounds almost like pulling teeth to me. I was amazed to find, then, that all of these takes are from three weeks’ worth of 15-hour recording sessions, during which the band simply left the mic rolling. For someone who talks so much about music, I know woefully little about the recording process itself, but to think there’s this sort of wealth lying behind every cleanly-cut album is sort of awe-inspiring—that, and it also sort of makes me want to rip all of my hair out because I’ll never hear every version of everything. It’s a phase. Before I knew all of that, I was thinking we’d get three or four versions of each song and that would be all, but the reality of The Movie Machine far exceeded my expectations. In many cases, there are as many as eight or nine variants of each track, and these only take up about half of the songs that can appear in the system. Alongside the AI-generated components (we’ll get to that later), there’s so much humanity to every element—alongside the music itself, Shakey also wrote probably hundreds of hilarious movie titles that I’m jealous I didn’t think of first, as well as an entire Movie of the Week script to go along with the official release of the album, humbly dubbed “the director’s cut.” I may not have physical limitations in this human realm, but I only felt up to cataloguing every song I found in my infinite Movie Machine reshuffling, so I don’t have a comprehensive list of titles today. That said, so much hard work was clearly put into this that I want to talk a little bit about everything. So, without further ado, here’s what I found:

HOW does it work?

As my old blog’s slipshod graphic design suggests, I’m worthless as a coder even with website building spoonfed to me, but having rerolled The Movie Machine algorithm a couple hundred times (I know), some patterns began to emerge. Step-by-step, here’s what you can expect.

The Movie Machine first presents you with a simple prompt to enter a genre, though, as I quickly discovered, a genre isn’t necessary—any twenty characters will do. Of course, don’t be a robot about it and just enter numbers—I had a lot of fun entering names of my own stories and names of friends and relatives. No matter what you put in, the AI will incorporate it into the prompt alongside a randomly selected title, which, as far as I’m aware, is unaffiliated with the prompt you’ve selected.

When your movie loads, you’ll be greeted with your movie title in bold, Watchmen-yellow letters, an AI generated poster (not generated by the website itself, but probably from a pre-selected batch of AI images—you’ll get pairs that are the same or that look alike from time to time), and a description. Here’s one I got by entering my girlfriend’s name:

“‘Fart Symphony’ is a comedy film focused on the life of Emily Reynolds, a talented, yet misunderstood, musician who possesses a unique and uncontrollable talent for creating symphonies through her farts. Determined to prove her unconventional talent to the world, Emily embarks on a comical journey filled with unexpected obstacles and hilarious encounters. Along the way, she discovers the power of self-acceptance and the importance of embracing one's own uniqueness, ultimately leading her to orchestrate a groundbreaking fart symphony that surprises and captivates the world. Combining laughter, music, and a touch of absurdity, "Fart Symphony" challenges societal norms and reminds viewers to appreciate the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary.”

Before you ask, she’s taken. Here’s another I got by entering my dad’s name:

“In ‘Tortoise's Chronology,’ the story revolves around John Todd, an enigmatic and eccentric inventor, searching for the mythical Tortoise's Chronology, a mysterious artifact said to grant the power of time travel. As Todd embarks on a thrilling journey through time and space, he encounters unique challenges and dangerous adversaries, all while battling his own inner demons. Along his quest, Todd befriends a loyal group of individuals, each with their own reasons for joining his cause. Together, they unravel the secrets of the Tortoise's Chronology, testing the boundaries of science, morality, and the human spirit. Ultimately, this John Todd-themed film explores the consequences of manipulating time and the profound effects it has on both the past and future.”

As the least human element of this otherwise incredibly creative display, you might already see the cracks in this system, and how formulaic it can potentially get. There are a few wording hurdles it can’t seem to overcome, but if you’re not re-rolling as incessantly as I was, I doubt any of them will affect your experience.

Finally, below that, there’s a list of ten songs and an option to download your soundtrack, cover and all. Ten is a non-negotiable track list, making optimizing my perfect combination of songs especially tricky, but there are a few other guarantees about the way it’ll be arranged. In my experience, there are around five or six alternate takes of songs on the director’s cut (be they remixes or demos), one or two songs from other artists (be they David Bowie covers by Graves and co. or demos from The Riser Brothers, who toured with them), one or two new Shakey Graves tracks (often instrumentals, but occasionally entirely new songs with vocals), and one or two nonsense soundbytes from recording sessions that I’m going to call jokey jokes (these, too, are worth your time). Clearly, my math’s not up to snuff on this one, but it seems like you can’t get doubles in any of the same categories—you won’t get two versions of “Evergreen” on the same album, nor will you get both David Bowie covers, nor will you get two songs from the Riser Brothers. I can’t really speak much to how it’s done, but I appreciate that little bit of extra care, because for every well-shuffled soundtrack, there are probably dozens more possible arrangements that probably aren’t worth your five dollars. If you do choose to buy yours, be sure to copy your title and description before you click the download button—unlike the poster, which will download as the soundtrack’s album cover, you can’t get any of that back once you leave the page.

The Screenplay

But, come on, what would a soundtrack for a nonexistent movie be without a screenplay for a nonexistent movie? Yea, they did that too, and it’s available for download on the Movie of the Week page. Get with it. At a short-and-sweet nineteen pages from title to end-card, the Movie of the Week screenplay is a quick and delightful read. Less a narrative and more an artsy behind-the-scenes, Movie of the Week tells the loose story of The Character, Shakey Graves’s own self-insert in a movie that was never meant to be. Don’t worry, it’s not fanfic-y—in fact, in the moments where there actually is a cinematic story being told, it even feels a bit Fargo-esque in its Noah Hawley sensibilities. For the most part, however, it’s almost like reading a creatively-cut documentary about the album’s inception—still, it’s told so interestingly that I wouldn’t want to spoil it with a breakdown. I can’t resist a little, so we’ll just say you’re in for such delights as a cameo from David Bowie’s ghost, Tito the Chihuahua smoking a cigar, and the quote “I might just be the perfect shit for this hole” in reference to America, maybe. I laughed out loud more than once, so I’d say that alone is worth the read. Alejandro Rose-Garcia is an exceptionally creative guy, which makes this next part a shame to talk about…

AI is cringe, but Shakey Graves is based

…so why is he using AI? Way back in January (but not really so far away, right? …right?), I made my thoughts pretty clear on AI at the time, and I’ve only gotten more radicalized since then—as an increasingly obsolete organic writer, I kind of have to be. Unquestionably, using AI as it exists now is theft from the countless artists it draws data from without due compensation. To me, it really is that black and white at this point in time—AI is so far removed from its source that it suckers corporations and tech bros into not seeing past its twelve-fingered trick: the fact that it can’t assemble original imagery without first incorporating the talent of a human’s prior artwork. AI isn’t sentient, AI isn’t creative, “AI” is only intelligent because that’s how it’s branded—it’s just an algorithm that knows what’s most likely to come next in any given image because it’s drawing from a databank of untold millions, and rather than hiring the actual artists behind said images, it’s far easier for the artless Musks of the world to make nonsense pictures from statistic soup without an ounce of novelty to them.

Except, hold on, this is all a little… I don’t know, alarmist, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I wish AI had never been taken to this extreme, but shitty content farms aren’t the only things guzzling this up. AI is a tool like any other—a tool that, like it or not, is here to stay—and there’s nothing we can do to change that. What we can do is pick our battles. Funnily enough, I have none other than Youtuber R. R. Slugger to thank for this grinch’s sudden heart inflation (though please see a cardiologist if that particular compassion attack happens to you), who himself does not use AI, but who was sent a spectacularly detailed fan project that, on their budget, could have only been accomplished with AI. Like a collage, I see this sort of thing as in service of art, particularly for those who don’t have the budgetary means to make something as expansive as it deserves to be. Obviously, I’m still extremely wary of AI as it currently exists, and feel a crackdown on proper AI reform should have cracked down, like, yesterday, but as things currently stand, we may as well use it for projects that aren’t funneling money away from those who already have so little. In this case, while I’m sure Shakey Graves is by no means making nothing from these Movie of the Week reshuffles, I’m doubtful five bucks a pop is really going to amount to much profit that could’ve been split a million and one different ways between unwillingly contributing artists. Plus, these alternate album covers are just sort of the icing on the Shakey cake—what you’re paying for is the songs, not the trimming around them. To me, this is another case of creating art, not destroying it for some nefarious capitalist plot.

All of that said, one question remains: does AI actually enhance The Movie Machine? That likely depends on how seriously you’re taking it, which clearly wasn’t the intention. Since I’m already this deep into ruining the fun, though, I will say this—while it’s fun to fill out the concepts of these alternate timeline movies, the AI elements are my least favorite part of the finished product. As is apparent in the sample synopses above, these descriptions are built by an AI that is finding the most likely words to describe inherently nonsensical concepts. Basically, even when you get some harebrained title like “Creepopolis” or “Strike the Undead Steed,” the AI synopsis will somehow sound like exactly what you’d expect, and nothing more. What I’m saying is, Shakey Graves has a sense of humor and AI does not, and oh my god, is that a terminator wearing George Costanza’s skin raising a plasma canon to my head? It’s just a disappointing combo, because I know that if Shakey had written his own synopses to go with these titles, these would be even more interesting than they already are. That, and he most definitely wouldn’t use the world “unyielding” so much. Limitations like these, as well as the fact that the AI-generated images selected rarely match anything to do with the title (which, to be fair, is unexpected), demonstrate how ahead of its time something as ambitious as The Movie Machine is (and maybe also ahead of its budget). As much as I’d love to see an even more man-made iteration of this project, I know it would be an ungodly undertaking for very little reward in return—these issues I’m discussing only start to crop up when you, hypothetically, re-roll The Movie Machine several hundred times to catalogue every single track and optimize which songs appear on your own purchased albums. That’s sort of One in a Million in itself. For now, I’m seriously so excited to have what we have, and I hope you are, too. Just get used to solarpunk protagonists named “Maya,” okay?

Alternate Album Tracks

Most importantly, though, I think it’s time we dig into this drove of music, because it’s not getting any less dense. Since this is obviously already a week late, I unfortunately won’t be able to dive into a full Songs of the Week-style rundown of each song, but having listened to as many of these tracks as I can in full, I want to at least highlight all of the gems that I found.

Let’s first start with the alternate takes of each track on the Movie of the Week director’s cut, since I’ve already featured so many of those songs recently. These can be hard to navigate, since none of these alternates share a title with the final version, so I’ve made a section for all ten non-interlude tracks. Taking another page out of one R. R. Slugger’s book, I’ll be awarding a Song to Get™️ for roughly every alternate Movie of the Week track, as well as giving a little star to others that are particularly interesting (to incentivize honors kid burnout). Ready Or Not, here comes…

LIMBO [Reviewed 10/06/2023] | Sounding almost like two songs in one, I wasn’t surprised to find just how many iterations this song has been through since its inception—an inception that, according to the Movie of the Week screenplay, actually predates almost every other song on the album. With seven alternate takes, “Limbo” isn’t exactly want for other reinterpretation, but if you’re as invested in this album’s history as I am, I give you “04-23”—Limbo’s original instrumental version. Released in 2020, “04-23” hails from the height of the pandemic, which appears to have deeply rattled Rose-Garcia, as it rightly did many of us. Several of the demos on this list came from quarantine, though “04-23” seems firmly planted in the era more than any of them, appearing first as part of a collaborative album called A Home Unfamiliar (you can check it out here—it also features work from Sweet Spirit’s Sabrina Ellis and Spoon’s Jim Eno) made by musicians connecting across the internet. Music made for projects of this era will always be uniquely bleak for me, but luckily, Limbo blossomed into something entirely different over the course of these demos and remixes, which are some of the most diverse in The Movie Machine. One thing all of them have in common, though: all seem to have cut the piano ballad from the beginning, starting with the hesitant, descending piano before the bass groans in.

HOW LOW | “How low” enters slightly differently, starting with a piano that almost revs to life, then acoustic guitar, and finally percussion, which starts later than in the director’s cut.
RAIN OR SHINE | With its off-putting sirens, the only way I know how to describe this one is “syrupy.”
[A NAME I FORGOT!] | Well, this one is sort of embarrassing, because I totally forgot the name of it. It’s the only one I don’t remember, though, so you’ll know it when you find it. Probably. This one foregoes not just the piano intro, but much of its gravitas as well, sounding sort of empty as a byproduct. This is also the first of several to substitute the lyrics, which is always so fascinating to see. Rather than one of the director’s cut’s best lines—“what a surprise / you’re never at a loss of words / I guess you are what you eat”—this one opts for “looks like the fix is in / the veil is growing thin / right before my eyes.”
RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES | As the title would suggest, this one also uses the alternate lyrics. Musically, it fades into focus.
ROBOCONOMY | This very tinny, synthy, instrumental version is closest to “04-23,” and has a delightful little cash register noise.
*WAYNE HITS THE CLUB (MIAMI MIX) | The first wildly different “Limbo” remix, “Wayne Hits the Club” sounds a little like a vaporwave instrumental, which probably offended several sunglasses-wearing marble statues who have a more refined understanding of synth subgenres. Sorry for not having a screen addiction in 2016.
Song to Get™️: K HOLE | Ironically, the coolest Limbo remix (to me) is also the clubbiest, even more so than the club Wayne hits. That’s thanks to its looping piano and cello (or bass?) at a far faster tempo. This one’s almost EDM-adjacent, but in the way some darker bands have dipped their toes into—it’s a lot like Love and Rockets’s “Bad for You” or the Nine Inch Nails remix of “Happiness in Slavery” on Fixed.

EVERGREEN [Reviewed 07-28-2023] | Maybe it was the hype of first seeing it live, but ever since its release, Evergreen has risen to a favorite track on the director’s cut, even rivaling the meaning I found in “Ready Or Not.” That means, only two songs in, I’m going to break my rule. I’m sorry, there are, like, four Songs to Get™️ on this one. It’s just, like… the intro to this song will give me chills no matter what form it comes in. In my defense, it was clearly a favorite of Graves and Co. as well, because there are eight total versions rattling around in the Movie Machine.

AUTO HEART | The one where Shakey yells “WOO! Dildo man! Here we go!” “Auto Heart” is more unambiguously cheerful (or at least sweeter) than its siblings, with its brighter guitar and higher harmonies more prominent in the mix. The treble is definitely boosted.
*DO NOT DISTURB | By contrast, this one is slightly eerier, with an awesome percussion crescendo in the intro.
NO TURNING BACK | This version is almost jazzy—I can imagine it playing in a smokey lounge.
*YOUR POOR HEART | “Your Poor Heart” sounds stripped down, almost like something off of Roll the Bones. This is one of many takes with a different chorus.
Song to Get™️: BENEATH THE CANOPY | Okay, so, this is probably my most contentious pick, because it’s essentially the same as “Sands Hotel Room 6,” but with ever-so-slightly more crunch—the reason I’ve highlighted both is because they sound the most like the dreamy, psychedelic style of the version I first heard live. “Beneath the Canopy” and “Sands Hotel Room 6” both open with the “it matters to fuckin’ me” sample from the end of “Limbo” in the director’s cut.
Song to Get™️: HELENA | If I’m really, seriously choosing a favorite Song to Get™️ of my Songs to Get™️, then it’s gonna have to be “Helena”—a take that I almost thought was a different, original track. In fact, I think it is a different, original track that seamlessly transitions into “Evergreen” at 2:40—about halfway through its runtime. For me, the first half was worth downloading on its own, sounding like a melancholy Beatles song off of the White Album, making the segue to “Evergreen” sound lullaby-like. The chorus omits any mention of the titular “Evergreen,” though, instead being an entirely new chorus that starts with “Helena is Hell for me.” Dude, this one is so good. It belongs on an entirely new album with “Mama Rat,” if we ever get one.
Song to Get™️: CAROLINE REMEMBERS | Then again, though, I really love this one, too. This version is played on very tender, antique piano with very audible pedal as a woman sings softly. “Caroline Remembers” also changes some lyrics, starting with “see me bask in the sun / I am evergreen” instead of “keep me under the weather / keep me evergreen.”
Song to Get™️: SANDS HOTEL ROOM 6 | This one is “Beneath the Canopy,” but just slightly less crunchy. Or maybe it’s the other way around? These mixes are seriously so close, it drives me a little insane to decide which one I want to listen to in any given moment. I don’t think we’re supposed to have both at once.

READY OR NOT | While I’ll have to save my full thoughts on the director’s cut of “Ready Or Not” featuring Sierra Ferrell, suffice to say it’s a wonderful song about life and death that manages to feel jovial despite passing so fast. It seems, though, that its joyousness wouldn’t have been there without Sierra Ferrell’s influence, because all of these versions are sunken in the same level of pandemic gloom as the initial demo, which has already been released on streaming. It’s kind of crazy how little diversity there are amongst these, despite there being a whopping nine alternate takes—the most of any song on the director’s cut. As much as I love this song, I think its alternates are the least worth exploring unless you feel like ruminating on fleeting mortality for an hour.

THE CHOSEN ONE | This one might be the closest to a middle point between the bleak demo and the happy album version, with slightly more upbeat instrumentation but still those slower, somber vocals.
HIGH DESERT | This one has a jokey joke at the beginning and super loud vocals in the mix.
LORD OPIOID | This one is slow like the demo, but with what sounds like a slide guitar. The percussion is super heavy—I wasn’t able to hear cymbals. “Lord Opioid” is one of many versions to feature larval stages of the lyrics—this one uses the line“I’ll be hangin around if you pick the spot.”
QUARANTAINMENT | As with much of the pandemic’s stillness, this very early version seems extra ethereal.
QUARANTAINMENT II | Like the title suggests, this is a logical next step from “Quarantainment,” sounding trippy and staticky. I don’t know music theory, but this one is also in a different key.
RORN BEACH | “Rorn Beach” deviates pretty significantly relative to the other “Ready Or Not” versions, with rolling waves in the background.
THE SUNSHINE DOUBLE | Much like “The Chosen One,” “The Sunshine Double” is cheerful, but with Shakey’s low voice. This one also uses the lyrics “I’ve been making it up, caking it on.”
UNBIRTHDAY | This one has probably my favorite alternate title, with slightly higher vocal harmonies and guitar.
Song to Get™️: READY OR NOT (DEMO) | The Demo wins this round, and that feels like cheating since it’s also available on Apple Music and Spotify. This version is by far the most starkly different from the Sierra Ferrell take, bringing a rightfully somber acceptance to the story of a life passing all-t00-quickly.

LOWLIFE | An unexpected surprise on the official album, “Lowlife” is a fantastically crunchy rock song that sounds like Can’t Wake Up went punk.

*A LOVER, DARKLY | Aside from some lyric changes, the big draw of “A Lover, Darkly,” is its switch to more sinister, acoustic instrumentation.
ARTHUR’S FIX | But what if it was crunchier?
DOSAGE | This version features a more heavily-emphasized washboard.
SADDY | This one is pretty difficult to tell apart from the album version, although I was able to hear the lyrics more clearly.
Song to Get™️: SUCKER | WOW, THIS ONE ABSOLUTELY SHREDS! Heavy vocal fuzz! “Sucker” goes one hundred percent heavier, sounding almost reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s recent “Serious Ground.”

BIG IN THE WORLD [Reviewed 08/25/2023] | Written to be a Bowie song that only existed in one of Rose-Garcia’s dreams, I think the director’s cut absolutely nails this concept. In that regard, I’d say none of these come even close to being as good as the final version. Still, it’s nice to see the process of how this one was put together.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING? | The piano here is a lot more echo-y, almost to the point of sounding antique.
BIG IN THE WORLD (DEMO) | This one had very few surprises in store—it’s an acoustic version of the final cut.
EPHEMERA | Very similar to the later “Somebody’s Candidate,” “Ephemera” has building, expansive bass, to me making it the superior of the two. This one seems to have come later, replacing “I thought fondly of my empty gun” with “I thought sweetly of my empty gun.”
*THE HALO LOOPER MANIFESTO | Like “Our Villain,” this one is piano and acoustic in a different key, though here he says “thought fondly.” Even though it’s not a style I love, Shakey’s voice here is clearly so Ziggy Stardust Bowie that it’s hard to deny.
OUR VILLAIN | This one is in a different key, and is mainly acoustic with a piano backdrop.
SOMEBODY’S CANDIDATE | This one has a sort of 70s organ, and seems to have come earlier in the process, using the “look fondly” lyrics instead of “look sweetly.”
Song to Get™️: OVERTURE | “Overture” is exactly what it sounds like—going all Bach on us on the high side of the piano before segueing into the familiar song we know, albeit with some wild noise choices. There’s a bubble pop, there’s bouncier bass... really interesting stuff.

PLAY IT WHERE IT LIES | A song I still haven’t totally come around to on the director’s cut, “Play It Where It Lies” still has a very sweet melody and sentiment.

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN | With egg shakers and what sounds like a glockenspiel, this one feels like it could be exploited for a catchy commercial. Nobody do that, please.
Song to Get™️: BORN IN A BARN | Sounding more stripped-down but far from sparse, this version has a more upbeat piano backdrop, shakers, and bass. It’s a nice contrast with the more tender director’s cut. I feel like I can see this one sung by the cast of Sesame Street, and that’s a compliment.

PLAYING ALONG [Reviewed 08/25/2023] | One interesting screenplay tidbit is the revelation that no one remembers originally playing “Playing Along”—in fact, it was cut from a fifteen-minute jam that blended in with the rest of the recording session, and may not have made it into Movie of the Week if these sessions weren’t so diligently combed through. As far as I’m concerned, “Playing Along” is perfect as-is—the demos here pretty much prove to me that you can’t recreate a little miracle like that. Still, there’s fun to be had here, no doubt.

DYING TO KNOW | “Dying to Know” starts with a bongo, which is… less eerie. It’s one of many hidden remixes by fellow Austin musician Jank Sinatra, only labeled as such once you download the album. As such, I’m probably missing some of the others—over the four albums I downloaded, I was only able to find two Jank Sinatra remixes.
Song to Get™️: BIG TEX BURNS | Do you wish all of “Playing Along” sounded like the jam at the end? Fine, here it is, you big deadhead. Just kidding, I was delighted to discover this one—nothing beats the build of the director’s cut, but the end has such a good beat that it can sustain the whole song.

CENTURY CITY | After my dad thinking this was a Tom Petty cover, I’ll admit I was disappointed by “Century City” on my first listen. Seeing Shakey Graves perform this one live completely changed my mind, however—he was just having so much of a blast that I couldn’t help but love it, too.

1978 | I don’t know what that cheesy robot voice filter that The Apples in Stereo uses all the time is called, but this one uses a ton of that.
THE BUSKER | This one’s got cowbell!
CHAIRMAN OF THE BORED | I’m having trouble finding differences between this version and the director’s cut, but needless to say, it’s got a great name.
THE CHANGE UP | Unfortunately, I’m similarly uncertain about this one.
FUCKIN’ HIPPIES | Aside from also having one of the best titles in the Movie Machine, “Fuckin’ Hippies” sounds super lo-fi, almost akin to an early Shakey Graves track like “Late July.”
PRESIDENT BOWERY CONCEDES | This one sounds as though it’s being played through a warped radio, dipping in and out of tune with patchy vocals
SUNSET STRIP | Third director’s cut impostor of the bunch..
Song to Get™️: CHAIRMAN OF THE DEAD | Even though this version is slow, it’s got a super cool guitar build that reminds me a bit of Neil Young.

WAS HERE | While I didn’t start out a huge fan of this song, I’ve always been a really big fan of the concept. Check out this moment in the screenplay, which lays it out better than I could:

THE NARRATOR (V.O, CONT’D): A homeless illegal immigrant named TONY used to help my mom by randomly appearing and cleaning our house to make money for his family’s survival. There was a little chalkboard on our back porch and when he was done he would write “TONY WAS HERE.” One day Tony mysteriously disappeared, but the message stayed. Over time someone accidentally brushed against the chalkboard erasing his name and leaving only “WAS HERE.”
DARK CHARACTER: This will happen to us all.

In such a goofy and lighthearted narrative, this moment felt pretty profound, and I appreciate that the script lets it sit. I’m still waiting for the music to catch up to my enjoyment of the sentiment behind it, though, so in the meantime, I’m not sure if I have a song to get for “Was Here”—yet. Still, since I ended up with two of four, there are a couple I’d still highlight.

OPTIMIST PARK | A far funkier, instrumental version that seems to have been made to just have fun with the synth while the smooth percussion and acoustic guitar takes a backseat. Sometimes the synth is 70s, but occasionally, you’ll get a burst of something louder and buzzy.
SAFARI CULT | One of several Safari-related remixes (for reasons as-yet unknown), this one sounds a bit more indie rock than the director’s cut.
SAFARI LODGE | A soulful take played on what sounds like steel-string guitar, though I’m a bold novice for claiming that. This one is reminiscent of something like Jim Noir’s Patreon-exclusive (sorry) “Fine.”
TALKING POINTS | This song is chill and funky, two adjectives that, put together, make me sound like a total stoner.
Song to Get™️: THE SACRISTY | Tentatively my favorite of the bunch, this version of is appropriately sad and acoustic.

HEARTSTOPPER | A sleepy and soft finish as the album winds down.

DANCEY’S THEME | With trippy, fluttery piano, this not only sounds like it could be from a movie score, but has a name to match, which is pretty cool.
Song to Get™️: SICK AND TIRED | Another hidden Jank Sinatra remix, “Sick and Tired” is one of the few alternate tracks that I think is actually better than its equivalent song on the director’s cut. Undoubtedly, this one doesn’t belong on the album—it’s a super weird piece that almost reminds me of Omission Sound’s “The Cubist Castle” [Reviewed 06/09/2023], something we’ll see again on many of the original instrumentals. While I’m almost always staunchly opposed to TikTokky, hyperpop, speed-adjusted songs with either chipmunks or Darth Vader doing vocals, the sped-up lyrics here are almost unrecognizable, adding to an occasionally overwhelming psychedelia. It’s about as far from what I’d expect Shakey Graves to make while still sounding interesting. “Sick and Tired” is super fun—thanks, Jank.

Hidden originals

And dude, not only do we get as many as nine alternate takes on the main album, but also, apparently there’s a bunch of hidden originals lurking in The Movie Machine? Well, maybe. If my “Helena” mishap is anything to go by, there are almost certainly songs I’ve misinterpreted as new, but which are actually deceptive intros or remixes to songs from the director’s cut. Hell, I wouldn’t have known “Sick and Tired” had anything to do with “Heartstopper” if I hadn’t downloaded it in the first place. Truth be told, lots of these tracks sure seem like they should be connected to album tracks—so much so that I almost listed them are potential suspects. Still, since there are at least a few definitely new songs in the mix, I figured I’d be better safe than sorry and lump the uncertain candidates in with these extra gems. Would these be b-sides? Rarities? For someone who’s such a nomenclature snob, you’d think I’d know. Whatever they’re called, I hope some graduate beyond their Movie Machine forms—a few of these songs are far too good to be hiding behind a randomizer algorithm.

ORIGINAL SONGS

*FUNNEL CAKES REVENGE | The one where Shakey says “I could cut butter with this weiner.” This one at first sounds like it should be amongst the jokey-jokes, but suddenly breaks into this absolutely belted piano ballad à la “Wild Honey Pie” by someone in the band who I wish I could properly credit. Sidebar, but who the fuck started this whole hating “Wild Honey Pie” bandwagon, and where do they believe they’re sleeping safely every night? If you don’t have a sense of humor enough to admit it slaps on all levels, then we can’t be friends, and you should feel unsafe. Another cool tidbit is that this seems to be the first in a mysterious thread of funnel cake lore woven throughout the Movie Machine. Will we ever know the funnel cake truth?
*PHONE A FRIEND | Though this one sounds suspiciously similar to “Playing Along,” the lyrics are so wildly different that I’m not sure I can file them as the same song. Maybe this one was part of the mystery jam that manifested “Playing Along” in the first place.
*SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST | This totally new Shakey Graves song slaps, but that’s partially just me coping with the fact that the Movie Machine lagged for fifteen seconds when I hit play and I thought the silence was a creative choice. I don’t know… “Saving the Best For Last?” Patience? I thought it was a joke. Ha ha.
Song to Get™️: MAMA RAT | And now we get to the good one—maybe even better than some of the official Movie of the Week releases. “Mama Rat” goes so hard, man. I feel like it follows my ideal “creepy Shakey Graves song” formula to an almost Syd Barrett degree—it checks off the jangly guitar, the out-of-synch vocal harmonies, and the vaguely sinister lyrics. Bonus points include Buffalo Hunt (probably) doing her evil “Old Lady City” laugh and some weird, British Shakey persona that I would not want to hear in a dark alley. If I had more time on my hands, I’d give this a full Songs of the Week treatment—it even pairs well with Massive Attack’s “Saturday Come Slow” (sung by Damon Albarn of all people, by the way?? Heligoland is so underrated. We will be talking “Saturday Come Slow” someday, if not the whole album). I know Shakey Graves can potentially draw lots of fans from lots of very different circles, but if your taste is anything like mine, “Mama Rat” should be your #1 pick.

ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTALS

BAXTER’S CURVE | Fun, sneaky music with a wood block—I bet it was one of those frog scrapers.
THE DAY JIMMY BUFFET DIED | I mean, not to speak ill of the dead, but I was off the Jimmy Buffet train well before it stopped. Still, with wood blocks, scrapers, shakers, and an almost-tropical groove, this feels like as fitting a tribute as any from the outside.
ESCAPE FROM SAFARI LODGE | Though this acoustic instrumental fits in with Was Here’s alternate naming conventions, I’m not sure what the connection here is—maybe this is intended as an intro (or outro, if we’re escaping) for one of those takes.
GRAVE:CAVE:LOVE:REAL | Though this title evokes “love is real, so drive it like you stole it” in the earlier song “Look Alive,” “Grave:Cave:Love:Real” perpetually sounds like it’s about to launch into the even earlier “Mansion Door” [Reviewed 11/25/2022], but never does.
*HEARTSKIPPER | This solemn acoustic that belongs in a tragic western is named like it should connect to “Heartstarter” or “Heartstopper,” but I wasn’t able to find that connection if it exists. Still, it has some excellent, fluttery guitar work and emotional piano at the end.
*THE HIKE | I like this one a lot—it’s sort of ethereal, but driven enough by guitar strums to build momentum.
HUMAN ZOO | I have to say, I always hate when subtitles describe music as being “inquisitive” or some other arbitrary human quality, but “Human Zoo” is just that—there’s a sci-fi glisten to it. Like several of these songs, it sounds like it’s the scattered puzzle pieces of “Playing Along,” but it never coalesces to form something close enough to be diagnostic.
NEW MOON IN UVALDE | So, I know I was harshin’ on bongo’s emotional range, but here, it actually is ominous.
NO SAGUARO | As the name might suggest, this one sounds like a saloon, complete with an upright bass. There’s a bit of a Pink Panther sneakiness to it.
*NO ROAD | A rainy, acoustic instrumental.
PETRICHOR | A muted, atmospheric, piano piece with lots of echoing loops. “Petrichor” pairs well with “The Toad” below, both because of its title and sound.
SUPER ORGAN | You know Overture? Yea, that.
WASTELAND | This one sounds almost exactly like Limbo were it not for a downturned note or two at the end of each phrase—it’s got creeping, plucked bass and is garnished with sounds like a dropped keychain.
Song to Get™️: THE TOAD | A perfect pairing with the “Evergreen” alternate “Caroline Remembers,” The Toad seems to be sung by the same woman, though this time without lyrics—instead, we’re treated to a gentle, lilting song that sounds like forest floor moss after a rainstorm. It really makes you start thinking like a toad.

RIFFIN’ ON A SAMPLE

*MISTER DICKINSON | A customer service exchange with appropriately tense instrumental backing.
HORSES I LOVE | A creepy, crusty casette jingle followed by a little girl listing the horses she loves. Also, there’s music.
Song to Get™️: ZIPPER LIZARD | A spiritual successor to “Sick and Tired,” “Zipper Lizard” has a super eerie start with just enough drums to go beyond being atmospheric. The backbone of the first half is this weird whispering sample saying “strange things will start to happen, but you must trust me,” but “Zipper Lizard” isn’t a monolith—out of nowhere, the second half slips into this funky, record-scratching jam looping someone with a Brooklyn accent saying “zipper lizard” instead. No, I can’t find the samples. Yes, I’ve tried. This song is total whiplash that still sounds exactly right, almost like treatsforbeasts’s “I Traded In My Dog For Twice the Rice,” and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

COVERS

*FIVE YEARS | Shakey Graves covering David Bowie Seeing one of my all-time musical favorites be so clearly inspired by another is such a fantastic thing, especially when their styles jive enough that a cover couldn’t possibly be offensive. Hearing how much death dwells in Shakey’s brain (especially post-pandemic), “Five Years” is both stylistically and thematically a great choice to cover for Movie of the Week. While it is great, I’m not sure it totally captures Bowie’s raw, grieving wails that make the original such a moving piece of music. I wouldn’t ask anyone to be sobbing in the recording booth the way Bowie reportedly was by the time he’d finished belting “Five Years,” so this take absolutely meets the mark, but it doesn’t knock it out of the park quite like…
Song to Get™️: STARMAN | Shakey Graves covering David Bowie Okay, maybe I’m biased (again)—Shakey Graves live shows are really an experience, especially while with the love of my life, and when my girlfriend and I first saw Shakey at Red Rocks, he went all out for the occasion with several covers (just for us, I think). “Starman” sounds as great here as it did live—it’s a perfect song for the charisma and bravado that Shakey’s character always embodies, especially while wearing a sequin blazer. Where “Five Years” is a great tribute, “Starman” feels like a true embodiment of Bowie’s spirit.

SOUNDBYTES AND OTHER JOKEY JOKES

ASS FORK III | The one where the drums pick up on the Apples in Stereo robot voice filter. What General Grievous’s coughing should’ve sounded like.
CAM IS ON WEED | The one where Cam is on Weed, featuring chicken and train noises.
*DOLLS | A very bizarre voicemail, probably from someone’s dad, about buying the band blow-up dolls.
EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED | The one where someone burps.
I DON’T HAVE TO BE VERY LOUD | The one where the band takes those Apples in Stereo robot voices for a whirl.
MR | The one where someone says “MR. SEXY BULLET BOOOYYYYYY!”
OCULUS | The one where Shakey does an experiment.
PARTY SCHOOL | Pay close attention. You won’t hear the rest of the rules to Party School anywhere else… nor will you find the rest of the funnel cake lore.
SAMPLE CITY | This one has no connection to “Century City,” as far as I’m aware. See why this is confusing?
THIS IS STILL FUN TO ME | The one where the band refuses to admit they are exhausted.
YO YO MAMA | As you can imagine, this one is fiddling around with a cello—probably for “Limbo,” if I had to guess—but finishes with someone saying “someone spilled cocaine on my seat” completely straight. Naughty, naughty.
YOU GOT A TATTOO? | No, I burned myself cooking.
Song to Get™️: STRAIGHT TO VOICEMAIL | No spoilers, but this one is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.

“SOLE DOUBT” By the RISER BROTHERS

And somehow, there’s still even more, because Shakey Graves wasn’t the only artist at work on The Movie Machine. I can’t find much on The Riser Brothers, so I’m not sure if they are a part of Shakey Graves’s current band or if they just traveled with them, but their new album, Sole Doubt, was reportedly recorded while touring with Shakey Graves. Knowing there’s another voice in the mix starts to give The Movie Machine’s eclectic styles some semblance of order, though even within Sole Doubt, there’s a lot of diversity. I’m fascinated by how similar these guys sound to Jim Noir’s early work in his atmospheric group Omission Sound, as well as a number of his interlude instrumentals to this day. Part of me wonders if this is just what you get when you mess around with a specific kind of synth, and part of me wonders if this is what you get when you’re musically sketching—this might be an overstep, but I’m not sure The Riser Brothers were driven by any particular emotion other than a general creative spirit when they recorded Sole Doubt. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing at all—music doesn’t have to justify itself with some larger existentialism—but I’m not detecting much of a mood here, and I’m just curious where that comes from. I’d give the Riser Brothers their Song to Get™️ selection, but the whole album is available outside of the movie machine on bandcamp, meaning you can get it with zero reshuffling required. Go support the Riser Brothers!

*SWAMP (OAOTF) | This song is very abrasive but in a super fun way. If cyber Stegosauruses existed, they would sound like this.
THE RITZ | “The Ritz” has a slumping punch that always fools me into thinking Lisa Germano’s “Crash” [Reviewed 09/15/2023] is about to start.
THIRD | Coming vexingly before “First” (and where’s “Second”??), “Third” at first sounds like an early hip-hop backing track before it turns synthier, almost as if to transition into “Big in the World.”
MUSIC DOESN’T PLAY | I love songs like this that take a pretentious statement—here, someone snobbily dismissing “music doesn’t really play an important part in my life”—and just totally destroying it with sonic grafitti.
FIRST | This sounds like the Pueblo music they play in the Manitou Cliff Dwellings museum gift shop.
*SLUGGER | No R. R. Slugger connection this time, so points off, but this does feel like a very macroinvertebrate-esque synth march, accented with what sounds like sampled Bollywood vocals.
*GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE | Very bombastic; very Jim Noir.
*SO BAD | This one is super interesting—to me, there are notes of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s Watchmen score for HBO with how rapid-fire and resonant this synth sounds, and yet it’s somehow more cheerful, if you can believe it.
KALAMAZOO | Another track that’s surprisingly Nine Inch Nails-esque with its clubby, clapping sample and urgent bass. Unfortunately, it’s exactly the sort of sound to complement the sample—“you just keep doing your work because you have to.”
*NEW CINDY | A super fun indie rock beat on that “Don’t. Trust. Horses” [Reviewed 08/26/2023] early internet synth which is just begging for lyrics. I couldn’t tell you why, but the ending reminds me a little bit of that upsettingly good School House Rock! song “Barter.”

Well, I know this was far from the usual and even farther down some niche rabbit hole than most of you are hoping to go, but I hope anyone who’s followed me this far has enjoyed it as much as I have. I’m surprised to say this didn’t actually burn me out on Movie of the Week, but made me love it more—if I had all the time in the world, I’d love to sit in on more recording sessions like these for albums that seem crisp and complete from the outside. This really gives me an appreciation for the sheer volume of creative output that’s needed to stay afloat as a musician, or at least one who’s Big in the World. I don’t see another opportunity for my sorting brain to go absolutely bananas in a productive (“productive”) way like this coming again anytime soon, so for now, it’ll be business as usual next time we do Songs of the Week. See you then!