Voodoo Rhythm – The Gospel of Primitive Rock ‘n Roll (2006)

Directed by: MA Littler | 95 minutes | music, documentary

Ever heard of Reverend Beat-Man, The Dead Brothers and King Kahn? There is a good chance that you should answer ‘no’ to this question. The artists under contract to Voodoo Rhythm Records don’t target the masses; they play music mainly for themselves. Documentary maker MA Littler, who comes from South Africa but lives in Germany, was one of the people who was captivated by the pure music and no-nonsense approach of Voodoo Rhythm. “In my favorite pub in Frankfurt I heard a record by The Dead Brothers. The music immediately touched me deeply. Those guys just do whatever they want; they mix old-fashioned blues with punk, Cajun, gypsy music and funeral songs to create their own genre. That really appealed to me. Soon I got the idea to make a film about this fascinating band and went to investigate. That’s how I came across Voodoo Rhythm, their record label. I was very impressed by the fact that the label, just like the band, did not care about the well-known music formulas and just goes its own way.”

Voodoo Rhythm almost seems to be a shelter for bands that fall just outside of everything and do not fit into the picture of the (contemporary) commercial music world. Founder Reverend Beat-Man (1967), a pleasantly disturbed Swiss who not only plays in all kinds of bands but also takes to the stages solo to literally preach his music and lifestyle, explains in the documentary that no record company wanted to release his music. “The only way to be able to continue making music was to set up a label yourself.” He personally screens the bands that ‘apply’ to Voodoo Rhythm; on paper they can still fit in with the ideas of the label, but if he doesn’t see that feeling in their performances, then the party will not go on. Littler reviews bands that deserved his approval one by one. In addition to The Dead Brothers, we see garage punks The Monsters (of which Beat-Man himself is the front man), King Kahn (whose music is described as ‘Voodoo Soul’), the American DM Bob (who makes raw Louisiana swamp blues) and his side project with his German wife Silke, The Watzloves (‘rockin’ country gumbo’).

The music will not appeal to everyone equally. The ears of today’s audience are no longer used to these raw, pure forms of music. Perhaps it takes some getting used to Beat-Man’s powerful, screamingly intense sermons, which can seem quite frightening to a layman (thanks also to the – beautifully shot – penetrating black-and-white images of the live registration. Beat-Man comes next to the stage, however. about as a strange yet friendly man, with whom you can have an interesting conversation. For all interviewees, it applies that they are people who are averse to star allures and – like their music – are straightforward. According to Littler, his film is about more It’s about a way of life that is in stark contrast to the extremely structured and manipulated life that most people lead and that weighs down most music.The bands housed in this label are outlaws. They don’t need expensive contracts or marketing machines, they just want to yell, scream, cry and rant, they don’t care what’s hip and what isn’t. Expressing themselves in the purest sense of the word, that’s what it’s all about.

‘Voodoo Rhythm – The Gospel of Primitive Rock ‘n Roll’, which contains interviews as well as archival footage and concert recordings (with even a touch of burlesque), was a modest success in the European (particularly the German-speaking countries) arthouse world. Although the music may not directly appeal to people, one could relate to the attitude of the artists to life. That is precisely where the strength lies in this film by MA Littler: the sincerity of the interviewees. Whether you like the music is a matter of taste, but most of the people in this documentary definitely have an interesting story to tell. A film without frills, just like the music and the people it is about.