Songlines | ||||
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Video by | ||||
Released | 22 September 1989 [1] | |||
Genre | Synthpop, new wave | |||
Length | 49 minutes | |||
Label | WEA | |||
Alphaville chronology | ||||
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Songlines is a video released by the German band Alphaville in 1989, created during the production of Alphaville's 1989 album The Breathtaking Blue .
Nine directors (or directing teams) from seven countries were each given a different track from The Breathtaking Blue and asked to make a short movie inspired by the song. The title 'Songlines' is a reference to the Australian aboriginal belief that "the gods created the world and everything in it by wandering through the desert and calling creation into life through their singing. Till this day, Aborigines follow these songlines, guided by totems which the gods left behind for them". [2]
The video collection was re-released in May 2021, as part of the re-release of the album The Breathtaking Blue. [3] Band member Bernhard Lloyd said of the project, "The crazy endeavor to turn the entire album into the film Songlines actually worked out in a wondrous way. A separate short film for each song, from directors all across the world – a project ahead of its time almost 35 years ago. The treasure of original 35mm film tapes have been recovered, the tapes meticulously restored and digitalized. Now, these films can finally be enjoyed in all of their beauty. It's a completely new experience." [4]
Christoph & Wolfgang Lauenstein's video for "Middle of the Riddle" was later retitled Balance and won in 1990 the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film (albeit with different music). [5]
Alphaville: une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution is a 1965 French New Wave science fiction neo-noir film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It stars Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Howard Vernon, and Akim Tamiroff. The film won the Golden Bear award of the 15th Berlin International Film Festival in 1965.
Alexander Proyas is an Australian filmmaker. Proyas is best known for directing the films The Crow (1994), Dark City (1998), I, Robot (2004), Knowing (2009), and Gods of Egypt (2016).
Alphaville is a German synth-pop band formed in Münster in 1982. They gained popularity in the 1980s. The group was founded by singers Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. They achieved chart success with the singles "Forever Young", "Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody", "The Jet Set", and "Dance with Me". Gold remains the only continuous member of Alphaville. They took their name from Jean-Luc Godard's film of the same name.
Wolfgang Lauenstein is a German film director, writer and animator.
Christoph Lauenstein is a German producer, director and writer.
Sausage was a short-lived alternative/funk rock band featuring a reunion of the 1988 lineup of the San Francisco Bay Area band Primus. They released the album Riddles Are Abound Tonight in April 1994 through the Interscope Records imprint Prawn Song Records.
Balance is a 1989 German surrealist stop-motion animated film directed and produced by twin brothers Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein.
Salvation is the fifth album by German synth-pop band Alphaville and was released in 1997. Three tracks from the album were released as singles: "Wishful Thinking", "Flame", and "Soul Messiah". However, none of them charted on the German single charts. It is the last album at the Warner/metropolis label. It was also the last album with Bernhard Lloyd, who left the band in 2003.
Yellow Submarine is a 1968 animated jukebox musical fantasy surrealist adventure comedy film inspired by the music of the Beatles, directed by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists and King Features Syndicate. Initial press reports stated that the Beatles themselves would provide their own character voices. However, apart from composing and performing the songs, the real Beatles' only participation was in the closing scene of the film; the voices of their animated counterparts were provided by voice actors.
9 is a 2005 animated science fiction short film created by Shane Acker as a student project at the UCLA Animation Workshop. Tim Burton saw the film and later produced a feature-length adaptation also titled 9 (2009), directed by Acker and distributed by Focus Features. The film was presented at the Indianapolis International Film Festival. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, although it did win a Student Academy Award for Best Animation. It was released on April 21, 2005.
The Breathtaking Blue is the third album by German synth-pop band Alphaville, released in April 1989. A companion video, Songlines, was released in September 1989. The CD release of this album was one of the first commercial CD+G format discs. Alphaville released three singles from the album, "Romeos", "Summer Rain" and "Mysteries of Love", the first of which charted internationally.
Afternoons in Utopia is the second album by German synth-pop band Alphaville, released in 1986 via Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986.
Summer Rain may refer to:
"Forever Young" is a song by German synth-pop band Alphaville from their 1984 debut studio album of the same name. The single was successful in Scandinavia and in the European German-speaking countries in the same year.
Songlines are paths crossing the countryside in Australian mythology
Paul Augustin Driessen is a Dutch film director, animator and writer.
Shane Richard Acker is an American animator, film director, screenwriter and animation teacher known for directing 9, which is based on his 2005 Academy Award-nominated short film of the same title. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American blues rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and the frontman for the band Double Trouble. He is often regarded as one of the greatest guitarists and blues musicians of all time. During his career, he released four studio albums, one live album, and several singles.
"Romeos" is the first single from Alphaville's 1989 album The Breathtaking Blue. It was released a month ahead of the album and was the first single by Alphaville to be released as a CD single, previous singles having preceded the format's rise in popularity.
Tears on Tape is the eighth and final studio album by Finnish rock band HIM, released 26 April 2013 in Finland, 29 April 2013 in Europe, and on 30 April 2013 in the US and Canada. It is produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa, and was recorded at Finnvox, MD and Peacemakers, Helsinki. It is their first release containing instrumentals. A deluxe edition was released containing a DVD with a live in studio performance of some of their greatest hits.