The aurora borealis has brought Drag City labelmates Jim O’Rourke and Will Oldham together for a new documentary: Magnetic Reconnection, director Kyle Armstrong’s short film on the atmospheric phenomenon making its world premiere at AFI Fest next month. Featuring an original score by O’Rourke and Oldham narrating, the “aurora footage is probably the best footage ever captured,” Armstrong tells Exclaim, “as I travelled with an auroral imaging specialist with two decades of experience, and a custom built digital IMAX camera, purposely built for shooting the northern lights.”
While those visuals inspire O’Rourke’s score — his first since 2007’s United Red Army — Oldham’s narrative role has an intriguing juxtaposition to explore, as the project seeks to contrast the northern lights “with decaying manmade debris surrounding the Arctic Canadian town of Churchill, Manitoba.” Magnetic Reconnection “touches on the regenerative power of nature and the futility of mankind’s struggle against natural processes of decay.” (A quick quote from “I See a Darkness” seems fitting here: “You know I have a drive to live I won’t let go / But can you see its opposition comes rising up sometimes.”)
In other Bonnie “Prince” Billy news, this year’s Fleetwood Mac tribute cover is being released as a split 7″ on November 6th via Drag City. Along with Billy Gibbons’ Blake Mills-produced version of “Oh Well,” both cuts feature Matt Sweeney. Below, revisit their excellent take on “Storms” and a film preview clip:
Magnetic Reconnection Teaser
Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney: “Storms”