Vibrant, engrossing 55 minute verite music documentary on the making of the terrific titular album, which involves music by Israeli Composer Shye Ben Tzur combining with an amazing group of 15 Indian musicians dubbed "The Rajasthan Express", along with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood (who did the scores for Anderson's last 3 features), and Radiohead's producer Nigel Goodrich.
No talking heads, very little set up or explanation – just a few title cards – and only a few scraps of dialogue. The majority of the film is simply watching amazing musicians jamming together and creating great sounds that combine a multitude of music traditions and ethnic roots. Anderson's raw observational style here (leavened with a few soaring drone shots) dances perfectly with the raw sense of the music finding itself. And the music is the star here. If it wasn't so strong, the film's lack of any sense of narrative could have been dull. But the music was good enough for me to order the 2 disc CD seconds after the film's end credits ended.
Perhaps not Anderson's most important or powerful work, but a lovely, playful but earnest endorsement of the artistic process. I wish the film was available on disc or for download. Currently the film is view-able 'Streaming only'. That means – long term - one is reliant on the deal to show the film being renewed by the site or service one bought it from.
