Sound It Out – A documentary by Jeanie Finlay

MOVIE REVIEW – http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/movies/sound-it-out.html ‘Sound It Out’ By DANIEL M. GOLD Published: September 15, 2011 The Web site for “Sound It Out,” Jeanie Finlay‘s documentary about the last independent record store in the Teesside region in northeast England, calls it “ ‘High Fidelity’ with a northern accent,” and there’s no getting past the similarities with […]

“Proof that, in the right hands, documentaries boast as much heart as any feature. This one got soul too. Wonderful.”

“An independent record shop in Teesside – the last of its kind – might not strike you as fertile ground for a great documentary, but this is wondrous and funny, finding pathos in music nerdery and a rich ensemble of characters among staff and clientèle.”

A film-maker from the North-East has made a warm, funny and insightful portrait of her home town – and its last record shop

Filming in the only surviving vinyl record store on Teesside, Jeanie Finlay has made a documentary that serves as an elegy for small, cosy independent shops in general and for independent record shops in particular. Only a shop for vinyl enthusiasts could bring together the sort of customers we meet here. They are people even […]

“A lovely, intimate, funny-sad documentary about Teesside’s last remaining record shop, and the community service it provides to the mostly male, variously lonely, jobless and obsessive music fans who frequent it.”

Review: Sound It Out is the last vinyl record shop in Stockton, and apparently the whole of Teesside. Local director Jeanie Finlay took a handheld camera there to watch Tom, the intrepid owner, dealing with his customers. An old boy who loves Meat Loaf plays up to the camera but in general they tell it […]

“In other hands, this might simply have provided a sad procession of sad losers, but Ms Finlay is so warmly empathetic and gently curious — you’d be amazed what people will tell you when they are simply asked to talk though the badges on their jacket — you do not feel anything like pity.”

“The store is a sanctuary for the collectors, obsessives and regulars who drop in to rifle through its stacks; its owner, Tom, knows where on Nancy Sinatra CD lies amongst thousands of unruly rock riffs and is, unusually for a indie music shop owner, pretty non-judgemental about customer satisfaction, even handing over Dire Straits without editorialising on the choice.”

“Tom and his incredibly loyal band of customers delight in indulging each other’s nerdiness…”