Upon being sent a copy of The Billy Nayer Show: The Early Years, I honestly didn't know what to expect. Assuming it was some obscure television show, I tried to dig up a little history before popping it into the player, but there was nothing to be found. However, it was soon after I viewed this DVD for the first time that I realized that 'The Billy Nayer Show' isn't a televsion program at all: it's a band.

Well, sort of.

It turns out that this band is a four-piece outfit from San Francisco who've been on the scene for over 10 years. Lead singer Cory McAbee is an independent film-maker who has---more or less---used the collective as a resource for his films' soundtracks. Sporting a strange variety of styles and muscial instruments (including an autoharp, of all things), The Billy Nayer Show obviously follows a different path than your average band. Their live shows have been described as "an adult children's show broadcasting from Hell", and their audience is small but rabid...the true definition of a cult following. With an energetic sense of fan interaction combined with a truly unique sense of humor, watching their performances is apparently quite a unique experience.

For these reasons, it's no surprise this DVD proved to be a strange head-trip. Instead of the typical music video and live performance compilations produced by most bands, the main attraction of The Early Years is a collection of the short films by Cory McAbee, with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

The first of the bunch, "Billy Nayer" (1990), is the most visually striking. In this very short 2 1/2 minute piece, a man in a bar sings a song for his wife. This strange style of pseudo-animation has been painted with ordinary house paint on paper, looking both realistic and surreal at the same time (seen above). The seond piece is entitled "The Man on the Moon" (1992), and introduces us to a man who has exiled himself to the moon after having a falling-out with his wife. Every holiday, he broadcasts his greetings back to Earth, with this 20-minute short film serving as one of the broadcasts. The third and final short film here is perhaps their most famous, entitled "The Ketchup and Mustard Man" (1994). This 20-minute film is also the title of their second album, and is perhaps the most surreal of the three (quite an achievment!). All in all, I found these movies to be quite strange indeed, but just strange enough to keep me interested.

Obviously, this DVD compilation will be more of interest to longtime fans of the band, but I'd encourage any lover of unique music acts and independent film to give The Billy Nayer Show: The Early Years a shot. This DVD also includes a number of interesting bonus features, and comes to us from Factory 515 Productions. Let's see how this one stacks up:

Presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the majority of the video for The Billy Nayer Show: The Early Years is in very rough shape. However, most of this footage was never meant to look pristine, so it's no fault of the production company. These films were meant to look old and worn, so this is likely the best they'll ever look. Overall, though, it has to get lower marks by default, but don't let that keep you away from this release if you're interested. The audio seems to be presented in Mono, and is similar to the video: it's not meant to be flashy and clean, so don't go expecting a high-end production. Again, don't let the low marks keep you away, as everything is easily heard and gets the job done.

For fans of The Billy Nayer Show, this is a release you'll want to pick up. However, since most of you guys (myself included) probably haven't heard of the band or the films before now, it's something I can't easily recommend as a blind buy. In any case, this is an interesting enough compilation to encourange any moderately interested parties to Rent It, as the short films and music are highly creative and original. Although you're not likely to see The Billy Nayer show on the cover of Rolling Stone anytime soon, I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. Who knows, maybe I'll pick up one of their albums in the near future...

Other Links of Interest

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The Official Website of The Billy Nayer Show