Danielson: a Family movie

(HVE)

Video Review by Adam McKibbin

Daniel Smith has struggled much of his career to avoid the dismissive “Christian musician” tag, but it’s impossible to fully approach JL Aronson’s warmly engaging documentary Danielson: a Family Movie without discussing Smith’s spirituality and its role in his music—and how that role has occasionally alienated both secular and Christian audiences.  From a purely dramatic perspective, the uphill battle faced by a singer/songwriter who wants to takes the Lord’s message to urban hipster enclaves is, by a substantial margin, the most compelling piece of the narrative.  Barring unforeseen future obstacles, Behind the Music will never come knocking on the door of Daniel Smith.  The major obstacles faced by his band of siblings and like-minded friends, Danielson Famile, are things like “Then someone went to college” or “Then someone got married.”

Of course, a life in music is never easy, and Smith faces plenty of challenges along the way—mostly in trying to determine how to best channel his creative energies (or, as Smith may qualify it, determining how to open himself for the Lord so he can be used as a vessel).  With his dual interest in the visual arts, Smith recognizes the importance of making an immediate impact on the audience:  Danielson Famile attracted a fair amount of attention simply for their matching nurses’ uniforms.  As the Famile seems poised on the cusp of indie-stardom, Smith has an increasingly difficult time rounding up the troops, and heads off on his own again (as Danielson)—dressed in the giant tree costume that adorns the DVD cover.

But nursing outfits and fruit-bearing trees are hardly the strangest thing about Danielson—that honor would almost certainly go to Smith’s vocal, a pinched screech that often makes otherwise accessible tunes seem very strange.  For all the self-indulgence of his presentation, he seems happiest when he is joined by his Famile—whose manic stage presence falls somewhere between the Partridge Family and the Manson Family.  He also seems to define the ethos of “staying true to yourself.”  At one moment, a listener may be tempted to think that any hoopla around Danielson is a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes; nothing strikes deeper fear into the hearts of hipsters than the fear of not “getting” something.  But then another moment passes and it seems clear that Danielson/Smith exhibits a singular vision that is revealed in moments of genius.

Smith has his detractors, both from close-minded atheists who don’t want any whiffs of God in their headphones and close-minded Christians who must think that Danielson is way too weird to properly bear the cross.  Aronson misses an opportunity, albeit in a well-meaning fashion, by focusing the bulk of his interviews on a grab bag assortment of random concertgoers who offer knee-jerk responses to the live show, rather than targeting a group of listeners—fans and detractors alike—who had digested the music and could offer more incisive or provocative commentary.

Steve Albini is a stray voice of reason-over-faith in the Danielson extended family, but he rightly chastises anyone who would attempt to censor an artist from exploring spirituality in music.  Smith goes a step further, expressing aggravation that reviewers often make a point of distancing themselves from his beliefs rather than focusing on the music—a point that is undermined somewhat by the fact that Smith, by his own account, is attempting to spread the Good Word through his shows (some songs are more direct than others).  If we are to allow artists free range to explore their spirituality and attempt to affect their audiences with message-wrapped music—and we obviously must allow that range—we must also allow audiences free range to discuss and reject that message.

An interesting subplot of Danielson: a Family Movie (particularly in hindsight) is the ascension of Sufjan Stevens, who begins as a fill-in for a departed Famile member and then heads out on the road to support Smith at his solo shows.  Stevens’ live aesthetic—the Illinois cheerleaders and so forth—draws on the lively dramatics of Danielson Famile.  If there is any awkwardness between Smith and Stevens—the prodigy having far surpassed the mentor in their careers—it isn’t suggested, aside from a editorial decision to juxtapose Sufjan’s burgeoning public adoration with shots of Smith alone in his home studio, trying to get a song right.  By all indications, he’ll be sticking to it for a long time to come.