Music documentaries/movies

[Namahs]

Sidetopic for the industrial/noise documentaries.
Artists, genres, instruments, biographical movies and what not.

I recently watched the "Mike Judge presents: tales From The Tour Bus" cartoon illustrated minidoc series about country (S1) & funk S2) artist. Fun and light stories from the road including some "hidden facts" etc.

The Blues Brothes movie kinda kickstarted the interest in music/movies for me at age of 7 or 8. Good tunes and tons of references to good blues artists.

Grateful Dead document "The Other One: Long, Strange Trip Of Bob Weir" was really interesting and nice surprise sometime ago. "Dunno what to watch. I could check this out and learn bit more about this band". Kinda nice "this is my story"-version instead of the usual "this is our story".

Whats your favorite or watched recently?

[housepig]

All the stuff that Sam Dunn has done that I've seen so far - Metal: A Headbangers Journey, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas, Iron Maiden: Flight 666, the Hip-Hop and Metal Evolution series - are outstanding. Well done on every level, produced in a way that gives a great balance between solid detail without getting lost in the weeds.

[Scream & Writhe]

"Mike Judge presents: tales From The Tour Bus"

This series is really great and I hope it continues.

[Namahs]

"Mike Judge presents: tales From The Tour Bus"

This series is really great and I hope it continues.

Same here but seems that he is now more occupied with new seasons and movie for Beavis & Butt-Head which Im also waiting for.

[Namahs]

All the stuff that Sam Dunn has done that I've seen so far - Metal: A Headbangers Journey, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas, Iron Maiden: Flight 666, the Hip-Hop and Metal Evolution series - are outstanding. Well done on every level, produced in a way that gives a great balance between solid detail without getting lost in the weeds.

Seen most of them also. Good stuff and well made. Really liked the Hip-Hop Evolution serie. It was nice to see the evolution how it started and went from there instead of just bling-blibg-drugs-guns-gangstagangsta. Highly recommend to anyone with interest in hip-hop.

[XXX]

the greatest music doc of all time

[33033]

I've been watching more music docs than usual as of late, as my wife is prepping a music doc for Doug and the Slugs. Really dug "Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche" by her daughter Celeste Bell. Really emotional for me as my father passed in 2020, and he was a musician/had bipolar also.

I assume most people have seen Beware of Mr. Baker about Ginger Baker. Totally wild one.

Still haven't watched Sisters With Transistors! I had a pass to an online fest it was screening at and didn't fit it in. Crave now has it and I'm eager to get to it ASAP.

[Atrophist]

Since fictional movies are included:

https://youtu.be/DkmDGBIEkO4

One of the best new films I’ve seen in the recent years. Only tangentially music-related, but anyway.

[Atrophist]

Just realized that there are multiple documentaries on Youtube about the amazing Wesley Willis. I’d only seen one of them, The Daddy of Rock’n’Roll, before.

I totally lost it during a scene when Willis is at a photocopy shop, printing out the lyrics to his song SUCK A CAMEL’S DICK. When it doesn’t come out of the printer how he wants it to, he goes waving the sheets of paper in front of the clerk’s face demanding he fix it.

[Namahs]

Yesterday I finally watched the "Straight Outta Compton" movie.
Not too bad. Sort of wished maybe bit more stuff including N.W.A. on the road etc instead of guys being pissy to each other and going solo.

[adult human]

Just realized that there are multiple documentaries on Youtube about the amazing Wesley Willis. I’d only seen one of them, The Daddy of Rock’n’Roll, before.

I totally lost it during a scene when Willis is at a photocopy shop, printing out the lyrics to his song SUCK A CAMEL’S DICK. When it doesn’t come out of the printer how he wants it to, he goes waving the sheets of paper in front of the clerk’s face demanding he fix it.

Yeah, it's great that so much of the man's life and times was documented. I can't remember which one it is but seeing him in an internet cafe (?) in the midst of having a bad time hearing voices and trying to explain it to a stranger sat close to him is so heartbreaking. I honestly think about that short scene all the time. WW was an angel, just pure beauty.

[Namahs]

Just realized that there are multiple documentaries on Youtube about the amazing Wesley Willis. I’d only seen one of them, The Daddy of Rock’n’Roll, before.

I totally lost it during a scene when Willis is at a photocopy shop, printing out the lyrics to his song SUCK A CAMEL’S DICK. When it doesn’t come out of the printer how he wants it to, he goes waving the sheets of paper in front of the clerk’s face demanding he fix it.

Yeah, it's great that so much of the man's life and times was documented. I can't remember which one it is but seeing him in an internet cafe (?) in the midst of having a bad time hearing voices and trying to explain it to a stranger sat close to him is so heartbreaking. I honestly think about that short scene all the time. WW was an angel, just pure beauty.

Sounds like something to look into at somepoint

[Exclusionzonedayton]

Still haven't watched Sisters With Transistors! I had a pass to an online fest it was screening at and didn't fit it in. Crave now has it and I'm eager to get to it ASAP.

I can’t recommend Sisters With Transistors enough. If you like pioneers and experimental music you will love it. I learned a lot from it and was greatly inspired. It was well put together I thought. I’m eager for them to release it in a format you can buy because I want to watch it over and over.

[adult human]

A few goodies I don't think I saw mentioned.

Cosmic Psychos: Blokes You Can Trust
Very fun and engaging story of Aussie punk rock heroes starting from the earliest days to the present. I knew absolutely nothing about this band before watching it but, like all the best docos, you really don't need to in order to get a lot out of it. Pretty honest and open whilst also taking in a lot of funny/touching and unexpected diversions. Plenty of footage and talk from the dude's farm which is excellent.

Last Days Here
Pretty fucking harrowing yet weirdly heartwarming story of Bobby Liebling of Pentagram at a time where he, with the help of a younger friend and fan, is attempting to make a go of what very well could be his last shot at getting the band back together and ultimately doing something with his life. You see a guy so very deeply in the throes of a decades long crack and heroin addiction that it's a lot darker than your average rockumentary yet still pulls at a lot of the same narratives of near misses and (hopefully) ultimate triumph. You root SO much for this guy all the way through. Features an absolutely hilarious appearance from Phil Anselmo acting, unsurprisingly, like a total caricature of himself.

Searching for Sugar Man
This often gets cited as among some of the best documentaries made full stop, let alone music based. It shows the attempt to find long disappeared musician Rodriguez whose two low selling 1960s LPs, unbeknownst to him, became huge in South Africa having made zero impact while he was active. Some utterly spine tingling moments as the tale unfolds. Worth watching for many reasons, not least the exploration of how an obscure American artist's music became household name cultural business in a single distant nation whilst remaining unknown in his home country and indeed everywhere else. You have to believe this kind of phenomenon would simply be impossible to manifest now in the vastly connected, info heavy world we live in?

I Called Him Morgan
Documentary dealing with American Jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his relationship with common law wife, Helen Morgan. Told from her perspective decades after serving a prison sentence for shooting him dead in public at his own gig in a New York Jazz club. Fascinating story on its own but also serves as a brilliant behind the scenes insight to an important (and amazing) era in Jazz from people who were there.

Milford Graves Full Mantis
Definitely a documentary in that it documents its subject but presented in a more creative, portrait like way than anything else I've mentioned so far. No big through narrative so to speak, just Graves at his home, in his garden, talking about things he's interested in as well as some stories from his past. Highly recommended for anyone with the slightest inclination toward mildly eccentric Jazz musicians. One of the anecdotes details Graves and a Butoh dancer collaborating in Japan, performing improvised music/dance for a school of autistic children. The accompanying footage might well be some of the most life affirming and awe inspiring I've ever seen.

That's all I can remember for the moment, I'll drop more if I remember.

Perhaps the forum can help me with a long term thing I've been trying to find with no luck. I read on some forum years ago of a documentary centred around the autistic/OCD bassist (I think) and leader of a prog metal band who drives trucks to earn a living, convinced his band are on the tip of making it big. I want to say they're Canadian but could be imagining it. I'm guessing it will have been a pretty low key, low budget thing. Any ideas?

[Scream & Writhe]

Perhaps the forum can help me with a long term thing I've been trying to find with no luck. I read on some forum years ago of a documentary centred around the autistic/OCD bassist (I think) and leader of a prog metal band who drives trucks to earn a living, convinced his band are on the tip of making it big. I want to say they're Canadian but could be imagining it. I'm guessing it will have been a pretty low key, low budget thing. Any ideas?

Sounds like the Anvil documentary https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1157605/

[adult human]

Perhaps the forum can help me with a long term thing I've been trying to find with no luck. I read on some forum years ago of a documentary centred around the autistic/OCD bassist (I think) and leader of a prog metal band who drives trucks to earn a living, convinced his band are on the tip of making it big. I want to say they're Canadian but could be imagining it. I'm guessing it will have been a pretty low key, low budget thing. Any ideas?

Sounds like the Anvil documentary https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1157605/

Hah, no sadly not, though I do get the similarities. I’ll have read about this a good few years before that came out I think and even if not, I recall internet searches for the film’s title came up with nothing. Really love the Anvil doc though. “Family’s important Shit, man”.

[33033]

I Called Him Morgan
Documentary dealing with American Jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his relationship with common law wife, Helen Morgan. Told from her perspective decades after serving a prison sentence for shooting him dead in public at his own gig in a New York Jazz club. Fascinating story on its own but also serves as a brilliant behind the scenes insight to an important (and amazing) era in Jazz from people who were there.

This one bummed me out but it was so well done.

[D345]

https://youtu.be/ll83NJuQ0Q0

this documentary about Hasil Adkins is one of the craziest and funniest things I have ever seen. Pure rock'n'roll insanity.

[housepig]

Perhaps the forum can help me with a long term thing I've been trying to find with no luck. I read on some forum years ago of a documentary centred around the autistic/OCD bassist (I think) and leader of a prog metal band who drives trucks to earn a living, convinced his band are on the tip of making it big. I want to say they're Canadian but could be imagining it. I'm guessing it will have been a pretty low key, low budget thing. Any ideas?

I think this is it - "Driver 23 / The Atlas Moth"
https://www.amazon.com/Driver-Atlas-Mot ... B00008RH0X

Caught a chunk of it years ago and I've been periodically looking for a copy / rip / download / stream ever since.

edit - may have just tracked down a copy via the inter-library loan system. we'll see if it shows up!

[adult human]

Perhaps the forum can help me with a long term thing I've been trying to find with no luck. I read on some forum years ago of a documentary centred around the autistic/OCD bassist (I think) and leader of a prog metal band who drives trucks to earn a living, convinced his band are on the tip of making it big. I want to say they're Canadian but could be imagining it. I'm guessing it will have been a pretty low key, low budget thing. Any ideas?

I think this is it - "Driver 23 / The Atlas Moth"
https://www.amazon.com/Driver-Atlas-Mot ... B00008RH0X

Caught a chunk of it years ago and I've been periodically looking for a copy / rip / download / stream ever since.

edit - may have just tracked down a copy via the inter-library loan system. we'll see if it shows up!

I think this is it! Oh wow, thank you and well done. At least now I’ve got the title so can do my own digging.

[Bubble-Congeries]

Though I enjoy documentaries, particularly music docs, I rarely have the desire to view them again once I've seen them.

Benjamin Smoke is a notable exception, though part of my interest in viewing it repeatedly is related to perverse nostalgia associated with growing up in a small southern city during the same timespan that a lot of the film documents. 1990's Cabbagetown seemed to be very similar in some ways to places like 1990's Columbus, MS.

Being a fan of the subject proper helps my enjoyment too, of course. One of only a handful of documentaries I own a physical copy of, and one of even fewer I've felt like watching more than 1-2 times. Hated being perhaps the only other one.

[_TS_]

This short gabber documentary is a classic. Shaven heads, shady moustaches, hardcore gum gnawing.

https://youtu.be/iO1oLIOS-kY

[chryptusrecords]

新しい神様 - The New God (1999)



Documentary by Yutaka Tsuchiya following the right-wing punk band The Revolutionary Truth, surely an obscure pull for even the most die-hard western fans of fabled Japanese punk music. The film follows mostly their singer Amamiya and her fucking deranged search for personal meaning. At one point they go to Pyongyang and meet Moriaki Wakabayashi from Les Rallizes Denudes and Japanese 'Red Army Faction' who was one of the hijackers of Japan Air Flight 351 in 1970. By 2010, a mere 11 years after this film comes out, Wakabayashi would express regret for the hijacking and his desire to return to Japan. They debate politics with the old communists, and go pay their respects to the huge statute of Kim Il Sung (as is only right and proper).

Full of absolutely quotable lines. The film starts with Amamiya standing on a busy street reading a 'poem' as crowds of disinterested salarymen push past her:
"I can't do anything and I'm nobody, but I'm good at blaming my anger, avoiding what i hate, and playing suicide games to gamble my slight chance of dying... I was lost in an elusive cloud before the Nationalists saved me from my tiny world. They put my uncertain anger into words. Finally I came closer to the world. The problem is the dead peace and Japan as America's dog. If we retrieve our Japanese race pride in our core, I can find my role in Japan.... Everybody please listen to me, I am no good stupid and I hate it. I'm looking for value and an absolute meaning of life I can believe in. Tell me if I'm wrong. To whomever is watching this film, please give me the answer in 100 minutes."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_2-FMgPHf0

[Scream & Writhe]

Classic doc focusing mostly on (the end of) the Sex Pistols, but also featuring Dead Boys, Sham 69, Generation X, The Clash, etc. Worth it for the Pistols footage and has the notorious Sid and Nancy interview (which is just flat out sad).

[housepig]

D.O.A. - A Rite Of Passage

Made me think of this classic, totally worth it if you've never seen:



Having played a show where we were paid in change from the door money, I was well prepared in advance from seeing this on Night Flight a few years earlier.