Illogical reader Elmo asked for more music-documentary recommendations after Manslaughter's endorsement of the epic hard-rock underground film Such Hawks, Such Hounds (right) recently, and today I will oblige him, but with a catch:NONE OF THESE FIVE MOVIES ARE ABOUT HEAVY METAL.
Did I just blow your mind? Don't lie. I did, right?
I mean, I've seen some excellent movies about metal in the past (Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Global Metal, and Heavy Metal In Baghdad come to mind), but to be honest, when I pondered Elmo's request these were the first five movies that came into my head. NONE of them about metal. Whoa.
Am I crazy? Am I "losing my edge"? Who know? But all of these movies scored at least 4 out of 5 stars on my internal Netflix rating system, and I'd like to share them with you all accordingly. I'll keep it brief since it's Saturday and you've got better things to do.
1) MOOG (2004)
Documentary about the life and times of electronics wizard (and keytar impresario) Robert Moog. Maybe I'm sort of a sucker for Bob Moog due to my checkered past with theremin ownership, but this is a solid, well-made film about a brilliant (and super mellow) Bro. The soundtrack features a bunch of musicians I don't really care about (Stereolab) and a couple that I do (Rick Wakeman). Rock. R.I.P. Bob.Netflix
Buy
Soundtrack
Trailer:
Rick wakeman! Eat your heart out:
2) THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY (1994)
While we're on the subject, how about another documentary involving theremins, this one about Russian inventor Leon Theremin? Dude had a crazy life, getting mixed up with Bucky Fuller, romantically entangled with She-Bro Clara Rockmore, and deported at the height of his success in 1938. Dude was never seen or heard from again... UNTIL the makers of this film track him down. Seriously heavy shit.Netflix
Buy
Watch online
Trailer:
3) HYPE! (1996)
On the surface, this movie might seem like a posthumous attempt at cashing in on the "grunge" craze of the early 90's, but in fact it's something quite different. Hype! is a testament to the awesome underground Seattle bands who got overlooked when grunge hit, and even though you've got your required interviews with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, brief forays into Accused/Fartz territory, interviews with Dead Moon and Netflix
Buy
Watch it on Youtube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
"The Nirvana Part":
4) BAD BRAINS LIVE AT CBGB 1982 (2006)
Do concert films count as documentaries? Whatevs.It gives me fucking chills every time I watch it. THIS is what playing music is all about.
Netflix
Buy
NPR knows what's up
Download the whole thing at Hangover Heart Attack
"Banned In DC"
"Big Takeover"
5) WE JAM ECONO: THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN (2005)
Mike Watt. SST. Black Flag. The sad story of D. Boon. Required viewing. Get to it.Netflix
Buy
Website
Trailer:
I've only seen that Theremin movie but it is fantastic. I've heard people say that Minutemen movie changed their life; which made me not want to watch it... but if it's good enough for ILLCON, it's good enough for me!
ReplyDeletethere's no interview with joe preston in hype!
ReplyDeleteReally? It's been awhile since I've seen it, I guess I made that up. Or maybe transposed it from somewhere else. My pose has been exposed, thank you for your diligence Mr. Cranky.
ReplyDeleteWe Jam Econo is an amazing doco.
ReplyDeleteThe only Melvins interview is with Buzz and Dale(but he doesn't say anything).We Jam Econo forced me to acknowledge how great The Minutemen were.Moog was terrible though they left out too many great Moog bands and it was seriously boring.I'm pretty sure Goblin have used moogs and they weren't mentioned at all.
ReplyDeleteI just watched the TAD doc. and it was kinda lame also I wrote the drummer of Girl Trouble and she told me she had to fight the director to include them in Hype because he had no idea about the scene in WA let alone Seattle.I think The Fastbacks are another good underrated band.
ReplyDeleteOther music related, tho non-metal, docs I've watched recently that were awesome are: "Touch the Sound" about Evelyn Glennie (amazing percussionist, and legally deaf) and "The Heart is a Drum Machine." The latter has about a hundred people, musicians, actors, weirdos, weighing in on the meaning of music , and why it is so vital to humanity.
ReplyDelete