sarahell, do you know any documentary editors?
― Not Dork Yet (alternate toke) (morrisp), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:12 (two years ago) link
I mean, SotL kind of actively make fun of how boring their music is, otherwise a beautiful swelling track wouldn't be titled "Dungtitled (in A minor)" or "December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface." If you don't like ambient music, that's fine, but also I don't have much to say to you about anything.
― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:24 (two years ago) link
xp - voice editors, no. but this is the bullshit opinions thread so it shouldn't matter
― sarahell, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:26 (two years ago) link
I get that they're completely fake but maybe each sentence shouldn't feel like it's cobbled together from 3 different takes?
― frogbs, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 9:54 AM (thirty-one minutes ago)
^ gets it
― sarahell, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:27 (two years ago) link
It's not just documentaries. I watch movies on headphones on my laptop and it seems like everything I watch contains a few lines that were ADR-ed in with a completely different soundstage, different levels of reverb, etc., etc. And not just action movies where dialogue is being yelled over gunfire and explosions, but regular dramas. It can yank you right out of a scene.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:30 (two years ago) link
okay thank you, for a while i'd mention this to people and get blank stares ... it's more irritating in documentaries because they are more focused on people talking with fewer other sonic elements to consider
― sarahell, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:36 (two years ago) link
commercials do it a lot too, though this is maybe more defensible because they're trying to fit everything into a tight spot. but it still makes me feel like I'm listening to a robot and not an actual testimonial
I also notice it all the time on YouTube, even with filler words, like "blah blah blah" *cut* "and...uh..." *cut* "blah blah blah"
― frogbs, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:44 (two years ago) link
Contra op? Most music docs fucking suck and I don't understand the point of them. There's only like 3 good ones. The Ornette one, the Daniel Johnston one and VU.
― kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:47 (two years ago) link
xp my controversial take is that people are lazy now and the skill of combining different takes into a track that sounds natural, including tonal continuity and rhythm of speech is something that is not valued (maybe this is more for unpopular conservative beliefs than this thread)
― sarahell, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 18:55 (two years ago) link
― kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 6:47 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
milford graves
― Nedlene Grendel as Basenji Holmo (map), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 19:05 (two years ago) link
Step Across The Border (the Fred Frith doc) is one of my favourite films ever
― flamboyant goon tie included, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 19:06 (two years ago) link
Both of those films are as much about "life" as music, of course, reflecting their subjects' perspectives.
― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 19:24 (two years ago) link
yes, they are good music documentaries
― flow, my crimson tears (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 22:37 (two years ago) link
The Bill Withers one kinda fits in there too.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 23:53 (two years ago) link
Lee Morgan doc, too
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 10 March 2022 00:39 (two years ago) link
for the record I thought the Velvets one was just OK
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 10 March 2022 00:40 (two years ago) link
The Rodriguez one is cool
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 10 March 2022 00:47 (two years ago) link
Not sure if it can be strictly classified as a music documentary tho
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 10 March 2022 00:48 (two years ago) link
Summer of Soul.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 March 2022 00:48 (two years ago) link
This thread has got me interested in relistening to Stars of the Lid and rewatching Searching for Sugarman
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 10 March 2022 00:51 (two years ago) link
ok the Rodriguez doc is not as good as I remembered it.
is there a thread for music docs recommendations?
Anything here actually worth watching?https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/70-best-music-documentaries-24757/
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 10 March 2022 03:56 (two years ago) link
Stop Making Sense is a fucking classic but it's actually a concert not a documental?
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 10 March 2022 03:57 (two years ago) link
My latest controversial music opinion is that McCoy Tyner's Expansions is every bit as good an album as A Love Supreme and I might even prefer it
(Take that second part with a grain of salt: I've loved ALS for two decades and somehow just heard Expansions this year)
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 10 March 2022 04:30 (two years ago) link
A Poem Is a Naked Person is a good doc, the weird chicken/snake thing notwithstanding
― buzza, Thursday, 10 March 2022 06:05 (two years ago) link
I was talking about the Eric Andersen scenes from that movie in another thread. It's funny that, in his review of Les Blank's work, Robert Christgau criticizes Leon Russell's "masscult shtick and flash" which, on the basis of the film, appears to consist of... wearing a top hat onstage? I guess shtick and flash will look different 50 years later.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 10 March 2022 12:49 (two years ago) link
Decline of WesternDon't Look BackNo Direction Homethe Rush oneDaniel Johnson oneDigMetallica
^^are all stellar music docs
― a (waterface), Thursday, 10 March 2022 12:57 (two years ago) link
Spinal Tap
― move over GAPDY, now there's BIG THIEF! (PBKR), Thursday, 10 March 2022 13:23 (two years ago) link
maybe not controversial, but the best music biopic of all time is 'walk hard: the dewey cox story'
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Thursday, 10 March 2022 13:35 (two years ago) link
What about like VH1 Classic Albums series or the Song Exploder eps on Netflix? Do those count for this discussion?
Also, as far as movie-length docs, I remember thinking that Hit So Hard (the Patty Schemel doc) was really good, but I haven't seen it in like 10 years.
― peace, man, Thursday, 10 March 2022 13:46 (two years ago) link
The Nilsson one did nothing to sway me towards admiration of the artist, but it had rainbow beard guy, who ten years after viewing I still contemplate.
― bendy, Thursday, 10 March 2022 13:53 (two years ago) link
xp those are just behind the scenes explainers, meant to complement a piece of art but not really meant to stand as a work itself
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Thursday, 10 March 2022 15:00 (two years ago) link
Trances is fantastic, though I might say it's more of an excellent movie than music doc
― rob, Thursday, 10 March 2022 15:05 (two years ago) link
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Thursday, March 10, 2022 7:35 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
Wow, how did I never know this existed?! Must see. I opined on another thread once that a great film could be made of the Stax Records story, but Hollywood in its infinite wisdom would probably screw it up.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 10 March 2022 15:12 (two years ago) link
I really liked a True Testimonial when I saw a bootleg copy in like ‘04. I was woefully ignorant re the 5 at the time.
― OG Bob Sacamano (will), Thursday, 10 March 2022 15:21 (two years ago) link
The Grateful Dead doc "Long Strange Trip" was excellent.
― o. nate, Thursday, 10 March 2022 17:09 (two years ago) link
xp yeah that MC5 doc was really great.
― Kim Kimberly, Thursday, 10 March 2022 17:12 (two years ago) link
really like this controversial opinion, it's caused me to reflect on what music documentaries i actually appreciate as films and the answer is jazz on a summer's day (which is i guess a concert film but the ambient interstitial footage of teenagers dancing and smoking on rooftops makes it feel more like a world)
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 10 March 2022 17:14 (two years ago) link
decline of western civilization part 2 would be another one
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 10 March 2022 17:15 (two years ago) link
but aligning with the post that started this discussion off, i also love made in america, that shit is crazy
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 10 March 2022 17:16 (two years ago) link
the Death one was good -- idk if I could really enjoy a music documentary where I thought the music was horrible though (unless the point the film was trying to make was that the music was horrible, but even still, at my advanced age, I would most likely think, why am i watching this then?) -- the Metallica one is a unique case (though some of their earlier stuff I do like)
― sarahell, Thursday, 10 March 2022 18:47 (two years ago) link
The Fugazi one was also good -- if only for the ice cream eating motherfucker bit
― sarahell, Thursday, 10 March 2022 18:48 (two years ago) link
ice cream-eating motherfucker
― sarahell, Thursday, 10 March 2022 18:51 (two years ago) link
nilsson one sux so bad. one of the more useless docs.
― kurt schwitterz, Thursday, 10 March 2022 19:27 (two years ago) link
i love the documentaries that leave gigantic gaps of information, like, one moment they're talking about writing one album, and suddenly they jump to being on tour for the next one, and entire people have left the band
― i read to 69 position (Neanderthal), Thursday, 10 March 2022 19:29 (two years ago) link
I love a lot of music docs, especially about musicians whom I don't really care for. I love the multi-part Grateful Dead doc, it made me understand my love-hate affair with them and their fans a lot better.
I recently watched the doc about a lot of the players from Parliament Funkadelic, and it was batshit— George Clinton is even more of an awful person that I previously knew. Just awful, if the doc is to be believed, and I do believe it.
― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Thursday, 10 March 2022 22:18 (two years ago) link
That said, it wasn't beautiful. More like a "big scoop." Sometimes that's okay.
I think Walk Hard only makes sense if you also saw Ray and Walk the Line (at minimum), plus the Doors and Almost Famous and Spinal Tap and and and. It's a tropefest and you can't appreciate a tropefest when you don't know the tropes.
That said, I have very low standards for music documentaries/biopics, including Classic Albums, Behind the Music, concert films, parodies, spoofs, all of it really. I will watch basically all of them, even if I am not particularly a fan of the artist or scene.
― jenny from the blockchain (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 10 March 2022 22:27 (two years ago) link
Sometimes it's actually better that way, b/c you're not hung up on accuracy and "well actchually, their 3rd album was their artistic peak and should've been explored in more depth," blah blah
― Not Dork Yet (alternate toke) (morrisp), Thursday, 10 March 2022 22:29 (two years ago) link
The Kids Are Alright is a stone classic, but few documentaries since have adopted that film’s approach of allowing the performances to tell the story (although Instrument and Milford Graves: Full Mantis came pretty close). Amazing Journey is more informative, but also a disappointing missed opportunity. The 2012 Quadrophenia: Can You See the Real Me? is arguably the most effective Who documentary in terms of digging into the friction behind the personalities and the personalities behind the friction, and is vastly more substantial than the typical Classic Albums episode. (It’s also unavailable in any physical format or on any streaming service.)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 10 March 2022 22:38 (two years ago) link
I mean, SotL kind of actively make fun of how boring their music is, otherwise a beautiful swelling track wouldn't be titled "Dungtitled (in A minor)" or "December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface." If you don't like ambient music, that's fine, but also I don't have much to say to you about anything.― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Thursday, 10 March 2022 5:24 AM (yesterday)
― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Thursday, 10 March 2022 5:24 AM (yesterday)
See? Controversial.
Yeah I don't really like ambient music. But it's such a useless term really. SAW II is one of my favourite albums ever. I own heaps of drone. But by and large, I'll leave ambient to the yoga studios.
― raven, Friday, 11 March 2022 07:20 (two years ago) link