Good online documentaries about music...

BBC Robert Wyatt documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdNKPqG-0ss

ha just came to post the same one. it's good.

almost everything can be found on youtube these days

Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution
Prog Britannia
Folk Britannia
Folk America
Synth Britannia
Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany

etc etc

the Britannia ones have varying levels of "good"ness imo. wasn't hugely taken with the Prog one in terms of its treatment of the subject but obv lots of good old footage in everything. remember liking the Krautrock one a fair bit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsb1w-3iFa8

I found a treasure trove of jazz docs - "1959 the year that changed jazz", was a good one. The one about Coltrane not so hot.

the Walk On By shows are my favourite BBC music docs ever. each one looks at popular songs from a specific era, there are 8 of them and they're all on YT starting with this one about the jazz era

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_igNnTk14

also search the mid 90s Dancing In The Street BBC docs which were pretty much mindblowing bitd.

All You Need is Love - The Story of Popular Music

remember liking the Krautrock one a fair bit

The krautrock one was mostly good but ended very strangely. It was basically "and then David Bowie liked it and that's why it is important". ???!?!?

'Art of Sounds' looks interesting.

Wait is All You Need Is Love on line?

the wyatt one was part of the "Originals" strand which also had good docs on jake thackray & mose allison

BBC's 'The Alchemists of Sound', a docu about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

'The New Sound of Music' from 1979, presented by Michael Rodd, mostly about electronic music, from music concreté, through the Radiophonic Workshop (there's a scene with him messing around with tape recorders and various bits, including the infamous lampshade), to more modern (for the time) synths.

Haven't watched this Beefheart doc yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBa8bS_vZkM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBa8bS_vZkM

fuck--anyway, it looks promising

That is an anawesome doc, watched when it was first broadcast. That was my intro to Beefheart, got a copy of TMR a few days after and never looked back..

This doc on the Everly Brothers from '83 was broadcast again on TV here recently and really pissed on all of the cheap talking head bullshit that a BBC-made music doc passes for these days.

you might know this mr x: any good docs on the classical music avant garde out there?

has anyone seen that modulations doc?

Synth Brittania is pretty essential, and very exciting for us Yanks, especially since I haven't watched British television since 1982!!

Remember the PBS doc on John Cage? Good times...

Cool doc on William Onyeabor, sort of the opposite of Sugar Man.

a couple dub/reggae docus worth watching

Studio One Story
http://youtu.be/OdARmTszGCU

Wackies: Bullwackie in New York
http://youtu.be/BxDO_31FqxQ

King at the Controls: The King Jammy Story
http://youtu.be/fVIHkmelZoo

The one about Steely Dan making Aja was spectacular:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GwEX7nn6o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jZ5L8vAH-Q

Rokk i Reykjavik, documentary from 1982 about the new wave scene in Iceland

http://vimeo.com/57055620

there's a short clip here from Roxette, a student film from 1977 about teenage Roxy Music fans in Salford, they were showing the whole thing (about 15 minutes or so I think?) at the Glam exhibition the Tate Liverpool had last year. If anyone knows were it's possible to see the rest of this again please say, because it was fantastic!

where

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5HRa9nEVVU

excellent documentary but contains trace elements of Rick Wakeman

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrxyxb_the-nomi-song-2004-documentary-the-klaus-nomi-odyssey-he-came-from-outer-space-to-save-the-human-rac_shortfilms

The Nomi Song, amazing documentary about Klaus Nomi

There are at least two very good documentaries about Momus on youtube, possibly more

http://youtu.be/kuZf3YD1cYo
'Amongst Women Only', 1991

http://youtu.be/MVzyCewxNZk
'I Can See Japan', 1999

Only Yesterday: The Carpenters' Story (2007)

http://youtu.be/SUMnajChiM4

there are lots of Carpenters documentaries on youtube, I like this one a lot, I don't know if anyone has recommendations for which other ones are worthwhile?

http://vimeo.com/344856

I thought about that, I wasn't sure if it counted as a documentary, I agree it's a great film

it's not a documentary really is it? but everybody shd see it

Sacred Music: Gorecki and Pärt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7C8c7oh1xc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7C8c7oh1xc

this is nothing but filth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh175GnxvL4

Yes, the Carpenters had a (hilariously) formulaic made-for-TV movie that is classic in it's own right. Not that I think anorexia is funny - it's just that it was so exploitative....I can't bear to watch the Jackson's biopic again...it's as long as "Roots", I think.

Anyway...for important moments in rock history - how about James Vance and Judas Priest?

It aired on POV, which to some is an example of "far left" public television programming:

http://youtu.be/eDsv_oG3KWY

Also, search UNSUNG on YouTube. It is a regular series on Af-Am channel "One" and features hour-long documentaries of the cool cats of soul music. I would think you need to see these.

http://youtu.be/BXhfzkH_u14

Getting ready to watch this....

Gosh, that xpost Wyatt is exemplary, re being suffused with coherent music excerpts, especially the concert, without skimping on backstory, other commentary, or visual interest. Would have liked to hear "At Last I Am Free" one more time, but hey.

Not only are there loads of documentaries, but there are VINTAGE newscasts that make some second-hand sources look like fools:

http://youtu.be/QB74JaVoWLA

I really enjoyed this ancient Geraldo "exposé". If you ever wondered about late 70's America, here it is! It has stuff I haven't seen on TV in a million years, like REAL SOUTHERN PEOPLE!

I mean it's a "must do" if you're educating yourself about rock and roll music!

No idea if it's any good, but I was on YouTube trying to find something on album cover art, and found an hour-plus documentary called Under the Covers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9wJrqC7tXI

Phrase I love from upthread: "contains trace elements of Rick Wakeman."

That xpost Beefheart doc turned out to be really good, though mostly as an introduction; guess the same is true of this Hawkwind, but it's really got the visuals, the continuous sounds through the lightyears (listen on headphones),the succinct comments that don't intrude. Dave Brock refused to be in it because Nik Turner was, but he's got an interview, almost as long, on this same page (with a couple of Hawkwind concerts and albums too)Wonder if he's still keeping Hawkwind going, and if Nik & co. still are Space Ritual?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDJzAldD6t-ps&v=JzAldD6t-ps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDJzAldD6t-ps&v=JzAldD6t-ps

A really fantastic Rush documentary. Once you get beyond the useless celebrity eulogies in the first couple of minutes, it is nothing like you expect. The rare music documentary that may even be more enjoyable for non-fans while still taking the musicians at the center of it very seriously throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAUtQhOFWFA

Is that the one which has that famous argument with Alex and his dad? From your description I am exactly the audience for that.

That's the one!

Phrase I love from upthread: "contains trace elements of Rick Wakeman."
Should be noted that this is cancelled out by the simultaneous presence of Bernie Worrell.

Taking a look at the Beefheart doc now, watching Switzerland-Ecuador out of the corner of my eye.

Wow, Zappa in a mellow tone.

Christ is there ANY music documentary Bono hasn't insinuated himself into? Now he's an expert on Malian desert music? GO AWAY.

haha i almost didn't watch the excellent muscle shoals doc because he was the first human you see in it

Bono, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins - the worst

order of preference
rollins
thurston

bono

whither Fricke?

oh i like fricke actually just because dammnit the years come and go but old david still looks that same sinewy vaguely-40ish and same damn ramones haircut

He cut a fine figure a few years ago at SXSW. Very pleasant dude.

The world needs more 55 year old alt rock statesmen to be ubiquitous in documentaries

Someone should do supercut of Bono's incisive commentary in films about

The Ramones
Leonard Cohen
Phyl Lynott
Frank Sinatra
Mississippi juke joints
Morrissey
Paul Robeson
Abba
The Pretenders
Jack Clement
Joe Strummer
Nueve Cancion songs
John Lennon
Muscle Shoals
The Beatles
Paul McCartney
Ronny Drew
Quincy Jones
Woody Guthrie
Arthur Fogel
Luciano Pavoratti
Horslips
Mick Jagger
Tony Bennett
Kirsty MacColl
Ivan Kral
Roy Orbison
B.B. King
Eminem
Victor Jara
Tina Turner
Johnny Mercer
Kylie Minogue

that's not to mention Bill Clinton, Charles Bukowski, soccer, apartheid, Anton Corbijn, the evangelical movement, Michael Caine, AIDS, Cirque de Soleil, Billy Graham, George Clooney, competitive robotics, the 9/11 attacks, Island Records, Oscar Wilde, and Mississippi

"The great thing about The Ramones is they showed U2 that you could be four skinny kids from the city with a heart full of rock n roll"

"The thing about Leonard Cohen is he showed the world, and U2 especially, that you could express pain in a song and still remain manly. So manly."

"Phil Lynott was an inspiration to all Irish kids with stars in their eyes and rock n roll in their hearts."

"The thing about Frank Sinatra is that his appeal was timeless, and he could connect with decade after decade of new generations, as when he was good enough to re-record the classic I've Got You Under My Skin with me in 1993"

"As we in U2 got to discover on the Joshua Tree tour, the Mississippi juke joints are still out there, still hopping with the true spirit of rock n roll, that we'd been looking for since playing in the smelliest basement pubs in Dublin."

Lol at all of these posts

well this is one to be avoided (it would SEEM) since first minute and a half is communicating to extra terrestrials or something

http://youtu.be/Em4kpy1YuNQ

"You'd have to EXTRACT the record, y'know, from it's SLEEVE, and, y'know, place it on the turntable"

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/2-19-2015/85wFmQ.gif

Pride and Joy: The Making of Alligator Records--watch Alligator Tales, a mini-doc about the doc, with much more info, here (Blu-Ray coming out 4/22, will have to check for reg DVD)
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1102557630070&ca=1597b49b-3420-4de9-8f7f-57d204318919

Oh, and Pride and Joy is directed by highly esteemed Robert Mugge, who also made the Sonny Rollins doc G Man and many others.

tbh, I have always found that guy kind of annoying. Finds interesting subjects but don't particularly dig the way he films them.

from Rolling Country

The milestone early 70s music doc Heartworn Highways* is streaming (for free) til 4 PM Eastern, March 19, on youtube, link and more info here (incl re National Record Store Day ltd. ed. monster box)http://pitchfork.com/news/64203-outlaw-country-documentary-heartworn-highways-to-stream-on-pitchfork/"> http://pitchfork.com/news/64203-outlaw-country-documentary-heartworn-highways-to-stream-on-pitchfork/
*With Townes VZ, Guy Clark, Coe, Crowell, Earle, Charlie Daniels, Larry Jon Wilson, and several more, incl Steve Young (RIP just now)

― dow, Friday, March 18, 2016 8:16 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

89 minutes, the first 32 of which have mostly been immersive. Back to it.

― dow, Friday, March 18, 2016 8:18 PM (0 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if this link doesn't appear, check YouTube: it's My Name Is Albert Ayler---so far mostly in English with German subtitles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVrmIWO6UFg

MC5: A True Testimonial

https://youtu.be/wNXFs6LEkvw

I watched this a few months ago, it's pretty great.

https://youtu.be/2R0kcD-QaQc

You're Gonna Miss Me, the Roky Erickson doc.

Roky doc on DVD has rich bonus material; the update on his unlikely touring comeback seems crucial.
Watching Poly Styrene doc on BBC Arena, '79:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3VfugdCTTU

Just now watch Gimme Danger, starring the Stooges, one of the best roc docs I've ever seen or heard (despite Behind The Music-type intro). If Ig mentions early inspiration by Harry Partch or Miles Davis (or of course Clarabell or the Three Stooges), Jarmusch has apt footage, ditto, when relevant, Pink Fairies (some of whom were proposed for backing Ig's solo debut, but he heard them as "an amalgamation" of the original Alice Cooper band and for inst MC5, so why not get real Stooges)(also has footage of MC5 live, despite their own excellent doc. linked above,still being in legal limbo, last I heard, because disputes over music royalties, although it sometimes shows up on YouTube), (also got relevant rockin clips of Destroy All Monsters and Sonic's Rendevous Band re Asheton involvement), but skips most of Ig and Bowie's post-Stooges work, and in fact all of Ig's solo career----jumping instead to how they got back together---also, the right (often surprising, though I thought I knew a lot of) details about tracks, albums, shows, people----if it's ever into the weeds, eyes are always on the ball, which is always rolling (not too speedy, but fleet). Streaming here, free for now, at least with free Prime membership, which can be cancelled any time:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01LYRDGU4/moredarkthanshar?ref_=nav_custrec_signin&;

Of course the talk/music ratio is always tricky in these things, but overall effect seemed pretty exhilarating.

I need to see that still. Recall reading criticism of it for being too conventional for a Jarmusch movie. Plus the James Booker "Bayou Maharaja" one.

I thought it was just okay, redeemed largely by Iggy being such a great storyteller. A lot of the sillier animation and cut-in footage was goofy but what else could Jarmusch do - not a ton of archival footage he could rely on or anything.

I got carried away at the beginning of that post, but it's solid, and "conventional" mostly via a just-the-facts-Ma'am momentum that's really a bit atypical for rock docs, given the way so many stick with Behind The Music soap opera and/or infomercial touches---no nostalgic endorsements from Bono and/or Dave Grohl in this one, just comments from the musos and close associates, mainly Danny Fields and Kathy Asheton (didn't know they had a sister, even a mention of her as original connection w MC5, being Sonic Smith's gf---she should write a book)(so should Ig, or maybe he has?). Also, I think it makes clear as excerpts can their strengths and limitations.

The extra footage which is just Iggy making weird sounds is great.

https://youtu.be/2_A9XJQ1UdY

^ New Order documentary, ITV 1993.

Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution is streaming for free on Amazon Prime and is also on Youtube and elsewhere. it's really good. milton parker described it a few years ago on the cluster thread:

there are late 60's film clips from the Zodiak Free Arts Club in the Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution DVD, which is actually a very interesting documentary on the origins of Krautrock -- the first hour is all about Tangerine Dream / Kluster / Ash Ra Tempel, with interviews with Schulze / Moebius / Roedelius / Schnitzler & lots of clips. Kraftwerk's first record isn't even mentioned until 60 minutes in, at which point the documentary switches over mostly to critics talking about the records and the archival footage becomes far less interesting, but if you like Krautrock 68-71 you definitely want to see that DVD

Kraftwerk's first record isn't even mentioned until 60 minutes in, at which point the documentary switches over mostly to critics talking about the records and the archival footage becomes far less interesting

i will say, though, that i actually really liked the talking heads part of it because karl bartos is one of the heads (as well as moebius, roedelius, schniztler, schulze, and others) and he has lots of interesting tidbits about his role within the band when he first joined vs how he was let into the composition process more for man machine and computer world. i'm realizing more and more what an unsung hero bartos is. as far as the archival footage goes for the post radioactivity-era part of the film, i had seen a good deal of it before but there were also plenty of things that were new to me, so i enjoyed it. but yeah, the title is a bit of a misnomer because it's really only about 1/3 to 1/2 kraftwerk, all told, since they also spent a lot of time on early krautrock, new wave, eno and bowie, detroit and chicago techno, and other scenes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agUS6GnZr_U

oooh thx

^so good
Also works as a long podcast if you don’t care about visuals

yeah this was really great!

finished watching the jarmusch GIMME DANGER doc last night: tbed to agree with Οὖτις upthread, that ig as raconteur absolutely made it worth it but the fill-in visual material was all opportunities missed -- if you going to deploy the three stooges so often then at least talk to iggy abt the stooges!

(as it was we got the anecdote -- new to me but i bet not new to the world -- of ron asheton ringing moe to ask permission and iggy snicking muttley-style at the outcome) (which was basically yes)

also: why not did in a little against the entire cliche armature of what the stooges did and what they were against? for rock against hippies, ok -- get ig to talk abt this, push him on the problems. when he's being disobliging abt john sinclair and the white panthers push back and ask if maybe MC5 politics (which ig disdains) isn't the reason the mc5 were eager to help enable creative space for the stooges? he's a highly intelligent cultured man, he absolutely understands irony, th4e answer might be dull and self-serving but maybe it won't be!

if they "destroyed the 60s" what are they doing being inducted into the RnR hall of fame? when tony defries said ig shd play "peter pan" and he gurned back at him "manson or nothing!", i mean, look at where iggy is now: he is literally become the "world's forgotten boy who never grew up"! -- nudge him to comment (instead of replaying "they replaced elvis with fabian, oh my a-boo-hoo" for the trilliionth time, fabian is really not an issue these days

it ends with an anecdote abt the "cool kids" at his school come to harass him in his parents' trailer -- they were bullies and jerks and he hated them and wanted to impress them, well ok, why not expand on the complexities of this too, as an original story or a persona and an act and a stance

anyway the live stuff was good, it was nice to see dave alexender and the ashetons getting some belated human affection, and mr osterberg is always pleasant to spend company with

Think this is the one with sister Kathy or Cathy Asheton? More her please and a family doc, w the music of course.

Just missed a discussion author Ned Sublette had with director Robert Mugge re 2021 restored version of his 1991 Deep Blues doc in Mississippi

Just got this from Jessica Hopper, offering screeners, but also, as it says at bottom, first three eps are already streaming, with a new one about to drop:

Hello music writer buds, strangers, ex-colleagues--

I spent the better part of the last year directing and producing Women Who Rock, a four-part docuseries for EPIX/Amazon, spotlighting women's artistry and their innovations in music. It's four hours of delineating matrilineage, working through the last 70-ish years of popular recordings, from Bessie Smith on up to Syd.

It stars Mavis Staples, Chaka Khan, Rickie Lee Jones, Nona Hendryx of LaBelle, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Pat Benetar, Sheryl Crow, Shania Twain, Joan Jett and few dozen working artists including Tori Amos, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, Kira from Black Flag, Jayne County, Merry Clayton, Syd, St. Vincent, Sarah McLachlan, Alice Bag, Yola, Susanna Hoffs, Kelis, Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile, Kathleen Hanna, Sheila E, Nite Jewel, Kate Pierson of B52s, FeFe Dobson, Debora Iyall from Romeo Void, Margo Price, Star Amerasu, Tegan & Sara, Bethany of Best Coast, Aimee Mann, Jody Watley... it's a real cavalcade.

AND ALSO!? Some of your co-workers/mentors/critical faves: Ann Powers, Suzy Exposito, Ayana Contreras, Holly George-Warren, Danyel Smith, Andrea Warner, and Julianne Escobedo-Shepherd all weigh in with their deep expertise. PLUS! Ramona Gonzalez of Nite Jewel outlines the history of women screaming in music! Sheila E talks about building her own studio! Nona talks about being mentored by Nina Simone! Chaka Khan talks about Joni pulling her back from the brink! Shania gets emotional talking about Taylor Swift! A lot happens!

Gendered canons are weird, as we likely all agree, but I tried to make something that was really about what these women endowed to each other, their relationships to each other's work. To put the lie to competitive mythology. And to also have a discussion of punk that isn't centered on Henry Rollins memory of events. Modest and, perhaps, predictable goals.
I hope you enjoy it.

...& the first 3 episodes are streaming on EPIX and Amazon now.
They will hook you up with whatever you need.
Episode 4 airs this Sunday.

Best --
Jessica H.

up to Syd whut?

possibly Syd tha Kyd?

Syd Straw?

You have to sign up for Night Flight to watch this, but they have some good stuff, might not be too bad (haven't checked for any prices)

Fugazi - Instrument (1999)
Instrument is a collaboration between filmmaker Jem Cohen and Fugazi, covering the period of 1987-1996. Far from a traditional documentary, this is a musical document; a portrait of musicians at work.

The project mixes sync-sound, 16mm. Super-8 video and a wide range of archival formats, including concert footage, studio sessions practice, touring, interviews and portraits of audience members from around the country. (Special thanks to our friends at Dischord for tonight's new arrival).

"...a beguiling, mesmerizing film, because it never settles on a straightforward path. It creates a portrait of the band without revealing the whole picture." — Kyle Ryan, The AV Club

Sorry! Link to Night Flight is in here:
https://mailchi.mp/nightflight/fugaziinstrument?e=42851f1305

Only tangentially music, but I watched this Milton Glaser (famous Dylan poster, various album covers) documentary off YouTube last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ1YHqgZzGQ

This is so great -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4N_wgbl-o

I have no idea who Miller miller miller and sloan are but watched the first 10 minutes and the music sounds fantastic and the documentary interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWP_fmRnDEc

The Death (band) documentary^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLvCp7zqzxs

I have no idea who Miller miller miller and sloan are but watched the first 10 minutes and the music sounds fantastic and the documentary interesting.

I actually saw a bit of that - also didn't know who they were before, but one of those guys went on to build a pretty good career as an engineer. (He even worked on 3 Feet High and Rising.)