"A brilliant, innovative early ‘70s singer-songwriter who was the first artist signed to David Geffen’s Asylum Records... Her music fit early ‘70s Southern California vibe of her label and milieu, but it was stranger, with deep classical influences, wildly unusual structures and voicings and often dark subject matter" - Variety presents Judee Still, the forgotten California musician. Andy Brown and Brian Lindstrom directed the new documentary ‘Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill’ - "a masterful job of making the most of what little there was, enlivening the narrative with contemporary interviews, photos and voiceovers, as well as drawings and passages read by a voice actor culled from her voluminous journals".

"A tribute to Buffy Sainte-Marie’s extraordinary life and career, Madison Thomas’s 'Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On' is as captivating and vital as its legendary subject, the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar" - Tiff reviews the new documentary about the Canadian activist and musician. "Her spirit shines, her wit and warmth blast through the screen and her many talents inspire" - What She Said insists.

"It’s easy to downplay the courage it takes for celebrities to let down their guard and acknowledge their frailties or fallibility, revealing a side of herself the public doesn’t always see. That alone makes the message significant" - CNN writes in a review of Selena Gomez new doc 'My Mind & Me'. Guardian appreciates the singer revealing herself: "'My Mind & Me' captures her terror and ultimate relief in coming forward with her bipolar diagnosis and documents her genuinely remarkable efforts to destigmatize mental illness".

Rita Baghdadi's documentary 'Sirens' intimately chronicles the lives and music of Slave to Sirens, the only Lebanese female metal band, "whose burgeoning fame is set against the backdrop of the Lebanese revolution. Its members wrestle with friendship, sexuality, and destruction as their music serves as a refuge to Beirut’s youth culture". Critics give it favorable scores, with NYC Movie Guru describing it as a "moving, intimate and provocative".

Rolling Stone presents the new David Bowie documentary 'Moonage Daydream', Brett Morgen’s "extraordinary portrait of the late artist as cosmic philosopher, glam trickster, and sage-like cypher via a stream-of-consciousness blend of vintage performances, rare archival clips and career-spanning interviews... For Morgen, the project would turn out to be a five-year odyssey that included a near-death experience, a hobo-like trip through New Mexico, and a radical rethinking of what it means to balance the professional and the personal when making a music doc".

"This was a savage festival, a free-for-all, beyond chaotic. The survivors in the film, they gave a good picture of what happened that night, and they were all fortunate they didn’t die or get seriously injured" - film-maker Charlie Minn says to LA Times about his documentary 'Concert Crush', on the Astroworld disaster in November that left 10 concertgoers dead at the Travis Scott show. Minn reconstructs the night’s events from phone footage and interviews with survivors - "with 50,000 people there and everyone on their phone, imagine how much footage is still out there". However, High Snobiety points out Minn was previously accused of sensationalizing tragedy and exploiting trauma for profit.

Mick Jagger and the Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought are to executively produce an upcoming four-part documentary about James Brown’s life and career, the Root reports. 'James Brown: Say It Loud' is a massive four-hour docuseries that celebrates the Godfather of Funk’s legacy. The series will feature both never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with friends, family, collaborators and more.

Two days before his death, Jimi Hendrix played with Eric Burdon, the former Animals frontman, who had recently teamed up with Latin-influenced rock band War. When the group began a residency at London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s, they were playing some of their first concerts together. Burdon invited Hendrix to sit in, and he showed up on the evening of Sept. 16, 1970 for the second set, and played moving, dramatic phrases all across the ensemble’s covers of blues and folk standards 'Mother Earth' and 'Tobacco Road', rousing the crowd to cheer and holler at the stage, Rolling Stone reports. Recording of guitarist jamming with War, remastered by filmmaker Oliver Murray and his team, features in upcoming doc chronicling London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s.

Pitchfork likes the new documentary 'Meet Me in the Bathroom', based on Lizzy Goodman’s 2017 book chronicling the New York City’s early-millennium rock boom: "It’s a thrill seeing the Strokes wow stage-jumping British fans, revisiting the uncanny brilliance of TV on the Radio’s 'Ambulance', and witnessing LCD Soundsystem becoming a band in real time in an unhinged rendition of 'Daft Punk Is Playing at My House' where Murphy howls like Jim Morrison".

"The tension between dreams and reality, spirit and society, permeate every layer of Baghdadi’s impressionistic film. Personal narrative and genres like road and war documentaries interweave as Mayassi, Bechara, and their bandmates struggle to find their definition of success in a society that was not built to appreciate their work. But make no mistake: This is not another stereotypical work that casts Arab women as meek victims of repression. It’s a rallying cry (well, scream) for self-determination and rebellion" - The Daily Beast presents Rita Baghdadi’s new documentary 'Sirens', about the Middle East’s only all-female thrash metal band Slaves to Sirens.

Pitchfork shares a lovely introductory text about part 1 of 'Jeen-Yuhs', a new, 3-part Kanye West documentary, 21 years in the making: "Much of what Donda West says in 'Act 1 (Vision)' feels like ancestral wisdom, words from a loving parent that serve to humble and uplift her child. One passage in particular stands out, and Coodie even repeats it in his own narration of the film: 'You can stay on the ground and be in the air at the same time', she says, a paradox that West made true until the day Donda died".

Created by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah (aka Coodie & Chike), the three-part documentary 'Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy' will premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in January, Pitchfork reports. The project includes previously unreleased archival footage of the young Kanye West at work. The project, which reportedly sold for $30 million, has been in the making for 21 years. In addition to 'Jeen-Yuhs', a documentary based on Lizzie Goodman’s 2017 book 'Meet Me in the Bathroom' will ačlso premiere at Sundance next year, as well as Kathryn Ferguson’s documentary 'Nothing Compares', which examines the life and career of Sinéad O’Connor between 1987 and 1993.

Arguably the most intimate look at the inner workings of the Beatles you’re ever likely to get" - Stereogum reviews the new 3-part Beatles documentary. SG adds: "Although the setting is not all that visually striking, the cinematography is gorgeous — and thanks to Jackson’s CGI restoration of the 16mm footage, the reality of it all almost feels heightened at times, like you’re watching actors playing these characters in a hyper-detailed period piece".

Inspired by Peter Jackson's Beatles documentary 'Get Back', Rolling Stone has compiled a list of the 70 greatest music documentaries of all time: "the concert films, fly-on-the-wall tour chronicles, punk and hip-hop and jazz time capsules, and career assessments of everyone from Amy Winehouse to the Who that have set the standard and stood the test of time". The list finishes with 'U2: Rattle and Hum' and starts with Bob Dylan 1967 docu 'Don't Look Back', with plenty of good stuff in between.

The 70-minute documentary 'Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson', directed by Jodi Gomes, paints a portrait both of Jackson’s remarkable career prior to that moment, as well as the cultural forces which made one “wardrobe malfunction” into a lighting bolt of controversy. "I think one of the running themes of the whole entire film is body image and the use of body image and the actual control of one’s agency and control of one’s image" - director Jodi Gomes says to Consequence. She sees a big irony in it too: "Showing how she’s been subjected to body imaging from a very young age, and then all of a sudden, flash forward 34 years later to when she’s on the Super Bowl stage, and that very thing is used against her".

"The film draws many lines between the treatment of Morissette as a teen pop star—starvation diets, long working hours and sexual abuse included—and the rage and catharsis she channeled on 'Jagged Little Pill'. One of the things that makes 'Jagged' most compelling as a film is an undercurrent that runs throughout about exploitative men in the music industry and where that leaves female artists. There's a sense of dread that casts a shadow, if not on Morissette's stage, then certainly in the wings of it" - KQED reviews the new Alison Klayman documentary. New York Times describes it as "an unsettling portrait of the structural and behavioral sexism pervasive in the music world".

Disney+ has shared a great new trailer for 'Get Back', Peter Jackson’s new three-part documentary chronicling the making of The Beatles’ penultimate album, 1970’s 'Let It Be'. Jackson said it is a “story of friends and of individuals. It is the story of human frailties and of a divine partnership. It is a detailed account of the creative process, with the crafting of iconic songs under pressure, set amid the social climate of early 1969. But it’s not nostalgia – it’s raw, honest, and human". The documentary features – for the first time in its entirety – The Beatles’ last live performance as a group, the rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row on January 30th, 1969. It is set to premiere over Thanksgiving weekend (November 25th, 26th, and 27th).

“Honestly, even if their music didn’t completely get inside me, I would have wanted to make a movie about them” - director Todd Haynes says in a Rolling Stone interview about his Velvet Underground documentary. “It’s that whole era, which was so revolutionary, but it’s also what they were trying to do as well in reaction to that era as well. Even in their little world, they were heavy. It’s about being resistant. It’s saying no. That’s so important to rock & roll”.

The outrageous story about Britney Spears' conservatorship just got added another new layer, thanks to a new documentary 'Controlling Britney Spears'. Rolling Stone picks out 10 new facts from it:

1. When Britney asked for an iPhone, her father Jamie Spears, her head of security Edan Yemini, and member of her management team Robin Greenhill used it for added surveillance.

2. Black Box Security set up a recording device in Britney’s bedroom.

3. Britney, who has a net worth of $60 million, was routinely denied minor indulgences for budgetary reasons.

4. Britney’s security was in charge of administering her medications.

5. Jamie Spears allegedly threatened to block access to Britney’s sons if she challenged her conservators.

6. Britney was forced onstage amid an apparent panic attack over the possibility of losing her kids.

7. Britney allegedly tried to sneak a new lawyer into rehab disguised as plumber.

8. The conservators were threatened by the #FreeBritney movement — and sent security to infiltrate it.

9. Jamie Britney was fixated on any men who were interested in Britney, and spied on them,

10. Britney’s ex-assistant was told the singer fired her, but allegedly it was a lie.

Mdou Moctar has released a documentary on the days surrounding the release of the new album 'Afrique Victime'. The 10-minute short film shows Moctar and the band working on the album, and meeting after a months-long break. It also illustrates the geopolitical circumstances behind the record.

'Karen Dalton: In My Own Time', a new documentary on the folk singer is coming out October 1st. The trailer, out now, features archival footage of Dalton, from her upbringing in Oklahoma to her days New York City’s Greenwich Village folk scene, where she sang with Bob Dylan, and Tim Hardin. It chronicles her tumultuous life that ended with her death in 1993 from AIDS when she was just 55 years old — and the cult following she’s had since.

The new documentary 'Look Away' shines a light on how the music industry fostered a culture where relationships with underage girls - statutory rape - were normalised, and how many behind the scenes turned a blind eye to aggressive sexual behaviour, Sky reports. 'Look Away' features interviews with women who make allegations against Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Guns 'N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, and the late music producer and songwriter Kim Fowley.

"Documentaries can only be as fascinating as their subjects. That's why this bio/doc will have legs, because even in the afterlife Rick James gives his fans something to talk about" - Dwight Brown Ink give a verdict on the new docu. New York Times deems it "fascinating and troubling viewing". Consequence says "the smartest move 'Bitchin' makes is to just lay all of James' cards out on the table and let the audience figure it out for themselves".

'The Velvet Underground' documentary features in-depth interviews with the band’s surviving members and other key figures from the era, as well as never-before-seen performances, studio recordings, experimental art, and films by their one-time manager Andy Warhol. It is the first documentary for Todd Haynes, director of 'Velvet Goldmine' and Bob Dylan biopic 'I’m Not There'. Haynes also helped curate the movie’s accompanying soundtrack, featuring classic and rare tracks. Rolling Stone reports...

AIR Montserrat was one of the most legendary recording studios in the world – it was built by the Beatles’ producer George Martin in 1979 and destroyed by two cataclysmic natural disasters a decade later. Situated on the island in the Caribbean, where the harbour was too shallow for cruise ships and the runway too short for jets, it served as a safe haven for musicians trying to "get away". Elton John arrived in 1982 with no songs and in the middle of a career slump following his 1970s heyday, and recorded three albums back to back, including hits 'I’m Still Standing' and 'I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues'. The Police recorded 'Ghost In The Machine' (1981) and 'Synchronicity' (1983) there, albums that catapulted them to superstar status; the video for 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' was recorded in the AIR Montserrat studio and the island itself. Dire Straits recorded their magnum opus'Brothers In Arms' at AIR Montserrat in 1984 and 1985. Following a period of estrangement between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones regrouped and healed old wounds to record their 1989 comeback album 'Steel Wheels', the final recording session at AIR Montserrat. On September 17, 1989, Hurricane Hugo damaged or destroyed 90 percent of the structures on the island, leaving AIR Montserrat in ruins. Then, between 1995 and 1997, Montserrat’s volcano erupted, burying the capital, Plymouth... Producer Cody Greenwood, whose parents lived on the island and befriended Martin at the time, has produced a documentary about the studio called 'Under the Volcano', available on all major digital platforms from September 1. The Sidney Morning Herald tells the lovely story of the island, the studio and the producer's family.

“What began as a straightforward glimpse into an artist’s life and career gradually morphed into something altogether different – and strange” - the press release for 'The Nowhere Inn', starring St. Vincent, Carrie Brownstein, and Dakota Johnson, reads. Directed by Bill Benz, the metafictional film features the stars portraying fictional versions of themselves out to make a documentary about the provocateur otherwise known as Annie Clark (St. Vincent of course). “You’re nerdy and normal in real life, but the disparity between that and who you are on stage as St. Vincent is jarring” - Brownstein says in the trailer, leading Clark to reply - “I can be St. Vincent all the time, so that I can be a little bit more interesting”.

Music Journalism Insider has given over this week's edition to film critic Aaron Gonsher, who suggested a few films about parties and partying. Among the chosen ones are 'The Hip-Hop Nucleus' - a documentary on the notorious mid-to-late ’90s hip-hop parties at the Tunnel, 'Crowd' - subtle capture of Giséle Vienne’s extraordinary dance performance, 'Talkin’ Headz - The Metalheadz Documentary' - a snapshot of the cultural moment/movement when jungle crested and drum & bass surged...

"It's maybe not as dramatic as an addiction story or a fallout or a premature death, all of the things that are in other music documentaries, a fallout and a reunion. The thing with them is to exist in the business for 50 years through changing times. It's like watching two people push a boulder uphill" - director Edgar Wright says in The New Cue interview about The Sparks Brothers. "It's one of the rare music documentaries about brothers in rock where the brothers don't fall out".

"Woodstock ’99 was the hedonistic, capital-drive fantasy of a fratty rape culture, one with all the privilege in the world but a surfeit of anger for which there was no outlet" - producers of the 'Woodstock '99: Peace, love, and rage' argue in their documentary. Consequence doesn't disagree completely, calling it "a case study for the confluence of white millennial entitlement and Boomer nostalgia, it’s certainly gripping, a disaster movie in documentary form". Rolling Stone counts down 19 worst things about the fest, including late-July timing of a fest situated on tarmac and concrete, overcrowding, lack of available water etc.

'Mr. Soul!' is the award-winning documentary about the public television variety show 'Soul!' and its host Ellis Haizlip, coming to HBO Max August 1st. Produced and directed by Melissa Haizlip, the documentary chronicles how her uncle, enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, created the influential show which was ahead of its time. 'Soul!' was a celebration of black music, politics, literature, dance, and poetry during a tumultuous time for black Americans (1968-1973), featuring countless performances by and interviews with the era’s luminaries like James Baldwin, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Al Green, Mavis Staples, Harry Belafonte, Roberta Flack, Kool and the Gang, Max Roach, and many more. Watch the trailer below.