lectronic Beats made a selection of seven films and documentaries about the international dance music scene, and the people behind it - about the techno scene of reunified Berlin, the roots of Belgian dance music, Taiwanese Y2K club culture, year-and-a-half partying around Warsaw, etc.
"The film’s revelatory perspectives on Sun Ra’s work arise not only from the filmmaker’s analytical understanding of it, and the discussions that he films with Sun Ra and other members of the band, but also from his approach to filming music itself, in rehearsal and concert" - The New Yorker writes in a review of 'Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise', a documentary about the afro-futurist collective. The thing is it starts from the music - "scenes of performance, whether taken from archival clips or filmed anew for the documentary at hand, run for a few seconds at a time before being covered on the soundtrack by voice-overs". So, it's music first...
Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Blink-182, and Cypress Hill are among the high-profile names who star in the new trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary 'LA Originals' about tattoo artist Mister Cartoon and photographer Oriol. Directed by Estevan Oriol and set for release on April 10, 'LA Originals' is billed as “an exploration of the culture and landmarks of the chicano and street art movement".
Tribeca Film Festival has shared 'The Weekend', a documentary by Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb about two 20-year-olds from Phoenixville, PA who won a contest to party with Van Halen, then in their debaucherous prime. Tribeca will continue to share docs during the lockdown.
Amazon Music is celebrating 25th anniversary of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s landmark debut solo album 'Return to the 36 Chambers' with the 'Unique: 'Return to The 36 Chambers' 25 Years Later' documentary. ODB's family, RZA, Raekwon, and others provided commentary for the 17-minute short film that traces ODB’s rise from unsigned hype to household name, exploring key moments in the rapper’s life and the music that defined his debut solo record – from ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ to ‘Brooklyn Zoo'.
der made a selection of best music documentaries to stream while stuck at home (or staying at home at your own will, right!?!). There's the Rolling Stones classic 'Gimme Shelter'; 'A Life in Waves' about Suzanne Ciani - one of the single most influential cultural figures to emerge in the past century; 'Baltimore, Where You At?' about the city's club scene; 'What Happened, Miss Simone?' about Nina Simone as an artist and an activist; 'Everybody in the Place' about UK rave culture; a purely biographical 'Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.'; 'A Band Called Death' about three Afro-American brothers from Detroit playing punk way sooner than Bad Brains, but who never saw much success because of their name; 'Bad Rap' about representation in hip-hop.
From their start "being mediocre at best" to "touring with Madonna and Rick Rubin" Spike Jonze-directed documentary 'Beastie Boys Story' covers a life-time of a band. The docu is coming to IMAX theaters on April 3 and will then stream on April 24 via Apple TV+.
The 'Other Music' documentary about the much-loved New York independent record store that closed in 2016 got a new trailer, featuring interviews with Tunde Adebimpe (TV On the Radio), Regina Spektor, Jason Schwartzman, Matt Berninger (The National), Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend), as well as rare footage of in-store performances by Neutral Milk Hotel, Vampire Weekend, The National, Mogwai, The Rapture, and more (watch below). Docu is coming to US theaters this spring around Record Store Day.
The full arc of Miles Davis’s sound, and life, forms the basis of 'Birth of the Cool', a two-hour film created for the PBS series American Masters, but at the center of it stands 'Bitches Brew', Davis' pivotal album that altered the trajectory of jazz, messed with the boundaries of funk, and pushed psychedelic rock to new heights of exploration. Docu covers everything from Davis’s ravenous creative development to his ever-evolving fashion sense, to his complex relationship with women.
PJ Harvey documentary 'A Dog Called Money', about her trips to Washington D.C., Kosovo, and Afghanistan, will have its US theatrical premiere at Film Forum in New York City on March 18. Those trips inspired the Seamus Murphy documentary, as well as PJ Harvey’s 2016 album 'The Hope Six Demolition Project'. It's not hard to connect the dots on the map - destinies of both Kosovo and Afghanistan were heavily influenced by Washington politics...
“Michael is not a fearless person, but he is a fearless artist” - bandmate Thor Harris says about Michael Gira in a new Swans documentary 'Where Does a Body End?', focused mostly on the frontman. It was directed by Marco Porsia who spent five years “in the band’s tight inner circle”, filming “rehearsals, songwriting sessions, the grind of life on the road, petty arguments and transcendent performances”, and Swans final tour.
PopMatters chose 29 black music documentaries for Black History Month 2020, and today rounds up the first 10. They had, so far, the Wu-Tang Clan documentary 'Of Mics and Men', Motown docu 'Hitsville', Beyonce's Coachella film 'Homecoming', Bette Davis' 'They Say I'm Different' etc. The rest is coming by the end of the month.
The first episode of Justin Bieber's docuseries 'Seasons' has broken a record for YouTube with 32,65 million views in its first week. That beat out original comedy 'Liza On Demand' Season 2 debut (25.4 million) and the first episode of 'Cobra Kai' Season 2 (21 million). YouTube paid upwards of $20 million for the 10-part Bieber docuseries, making it YouTube’s most expensive content acquisition to date.
The concert film was made last year, it was directed by Michael Garber, and it is coming out this week on Amazon Prime Video. “Playing at the Apollo Theater is one of the greatest honors that a musician can have,” Washington said in a statement, adding - “When I walked down 125th Street from my hotel in Harlem and saw my name on the marquee I almost couldn’t believe it". To celebrate the announcement, Washington shared the 12-minute track 'The Bombshell’s Waltz', a previously-unheard piece from his self-released 2007 album, 'The Proclamation'.
The Russell Simmons accuser documentary 'On The Record' has been picked up by HBO Max as their first-ever festival acquisition. Directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering it tells the stories of Simmons' accusers, including former Def Jam executive Drew Dixon, as they decide to go public with their claims of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of the Def Jam music mogul. The audience at the Sundance premiere gave the doc multiple standing ovations, and it has a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Jim Marshall made the photo of Hendrix burning his guitar at Woodstock, Johnny Cash playing Folsom Prison, The Beatles at their last concert, now - he is being watched. A new film, 'Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall', captures the stories behind the images and the man himself, a complex character who fully immersed himself into the culture of the time. The documentary is coming to cinemas.
"There is no band that emphasizes becoming greater than the sum of their parts than the Band" - Bruce Springsteen says in the new documentary 'Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band'. In was produced by Martin Scorsese, directed by Daniel Roher, it hits theaters February 21, and it largely focuses on Robertson’s personal journey, including a glimpse into his life before the Band. Apart from Springsteen, it includes interviews with Robertson’s friends and collaborators such as Scorsese, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and more.
Timothée Chalamet will play Bob Dylan in a new music biopic 'Going Electric', directed by James Mangold ('Ford v. Ferrari' is now in cinemas), about Dylan's controversial 1965 performance at the Newport Music Festival where he went from acoustic to electric. Hollywood Reporter writes that Dylan is working closely with Mangold on the docu-movie, singer-songwriter's […]
Lifetime docu-series 'Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning' has been aired across three nights last week, and it chronicles the stories of survivors who have brought forth allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct against the embattled musician. It highlights the reactions and responses to the documentary and the survivors featured, as well as Kelly’s current legal situation. The […]
Amazon bought the worldwide rights for Rihanna documentary, which will be directed by Peter Berg, for a reported $25 million. Rihanna, as producers say, is “an unfiltered look into Rihanna’s life, providing a glimpse into the evolution of one of the world’s most well-known pop artists". Last week Apple TV+ reportedly bought a Billie Eilish […]
Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese is working on a documentary about 1970s New York City music scene, Variety reports. Upcoming film is one of over a dozen projects Imagine Entertainment’s new documentary wing is currently spearheading. Scorsese is author of documentaries about The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, The Band, and others.
Bruce Springsteen documentary 'Western Stars' earned $560,000 from 537 theaters over the weekend in the US, and combined with grosses from preview sneaks, his directorial debut has earned $1 million. 'Western Stars' shows Springsteen performing all 13 songs on his first studio album in five years, archival footage, personal narration, and guest appearances, and is […]
The David Crosby documentary 'Remember My Name' is out this week, and in honor of its release, SPIN is premiering a clip with the rock icon describing his most intense music experience. Crosby was at a John Coltrane concert, really stoned, "and on the verge of a freak out" so he decided to hide out […]
'Sonic Futures: How Technology is Guiding Electronic Music' is an original mini-documentary that explores British technological innovation in electronic music, done by Fact Magazine in association with the British Council. Vicky Clarke, Lee Gamble, Venus Ex Machina, and queer club collective Tremors talk about working with machines, creating new utopias and whether we should be afraid […]
In true Neil Young fashion, he splits his time in the trailer between performing songs and yelling expletives into his microphone - Exclaim says about the trailer for new Neil Young documentary about recording his latest album 'Colorado' (out October 25, watch trailer below). The film is described as "a raw and extremely unfiltered look […]
Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and filmmaker Nicholas Abrahams made a documentary about Depeche Mode fans from around the world - Moscow, Tehran, Cambridge... "If it’s wrong to get goosebumps watching a marching band play 'Personal Jesus', then we don’t want to be right" - the LA Times said about it. Watch it below.
'Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story' is a "story about the fans and the musicians" the author Adam Dubin says in a All Music interview. "I tried to treat them equally, because there was a time when everybody, from James Hetfield on down, was just an 18-year-old kid […]
English video artist and Turner Prize-winner Jeremy Deller made a documentary 'Everybody in The Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984-1992' about cultural significance of rave and acid house on ’80s Britain (trailer below). The documentary includes rare and unseen archive materials and draws lines between protest movements, illegal warehouse raves, ’80s hedonism, Thatcherite politics, […]
“When you would see them onstage, it was like seeing Bugs Bunny in person," famous fan Billy Bob Thornton says in the trailer of new documentary titled 'That Little Ol’ Band From Texas' about ZZ Top (watch below). The film includes interviews with all three members of the band - Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill, […]
Well, there are actually others that are at least equally good, but U Discover Music has selected these. It goes from tragic Rolling Stones show taped for 'Gimme Shelter' (1970), to this years' 'Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice'.
