Pictures and words about music

I love watching music documentaries. After watching midgets wrestle they are about my favourite thing. There is something that allows an outsider into the music world. Usually they are some sort of progressive timeline and take you through the evolution of their topic. Other times they explore the topic in detail. However, the best thing about them is that a good one will have interviews with the people who actually make the music and as such you get a far better insight into the process. Not only that but you also get a insight into what they were trying to do and the way they felt about it.

I do not however particularly enjoy watching dvds of concerts. I know some people who love these as much as I love the documentaries, but not I. I find that you can not get the sense of excitement you would have had if you were there, and whilst the performances can be amazing. It is a little like looking at pictures of someone elses amazing holiday.

A great documentary will ask the questions you want to ask to the people you always wanted to ask it to. Because I am a nice kinda guy I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite docos and hope that you do the same. That way I can find them and spend some time appreciating them as well.

The best Documentary I have ever seen on the music genre is , Metal; A head bangers journey. This was put together and shot by a guy, Sam Dunn, who is a metal fan. Now you know what it means to be a metal fan. A lot more than being a fan of indie. He is a hardcore fan but also an anthropologist and so treats the subject in an intelligent and thoughtful way. Time for some music

The issue with the post today is that unless I actually put excerpts of the interviews into the blog then the music and the words will be a little disconnected. So think of it more as reading music, than me trying to prove my point as it is usually. back to the point. Metal A headbangers journey, goes through all aspects of metal. Where it came from, why it looks like it does, it's subject matter, the people in it and the people that support it.  Great interviews with many of the most important people and also fans and the like. I think the key to what makes it so good though is that it is an informative and interesting film even if you are not massively into Metal. After sitting through it, my wife put on some Sabbath.

A documentary I saw for the first time recently is called Punk: Attitude. This is a great documentary in the time line model. It starts with the MC5 and finishes up with Green Day and the like. What makes this one so great is the combination of it being made and produced by Don Letts, who was very much part of the UK scene, and as such enables him to have interviews with every one who is anyone in the scene over the years he covers. From Kramer in the MC5, through The guys in the New york Dolls, Stooges, Sex Pistols, The Clash through Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra, to Thurston Moore etc etc. You get a real sense of what these guys were trying to achieve, how the people earlier in the documentary influenced them. It is just great, particularly if you have even a passing interest in the genre.

I will revisit my post about Punk as a consequence of it. I learnt a lot more about the underlying movies of some of the people who perhaps I did not fully understand previously and may have judged prematurely. Which is the point isn't it? If you watch something and it helps to better inform you then it has been time well spent.

Some more music.

In the same way I was taken by surprise by a documentary. I live in the UK and on cable we are lucky enough to have a couple of arts channels that are devoted to documentaries which are about all types of music. Mainly. Some of them are of no interest to me whatsoever. Things like the life stories of a conductor. Just not my thing before I get angry comments back about how these are great people too. I was looking through the schedule and saw that there was an hour long show called Classic Albums and it was on The Doors first album. I recorded it as I thought it would be something to watch at some time in the future when it was raining and I wasn't trying to put something together for your benefit here.

I did not have that high hopes though. I expected an hour long show about how much of a legend Jim Morrison was and how much he captivated the crowd. I have written before that I am over this. I think a lot of people are to be fair. I think the general perception now is much more that the music is important and whilst he was interesting in that car crash type of way, he was a bit of a dick.

As you have probably realised by now though, it wasn't about this at all. In fact it was a very interesting piece on the making of the album , with the remaining members of the band. Going through many of the songs and how they put them together and what they wanted to achieve with each part. Not only that, it has two of my hero's, Henry Rollins and Perry Farrel talking about how much of an influence it was on them. I kinda get the Janes Addiction influence, but Henry Rollins? Well he explains it. It is particularly interesting hearing Robby Kreiger going through the guitar piece for The End.

What this documentary did was restore my love for The Doors music. Giving me back the ability to listen to it separately from the fawning nature of people and their perspective of the Doors. Something I lost after the movie came out. For an hour long show I could not have asked for anything else than that.

So, what I am after from you is the best music genre documentaries that you have seen, so that I can go and get them and hopefully be entertained and informed for some time.