The good music docos

Over the weekend I watched the new Blur documentary film, No Distance Left To Run. It's great - and I say this because I was thoroughly underwhelmed when, about a month ago, EMI sent me this turkey. Yep, a double live CD called All The People: Blur Live at Hyde Park meant nothing to me - it felt like the worst kind of fan-souvenir live album. It didn't feel like it needed to exist as a CD.

But then No Distance Left To Run was released, a double DVD that captures the video footage of the concert on one disc and features a film-length documentary on another disc. The film is ostensibly about the reunion, but takes in the band's whole career, mixing archival footage with fresh interviews. It has the band members appearing candid, becoming emotional...it hooks you in - the way a good documentary should.

Now I was never the biggest fan of Blur. Which is to say I like the band enough - I've heard all of their albums, owned a few of them, liked a few of them, owned a couple of the greatest hits compilations too - but I'm not what you would call a fan. And yet I really liked this documentary.

Again - this is the way it should be with a good music documentary. You should be hooked. It is obviously helpful to have some knowledge/interest in the band - but if the documentary is doing its job correctly it will stimulate that interest.

My favourite music documentaries - the good ones - have been the ones that have really pushed me on to look further into the subject; to revisit material, to reconsider the work.

Nearly ten years ago I remember seeing the film Step Across the Border. I had no idea what it was - it was just a scrawled-in-vivid label on a videotape in my flat. I didn't Google it (the way I would now), I just stuck it in the machine to see what it was. It was a documentary film about Fred Frith. Now I had heard of Frith, a composer and free-jazz guitar improviser and explorer. But I knew nothing about him - I just knew the name. This film pulled me in - instantly. And gave me more information about other names that I had heard of (John Zorn, Tim Hodgkinson) but had not heard (or had heard very little of).

I'd love to see the film again now - because it helped me move towards music by the likes of Henry Kaiser and Derek Bailey and so many others...

Other documentaries that have been important like that - as well as being an enjoyable experience as a film - include Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Love Story (about the band Love), Jazz on a Summer's Day and Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart.

I also saw all of those films at a film festival.

Well - it just so happens the Documentary Edge Festival 2010 has just started in Auckland this weekend. It will run through until March 14 (see here for program details) and the Wellington season goes from March 13-28 (see here).

Documentaries about other aspects of pop-culture tend to appeal to music listeners also - partly because we should all be aware of how film, literature, music and other forms of art blur and blend together; they inform and they pick their own separate paths. And of course a film like King of Kong, a recent festival favourite, possibly showed, with gaming fascination and the pursuit of a high score, a similar approach to life to that of some record collectors.

I'm also interested in documentaries because of their soundtracks - you'll find far more soundtrack albums to documentaries being released. And again, the film festivals that promote documentaries have turned me on to some very good music (as well as some good films).

Grizzly Man remains a favourite in my DVD collection - and a big part of that is due to the score by Richard Thompson.

Some of the music documentaries I have named are straight career overviews (the Lou Reed and Love ones) but mostly I am drawn to a music film with an angle. And that was the hook of the Blur film - it provided the context for me to see why a record company would want to release the double-live CD of the reunion show (and I am meaning beyond the obvious: that they take any chance they can to get their greedy hands on whatever cash is still being parted with for music-related products).

Jazz on a Summer's Day was about capturing a moment in time - providing a snapshot - and, again, it certainly turned me on to a lot of music, introducing names or at least offering (images of the) faces to go with the names.

And then there are films like The Fearless Freaks (about The Flaming Lips), The Devil and Daniel Johnston and the Wilco film, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart where a story is being told that takes you on a journey, that becomes something so much more than just being about the music. I think The Devil and Daniel Johnston and Capturing the Friedmans (to mention a non-music doco) are very similar in many ways: both are compelling documentary films using incredible footage from the subjects' personal archives to tell parts of a story that will never feel complete.

And of course so many people loved the Metallica film, Some Kind of Monster, even if they didn't care for Metallica - and that's because, well, it's because Some Kind of Monster has no real right to exist given that the band members had all seen This Is Spinal Tap more than once.

This year's Documentary Edge Festival features The Boys - The Sherman Brothers' Story. Check that blurb out and tell me that's not a cracker of a story right there. And yes, ostensibly, it is a film about music. But it's also a film about sibling rivalry. And from The Everly Brothers to The Finn Brothers the music business continues to serve up plenty of examples of brothers who argue and war in and around the music they make.

There are other music films at the Documentary Edge Festival; there will be other films there to feature great soundtracks. And there will be great documentaries across so many other subjects away from pop culture.

So - as well as pointing you to that - I thought we could get some lists going of the good music documentaries. Notice I don't say best here. Because people tend to pick things like Don't Look Back and/or No Direction Home - but only if they are a Bob Dylan fan. While that is understandable I think a good music documentary is a good music documentary no matter what...

That doesn't mean I want to sit down and watch The Story of The Black Seeds any time soon (plot spoiler: confused white boys pour water on reggae while putting shrimps on the barbie...it's a feel-good hit for summer, naturally...) but it does mean that my enjoyment of a film about Scott Walker should sit outside of where I weight his career with regard to my life. Bob Dylan has meant more to me than Scott Walker musically but I enjoyed 30 Century Man more than any Dylan doco I have seen.

So - from The Ramones' End of the Century to Heavy Metal Parking Lot I'm sure you have plenty of good ones to mention, right? Please do.

What do you consider the good music documentaries? The must-sees...and why do you consider them worthy?

Anyone else out there been blown away by a documentary about a musician or group - but found they still don't care too much for the actual music? And who has had a documentary film turn them on the work of a particular act?

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