As music fanatics, there’s one thing we love almost as much as the live experience, and that’s a compelling music documentary.
Every often we scour the internet to piece together a nice shortlist of music inspired docos that you can watch at home, whether it be a focus on up-and-coming artists, the story of the greatest names in music, industry focused pieces or just oddities of musicians, we strive to provide you with something interesting that you may not have seen before.
In saying that, we’ve got more brilliant docos we think you’re really going to dig, so kick back, relax, and enjoy some top-tier music edutainment from the comfort of your desktop… unless of course you’re at work, in which case bookmark and watch later at your leisure.
Radiohead – Meeting People Is Easy [1998]
Filmed after the immense widespread success of OK Computer, Meeting People Is Easy shows exactly what happens to a band after making it big. Following the band across their expansive world tour in promotion of their critically acclaimed third album, you get to see the effect that unflinching success has on people, especially when that success comes at you seemingly overnight.
The 90-minute documentary showcases the band’s increasing frustration and exhaustion as a result of a seemingly infinite supply of identical radio interviews, bungled award show speeches as well as Thom Yorke nearly drowning during the filming of the music-video accompaniment to ‘No Surprises’. Meeting People is Easy is brutally uncompromising in its content. It’s a true, behind the scenes look at one of today’s most well-known rock bands dealing with the success that made them as big as they are today.
Brian Eno – Another Green World [2010]
The 67 year-old singer, composer and producer, Brian Eno is practically a household name by today’s standard, and is hailed as one of music’s biggest innovators as well as a pioneer of the ambient music scene, demonstrated through countless albums such as Music For Airports, Thursday Afternoon and Another Green World, which often involve long, expansive movements that rely on ambience and oftentimes silence itself.
Having collaborated with countless bands and musicians, with a resume including the likes of U2’s The Joshua Tree, Talking Heads Remain In Light and David Bowie’s “Berlin Trilogy”, Eno is a very rare-breed in the sense that he’s just downright a fascinating human, which makes this hour-long documentary worth watching, just to see the gears turn in his head.
The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin [2012]
Following the writing and recording process of The Flaming Lips classic 1999 album of the same name, The Soft Bulletin shows the Oklahoma rockers recounting the struggle in trying to create something different in direction after the mixed response of their four-cd concept album Zaireeka.
Despite the unwavering optimism present during a retrospective, there’s no punches pulled, with drummer Steven Drozd being very open about nearly losing his arm as a result of his heroin addiction, as well as frontman Wayne Coyne speaking of his father’s battle with cancer. The Soft Bulletin systematically recounts the origins of some of the records most popular and well-known tracks, unearthing the often dark truth behind some of them, the contrast of which is what makes this 45-minute doco such a compelling watch.
Pixies – Gouge [2002]
Credited as being one of the biggest influences of the alternative rock movement in the 1990s, Pixies only really shot to popularity during their sudden break-up in 1993. In the space of 50-minutes, we see and hear a plethora of musicians including the likes of Bono, Thom Yorke, and David Bowie sing praise about the influential four-piece and the unique impact they left of the scene following the fallout.
Interspersed with live footage of the band playing their most memorable hits, as well as a present day Black Francis giving his insight, Gouge is a firm recollection of one of alternative rocks most prolific acts.
Action Bronson – Mr. Wonderful [2015]
Conceived as an ingenious promotional tool for the release of Bronson’s sophomore release Mr. Wonderful, the three and a half-minute mini-documentary shows the Queens chef-turned-rapper as a self-aggrandising hip hop icon amongst a small community, being idolised through mantle-hung portraits as well as referenced in a family’s dinner-prayer in a Jesus-esque manner.
Tongue in cheek and over the top, Mr. Wonderful is hilariously put together, especially when utilizing lots of visual gags, an example of which being when older women praises him as being “such a hard-working role model” before cutting to a visibly hungover Bronson; passed out on his couch. Short and to the point, but comedy gold all the same.
