Music documentaries

[t-rey]

I checked out "Until the Light Takes Us' - really cool documentary. Thanks to whoever posted that I'm not a fan of black metal and I still found it very interesting.

[erksin]

Yup, couldn't have said it myself. Actually found myself laughing quite a bit and the footage of the guitarist in his bedroom (I don't know names yet... gimme a week I'll be #1 fan lol) and they had the egg cartons everywhere. I mean it sure made me giggle knowing I did the same thing to my room growing up. I mean they said it a lot throughout the film and I began to hate the phrase but it's so true when they say they're so easily to relate to. Muchos respecto after watching that and I hadn't really heard of them by that point. I knew their drummer was Neil Peart (sp?) though and I was confused at the start of the vid-ya who that joker was... lol. Also the guitar bass is so impressive on their stuff. Is there an actual book for Rush? I'ma go check Amazon after posting this.

 

 

The guitarist is Alex Lifeson. He's a really nice guy, Hughes and Kettner used to have a vid up on their site of him sending a young fan his touring 1/2 stack because the 11 y/o kid so impressed the H&K guys at their NAMM booth. Alex saw the vid of this kid playing Rush songs in their booth and decided to send the kid his amp, roadcase and all. The H&K guys hand delivered it to the kids' house and set it all up for him and then called Alex and he spoke to the kid over the phone and listenend to him playing through the amp. Pretty classy, IMO.

 

The books won't tell you anything more than what the doc shows you, IMO.

 

If you want to read a really great book relating to them though - find a copy of Peart's autobiography called 'Ghost Rider'. It's basically a 'diary in retrospect' of the events surrounding the death of his daughter and wife in the span of about 18 months, the toll it had on him as a person, and his rebound back to regaining his life through the therapy of travelling the world by motorcycle. It's a pretty gut-wrenching book, but its uplifting as hell too.

 

People knock him (Peart) for being a stuffy recluse, but its hard to lend creedence to that opinion after you've read this book. He puts it all out there for everyone to see. Pretty amazing and brave if you ask me. He's a great writer, IMO. Has a few books out in fact - almost all of them personal travel diaries, some are Rush tour related.

[dpizappi]

 

I thought that the Wilco doc did a lot to spin Tweedy's POV and really made Jay Bennett out to be the bad guy. There are a couple books about the band that paint a more realistic version of events surrounding that time period and the events previous that put a little more balanced perspective on how he runs a band. Wilco IS Tweedy, period. It's his name only on the contract.

 

 

I would have agreed with you if the doc didn't include the interview with Jay talking about his departure. I went into it not knowing much about Wilco other then the music and definitely got the impression that Tweedy was the bad guy in that situation, especially from the whole 'a circle needs a center' bit. There was also the part during the rehearsals where Jeff says that he only wants one guitar on the song even though everyone else seems to like it with two. I thought Jay came out looking more likable.

[peskypesky]

The new rush one was great. Loved it.

 

 

agreed. AWESOME doc.

[woolyh]

Anyone mention Scott Walker 30th Century Man? must see if you like his later work, it has some of his Walker Brothers history too.

[woolyh]

zump

[Small Stone]

Yup, couldn't have said it myself. Actually found myself laughing quite a bit and the footage of the guitarist in his bedroom (I don't know names yet... gimme a week I'll be #1 fan lol) and they had the egg cartons everywhere. I mean it sure made me giggle knowing I did the same thing to my room growing up. I mean they said it a lot throughout the film and I began to hate the phrase but it's so true when they say they're so easily to relate to. Muchos respecto after watching that and I hadn't really heard of them by that point. I knew their drummer was Neil Peart (sp?) though and I was confused at the start of the vid-ya who that joker was... lol. Also the guitar bass is so impressive on their stuff. Is there an actual book for Rush? I'ma go check Amazon after posting this.

Great documentary, don't know if I already said it here, but I say it again. I love the scene at the deli when the waitress is ALL OVER Geddy, and totally ignores Alex!

And if you don't know Rush's music yet, get yourself "Permanent Waves" nao. And let the air-drumming commence.

[A.P. Ryder]

Can't read thorugh all of this, so if these have been mentioned ... EXCUUUUUUSE me:
"Cocksucker Blues" (Stones' 72 tour documentary by Robert Frank. Rarely seen).
"Year of the Horse" (Jim Jarmush's [or however you spell his name] film of Neil and Crazy Horse, 1976 - 1996).
"Gimme Shelter" (Maysles brothers film the Stones' 1969 tour, culminating with chaos and murder at Altamont).
"Don't Look Back" (Young Bob tours Britian, 1965. Scene of him looking at electric guitars in the window of a music shop just kills).
"Desperate Man Blues" (Joe Bussard and his thousands of old records. Joe's enthusiasm for a certain kind of music is totally infectious).
Thems my choices, YMMV.

Oh yes, also "This is Spinal Tap."

[nomenclature]

this week I watched:

the shane macgowan story - if i should fall from grace (wasn't bad, though cutting to music videos for five minutes killed the flow of the movie a bit. Shane laughing like Ernie from Sesame Street cracks me up)

 

and rewatched:

hype!

genghis blues

 

I'm still trying to track down "mello-drama" and "we don't care about music anyways", which both look pretty good.

[sleewell]

Bittersweet Motel