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 five 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.

Blur – The Magic Whip: Made In Hong Kong (2015)

Aussie bound alt-rock/britpop kings of the ’90s Blur, released their very first record in 12 years last month, The Magic Whip, and now the story of their comeback record has been told in a 30-minute doco.

The Magic Whip: Made In Hong Kong, details interesting bits ‘n pieces of how Blur put their fresh record together. From videos of studio sessions to in-depth interviews with members of the band, to recordings of the band as they venture across Asia as well as a very interesting insight into Damon Albarn’s solo visit to North Korea – this doco is an entertaining watch, even for those who aren’t massive on the band.

The Last Watlz (1978, Dir: Martin Scorsese)

Remember The Band? Of course you do, who could ever forget the ever-popular Canadian roots and folk group of the ’60s and ’70s, but have you seen their last ever concert film directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese?

This incredible nearly two-hour epic details the band’s last ever live gig, held  on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and has been hailed as one of the greatest live shows ever recorded.

Outside of unforgettable performances from The Band themselves, the film also includes appearances and performances from the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton not to mention Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris and so many more.

If your heart is stuck in the past, or you just really want to witness one of the most iconic concerts in music history, this is most definitely the rockumentary for you.


Watch The Band – The last waltz.avi in Music | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Tupac Resurrection (2003, Dir: Lauren Lazin)

It feels like there’s a select group of deceased musicians that have about one million documentaries detailing their lives, the vast majority of them rather average, and one artist that’s certainly included in this group is the late and great Los Angeles rapper, Tupac Shakur, who’s legacy suffered the same poor visual representation until this feature.

Directed by Lauren Lazin, Tupac Resurrection explores the short life and troubled times of one of hiphops most important figures, the film itself taking a rather unique approach, virtually narrated solely by Shakur himself – like he is telling his life story.

Upon its release, Tupac Resurrection was received well by critics, leading to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, to which it lost out to the incredibly moving Born Into Brothels by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski – also essential viewing.

Heavy Metal In Baghdad (2007, Dir: Suroosh Alvi & Eddy Moretti)

A part of the captivating VICE series, this doco follows two filmmakers who travel to Baghdad in 2006, an extremely dangerous time for any person to be “visiting” the country, in search of the only metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda.

The rocko sees the pair seek out the band, following their remarkable and very eye-opening story which sees them flea Iraq to Syria, where they attempt to rebuild not only their fanbase, but their entire lives.

This feature is a pretty harrowing experience compared to the other documentaries listed within this piece, we can’t really think of another artist in this list who could causally say to a reporter, “these are our fans, most of them are either dead or out of this country, they just disappeared.”

Heavy Metal in Baghdad will bring you back down to earth and make you appreciate just how lucky we truly are here in Australia.

American Juggalo (2011, Dir: Sean Dunne)

Okay, even you if you hate the Insane Clown Posse, you have to admit that the whole schtick is rather fascinating, especially the crazy coming together of the most hardcore of fans at ‘The Gathering’.

For the uneducated, The Gathering is a four day musical extravaganza that features live music performances from the one and only Insane Clown Posse not to mention past live acts such as Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice not to mention other bizarre spectacles like comedy acts, wrestling matches, a whole heap of nudity and plenty of face paint.

This short feature ventures deep into the revered festival that has, believe it or not, seen over 100,000 attendees since its inception, providing an honest and a little bit frightening representation of what happens at the truly unique event.

We won’t lie…we kind of want to check it out…

FREE MUSIC DOCUMENTARY ARCHIVE:

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