MUSIC FILMS –F 2020
1 MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL (DIR: STANLEY NELSON)
The seemingly impossible task – encapsulate all the dark magus’s musical metamorphoses in a way that felt more than perfunctory – brilliantly accomplished, with the significance of his beating at the hands of NY police in August 1959 amply explored, and illuminating contributions by (especially) Wayne Shorter and late ex-wife Frances Taylor. Unmissable.
2 KING ROCKER: A FILM ABOUT ROBERT LLOYD AND THE NIGHTINGALES (DIR: MICHAEL CUMMING)
Writer and stand-up Stewart Lee salutes diehard square peg Lloyd and his mistrust for anything aspirational (the birthright of all West Midlanders). A statue of King Kong that briefly stood in Birmingham City Centre is a knowingly crap leitmotif. Most importantly, footage of the current-vintage Nightingales proves that, at 61, Lloyd is more potent than ever.
3 IDIOT PRAYER (DIR: NICK CAVE)
Man plays songs on piano in an empty Alexandra Palace. Boring, right? Wrong. The nuances of Cave’s compositions – especially those more regularly abused by the full-on Bad Seeds – are given space to unfurl. Plus the cavernous setting works as a powerful metaphor for our current internal exiles and the Cave family’s recent desolation. Riveting.
4 WHITE RIOT (DIR: RUBIKA SHAH)
Pauline Black, Dennis Bovell, Topper Headon, Tom Robinson and more remember Rock Against Racism – the peak of UK punk rock and reggae’s concerted engagement with Britain’s social fabric. Great music and footage and a timely reminder that it takes eternal vigilance to resist fascism and race hate.
5 CREEM: AMERICA'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL MAGAZINE (DIR: SCOTT CRAWFORD)
Alma mater to former and current MOJO scribes (Bill Holdship, Dave Marsh, Jaan Uhelszki, the late Ben Edmonds…), Detroit’s Creem gave the finger to Rolling Stone while (as Uhelszki, who wrote the film, makes clear) providing an alternative to its lazy chauvinism. More fun than a doc on rock hacks should be!
Recommended: Mr Soul (dir: Melissa Haizlip, Sam Pollard); Laurel Canyon: A Place In Time ( dir: Alison Ellwood); Beastie Boys Story (dir: Spike Jonze); Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band (dir: Daniel Roher); Dennis & Lois (dir: Chris Cassidy)