MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT: MUSIC DOCS
Our monthly spotlight reintroduces gems from the past. This month’s focus is Music Documentaries to celebrate the upcoming release of Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat; a rich, syncopated tapestry of jazz, history and activism, with rhythm at its heart. Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat will be released on November 15. Until then, take a browse through our music documentary selections below:
Sisters with transistors
Dir. Lisa Rovner
From director Lisa Rovner, SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS is the remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers; composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies. Narrated by Laurie Anderson, the film maps a new history of electronic music through the visionary women whose radical experimentations with machines redefined the boundaries of music, including Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, and Laurie Spiegel.
Find out where to watch Sisters with Transistors here.
If you liked Sisters with Transistors you might also like… Keyboard Fantasies
Ryuichi sakamoto: coda
Dir. Stephen Nomura Schible
One of the most important artists of our era, Ryuichi Sakamoto had a prolific career spanning over four decades, from techno-pop stardom to Oscar®-winning film composer. As Sakamoto returns to music following cancer, his haunting awareness of life crisis leads to a resounding new masterpiece. From director Stephen Nomura Schible, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.
Some of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s film score credits include Call Me By Your Name, The Revenant, The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence in which he also plays a role opposite David Bowie.
Find out where to watch Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda here.
If you liked Ryuichi Sakamoto:Coda you might also like… Ryuichi Sakamoto: OPUS
Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche
Dir. Paul Sng + Celeste Bell
Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements.
From directors Celeste Bell and Paul Sng, Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché features unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga.
Find out where to watch Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché here.
If you liked Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché you might also like… Tish