Steve Albini

In May 1997, Tim Taylor, creative force behind the beloved Dayton, Ohio rock weirdos BRAINIAC, was on the verge of his band signing to a major record label when his life was cut tragically short by a freak accident. He was 28 years old. Devastated, his family, friends and fans were forced to pick up the pieces. This film explores the history and legacy of Taylor and one of the 90s most original bands.

A musician with terminal cancer spends his last days recording a rock album with legendary music producer Steve Albini.

Documentary about the late Chicago artist and musician Wesley Willis. Filmmaker Daniel Bitton follows Willis throughout the Chicago area, riding the bus, talking to friends and strangers alike, selling his CDs to record shops, and going about his day. Willis was memorable to many for being schizophrenic as well as 6'6" and over 300 pounds but was loved by his fans and friends for his quirky, oddball music, artistic talent, and for being a real gentle giant. He was a testament to the human drive to survive and create, as he himself was a survivor of extreme poverty, mental illness, child abuse, racism, and obesity. The fact that he lived to see 40 was incredible, but his having a successful music career and being able to function was even more so.

"Danielson: a Family movie" is a documentary about unbridled creativity vs. accessibility, Christian faith vs. popular culture, underground music vs. survival, and family vs. individuality. The film follows Daniel Smith, an eccentric musician and visual artist, as he leads his four siblings and best friend to indie rock stardom, eventually facing the struggle to become viable as a solo act. Along the way he mentors an unknown singer-songwriter named Sufjan Stevens whose own subsequent success stands in stark contrast to the music world's uneasy reception of Danielson just a few years prior. Makes use of collage, direct cinema and animation. Written by Creative Arson

Reel Old School is a documentary made by college students John Cotton and Brady Effler. It investigates the transition in the music recording world from analog to digital. Interviewing well known musicians and engineers such as Steve Albini (The Pixies, Nirvana, Shellac, Bush) Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie) Bil VornDick (Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss, Marty Robins, Bela Fleck) Claire Lynch (IBMA Vocalist of the year) Derek Webb (Independent Christian artist) among many less known independent artists and engineers. Showing correlation between the democratization of recording technology and the fall of the music industry. As well as highlight two conflicting paradigms. The analog paradigm of devotion and dedication to craft and the digital paradigm with the dividing of life into app sized proportions.

Twenty-one years after Alan Zweig’s groundbreaking first feature documentary Vinyl, Zweig returns to the topic of compulsive record collecting with newfound introspection and a sunnier disposition. Punctuated by his signature mirror-confessionals, Records compiles colourful interviews with vinyl enthusiasts, swirling around the proverbial maxim that music has the power to connect us all.

A feature-length documentary on the 1990s Chicago rock scene.

Breadcrumb Trail focuses on Slint's seminal album, Spiderland, and the Louisville music scene from which the band originated.

This is a film about touring musicians who don't care about making it in the music business and all of the hardships they face without the fame.

Follows the story of the groundbreaking Texas-based art-punk band founded by frontman Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary.

Form small beginnings on a Victorian farm to globetrotting punk rock icons, the Cosmic Psychos became one of Australia's most influential bands. Now after thirty years of music making, 'Cosmic Psychos: Blokes You Can Trust' documents the highs and lows of the group's musical career as told by members from the Melvins, L7, Mud Honey, Pearl Jam, and The Hard-Ons with other international music producers and from the Cosmic Psycho band members themselves.

Big Black recorded live at the Hammersmith Clarendon, London - UK, in the summer of 1987.

Big Black's final show, at the Georgetown Steamplant in Seattle, August 9, 1987.

Uzeda - Do It Yourself

Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind visually documents the explosion of Grunge, the Seattle Sound, within the context of the underground punk subculture that was developing throughout the U.S. in the late 1970s and 1980s. This decade-and-a-half musical journey will be represented entirely through the lens of EMP’s oral history and permanent object collection, an invaluable and rich cultural archive of over 800 interviews and 140,000 objects - instruments, costumes, posters, records and other ephemera dedicated to the pursuit of rock n roll.

You Weren't There: a History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 is a documentary that looks back on the impact that the Punk movement had on the Windy City. Though overlooked in the annals of Rock history (compared to media centric LA, NYC and London), Chicago served as an important early supporter of the Punk movement in America. "You Weren't There" talks to the DJ's, musicians, promoters, artists and fans who were pivotal in creating the Chicago Punk scene. It also showcases classic archival footage of great Chicago bands such as, Effigies, Naked Raygun, Strike Under, Articles of Faith, as well as lesser known greats like Silver Abuse, DA, The Subverts, Savage Beliefs, Negative Element, Rights of the Accused and many, many more.

The Dirty Three are the rough and ready jewels in the crown of Australian rock and roll history. Born from the need to put food on the table and spawned from the intensely collaborative local Australian music scene in the 80's and early 90's, the Dirty Three pioneered the instrumental rock and roll music scene in Australia with their cathartic, sometimes violent and always spellbinding brand of music. Within a few short years, they achieved local and international success and left Australian shores to take their Music to the world. To this day the band continues to tour the world and serve the music that they see as a real, living and breathing thing that chooses the Dirty Three's custodianship.

Fans and luminaries of the Chicago music scene explain their reactions to Liz Phair's EXILE IN GUYVILLE album and the mark it made on indie rock in the early 1990s.

In 2007, 11 years after one of the most influential American punk bands, Jawbreaker, called it quits, the three members, Blake Schwarzenbach, Chris Bauermeister, and Adam Pfahler reconnect in a San Francisco recording studio to listen back to their albums, reminisce and even perform together one last time. Follow the band as they retell their "rags to riches to rags" story writhe with inner band turmoil, health issues, and the aftermath of signing to a major label. Featuring interviews with Billy Joe Armstrong, Steve Albini, Jessica Hopper, Graham Elliot, Chris Shifflet, Josh Caterer and more.

Hot Doug’s: the Movie is a portrait of the restaurant, its owner, and its fans. It’s a window into the closing of a cult-favorite hot-dog stand in Chicago, and a peek into what created the phenomenon, the nature of fandom, the rise of restaurateurs as celebrities, and why someone would wait in line for 5 hours to get a hot dog.

Featuring legendary recording engineer Steve Albini, 'Document: A film about Malojian' captures the energy of a band at the top of their game, as they rush to complete their third album, "This is Nowhere", in just four days.

YOU CAN COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES, THE BIG BOYS tells the true story of the beloved funk/punk band from Austin, Texas. Go beyond Austin's city limits and hear from some of music & skateboarding's greats about how the original "skate punk" band's message of DIY positivity still resonates today. Hear from such legends as Tim Kerr (Big Boys), Fred Armisen (SNL), Tony Alva (Dogtown & Z-Boys), Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam), Exene Cervenka (X) & many more as this VHS-inspired trip takes you back to those hot summers of Texas in the 80s. And then go make your own art!

The true story of punks, queers, & criminals on a ride with two men who accidentally changed music along the way.

A fixture of the "indie rock" scene in the mid-90's, Silkworm left behind a unique catalog that is continually being re-discovered by critics and fans. Using extensive interviews with the surviving members, Couldn't You Wait? chronicles their unlikely 17 year long career on the fringe of alternative music.

"Recording Josephine" showcases the personalities and recording process involved in the making of the album, "Josephine" by Magnolia Electric Company. The album was recorded at engineer Steve Albini's Electical Audio in Chicago.

Looking For a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration is a collection of personal stories about defining moments of musical inspiration (a record, a show, a musician, etc.) for 112 musicians who themselves have inspired so many. The interviews on the DVD include recollections by Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Hamid Drake, Bjork, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise, the Butchies, Jon Spencer, Vic Chesnutt, Kurt Wagner, Fred Anderson and Giant Sand - as well as members of the Urinals, Califone, Jesus Lizard, the Boredoms, Mekons, Slint, the Sea and Cake, and Calexico (to name just a few).

For the first time ever, the story of guitar pedals and effects will be told by the people who make them and the artists that use them. Coming in 2021, The Pedal Movie, Reverb's first-ever feature-length film, will dive into the culture of pedals and tell the story of how a small industry grew from a handful of companies into the galaxy of different makers building pedals today.

The Dutch band The Ex has been around for more than twenty years. All this time, nothing much has changed. Only their music is constantly developing. From straightforward punk to improvised music - again and again, new ground is broken. The music, the mutual concord and the interaction with the audience reflect an attitude to life based on obstinacy and curiosity, and certainly not on conformity or pleasing large audiences. The Ex organise their own concerts, have their own record label and play with just as much fervour in a hall with three thousand people as in a tiny squat. With this rather un-American style, the band has managed to survive for many years in a music industry that is mainly concerned with sales figures.

Les Établissements Phonographiques de l’Est

A man in the Witness Protection Program moves his family to New York City so they exploit the situation by starring in a reality tv show.