I think I mentioned that Team Gerdes has gone documentary crazy. And we're always music crazy. So music documentaries are right in our sweet spot. We've got about 70 or 80 in our Netflix Instant Queue already. On a recommendation from Kyle, Hype! made it to the top of our queue.
Hype! looks at evolution of the music scene in Seattle during the 80s and 90s and the effect of the "Grunge" explosion, mostly on the other bands—you know, the ones who didn't become famous. But refreshingly, there's not a lot of bitterness on display, and only one really pretentious guy. It's mostly a look at an insular music scene, with perhaps different sonic influences and particular personalities, but in flavor very similar to the insular music scenes I've been on the edges of.
Interestingly, a harder-to-find documentary that I've talked about in the past, The Target Shoots First, makes an excellent companion piece of Hype!. There's a section of Hype! that deals with the main-streaming of Grunge, with a montage of Grunge fashion layouts and Grunge sections of catalogs. TTSF, of course, is all about Columbia House's attempts at commodifying Grunge.
FuzzyCo grade: A
