Ryan Bray & Tom Buttry

It's tough keeping up with technology. In just over 50 years, we've moved from vinyl records to eight tracks to cassette tapes to CDs. So it should come as little surprise that music has now gravitated toward the latest mode of high tech innovation: the DVD. Adding a visual complement to many of our favorite artists and recordings, music DVDs are a hot item. In 2004 alone, they generated $35 million in sales, up from $17 million in 2003. It's little wonder that bands around the world are jumping at the opportunity to get their music on video for a taste of the lucrative pie.

With so many bands on the DVD bandwagon, the field from which to choose from has become increasingly larger over the years. After hours upon hours of intense review and scrutiny, Marquee has narrowed a seemingly endless list of discs down to a notable few we think one should check out. We've got a little something for everyone, with classic rock, alternative, punk, jam, and hip hop to choose from. It's worth noting that this list is by no means comprehensive or set in stone, but rather a guideline toward helping our readers' search for that perfect DVD to be far less exhausting than was our own. You can thank us later.

Phish: Bittersweet Motel

This full-length documentary following the exploits and various other happenings of Vermont's jam rock pride and joy, "Bittersweet Motel" finds Phish goofing off, waxing philosophical about their musical vision and jamming out to their monstrously sizeable nation of devotees as only they can. Director Todd Phillips ("Road Trip," "Old School") lends a steady hand to the film, which clearly seems driven toward exposing the band as good-natured, regular Joes. While certain points feel too much like deliberate stabs at selling them as being disaffected by their stardom, the fact that the band truly loves what they do never escapes the viewer for very long.

The Work of Director Spike Jonze

Before he was blowing people's minds with the whacked out, heady conceptualization of "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation," Spike Jonze was busying himself with reinventing the music video medium. The first of a three part series from the "Director's Label," the disc celebrates Jonze's darkly comical and edgy filmmaking style through a look at the director's music videos and short films. Interviews with Weezer, the Beastie Boys and Christopher Walken are also included, providing interesting back stories on much of the compiled footage. Noticeably absent is Jonze himself, which only adds to the quirkiness of the disc.

The Last Waltz

Martin Scorsese's endearing and engaging look at the band's final concert is arguably one of the finest "rockumentaries" of all time. Filmed on Thanksgiving Day 1976, it is alternate starkly between humor and sadness, reflecting back on the group's then 16-year career through a series of stories and interviews. Featuring an A-list cast of rock and roll icons, such as Ron Wood, Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, Scorsese crafts a film of touching depth and realism, capturing a band of road hardened musicians having come to the end of their long road together.

Pavement: Slow Century

Not nearly as celebrated as Nirvana but comparable in significance toward sculpting the alternative rock sound that dominated the 90s, Pavement has emerged over the years as one of the preeminent indie rock cult bands of the era. "Slow Century" follows the band during their earliest days sludging away in their native Stockton, Calif., through the release of two seminal albums, 1992's "Slanted and Enchanted" and "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain," all the way to their final show in 1999. Fans of the band will find plenty reason to rejoice, as the double disc offering covers the band in full through both interviews and music videos.

End Of The Century: The Story of The Ramones

If there's any one punk band that truly warrants a full-feature-length documentary, it's the Ramones. Even beyond the music, which essentially served as the blue print for the genre at large, there was the story of a band constantly on the brink of combustion and disaster. Filmmakers Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields capture the New York upstarts in all their dysfunctional glory on "End Of The Century," a documentary that pinpoints exactly what the Ramones were all about: a band destined for legendary glory in spite of the chaos and turmoil boiling just beneath the surface. With Joey, Johnny and DeeDee having now left us, there's never been a better time for the film, which accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of humanizing the band through a series of in depth interviews.

Instrument: Fugazi

From Fugazi's 1987 inception to its 10-year anniversary in 1997, the band was regularly followed by good friend, Washington, D.C. filmmaker Jem Cohen. Over the years, Cohen shot and gathered all the material he could on the band, including several candid scenes of Fugazi.

This was combined with Cohen's own filmmaking touch to create an honest, touching and often hilarious documentary of one of the most enigmatic bands of the punk scene. Those who watch it should pay particular attention to Guy Picciotto's plot to kill the then-living George Burns.

Bonuses on the DVD include two short films by Cohen — "Little Flags" and "Glue Man" — as well as three live performances by Fugazi.

The Clash: Westway to the World (Director's Cut)

In the definitive documentary of the Clash, director Don Letts assembles clips of the band, its compatriots, its live shows and its videos. He does so in a way that reveals the arc of the six-year rise and fall of the band.

Letts pulls no punches and catches the band in its full glory as well as in their sad and somewhat pathos-inducing decline. He captures the groundwork of such a decline laid by the band's drug abuse and primadonna behavior while contrasting it with its runaway success — such as its performance at Shea Stadium.

Included in the DVD's features are footage from Clash shows, additional interview footage and a photo gallery.

NOFX: Ten Years of F**kin' Up

This gem is a collection of music videos from punk band NOFX. The DVD features a hilarious introduction where the band gets insulted by almost all of its peers as well as equally entertaining interview clips with the band. However, the highlight of the collection has to be the video for "Shut Up Already," perhaps the greatest high-concept video in the history of mankind.

The bonus features on the disc include commentary on the videos by NOFX and commentary on NOFX's commentary by fellow So-Cal punks, the Vandals.

Weezer: Video Capture Device

This collection of 10 years of Weezer's work focuses heavily on its music videos. In fact, many of the videos feature alternate takes whose only value would be to those who appreciate a slightly different shot.

Despite the overkill and a lack of special features, there are gems on this collection including the "Buddy Holly" and "Hash Pipe" videos as well as previously unreleased live and acoustic performances.

Pixies

A comprehensive overview of the Pixies' pre-reunion era. The DVD features an awesome 1988 live performance in London, seven music videos and two documentaries. "On the Road" was shot by one of the band's roadies and is a fascinating mix of candid moments with the band and raw amateur filmmaking. "Gouge," in turn, is a slickly produced, interview-heavy BBC documentary about the Pixies and their impact on the music scene. All of these elements come together to form a veritable orgasm of Pixies material.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 21 2005.