Modulations

Being a fan of electronic music for several years now, I was surprised that a full scale documentary on the history of techno was produced.

I got a chance to catch it at the Motor Lounge in Hamtramick and what I saw surprised me. This documentary is incredibly well done. It covers the history of electronica from its earliest origins in the 1950's to the modern day rave scene.

The audio is fantastic and any music lover should appreciate the facts presented within the movie. Modulations covers most of the bases, including the various techno scenes across the world. They interview many artists and the man who started it all (inventing the Moog Synth). This is great stuff.....

The audio and video are fantastic and I hope that they release this on DVD in the near future.

This documentary film takes a look at the electronic music scene all over the globe. Loads of great music, picture material from big venues, parties and of course great interviews with experts like Derrick May, Frankie Bones, Squarepusher, Mixmaster Morris, Carl Craig etc etc. This documentary is huge, it covers the whole electronic music era from the beginning of 19th century. Essential!

A broad range of people linked to the current and past techno scene have made it into the film and it would be mean not to note how great Holger Czukay's dancing is. But the publicity for Modulations says it "traces the evolution of electronic music", which is not quite true. There's quite a leap from the jumble of clips involving Pierre Henry and John Cage into the familiar material on disco, Kraftwerk and Derrick May.

A more serious documentary might have challenged what the techno movement has to say about itself. Techno's rhetoric is borrowed from the modernists of the 50s and 60s, but maybe the real story is a more familiar one for pop music: the dancefloor's appetite for the next big thing.

a great movie for electronic music lovers. the only complaints are not even complaints. such as, too short. i could have sat there for 5 hours. missing artists. klaus schulze, tangerine dream. ambient music lovers check out Baraka(1992).

The documentary and the things they talk about are not so exciting. However, they show some pretty important people here in "Modulations: Cinema For the Ear".

I am watching this documentary 25 years after it was released, and it was very nostalgic for the time period - the things I experienced and the things I missed. For any fan of electronic music or rave culture, this movie is great to experience. The music clips they play are incredible; I now feel like digging back into my collection of CDs, since much of this music is not available on Spotify.

The director Iara Lee seems to have been quite active over the years, while not receiving enough recognition. I may have to look into some of her other documentaries and shorts.

8 stars for this.

2023Aug18Fri.