Modulations (1998)
Director: Iara Lee
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
One of the more curious upshots of the century's profusion of music technology has been how ideas and innovations once the preserve of avant gardists have found their way into every corner of dance music over the last two decades. Then again, as this documentary tracing the evolution of 'electronic' music makes abundantly clear, the crosscurrents and subcurrents of influence between musique concrète, elektronische musik, jazz fusion, ambient, techno, HipHop, house, jungle - the list goes on - are manifold and fascinating. Rightly rejecting a chronological approach, the film initially seems a little vague, but it soon becomes clear that Iara Lee has found a visual analogue for the music's collaging techniques. Her montage cuts back and forth across cities, decades, genres and performers - from Teo Macero, Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk and Africa Bambaataa to Future Sound of London and Prodigy, almost everyone's here, making it a must for anyone who loves any of this music.Author: NB
Cast & crew
Director: Iara Lee
Producer: George Gund
Cast: Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Carl Cox, Derrick May, Moby, Robert Moog, Genesis P-Orridge, DJ Spooky, Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Danny Tenaglia full cast
Duration: 75 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.



What do you think?
Post your review now