Electronic Music Documentaries You Must See

A list of the best electronic music documentaries you must see. Featuring films on the history of electronic music, the rise of EDM, and more.

What is Electronic Music?

Electronic music is a genre of music that is created with the help of electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology. It is a wide-ranging genre which includes various subgenres like techno, house, trance, drum and bass etc. Many people consider electronic music to be a form of art.

A brief history

Electronic music is a genre of music that is created using electronic musical instruments or digital audio tools. It emerged in the early 20th century, with the earliest commercial recordings being made in the 1920s.

The term “electronic music” was first used in English in an article by Orlando Hill, in Modern Music magazine, in October 1948. Hill described electronic music as being “produced by means of automatic devices for turning sound vibrations into electrical signals, and for re-transforming these signals again into sound vibrations”.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry were experimenting with musique concrète, a type of avant-garde music that used tape recordings of sounds as raw material for musical composition. This led to the development of electronic music instruments such as the tape recorder and synthesizer.

By the 1960s, electronic music had become a mainstream genre, with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Tod Machover exploring its potential. In the 1970s and 1980s, electronic music became increasingly popular in popular culture, with genres such as disco, synth-pop and techno becoming commercialized. In the 1990s and 2000s, trends in electronic music included electronica (a type of dance music), IDM (a form of experimental/avant-garde electronica), trance and glitch.

The Best Electronic Music Documentaries

There are a ton of great electronic music documentaries out there. If you’re a fan of electronic music, then you’re in for a treat. In this article, we’ll be discussing the best electronic music documentaries that you must see.

Daft Punk Unchained

Daft Punk Unchained is a 2015 documentary film about the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, directed by Hervé Martin-Delpierre and co-produced byBBC Worldwide and French channel Canal+. It was first broadcast on Canal+ on 9 June 2015.

The film charts the history of Daft Punk from their formation in 1992 to their 2013 album Random Access Memories, and features interviews with collaborators such as Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder, Pharrell Williams, Pete Tong, Paul Williams and Jeff Bhasker. It also includes previously unseen footage of the duo’s live shows and music videos.

Daft Punk Unchained was generally well-received by critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 79% “fresh” rating, based on 14 reviews with an average rating of 7.1/10.

Avicii: True Stories

This documentary is about Avicii, one of the world’s most successful DJs. The film tells the story of his extraordinary rise to fame, from his days as a bedroom producer to his global success. It also explores the pressures of fame and the impact it had on his health.

Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution

Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution is a 2010 documentary film directed by German filmmaker Wolfgang Buld. The film explores the rise of the influential electronic music band Kraftwerk and its impact on popular culture.

The documentary includes interviews with a number of music industry figures, including former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos, producer Giorgio Moroder, Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan, and drummer Will Sergeant of Echo & the Bunnymen.

Modulations

Modulations is a 1998 documentary film directed by Iara Lee. The film explores the evolving music genre known as electronic dance music (EDM) or simply ‘electronica’, and features interviews with some of the most influential figures in the scene, including Laurent Garnier, Carl Cox, Moby, Derrick May, and Aphex Twin.

Through a series of interviews and live performances, the film investigates how technology has played a vital role in shaping both the sound and culture of electronica, and examines the impact this rapidly growing phenomenon is having on global youth culture. Modulations is an essential watch for any fan of electronic music.

Why You Should Watch These Documentaries

As the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. When it comes to electronic music, this couldn’t be more accurate. If you want to know more about the electronic music scene, you should watch these documentaries. They’ll give you an inside look at the lives of some of the most famous electronic music artists.

They’re entertaining

Aside from being totally inspiring, these documentaries are also really entertaining to watch. They showcase the humanity behind the music and the artists, and they give you an insight into what drives them to do what they do.

Whether you’re a fan of electronic music or not, these documentaries are definitely worth watching. They’re all incredibly well made and will leave you feeling compelled to create something yourself.

They’re educational

If you’re not careful, it’s easy to only consume the music you like and never venture outside of your comfort zone. That’s why documentaries are so important — they force you to confront perspectives, stories and histories that may be vastly different from your own. And what better way to learn about a musical subculture than through the people who created it? These are five essential documentaries about electronic music that every fan should watch.

“Where Have All the Good Times Gone?” is a 2009 BBC documentary about the history of rave culture in England. narrated by Ewen Bremner and featuring interviews with a who’s who of British dance music luminaries, the film chronicles the rise of acid house in the late 1980s and its subsequent fall from grace in the early 1990s. It’s an insightful look at how a countercultural movement went from being demonized by the mainstream media to becoming one of the most popular genres in the world.

“Better Living Through Circuitry” is a 1999 documentary about the early days of the U.S. rave scene. Directed by Jon Reiss, it features interviews with some of electronic music’s biggest stars, including Moby, The Crystal Method and Fatboy Slim. The film explores how rave culture emerged from underground clubs and warehouses to become a global phenomenon.

“Paul Oakenfold: Faith in Trance” is a 2006 documentary about one of electronic music’s most influential DJs and producers. The film chronicles Oakenfold’s beginnings as a mobile disco DJ in England to his work on horrifically successful films like “The Matrix Reloaded” and “Collateral Damage.” It also features rare footage of Oakenfold spinning at legendary clubs like Heaven in London and Cream in Ibiza.

Directed by Errol Morris, “Wormwood” is a 2017 docudrama about the CIA agent Frank Olsen and his mysterious death in 1953. Although Olsen didn’t work directly with electronic music, his story is intimately entwined with it — he was inadvertently dosed with LSD by his own employer during CIA-sponsored mind control experiments, an incident which would later be fictionalized in Stanley Kubrick’s “Clockwork Orange.

They’ll help you appreciate electronic music more

Sure, you can listen to electronic music all day long, but if you really want to appreciate it, you need to see where it comes from. After all, electronic music has a long and fascinating history dating back to the early 20th century.

These documentaries will give you a crash course in the history of electronic music, from the early pioneers who experimented with synthesizers and drum machines, to the modern-day DJs who are keeping the genre alive. You’ll learn about the evolution of electronic music and how it has influenced popular culture over the years. You’ll also get to see some of the biggest names in the industry in action, including Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, and Aphex Twin.

Whether you’re a diehard fan of electronic music or just curious about its origins, these documentaries are essential viewing.