Reprogramming your lazy evening just got a little easier… We’ve compiled 7 music documentaries that we think are worthy of some retina time. From acid house to psych rock there’s plenty to grab your soul. Binge watch or bookmark this tab. Stream on.
Soulwax: Part of the Weekend Never Dies
The history of Soulwax / 2manyDJs. Incredibly pleasurable viewing. The documentary was filmed entirely with a single camera and consists of 120 performances that gave Soulwax in Europe, Japan, USA, South America and Australia. With insightful thoughts from Justice, Busy P, So Me, Peaches, Klaxons, Erol Alkan, Tiga and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy / Nancy Wang… Must watch.
Pump Up the Volume – The History Of House Music
Whether you’re a casual clubber or dance music aficionado this is a great way to brush up on your knowledge and get yourself buzzed to boogie down. Deep culture. From early NY disco and Chicago house to international super clubs, jack your body to the beat.
Krautrock: The Rebirth Of Germany
Post war Germany spawned some of the greatest bands since time. Can ✓ Kraftwerk ✓ Tangerine Dream ✓ throw in some David Bowie, Brian Eno and co for context… Essential viewing for anyone who loves sonics.
Synth Britannia
The documentary covers a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop music. Name check: New Order, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Soft Cell, Human League etc.
Justice – A Cross the Universe
Justice’s March 2008 North American tour. Directed by Romain Gavras, So Me and the band themselves. The documentary covers less of the band’s live shows, and more of their personal experience touring.
The Chemical Generation – Acid House
Looks into the history and legacy of the UK acid house, rave and clubbing culture since the 1980s. It follows the changes of attitude after the dawn of acid house culture and, perhaps, more importantly the introduction of the chemical of choice, ecstasy to the party diet of the young people of Britain.
Radio Soulwax – This Is Belgium Part One: New Beat
Let 2manyDJs take you on an audio-visual trip detailing the history of Beligum New Beat.
A slowed down hypnotic mix of New Wave, Acid, EBM and everything else that sounded good. New Beat became a real craze that would attract thousands of ravers from all over Europe to Belgium’s newly thriving club scene every weekend and inspired hundreds of releases that stormed the Belgian charts, regardless of it being completely ignored by the media and radio because it was not seen as “real” music. It was counterculture of the cheapest kind and due to its massive success, it quickly became very cheesy and novelty based, but there was an amazing side to New Beat that was dark and messed up and our mix is based on those releases, with a few hits thrown in for good measure.
