VIFF 2015: Great anecdotes abound in 808

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      808 (U.K.)  

      Although you could make a more far-reaching doc about, say, the Fender Telecaster, 808 does make the case that the first programmable drum machine, Roland’s TR-808, changed the face of popular music—specifically fusing Kraftwerk’s cool headiness to emerging hip-hop beats. Artists ranging from pioneer Afrika Bambaataa to refiners like Phil Collins and the Beastie Boys tout the box’s enduring merits.

      Although it will likely remain consistently interesting for EDM diehards, the movie suffers from the same limits as those of the machine itself: too much repetition. The filmmakers don’t always let us listen to what’s being described, the graphics fail to excite, and the whole thing suffers from incessant boosterism.

      But great anecdotes abound, including the time when Marvin Gaye showed up in Belgium with an 808 and machine-crafted his biggest hit, “Sexual Healing”.

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