The inspiring story of the Roland TR808, from the creation of Planet Rock which established it as a dynamic modern instrument, to how it defined hip hop and modern dance culture, through to its continued use today.
808: The Movie, Planet Rock & Other Tales of the 808
probably one of my favourite music docs!! really shows how artists are constantly sharing ideas/collaborating/borrowing from each other
Zane Lowe's narration is so prescriptive and overwrought that it takes 15 minutes to even get to the talking heads, which are mostly unable to place the 808 in any historical context. Feels a lot like an MTV special.
71/100
Growing up with acid house, techno, hardcore and jungle I've always loved the 808 drum machine and the music it produced.
I never really noticed that Marvin Gaye, Rick Rubin & Phil Collins also used it to great effect.
The documentary style is a bit clunky and some of the talking heads are a bit annoying (I love you Goldie but please stop doing these) but overall the music and the story behind how some of it was produced is enough for me.
I was so happy that THIS tune got referenced
I accidentally saw this film while searching Apple Music for one of my favorite albums of all time (and one of my least favorite albums by Kanye West) “808s & Heartbreak.” At first, I was a little confused why I was not hearing the low-frequency kick-drums and punchy bloops that introduce West’s iconic opening track, "Say You Will” and why my iPhone was now playing a video featuring a bunch of old guys talking about some noise computer. But then Rick “Rick Rubin” Rubin — frequent collaborator of Kanye’s and the world’s richest homeless man — appeared on screen and said something along the lines of “The 808’s beats sound pretty neat,” leading me to believe this was some sort of…
You know when you and your friend meet up with your friend's friend who you don't know that well? And the two of them are talking super passionately about the thing they're mutually interested in, and you like spending time with them but you have no idea what the fuck they're talking about?
Yeah.
(also, would it kill you to not repeat the exact same graphics a million goddamn times? it was mind-numbing.)
Ostensibly a documentary about a classic drum machine - the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer - it's disappointing how little detail there is in this film about how it's actually used, as opposed to how widely it's used. It features an impressive array of interview subjects, all musicians and producers who love the 808 and have created huge club tracks with it (while Phil Collins and his "Another Day in Paradise" are brushed over quickly), but I don't think most people think of the percussion lines on those records primarily, and the documentary gives you little reason to change the way you listen to them.
Some talking heads are more interesting than others, of course, and my interest in music production…
Early in this documentary, someone makes the point that music would sound entirely different today if the 808 hadn’t been invented, which is crazy to think about because it’s true. The 808’s importance to modern music can not be overstated, and this documentary is an excellent exploration of the instrument. It also has a wonderful soundtrack.
A few minutes on Roland at the end. This film feels like one chapter of a much longer book. I want to know more about its creation. What came before. What came after. They're pictured and there is a lovely short interview with the founder of Roland, but where is the context? What were other musicians playing before? What about other genres? How did it influence the development of the drum machine in the decades since? Why, when we hear snippets of classic tracks do we see the same stupid animation of an album and a sleeve instead of seeing more of the artists in their primes? Where are the videos? Where are
The photos? Where is the archival footage? Very disappointing.
MUSIC DOCUMENTARY WEEK
So much integral information left out of this documentary. They needed to delve deeper into the specifics, the technology and also the history of the machine in terms of its counterparts. Zane Lowe’s narration was pointless, and the 5 minute segment from the man who actually MADE the machine was thrown in at the end. Still fairly interesting if you love music history though, and I do have a flippin’ wicked 808 playlist saved now.
Zane Lowe provides the voiceover for a documentary about the machine that changed the modern music landscape in the 80's until today. Normally having to suffer Lowe's voice for 90 minutes would be too much to bear but as he isn't the focal point it is possible to block him out this time. The hero here is the Roland TR-808, the drum machine that became the foundation for countless genres of electronic music. And helping out Phil Collins along the way too.
Rather than running through the past four decades in their entirety, director Alex Dunn rightly keeps the focus between the core years of 80-95, where its use and influence was developed. We are taken through some of the…
Great doc, the tale of a machine that changed music and created new genres on its own.
My old electro/dance/hiphop playlist including New Order, 808 State and LL Cool J - songs i used to listen to in high school (Instead of the Stone Roses following) are now back in my car for daily commutes.
It takes a step into the introduction of Hip Hop which is another fascinating area of music told well in the 4 part mini-series Hip Hop Evolution on Netflix which is a good watch if interested.
