HAACK: THE KING OF TECHNO (2004) [feature]
'sure it's nice to be famous, but I'm more interested in obtaining a telepathic following.' Bruce Haack was eccentric to say the very least. This kitchen professor and electronic-music pioneer released dozens of albums of trippy and futuristic children's music that have influenced generations of fans, including Beck, Money Mark, Eels and Mouse on Mars.
During the 60s and 70s Haack appeared on dozens of American TV programmes, parading his home-made synthesisers, sound effects gadgets and musical inventions; even playing a wired up child's head like a theremin! This fascinating documentary charts his life and work. His psychedelic sounds relegated him to kook status in the mainstream and ultimately led to disillusionment with the music industry and his subsequent spiral into drugs, alcohol and depression in the late 70s. This era was marked by his nightmarish (almost psychotic) opus Electric Lucifer.
'a fun dive into a bizarre creative sensibility. -'Variety
'Haack saw a spiritual dimension to the sounds coming out of his circuits' no one else expressed that vision in such complex and paradoxical terms. The tender madness of this vision has yet to touch the world.' -Wire
D/S Philip Anagnos P Melanie Moreau WS Seventh Art Releasing TD Video/Col/2004/70mins
Philip Anagnos was born in Missouri, USA in 1971. Films: Haack: The King of Techno (MIFF 2004).