The San Francisco Examiner
May 5, 1998, Tuesday; Second Edition


KEYING INTO CUTTING EDGE MUSIC WORLD


Iara Lee is a documentarian who wants you to contemplate, not think. She prefers visual impressions over cold facts. She is a sensory filmmaker as opposed to a rational one.

Her first film, "Synthetic Pleasures," was a meditation on nothing less than the effect of computer technology on our most personal emotional gratifications, from sex to taking a vacation, and how it will change humanity as we know it.

"Modulations," which, like the first film, is produced by San Jose Sharks owner George Gund, is considerably narrower in scope. It settles for detailing the underground world of electronic music, the cutting-edge keyboard composers who keep those all-night raves going. Like "Synthetic Pleasures," it has a smooth, free-wheeling pace punctuated with candid interviews of odd, likable subjects.

Although a brief history of the genre is given, including the works of pioneering artists like John Cage in the 1930s, "Modulations" is forward -thinking and tries to get a handle on the ever-changing, envelope-pushing art form. Lee is more interested in where things are going than where they've been, so the pulse-pounding synthetic beats throbbing in rave clubs from Tokyo to Detroit serve as a sort of playful mind-candy.

And where else would one get serious interviews from the likes of Scanner or Alvin Toffler?

"Modulations" never bores and is consistently interesting, especially in the passages detailing Techno's rise from '70s disco and the latter stretch predicting future trends. Perhaps a bit more meatiness, a broader perspective on the social and cultural impact of this music, or being a little more specific on the historical timeline, is called for here, but nevertheless it's a worthwhile documentary, and it's actually a good time.

G. ALLEN JOHNSON