Clara Rockmore – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (MIFF 2021) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

August 4, 2021August 7, 2021 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Clara Rockmore, documentsries, Éliane Radigue, laurie anderson, lisa rovner, melbourne international film festival, MIFF 2021, Sisters with Transistors: Electronic Music’s Unsung Heroes

Sisters with Transistors makes an explicit connection between the assumed ‘boys club’ nature of electronic music and the broader plight of feminism more generally explicit. All those catch phrases and keywords that have been tethered to the former since its conception – speaking up, being heard, making noise – are granted remarkable new meaning when tied so explicitly to the history of women in electronic music, and how broadly their place in that history has been denied.

Reviews

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS – Review by Leslie Combemale

April 23, 2021April 23, 2021 Leslie Combemale bebe barron, Clara Rockmore, daphne oram, documentaries, electronic music, laurie anderson, lisa rovner, sisters with transistors

In writer/director Lisa Rovner’s documentary Sisters With Transistors, avant-garde composer Laurie Anderson explains, “This is the story of women who hear music in their heads….of dreams enabled by technology”. The film chronologically delves into the work of some of the most visionary pioneers in electronic music, who also happen to be women, which of course means their contributions have remained largely unsung.

Reviews

UNDERPLAYED – Review by Leslie Combemale

March 13, 2021March 13, 2021 Leslie Combemale Clara Rockmore, Delia Derbyshire, documentaires, electronic musicians, female dj, prime viodeo, rezz, Stacey Lee, Susanne Ciani, underplayed, Wendy Carlos

The comment “there’s just something about her I don’t like” written to Canadian DJ and producer Rezz is misogyny disguised as vague criticism. It’s something said over and over in reference to female politicians and female filmmakers, but the film Underplayed shows we can add female electronic musicians to the list of professionals similarly dissed or dismissed.