Haack: The King of Techno

Never heard of Bruce Haack? Well, welcome to a very large club. A self-taught pianist born in the 1930s, Haack grew up in a tiny Canadian town, and in his teens relocated to New York, where he studied composition at Juilliard. But he didn't like notating music, so he began writing pop songs (he and a partner landed a couple of B-sides recorded by Teresa Brewer) and building and programming various electronic instruments of his own design (such as the “dermatron,” which was activated by touching human skin, and the “peopleodian,” which earned him the title of “king of techno”). Unfortunately, judging from Philip Anagnos' Haack, while it's possible to hear how the supposed king's music might have influenced pop groups from Devo and the Residents to Kraftwerk and the B-52's, it's mostly comprised of dinky, nerdy, primitive synth-rock, primarily suitable for children (Haack did create numerous albums for kids, and even appeared on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood). The present-day rockers interviewed here--such as Mark “E” Everett of the Eels, keyboardist Money Mark of the Beastie Boys, and other, more obscure musicians--seem to love it, but some of these guys are so obviously stoned that they wear sunglasses indoors and seem hard pressed to string two coherent sentences together. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, Haack has some interesting touches (animation, film effects, etc.), and boasts a handful of DVD extras (such as additional footage, a radio interview, and a bonus featurette), but still falls well short of being a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)