5 Music Documentaries to End Your “What Do I Watch?” Crisis

There are phases where picking something to watch or listen to feels harder than the actual watching. Sometimes the decision process takes longer than the runtime. (Yes, you. We see you.)

You scroll. You ask friends. You save links to your notes, your browser, your “watch later” list — and never open them again. Eventually you give up and go, “You know what, I’ll just put on another episode of Friends or Seinfeld,” and call it a night.

If this sounds familiar, don’t stress. We got you.

Here’s a no-overthinking-needed list. Just press play. These documentaries sit right in and around electronic music culture — perfect for watching, listening, and actually learning something without it feeling like homework.

Let’s go.

High Tech Soul (2006)

Everyone throws around “Detroit techno” like it’s common knowledge. But what actually is it?

High Tech Soul is basically the origin story. Directed by Gary Bredow and featuring the holy trinity — Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson — the film dives into how techno was born in a post-industrial Detroit and why it sounded like the future.

It’s not just about a genre. It’s about a city imagining something beyond itself. You can still find it on YouTube in parts (low quality, high importance).

I Was There When House Took Over the World (2017)

From underground Chicago basements to global festival stages — this one traces how house music took over.

With first-hand stories from legends like Frankie Knuckles and Marshall Jefferson, the documentary shows how the Warehouse became more than a club. It was a safe space, a lab, a movement. And it highlights how Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ communities shaped what would become a worldwide culture.

House didn’t just grow. It traveled.

Modulations (1998)

If you want the bigger picture, Modulations is essential.

It connects the dots from experimental electronic sound and early synth pioneers to rave culture and modern club life. Kraftwerk, analog machines, Detroit, the whole arc.

More than DJ culture, it’s about the philosophy of making music with machines. If you’ve ever wondered how we got from lab experiments to 5AM warehouse sets — this is your timeline.

What We Started (2017)

This one puts Carl Cox and Martin Garrix in the same story — which already tells you what it’s about.

Old-school underground energy meets festival-era superstardom. It touches on the DJ becoming a rock star, festivals getting massive, and the constant tension between credibility and commercial success.

It’s less flashy than you’d expect — and more reflective.

808 (2015)

A whole documentary about one drum machine. And somehow it’s emotional.

808 tells the story of the Roland TR-808 and how it reshaped hip-hop, techno, pop, trap — basically modern music as we know it. Featuring everyone from Afrika Bambaataa to Phil Collins, it shows how one piece of gear changed the sound of the world.

Machines have feelings too. Kind of.