Review: Science Trips Out on Music in The Heart Is a Drum Machine
It’s a simple question, but it leads director Christopher Pomerenke in many complicated artistic and scientific directions in his documentary The Heart Is a Drum Machine, out Tuesday on DVD. The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, actor and indie label mogul Elijah Wood, funk doctor George Clinton and many others pay homage to the transformative nature of music in often eloquent and humorous ways in The Heart Is a Drum Machine. Comedians Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim say immortal pop, jazz and rock tunes written by geniuses like Miles Davis, Carlos Santana and others can be traced back to “The Farmer in the Dell,” “Frere Jacques” and other timeless childhood sing-alongs. “Music makes me feel like people aren’t so bad after all,” Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss laughs.
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