As far as many music lovers are concerned, scratching - a form of musical dee-jaying that involves wiggling vinyl records on a turntable to produce a scratching sound - is nothing more than a great way to ruin discs.
For its practitioners and followers it was the invention of a revolutionary musical form. Those whose musical tastes are rather more orthodox will, I fear, find themselves scratch resistant.
This engaging documentary explores the genesis and development of the form with affection and no little erudition. I was intrigued to learn, for example, that the form first emerged on Herbie Hancock's Rockit recording, and entranced by the vision of QBert - a kind of Apollo of Scratch - whose youthful good looks, modesty and articulacy put him streets ahead of many of the specimens on display.
The sight of DJ Shadow - one of the world's greatest "diggers" - squeezing himself between tottering tower blocks of LPs stored in an Aladdin's Cave beneath a specialist record shop would be enough to bring out the vinyl junkie in us all.
Best of all was Naut Humon, one of those extraordinary individuals who has managed to become a successful record entrepreneur in spite of the fact that he is clearly away with the fairies. Or rather, aliens.
Scratch
Cert: 15
