Party Ends

   The big trend lately on this wide-open internet of ours has been filming bands in interesting places and re-contextualizing the songs to be even more innovative and interesting.  I am a total sucker for it ever since I saw Arcade Fire playing a song in a freight elevator on the one that started it all La Blogotheque.  Other notable contenders are Austin’s ReTread Sessions, the Dell Summer Rocks Series, and now a new challenger They Shoot Music Don’t They?  Based out of Vienna, Austria the website does a damn fine job of filming performers in out of the ordinary places but what they really have going for them is their selection of artists to work with.  I first stumbled upon them as a result of their breathtaking acoustic footage of John Congelton from the Paperchase in a men’s room stall.   Shaky, lo-fi steady cam, focusing on far away objects and always working back to the subject the two songs he performs are captured expertly by They Shoot Music.  The best part about the Paperchase acoustic is that the “unplugged” movement that was made popular in the 90s is proven to still thrive.  The songs are transformed from off-kilter angst ridden epic horror anthems to jangly 'guy-with-a-guitar-in-an-elementary-school' fables.  The wall is broken at the end of “You’re One of Them Aren’t you” as Congelton looks at the camera and directly sings “suffer little children” like a twisted SNL sketch about a children's musician who sings terribly haunting music. It is fantastic.   

   Another standout session on They Shoot Music… is from the band that we stole our website name from - Saturday Looks Good To Me.  Here, the band is stripped down to a three piece and performs with guitar, bells, tambourine in some sort of abandoned cattle hall where they perform "(Even If You Die On The) Ocean" and "Sun Doesn't Want To Shine" privately to a crowd of a guy with a camera and a guy with some really good sound equipment. At some points the beat is off, the camera goes behind them, gets a little out of focus but all of these imperfections are what makes the performances wonderful.  Not since Brain Jonestown Massacre in DIG! have I watched so much tambourining so attentively.  The performance is intimate and wonderful. Watch it all HERE.

   I am mainly a forever fan of They Shoot Music thanks to their cinema verite take on the Paperchase, but there are plenty of reasons to love the site- other artists they have worked with include: Bishop Allen, Final Fantasy, Two Gallants and TONS more.  Keep and eye on this site.  It is great.