The live performance by Damo Suzuki & Sound Carriers was filmed on November 24th, 2011 at Marie-Antoinette in Berlin (Germany). The band performed one song of 122 minutes. The film was shot in one continuous 122 minutes long take. Neither the filmmakers nor the band members knew what was going to happen. Music and filming was entirely improvised. The filming melted together with the freely and spontaneously composed music. Damo Suzuki is the former lead singer of the seminal German avant-garde band CAN.

“One song filmed in one long take. Rarely has the avant-garde presented itself so beautifully. A radical audio and film painting one wishes to see hanging in a museum.”
(James R. of LA Taste Magazine after seeing the film at a private screening)

"I find it fairly difficult to say something about how the music in this concert came about, cause we didn't plan or rehearse anything and hardly were able to hear each other on stage. Wherever it came from, the energy and course of this concert is very much based on group dynamics and an almost telepathic sort of communication, like a swarm of fish. When I mixed the sound later on in the studio I discovered a lot of weird things on the separate tracks: for example Kptmichigan's guitar signal is changing level for about +/- 30 dB once in a while which is a lot and was probably caused by a broken microphone cable. Luckily the fucked up parts made the sound even heavier and more distorted instead of destroying it."
Text by Dirk Dresselhaus / Schneider TM

"As filmmakers, it is important the performance we film will be recorded unadulterated. At the same time we do select by positioning and framing the camera, i.e. we watch subjectively. In principle we try to edit inside the camera because we would like to show the presentation in its entirety. It is crucial to know that most of the time we only work with one single camera. The camera is not rigidly tied to a tripod because we want to be able to react at any given moment to what is happening within the spontaneous/improvised performance. Consequently our work turns into an active composition during the show. It could be called a form of drawing (in German the term "drawing" inhabits the word "recording") with the camera. As with all spontaneous/improvised art this sometimes works out nicely, other times it fails poorly.
The question that drives us is the question friends or our children at home will ask us: What did you see? Could you tell us? For us it is easy due to the fact that both, visually and aurally, we can (re-) play our direct impression because we had filmed (drawn) and *recorded it (*the word "record" in German also inhabits the word "cut/edit")."
The "painted or (re-) corded" film - A text by Dietmar Post & Lucía Palacios

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PLAY LOUD! (LIVE) MUSIC SERIES

001 A Summer Evening with Floating Di Morel
002 Doc Schoko: Live at Volksbühne
003 FM Einheit + Irmler: Live at Berghain
004 Faust: Live at Klangbad
005 Gebrüder Teichmann: Live at Maria
006 Christy & Emily: Live at Klangbad
007 Damo Suzuki & Sound Carriers: Live at Marie-Antoinette
008 Camera: Live at HBC
009 Friedman + Liebezeit: Live at Festsaal Kreuzberg
010 Lydia Lunch & Philippe Petit: Live at Volksbühne
011 Guru Guru: Live at Lido
012 Gisela Oberbeck & Limpe Fuchs: Animare
013 Lime Fuchs: Live at Klangbad Festival
014 Die Regierung: Live in Essen
015: Anima in Two Films
016 Die Regierung: Live at Berghain
017: Locust Fudge & Friends: Live at Privatclub
018: Alan Vega in Two Films: Live at Rockpalast + Alan Suicide
019: Martin Rev: Live in Berlin

Up-coming:
Atari Teenage Riot, Barbara Manning, and many more.
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CONCEPT BEHIND THE SERIES:

The "play loud! (live) music series" parts from three ideas, Alan Lomax's work as an archivist and chronicler, John Peel's BBC radio sessions and the work of Direct Cinema pioneers, such as, Maysles Brothers, Leacock, Wildenhahn and Pennebaker. Filming live shows meant not to do it in a TV style but in a very personal, intuitive and adventurous style – nothing is staged for filming. You go along as it happens. Some of the live performances are filmed with only one camera in one continuous shot without any edits. Some critics have labeled it as "filmed paintings/painted films".

play loud!’s music films have been called: “raw”, “rough”, “canny”, “straightforward”, “adventurous”, “witty”, “insightful”, “direct”, “non-tricksy”, “economic”, “minimal”, “unpretentious handheld camera work”, "artful film paintings" …
play loud!’s intention is to furthermore create an extensive archive of interesting popular music that includes also the possibility to screen/stream material that comes from other sources.
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The film was shot in one continuous take. The band played one continuous song, which was split in four parts for the release of a double album, which can be purchased here: https://www.playloud.org/archiveandstore/en/vinyl-12/574-damo-suzuki-sound-carriers-live-at-marie-antoinette.html
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OTHER LINKS:
https://orcd.co/damosuzukiliveatmarieantoinette
https://www.playloud.org/archiveandstore/en/play-loud-live-music-series/49-damo-suzuki-life-at-marie-antoinette.html
http://www.playloud.org/livemusicseries.html