La Blogothèque should not be a stranger to anyone who wanders the web looking for good music, but for those who aren't aware it is a great source for interesting work done by interesting artists in interesting settings. This snippet format, where musicians play select songs in unconventional places and/or with a special connection to a public - this Beirut concert springs to mind - is usually successful in conveying a situated perspective on music-making, which comes across both as an experience that is shared, collectively, and as something we are all - both artists and listeners - a part of. It takes us there, and I find myself both appreciating the music and its context, realizing that such performances are unique - as is every single one of them - while the underlying resonance, a human experience, is the glue that draws and binds all of this specificity.
This is particularly evident in Matana Roberts's bit in And We Made The Room Shine (AWMTRS), a "post-rockumentary" (as they claim it to be at their facebook page) done by La Blogothèque with Constellation artists in a tour around Vienna. Her role here as a musician and performer is evidently reliant on the public, on communication and the musicality that is in everyone - a chorus that feed into her music-playing. This is of course nothing unheard of, as Gospel choirs spring to mind immediatly during her performance, the idea of collective singing being an integral part of traditional music all around the world; but the artifice of contemporary performance does have a history of forgetting that there's no concert without a public, no message without a dialogue.
Which is not to say that every musician should do what she does, of course. In fact, no other artist in AWMTRS is going down that route. But from the street concert of Do Make Say Think to Elfin Saddle's water glass music, or Hangedup's steel pipe drums, there's a sense of placement that makes apparent both the intention of La Blogothèque situated music films and the artists' involvement with the surrounding environment. A stark contrast with Mike Moya and Eric Chenaux's solitary performances, but again these were contextualized: Eric Chenaux is at the stage playing for an empty audience, Mike Moya playing at what looks like an abandoned hall or basement; in both, the context relating to the introspective nature of the music being played.
All the while, AWMTRS is pulling it off through wordless movement. If anything, therein lies its flaw - that throughout the journey, there's always an eerie sense that we are mere spectators, voyeurs into the brilliant lives of these artists and the fortunate people that may experience their performance. This may be because even though it's the documentary's intention to bring us into the experience, the fact is that, well, we're not there. So I'm torn between the ambitious representation in AWMTRS and the simpler, more straight-to-the-point structure of, say, Blood, Sweat and Vynil. They both share the "band showcase" type of cadence - though AWMTRS is obviously more focused on the concerts themselves, while BSV is more interested in fan service - and they both seem to make a point of singling out the connection between artist and context as a driving force for the respective bands/musicians. But in BSV that is an explicit argument, while in AWMTRS it comes through interpretation and oftenly it becomes unclear whether it wants to go through with it, or whether that was its intention to begin with. It may just as well be the case that I'm reading into a non-intentional message that squeezed out between the lines.
The idea that AWMTRS "loses itself" by burying too deep on its own representation is an extremely subjective one and certainly not any reason to frown on the film itself, though. Taken at face value, you have an assortment of great artists pulling great performance. The filming is great and envelopping enough; the whole thing is marvellous work.
I highly recommend you spend the 45 minutes of your time as I'm sure anyone can enjoy the experience. The situated performance of music is something I believe needs much more thought and effort by us, or we stand to lose ourselves in the rattle of everyday consumerism. For that alone, I appreciate the very intention behind AWMTRS. The fact that the artists are great and the filming/setting is well thought out, makes this an excellent film.
You can watch it here:
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