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Album Details

• Artist: Mono
• DVD:
The Sky Remains The Same As Ever
• Label: Temporary Residence
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2008-01-23

Japan’s MONO has managed to straddle the line between the beautiful and brutal, and to always make it work. Their droning rock cherry-picks some noise, some prog, some shoegaze, and turns them into instrumental stews that are hypnotic and emotionally intense. This DVD features concert footage of their European tour in the winter of 2006, and 2007 tours in Japan, Korea, US and Canada. In addition, there are scenes of the band in the studio and interacting with fans. There are also a couple of fan-shot YouTube clips. These films are all about the moment, and how fans relate to the power of the moment MONO creates. Often in the live footage, there is more of a focus on the crowd than the band. Though the crowd—headbanging, swaying, snapping pictures on cell phones—pretty much react as any who see other bands, there is also a kind of awed peace on their faces. The sheer volume and beauty of the band’s songs is cathartic and life-affirming, and the crowds shot here certainly are hip to it. Teppei Kishida filmed and edited the collection. Known more for photographing live music than in making it comes alive, he shows here the photogs eye for detail, along with a film-maker’s attention to movement. His choice of filming from the stage not only contributes to celebrating the band’s effect on its fans, but also provides intimate footage of the band, as they play, rub guitars against amplifiers, smile to each other as they get lost in their own music. This is a great intro into the music of MONO, and one of the better packaged and sequenced rock videos.

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