Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
€10EUR or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of silver monk time - a tribute to the monks
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
Purchasable with gift card
€10EURor more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of silver monk time - a tribute to the monks
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
Purchasable with gift card
€8EURor more
DVD
“More than simply a music documentary, The Transatlantic Feedback is an affecting account of the journey of a group of friends
through one of the strangest trips of the 20th century.”
Wire Magazine (10/10)
“A loving and penetrating documentary film.”
The Hollywood Reporter (7/06)
"Excellent pic. The filmmakers do a vivid job etching the creatively fervid times,
with an editing style whose dynamism echoes that of Monk music." Variety (2/07)
"A fascinating documentary film!"
Der Spiegel (2/07)
“A magnificent film”
Die Zeit (9/06)
"A wonderful documentary film - a long overdue history lesson. Go and watch it!"
Rolling Stone (10/06)
“This absorbing documentary tells the Monks’ story with precision and flair. (...) It’s the witty and unsentimental interviews with the five band members that reveal their focus and idiosyncratic brilliance.”
The Chicago Reader (8/06)
“It takes more than just documenting a great band to make a great movie: the band has to be unique in spirit and story and fit into a larger picture of the rock canon, and the filmmakers have to find the cinematic language to bring that essence to the screen.
Never have these rarities all come together more beautifully than in "monks - the transatlantic feedback".
Dietmar Post and Lucía Palacios have given us a brilliant journey with the most extraordinary rock band to ever cut vinyl!”
Allison Anders, Filmmaker, Los Angeles
“Fantastic film! Respect! Full of facts and details, wonderfully tied into the art net, interwoven brilliantly with the band-member interviews. It reminded me of the beautiful film by Fechner* about the Comedian Harmonists – in its mix of intelligence, sensitivity and the description of the greatness of a band, which for a few years was the essence of the (art) world.”
Berthold Seliger, Seliger Concert Agency
“This film is absolutely astonishing for one simple reason. The revelations and connections made by the film are so completely new that the history of popular music not only needs to be reconsidered but most probably to be rewritten. The Monks invented in 1965 punk, prog and political rock and techno.
Now they are considered a mega-60’s legend: obscure, raw, brutal, angry, political, just ANTI...!
References are, among others, The White Stripes, Schorsch Kamerun and the founder of German Beat-Club, Mike Leckebusch.
The film is not only a must for every music fan but also for all people interested in recent German-American history.”
Johnny Bottrop, Terrorgruppe, Germany
“It is a funny, fascinating and hugely enjoyable documentary.”
Filmink Magazine Australia (5/07)
“Everyone knows Elvis Presley served Uncle Sam in Germany, but have you heard about the American GIs who stayed after their tour of duty and formed one of the most influential rockbands of all time? Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to meet the Monks, who dressed the part and are seen wigging out in front of amazed German teens priceless TV archival footage. It is a wonderful window into the German-American cross-cultural experience.”
Variety Australia (5/07)
“Gäbe es nicht die tief aus dem Vergessenen hervorgekramten Zeugnisse, die Dietmar Post und Lucia Palacios für diesen Film ausgegraben haben,
so würden vielleicht selbst die einzelnen Mitglieder der Monks bezweifeln, dass es sie je gab.
(...) An Hand von privaten Fotos, Postkarten und Doku-Material rekonstruieren sie sehr genau das gesellschaftliche Umfeld der BRD im sogenannten Wirtschaftswunder, während des Kalten Krieges, in dem Beatmusik sozusagen zum Vorboten der kommenden Rebellion wurde.”
Spex Germany (10/06)
"Berührender und wahnwitziger Dokumentarfilm"
Der Standard Wien (10/06)
"Der Film vermittelt die Geschichte der Monks und den Geist ihrer Zeit auf sehr unterhaltsame und stimmige Weise."
Zitty (9/07)
"Dass die Monks nun nicht länger nur einem kleinen Zirkel von Musikexperten ein Begriff sind, ist diesem Film zu verdanken. Und nicht nur in musikalischer Hinsicht ist das sehens- und hörenswert; thematisiert der Film doch auch die Selbstzweifel und das Weiterleben von Menschen mit einem ausgeträumten Traum. Das macht ihn zu einem berührenden Dokument der Musikgeschichte."
Kulturnews (10/07)
MORE INFO HERE: www.playloud.org/themonks.html
"Das überzeugende Filmergebnis ist mehr als das Porträt einer außergewöhnlichen Band zwischen populärer Musik und avantgardistischem Kunstansatz.Es ist eine politische und popkulturelle Momentaufnahme der 60er Jahre im Übergang von Kuba-Krise und beginnender Protestbewegung."
Tip (10/07)
"Der Dokumentarfilm ist weitaus mehr als ein Bandporträt. Und er zeigt mehr als eine Band vor dem Hintergrund der politischen Lage der Zeit. Er geht auch dem Einfluss der beiden Bandmanager nach, die ihre künstlerischen Vorstellungen, ihre Nähe zu Fluxus und Dadaismus in das Konzept einfließen ließen und die Monks so erst zu einer Avantgardeband machten. Palacios und Post ermöglichen dem Zuschauer auf diese Weise einen Blick auf die zeitgeschichtlichen Vorgänge in der Kunst, die abseits von Beat und Pop abliefen."
Jungle World (10/07)
...more
01 Minimal Monk (Mense Reents) 04:19
02 Monk Time (Alec Empire, Gary Burger) 03:57
03 Momks No Time (Mouse on Mars) 05:37
04 Monk Chant (The Raincoats) 02:04
05 Were Ever / Oh, How to Do Now (27/11) 06:18
06 Monk Hop (Jason Forrest) 02:14
07 Blast Off (Cycle) 01:29
08 We Do Wie Du (Fehlfarben) 02:11
09 Drunken Maria (The Gossip) 01:27
10 Complication (Jon Spencer) 02:33
11 Silver Monk Time (Silver Apples & Alan Vega) 03:36
12 Shut Up (Floating di Morel) 02:29
13 Tumbling Monks (Gudrun Gut) 04:37
14 Kuchhuche (Nista Nije Nista) 06:42
CD 02
01 The Transatlantic Feedback (F.S.K.) 00:20
02 Higgle-dy Piggle-dy (The Fall) 03:22
03 Komplikation (Die Goldenen Zitronen & Chicks on Speed) 02:39
04 I Can't Get Over You (Barbara Manning) 03:38
05 Boys Are Girls And Girls Are Boys (PTV 3) 03:41
06 Sei Still (Doc Schoko) 03:51
07 Oh, How To Do Now (S.Y.P.H.) 03:29
08 I hate You (Alexander Hacke) 03:14
09 Shut Up (International Noise Conspiracy) 03:45
10 Cuckoo (5.6.7.8's) 02:56
11 That's My Girl (The Haveltones feat. Dave Day) 03:09
12 I Hate You (Singapore Sling) 04:31
13 Blaster (Michaela Melian) 04:45
14 It Is Charles Time (Charles Wilp & The Monks)
15 Beware - The Transatlantic Feedback (Faust & gary Burger)
credits
released October 23, 2006
Jake Austen writes about the tribute album and the documentary film "monks- the transatlantic feedback":
Despite a British Beatles boost, garage rock is thoroughly American…in fact garages themselves are pretty damn American; politicians don’t promise chickens in every pot and cars in every driveway, because they knew Americans wanted to have to move their automobile so their teenage sons can practice “Louie Louie.” Thus it’s no surprise that when Americans heard the mind-blowing proto-punk music made by the mid-60s, German-based American ex-soldiers the monks it immediately registered on this side of the sea as some of the greatest garage rock ever recorded. Sure there was a tinge of contrarian, nihilist avant-garde in their unprecedented instrumentation (buzzsaw electric banjo, thundering all-floor tom tribal drumming), dark lyrics about hate and war causalties, and strange black outfits that mirrored actual monks, right down to the shaved tonsure haircuts. But us Yanks figured Count V wore capes, The Phantom wore a mask, when he howled “Love Me,” and the monks shaved circles in their heads – it’s a great gimmick, not art! I’m giving all this background to explain the sometimes cold, sometimes harsh reaction this remarkable film has received from factions of the American garage rock community. Post and Palacios, who caught monks fever decades ago in Germany, began working on this documentary at the best time; in the years after bassist Eddie Shaw’s book had finally provided background on the mysterious band, and in the years surrounding the act’s one full reunion. Considering the subsequent deaths of two of the five monks, and the re-submersion into shadows of formally lost monk, Larry, this is pretty much the only monks documentary that can ever be made. And thus, the fact that the filmmakers see the band as more of a brilliant art project than a garage rock phenomenon rubs some folks the wrong way. Also, the fact that the filmmakers attribute a lot of the brilliance of the project to the band’s svengali managers who had a lot of the weird ideas is reasonable but frustrating in a few ways. The most obvious frustration is that while all the monks are ready and willing to talk, the management isn’t interested in being on camera and revisiting what they must consider a short-lived failure. But worse is that despite the guidance the monks received unquestionably making something genuinely unique out of a regular beat club band (albeit one with more diverse talent than their peers, considering the way the group’s membership represent not only the breadth of America’s wide geography, but also its musical breadth, as jazz, rockabilly, R&B, and C&W were in the backgrounds of the unlikely quintet), the filmmakers may be giving to much credit to their management. Much emphasis is put on a manifesto the group committed to, but part of that manifesto was to never smile on stage, and footage of Gary Burger on German TV shows that although the group embraced much Teutonic tutelage, they were American pickers and grinners all the way, and what made each monk special was the way they were not sheep-like, but thoroughly individual. But I don’t begrudge the German filmmakers in any way for giving a German perspective on this band, and the incredible research, intelligent interviews, and excellent editing make this a must see. Sure, one could argue that a tangent into the work of a German director who was scheduled to work with the monks but never got to bring his vision to fruition may be indulgent…but shit, if you found sexed-up ancient footage of a nubile, pre-disco Donna Summer in an avant-garde TV commercial you would leave it on the cutting room floor? I can see why some garage intelligentsia (and to a lesser degree, a monk or two) have had some objections to this, but they are misguided. Monks-philes need to embrace this last look at the full band. Similarly, one can see how garage purists would be aghast at the double CD compilation "silver monk time," a tribute CD to the five American G.I.s gone monk-y. But here they are completely off base. This CD includes futuristic artists like Alec Empire and Psychic TV, German art rockers like Faust and Fehlfarben, and big names that don't necessarily register as big amongst connoisseurs of "Dirty Water," like the Fall, Mouse on Mars and Barbara Manning. But none of them are desecrating the monks' music. What is most amazing about this is how clearly the monks music, without much alteration, can seem like punk to punks, psyche to psyche-heads, avant-garde to avant-gardeists, novelty music to humorists...their sound is so unique that no one is wrong. This is one of the best tribute albums I have ever heard, in no small part because the artists have such a connection to, and respect for, the music that they leave the best elements intact. But also each artist hears the music so differently that the tweaks really alter and elevate the songs...no karaoke here! The involvement of Gary Burger (who updates his vocals for the current wars with Empire and also teams with Faust) and the late Dave Day not only give this a stamp of approval, but also may force some haters to have to buy it. Highlights include Silver Apples and Alan Vega taking “black monk time" to space, "The Raincoats finding the sweetness and beauty in "Monk Chant," and (the garage rock approved) 5-6-7-8-s going absolutely "Cuckoo."
The monks were 5 American GI’s in Cold War Germany who billed themselves as the anti-Beatles; they were heavy on feedback,
nihilism and electrical banjo. They had strange haircuts, dressed in black, mocked the military and rocked harder than any of their mid-sixties counterparts while managing to basically invent industrial, punk and techno music....more
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