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REVIEWS: 1001 Nights DVD Uncut Damon & Naomi's acid folksongs are oddly suited to the tour diary format, so 1001 Nights works surprisingly well. Featuring tour films by Naomi Yang, music videos and Japanese concert footage from 2001-2009, with guest appearances from The Clientele, Richard Youngs and Ghost, 1001 Nights captures the duo's world perfectly: reflective, pensive, with understated humor - check the quietly surreal vox pops from Yang. The Wire Damon & Naomi's music has always been accompanied by a strong visual aesthetic. Their LPs and CDs are package with great care, whether it's the tearstained Man Ray portrait chosen for 1992's More Sad Hits or the delicate blooms in water on the most recent Within These Walls (2007). Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang also run the Exact Change publishing imprint, which produces exquisite editions of experimental literature from the schools of dada, surrealism, and 'pataphysics. It is, therefore, no surprise that their interests have also extended to film. Yang was already a keen photographer when Krukowski (also her husband) gave her a DV camera as a gift. She started making films of their tours, and these are brought together on Song to the Siren from 2001 and Japanese Scrapbook from 2002. The style is casual and episodic, linking together live performances by Damon & Naomi and their support acts with vignettes of tour activity -- finding venues, meeting interviewers, and so on. They are probably the quietest tour videos ever made. No voice is ever raised, no disappointment or confusion ever voiced. It matches the intimacy of Damon & Naomi's performances with an almost domestic and handmade feel. There are also three short films by Cedrick Eymenier, which set Damon & Naomi songs to meditative single-subject (and almost single-shot) films: a woman reading, light through a window, night traffic on a roundabout. The highlights for Damon & Naomi fans are the two live performances that catch them in fine form at the O-Nest in 2005 and 2008, joined on both occasions by longterm collaborator Michio Kurihara of Ghost, as well as Bhob Rainey, Ghost's leader Masaki Batoh and Helena Espvall. A limited package also adds a snow-white vinyl LP of the live recording at San Sebastian, previously released as Song to the Siren. |