ARTROCKER: WHAT'S BEEN THE HIGH POINT OF THE DECADE FOR YOU? ALEC: Working with The Monks on a collaboration track for their documentary film Transatlantic Feedback. I have been a fan since my teenage years. Discovered them through John Peel. There was a moment, where I actually had tears in my eyes, listening to our finished track. I am a huge music fan and that I had the chance to meet and work with them made this decade for me! Joe Strummer from The Clash watching and loving my last show ever with Atari Teenage Riot in Australia was another one of these moments. READ FULL INTERVIEW

Zündfunk-Monatscharts Die Topp Träxx im Dezember '09 Die amtliche Liste der besten Singles im Dezember, ausgegeben von der Zündfunk-Musikredaktion. Ganz oben stehen zweimal Kalifornien und einmal Neuseeland. 01.  DEVENDRA BANHART  16th & Valencia, Roxy Music Warner 02.  THE ELECTRIC WIRE HUSTLE  They Don´t Want Every Waking Hour / iTunes 03.  MAYER HAWTHORNE  Green Eyed Love Stones Throw/Groove Attack 04.  JAMES PANTS   Thin Moon Stones Throw/Groove Attack 05.  A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS  Exploding Head Mute / EMI 06.  DOC SCHOKO  Schlecht Dran / Gut Drauf Play Loud / Alive 07.  THE ETTES  Take It With You KNTRST / Universal 08.  ROYAL BANGS  My Car Is Haunted CitySlang / Universal 09.  MUMFORD & SONS  Little Lion Man V2 / Cooperative / Universal 10.  DUKE & THE KING  If You Ever Get Famous (Zündfunk unplugged) Loose Music / Rough Trade

Gossip: Mönchs-Quickie sorgt für Jubel Helle Freude im Gossip-Lager: Ihre Coverversion des Monks-Songs "Drunken Maria" erscheint mit einem Song der legendären Post-Punk-Band The Raincoats auf einer Splitsingle. Splitsingle mit den eigenen Helden: Gossip. Konstanz ( mis ) - " Ein Gossip-Traum ist wahr geworden! ", tweetete die US-Band gestern aufgeregt per Facebook. " Unser Monks-Cover wurde für eine Splitsingle auserwählt und nun sind wir auf einer Platte mit The Raincoats. " 2006 steuerte die Band um Sängerin Beth Ditto den Song "Drunken Maria" zum Tribute-Sampler "Silver Monk Time" bei, der das Schaffen der visionären 60s-Beat-Band The Monks einer neuen Generation vorstellte (siehe Interview in den Surftipps). Mit von der Partie war auch die britische All Female-Post-Punk-Band The Raincoats, deren Fankreis mit Sonic Youth, Gang Of Four, Chicks On Speed und dem queeren Gossip-Ensemble stets glamouröser klang als ...

play loud!'s new vinyl release will be ready for shipping this week.  _______________________________________________________                                         pl-06 Floating di Morel "Said My Say" (12" Vinyl; Limited to 500)   pl-07 Doc Schoko "schlecht dran / gut drauf" (12" Vinyl; Limited to 500) pl-08 Gossip / The Raincoats (7" vinyl)  NOW READY FOR SHIPPING

Dear Monks fans in Spain, please check out the imminent screening of "monks - the transatlantic feedback" at NEU! CLUB in Madrid. Could it be more a ppropriate  to show a film in a club that was named after one of the seminal German krautrock bands? MONKS - FAUST - AMON DÜÜL - KRAFTWERK - CAN - NEU! Aquí hay una pieza de TVE 2 sobre el documental "monks - the transatlantic feedback" And please check out the brand new play loud! release: pre-order at info@playloud.org

play loud! (live) music series (up-coming launch) play loud! productions will launch together with the new records (vinyl/download) by Floating di Morel (Said My Say) (pl-06) and by Doc Schoko (Schlecht Dran/Gut Drauf) (pl-07)  a (live) music series that introduces current bands in concerts, during rehearsals, at home or in the studio. Fans will have the choice between a full video and/or audio only download.    Floating di Morel performing 6 songs (live) at their home studio,  a film by Dietmar Post & Lucia Palacios  (32 min, 2009, video & audio download)   Doc Schoko (live) at Volksbühne Berlin in 2007 performing a version of  "Oktopus im Pentagramm", a film by Dietmar Post & Lucia Palacios  (8 min, 2009, video & audio download) STAY TUNED FOR MORE BANDS ON "play loud! (live) music series"

play loud! will release a new 7" vinyl single drunken maria / monk chant  - Gossip / The Raincoats  (pl-08) (single 7"/DOWNLOAD) Artwork by Lucia Palacios (play loud!)             First statements by band members are enthusiastic: THE RAINCOATS: "The idea for the single with Gossip is a match made in heaven". GOSSIP: "A dream come true". release ready for the GOSSIP world tour in late October please pre-order at info@playloud.org both songs are taken from the double cd "silver monk time - a tribute to the monks" (pl-02) Gossip The Raincoats & The Monks performing together "Monk Chant"  in October 2006 at Volksbühne Berlin after the film premiere of "Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback"

3sat - Keep on Rocking!, Musikfilmreihe 09.-11.10.2009 (3sat) 3sat - Programminformation Oktober 2009 Keep on Rocking! 3sat zeigt Musikfilmreihe mit Scorseses "Shine a Light" ab Freitag, 9. Oktober 2009, 22.25 Uhr Erstausstrahlungen Die Pop- und Rockmusik der 1960er bis 1980er Jahre war nicht nur ein kulturelles Phänomen, sondern Ausdruck einer Veränderung der gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse und damit von zeitgeschichtlicher Bedeutung. In seiner fünfteiligen Reihe "Keep on rocking" präsentiert 3sat Musikdokumentarfilme über Größen der Rockmusik, die seit ihren Anfängen in den 60er Jahren das Bild der Zeit prägten. Sie reicht von Konzertfilmen, in denen die Faszination der Musik filmisch vermittelt wird, bis hin zu Porträts der Künstler in ihrer Zeit. Als Highlight präsentiert 3sat Martin Scorseses "Shine a Light" (2008) in Erstausstrahlung. Regiegröße trifft auf Rock-Dinosaurier: Martin Scorsese dokumentierte zwei Konzerte der Rolling Stones im...

play loud! productions will release Doc Schoko's new record "schlecht dran / gut drauf" (pl-lp-07) (lp + download) in November 2009. in conjunction with "schlecht dran / gut drauf" play loud! will release two older records from his back catalogue as part of the new "play loud! digital archives":   (pl-digital-05) "einen gegen" (pl-digital-06) "tränen + wölkchen ep" Also available "Oktopus im Pentagramm" by Doc Schoko, live at Volksbühne Berlin (pl-digital-07), a music film by Dietmar Post & Lucia Palacios (the entire song can be seen on the DVD release of "monks: the transatlantic feedback"):

 In conjunction with the new Floating di Morel LP "said my say" play loud! is proud to present also a 32 minute film by Dietmar Post & Lucia Palacios. The film shows the band Floating di Morel during one summer evening at their home studio in East-Berlin. "a summer evening with Floating di Morel" was filmed in the strict style of Direct Cinema and will open play loud!s long-awaited music & film series. A detailed list with the songs FdM performed that August evening will follow soon. Watch the trailer below:

                                                                play loud! proudly announces a record deal with Berlin based rock'n'roll band FLOATING DI MOREL. Their new record "said my say" will only be available on vinyl and for download. Also, play loud! will offer for the first time Floating di Morel's back catalogue for download. It consists of mostly old art projects: "more memory than now" (LP 1995), "takna, pakna, g(k)ram..." (EP 1997) and "real people psych" (PROMO EDITION 2004). Also available by Floating di Morel is their contribution to play loud!'s 2006 SILVER MONK TIME double CD. Don Allred of Village Voice wrote: "Shut Up" tapped out by the tremulously tight toot-toot-tootsies of Floating Di Morel. One German critic couldn't really categorize the music by Floating di Morel and ask...

Film Review: Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback By Evan ~ July 7th, 2009. Filed under: review . My boss dropped a DVD on my desk yesterday as he was leaving asking if I wanted to borrow it. The cover was a macabre-looking painting of a monk holding a banjo. It read, Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback . I asked if it was simply live performance clips, or was it a full documentary. He said it was a full documentary, so I excited grabbed at it and told him I’d take good care of it and return it tomorrow. Last night was something of a lazy night, as I had a long day beginning with a morning hike through Runyon Canyon, so we watched Capote (a pretty alright flick!) followed by the Monks DVD. My knowledge of the Monks before taking in the documentary was solid, but not exceptionally deep. Five Americans stationed in Germany in the early ’60s began playing social clubs and GI bars in and around the area in which they were living. They began as a band called The 5 Torquays, softer and more “...