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The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
Off & On Broadway
Reviewed by Greg Grits

The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players are really a family -- Jason (the dad) plays keyboards and sings, Tina (the mom) works the slide projector and Rachel (the daughter) plays the drums. The band writes songs that are based on vintage slides that they find at estate sales; when they perform live, the slides are projected behind the band to correspond with the lyrics. It’s a unique idea and one that is extremely visual, so it’s kind of surprising that it took the band this long to release a DVD.

The main part of the DVD is a combination documentary and performance that showcases the band’s aberrant live show as well as the people behind the band. The performance portions look good, as it was filmed at the Lamb’s Theatre in New York City with a lot of different cameras. It looks and sounds good, doing an adequate job of capturing what a Trachetenburg show is like, although there were times when the slide projection isn’t in the shot which can be a little frustrating.

The real draw of this DVD is the candid scenes and interviews. The family dynamic off stage is even more interesting than their stage personas. One of the more interesting and confusing scenes is when Jason tries to explain how he writes their songs. He explains it in a way that makes perfect sense to himself, but in a way that may confuse viewers. In another scene, the filmmakers are trying to interview Jason and Tina, but it’s clear that Jason is obsessing over all the things that he has to do before they leave for a European tour (doing two loads of laundry, baking bread, etc) until he finally cuts the interview short because he decides that at that moment he has to go get some apples. He comes off as an indie rock Woody Allen: neurotic, a little strange, but also endearing. There are also interviews with some notable fans of the band (David Cross, Eugene Mirman) and with musicians whose careers were kick started by the Trachtenburgs, like Nellie McKay, Regina Spektor and Langhorne Slim.




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