Le R�v�lateur

Free

Listen to Marfa Public Radio's Talk at Ten radio interview with Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler, December 30, at 10 am on KRTS 93.5 FM or via their online stream.

Celebrate the coming new year with Ballroom Marfa! For our fifth annual New Year's film program, we'll host a film screening of Philippe Garrel's 1968 film Le R�v�lateur, with a live score by Philadelphia harpist Mary Lattimore and synth player Jeff Zeigler.

Mary Lattimore is a classically trained harpist whose collaborations have seen her working with such esteemed luminaries as Kurt Vile, Meg Baird, Thurston Moore, Ed Askew, Fursaxa, Jarvis Cocker and the Valerie Project. On her debut record, The Withdrawing Room, she found a worthy sideman in Philadelphia's Jeff Zeigler, whose contemplative Korg echoes and holds a mood for Mary's runs.

Zeigler has amassed quite the resume in recent years, between his space-rock outfit Arc in Round and his production work for local luminaries Kurt Vile, Purling Hiss and The War on Drugs. Ziegler's also been expanding into the solo / collaborative experimental zone, playing solo shows with Lattimore and opening for English ambient artist Beno�t Pioulard.

We talked with Lattimore about her interest in avant-garde film, her approach to improvisation and her plans for New Year's Eve in Marfa.

How would you describe your music to new listeners?

I would describe it as sort of underwater, spacey harp through effects and delay, loops of decaying noise, droney sometimes, ethereal crushed-up diamond sounds. Jeff plays a Korg Mono/Poly synth and does cool textural stuff, plays beautiful, haunting melodica that sounds like a sad, distant train, and plays guitar, too. It's gonna be fun. Our sets are usually all improvised, but with this one we are establishing themes and trying to be thoughtful about the changing scenes.

Why did you choose Le R�v�lateur for this project?

I consulted a very film-knowledgable friend. He suggested a few silent films and I checked them out and this one seemed to have some really memorable images. It's a very strange film, very stunning, filmed in 1968.

What else can you tell us about the score you and Jeff will be performing?

It'll be thought-out improvisation, with harp through a Line 6 looper and melodica, guitar, and synth. It's a little over an hour long and will probably be a combination of melodic, hypnotic strings and maybe some harsh-ish noise. We want to be conscious of space, too, and also to incorporate minimal moments because the images are so affecting on their own.

Do you have any other experience doing film scores? Or with filmmaking in general?

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