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anthony risser
website review of the week
divinestra recommendations
Weekly website reviews written by Anthony Risser,
for your enjoyment here at divinestra.For the week of 05 January 2003:
Quirky. Utterly cute. Geeky. I caught The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players on Conan O'Brien last week and they seemed so cool that I needed to see what - if anything - they had online about themselves. I was not disappointed. Their website is decidedly - ideally - lo-tech and chunky (a lot like their home-made costumes), but it presents all the basic info about Jason, Tina, and Rachel. A natural for the site of the week.Once upon a time in Seattle, mother Tina came home from an estate sale with an old slide projector. Later, at another estate sale, she found a box of old family-vacation slides, which were labeled "Mountain Trip to Japan, 1959." The next day, father Jason, sat down at his keyboard and wrote a tune - called "Mountain Trip to Japan, 1959" - with lyrics that provided a storyline for the slides. One song led to another and another and another. The rest, as they say, is history. They became a local Seattle phenomenon. And, after a time, they decided to move to New York City. They began playing regular gigs at a number of clubs and soon became the talk of the town. "Look at Me" - the song they played on Conan - is as quirky as can be. Father on keyboard and vocals, Mother on slide projector, and daughter Rachel on drums and vocals (think White Stripes meet Hello Kitty) make a life story of the pictures of two retired military nurses and their families and friends during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
The website includes a calendar of upcoming appearances, samples of their songs, photographs, press clippings (which include write-ups in the New Yorker and the Village Voice), and a page on which to purchase their CDs. The site also includes links to a half-dozen great NYC venues.
That's all!
All reviews Copyright, Anthony Risser, 2003;
All Rights Reserved.
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