Ex Marks the Spot

by Shaun Brady

screening

Dutch punk group the Ex formed in 1979 as an anarchist collective, to the extent that they apparently drew straws to determine which member would play which instrument. In the nearly three decades since, they've forged on through a number of lineup changes and an ever-evolving sonic landscape, incorporating noise, improvisation, post-punk and traditional music from Eastern European and African cultures.

The one constant is a belligerent political sneer, couched in a torrent of sound that rumbles like a self-righteous earthquake. Their knack for burying strong melodic ideas under layers of howling noise has found them fellow travelers with everyone from Sonic Youth and Tortoise to improvising cellist Tom Cora, Ethiopian sax legend Getatchew Mekuria and the avant-pranksters of their countrymen, the ICP Orchestra.

You'll learn none of this from watching Building a Broken Mousetrap. Jem Cohen's film begins with two brief titles reading, "The Ex are a band from Holland. In September of 2004, they came to New York to play a show." That's all the information Cohen allows before throwing his audience directly into the band's midst, riding out an hourlong set like storm chasers in the eye of a hurricane.

The decision is a difficult one to argue with; how would the ferocity of this set, recorded at the Knitting Factory, be anything but disrupted by talking heads and tour bus anecdotes? What Cohen does provide is a bit of context, cutting away repeatedly to footage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, which happened in the same city little more than a week before the Ex arrived and which is directly referenced from the stage. The switch midway from black and white to color provides two divergent energies to the music, both frenetic, somehow capturing all the vigor and viscera of the live set.

Mousetrap, which will be preceded by Cohen's video clip for Patti Smith's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" cover, will kick off I-House's Sound on Screen series and its celebration of 30 years of film presentations. The latter also includes a screening on Saturday of the Soviet silent sci-fi classic Aelita: Queen of Mars, with a new score by Philly-based experimental composer/bass clarinetist Gene Coleman, performed live by his Ensemble Noamnesia.

(s_brady@citypaper.net)

Building a Broken Mousetrap, Thu., Feb. 7, 7 p.m., $5-$7, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, ihousephilly.org.