Matador Records have been celebrating some of their 1995 releases -- Pavement, Guided by Voices, Yo La Tengo -- with their Revisionist History reissue series. As part of that celebration, they've put together a "Revisionist History" video series which will stream via NYC indie movie theater Metrograph's website from September 28-30.
The "Revisionist History" program includes "What's Up, Matador," a 26-minute video hosted by former WNBC anchor Bill Boggs that was made to celebrate the label's 8th anniversary in 1997; plus videos, live footage and rare performances from Liz Phair, Pavement, Kurt Vile, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Jay Reatard, Guided by Voices, Spoon, Bailter Space and more. There will be a special livestream event on 9/28 at 8 PM ET featuring Yo La Tengo, as well as Matador's Gerard Cosloy, Chris Lombardi, and Gabe Spierer. After that it will be available to watch on-demand.
To watch, you'll need to sign up to be a Metrograph member which gives you access to online screenings and more. It's $5 a month or $50 a year, and you can sign up for a seven-day free trial. Movie theaters definitely could use our help, as they've been closed since March with the pandemic.
You can check out the program details for "Matador Records - Revisionist History," and watch "What's Up Matador," below.
Since 1989, Matador Records has been a vital source for some of the greatest music of all time. This idiosyncratic Revisionist History program provides a guided audiovisual tour through that history led by the label’s heads and head of video content, featuring a large assortment of celebrated musical artists like Liz Phair, Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, and Spoon. “People tend to presume this is our cheeky way of rewriting the label’s storied past to make it even more (ahem) storied,” says Matador, “to somehow portray ourselves or the recording artists in some glamorous or outlandish fashion. You know, the time Jon Spencer slept with a Cadillac. Johan had four slices of pizza before 11:30 am, that kind of thing. The sorry fact of the matter is that we’ve had to resort to spinning new label fables because we simply cannot remember what happened so many years ago. Seriously. Whether it was the self-medication, the PTSD, the blows to the head, there’s like a million guys named Dan, all of the above, I don’t fucking know. It’s a nightmare. And It’s not as though anyone is going to fact check this stuff.”
MATADOR RECORDS – REVISIONIST HISTORY
PROGRAM DETAILS: Speakers: Gerard Cosloy, Chris Lombardi, Gabe Spierer, Yo La Tengo
1. What’s Up Matador (1997) Written and Directed by Clay Tarver 2. Liz Phair – “Never Said” (1994) Directed by Katy Maguire; editor: Jim Staskauskas 3. Chavez – “Break Up Your Band” (1995) Video directed by Scott Marshall, concept by Chavez 4. Bailter Space – “Splat” (1993) Directed by Julie Hermelin 5. Pavement – “Father to a Sister of Thought” (1995) Directed By John Kelsey 6. Yo La Tengo – “Tom Courtenay” (1995) Directed by Phil Morrison 7. Jay Reatard – “It’s So Easy” (2008) Video shot by Adam Farrell in the Matador office; thanks to Adam Shore 8. Sonic Youth – “Sacred Trickster” (2009) Directed by Tom Surgal 9. Kurt Vile – “Freak Train” (2009) Directed by Danny Gonzalez 10. Spoon – “Not Turning Off” (1996) Directed by Brett Vapnek 11. Pavement – New Zealand TV item (1993) From TV3’s In Focus. Filmed in Dunedin and Auckland by Andrew Moore, with help from Phillip Moore and Dominic Stones. 12. Mary Timony – “Dream Machine” (2000) Directed by Brett Vapnek 13. Guided By Voices “Quality of Armor” w/Matt Sweeney (2010) Live at Matador 21, Las Vegas 14. Pavement – “Grounded” (1999) Filmed live in Manchester UK 15. Guided By Voices – “Watch Me Jumpstart (1995) Produced and Directed by Banks Tarver
