Smootaphilia: Ensemble Erotic returns to TV EYE to perform their live score to David Cronenberg’s 1996 auto-erotic masterpiece CRASH on Tuesday, September 8 at 8pm! 

CRASH, Cronenberg’s NC-17 ode to the romantic intersection of love and extreme fetish, is rarely screened in theaters or via streaming. It stars the king of sexy 90’s cinema, James Spader, alongside a trio of spectacular women: Holly Hunter, Rosanna Arquette, and Deborah Kara Unger, and features an unforgettably brave and intense performance by Elias Kotteas. 

Based on the J. G. Ballard novel, CRASH won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes and remains one of the most daring films ever made. Martin Scorsese ranked it as the eighth best film of the 1990s. On the surface it’s a story about a group of people who come together through a shared sexual arousal from the violence of car accidents. But it is also very much a romantic tale about respecting and fulfilling the fetishes of the ones you love. 

Smootaphilia features Ann Courtney (from Mother Feather) on vocals, Jerome Jordan on guitar, Jeremy Kay on bass, and Smoota (from TV On The Radio) on Casio & beats.

SMOOTAPHILIA BIO

The best sensual experiences are primarily improvised. We can enjoy listening to the same song countless times, but when it comes to physical pleasure the key to maximum sensation is the unpredictable — improvising intimately in the moment with a partner (or partners). Smootaphilia: Ensemble Erotic embraces this idea in the pursuit of sensual music. What is the connection between music, spontaneity, desire and performance?

The ensemble’s origins are innocent enough: Dave Smoota Smith first met vocalist Ann Courtney in the shallow end of a YMCA pool in Brooklyn. They became fast friends and discovered a shared taste for boundary-pushing music: Courtney is revered as the fearless and awe-inspiring leader of Mother Feather. Smoota has recorded and toured as a trombone player with cutting-edge bands such as TV On The Radio and Run The Jewels, has released solo music as SMOOTA exploring provocative and sexual themes, and leads the exploratory instrumental groups Smoota and The Beast and The Smoota Tête-a-Tête. 

When a friend asked Smoota to perform music at a pole dancing party, he knew it was an opportunity to share a stage with Courtney. And thus Smootaphilia was born, from pool to pole dance, with Courtney’s endlessly adventurous vocalizations laying on a bed of slinky 69 beats per minute erotic funk. Supported by some of NYC’s grooviest musicians—Jeremy Kay on bass and Jerome Jordan on guitar—Smootaphilia continues to explore its potential as it performs live and prepares its debut album.