The music world owes some sort of debt to Vincent Moon. The director for La Blogoteque's Takeaway Shows series has been quietly amassing a vast archive of bands performing live in unusual situations, each one providing a never-before-seen insight into a great many bands' inner-workings.. Musicians are so used to performing to the camera in controlled environments, that taking them out of their comfort zone and in most cases, mingling with the public while they perform, tends to reveal much about the performers as individuals. Whether it's haranguing Bloc Party into performing in an alley beside a pub, Architecture in Helsinki setting off through the streets chased by children or The National gathered around a heavily laden dinner table, there's a multitude of ideas at work in these (most often) single take pieces. Most notably, Moon's directorial effort on this year's Arcade Fire movie, Miroir Noir, managed to subsume the viewer into the fever dream existence of being in a band, coupled with the all-encompassing thrill of being a fan.

Now the team have turned their hand to Phoenix, the French band a enjoying a huge year with the worldwide breakthrough of their fourth record Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. (Via P4K) Moon and Co. take the quartet on the roof of a tourist bus through Paris for 'Lizstomania' / 'One Time Too Many' and under a bridge on the banks of the Seine for a reverb-y version of 'Long Distance Call'. But it's the beautiful imagery swirling around the performance of '1901', shot across the way from the Eiffel Tower, that shines as some of Moon's best work.

Shot in a single take, the camera has a mesmorising ability to find beautiful and endlessly fascinating passages from what amounts to a bunch of dudes standing in a circle. The way the camera catches passers by glancing between band members, the musicians slightly nervous, framed by their instruments and the architecture in the background, and the so-perfect-it's-about-too-much "just married" couple holding fast, watching on. It's absolutely gorgeous, and ranks up their as one of the best things they've done. And the speaker gaffer taped to the keyboard? And the quote at the end from the trinket seller? "Great".

"We had been playing cat and mouse for months. We attended the same shows in Paris, talked a little, mentioning maybe we could do something together... to then see them leave, become huge, and even more intriguing, elusive. It took eight months for this Take Away Show to happen, for them to be free just one afternoon despite their super busy Hollywoodian schedule.

And then, what ? Be one hundred percent cliché, but how? Exaggerate the origins of a band that became famous abroad? Or maybe go and film them where they earned the success they now have? And then we thought about this funny video the band posted on July 14th on their blog, where they play "1901" with an awful iChat wallpaper as a background. Eh, why don't we do it again, but for real this time?" - Vincent Moon

Phoenix - 1901 - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Phoenix - Lizstomania / One time too many - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Phoenix - Long distance call - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

As reported earlier, Phoenix are touring in March.