An Appreciation

A decade or so ago - the exact timing escapes me - I sent an email on a whim to Bob Boilen. My oldest had begun to show an appreciation for music that's only gone and blown up and I was trying to find ways to expose her to live stuff. My email to the genius behind Tiny Desk Concerts was an inquiry: any way I can bring my kid and come watch a show?

To my very pleasant surprise, Boilen emailed me back quickly and invited us to join him and the staff at NPR headquarters. And to my great chagrin, something that's lost to the fog of time came up and we were unable to attend. Our great loss.

Boilen announced his resignation from NPR after 35 years in which he built a formidable and influential music program effectively from scratch. In addition to Tiny Desk, he was the driving force behind All Songs Considered, which is an excellent and eclectic ongoing review of new tunes. He and his colleagues dove deep at South by Southwest, encouraged new artists, and generally celebrated music of all kinds.

As even casual readers of this blog know, I love Tiny Desk. We've dropped 13 posts featuring Tiny Desk shows, ranging from Juvenile to the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet to Jason Isbell to Tash Sultana - just a taste of the diversity Boilen programmed. But the program aired more than 800 live performances, and there's no way I'm qualified to choose the best, so I checked with the experts. Herewith a very partial compilation of terrific tiny shows.

Dua Lipa's 2020 home-based performance holds the top spot in terms of number of views, but the show that led those stats before she took it is widely lauded as the best ever:

I've long been partial to these guys:

And these dudes are a G:TB standby:

Great band, and they recorded this at 10:30 am the morning after a show:

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings:

Most of the cognoscenti dig this Anderson.Paak performance:

Another one from the G:TB Wheelhouse:

And another:

Way More Cool

Gheorghe: The Blog is a big fan of NPR's Tiny Desk series, based on the number of embedded clips from the various performances in our annals. 

Check out this one below -- it features New Orleans rapper Juvenile with some quality guests. The performance is boisterous, officially described by NPR as "one of the most rambunctious experiences at the Tiny Desk." 

You may recognize G:TB fave Trombone Shorty in the clip. You may also recognize recently gheorghed artist Jon Batiste. 

You probably don't recognize the cellist who enters at the 19:00 mark to add some strings to the funky beats, alongside a violinist colleague at the Louisiana Philharmonic. 

But you should.

At least in name only. Check him out. Jake Fowler. Cellist extraordinaire.

And Cuke!

Back in April, Les Coole and the Cukes dropped "Remember (10-9-8-7)," a song that prominently featured Jake on cello. He's a fantastic cellist and a good beer drinker.

So I'm one step removed from Trombone Shorty!

Enjoy. 

The Night is Alive. It's Loud and I'm Drunk.

Beach Slang is an up-and-coming band from Philly. The backbone of the band is vocalist/guitarist James Alex. I usually don't trust anybody who has a first name for a last name, but I dig this dude and the band's raucous electric rock sound.

As with most musical things in my life, I randomly came across this band just recently. Not sure if it was a magazine or The Ringer's web site. But I read a positive review and downloaded their first full album, 2015's concisely titled The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us. It kicks all kinds of ass. I'm not good at writing about music, but the album has the same edge, grit and energy as the early Gaslight Anthem material. It is a concise 10 songs that span a mere 27 minutes. All killer, no filler. They're carrying whatever torch The Replacements lit forty years ago, which is noble, if only to me.

The song below is from that album, and its lyrics spawned the title of the post. Simple phrase, but something we can (or could, at one time) relate to, even in our middle ageishness.



Their fourth and latest album, The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City, just dropped. It sounds like a stew of many rock sounds I've loved since my childhood: Guns n Roses, Arctic Monkeys and 80's pop, to name a few. Good stuff and also worth a listen.

Since NPR's Tiny Desk series has a lot of street cred in these parts, here is James Alex doing that gig. Personally, I think the songs are better suited to the full electric rock treatment, but they still sound pretty damn good here.

Gheorghemas Interlude: Enter the Tiny

Live from the offices of NPR in Washington, DC, a Gheorghemas concert was recorded last week celebrating 25 years since the release of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Lots of fun little touches here, including stringed instrument accompaniment, RZA adjusting on the fly to reflect support for the #metoo movement, Young Dirty Bastard taking his father's place, and a poetic interlude.

Give yourselves 20 minutes, in keeping with the spirit of the season.

Stuff You Slept On, Alternatively Titled "layzman's filler" -- shlara Edition

Shlara, also known as Gheorghe Muresan's favorite Gheorghie, sent what she deemed a "half-ass entry" in response to my request for layzman's filler, which means that one of you attempted what is at best an eighth-ass entry. But I guess that's what happens when you can only write one sentence a day. Foreshadowing! Anyway, here's a post about an album that Shlara thinks you should listen to.

I like this idea
I don't like doing a lot of work, though.
So you get a half-ass entry from me

Album: The Rip Tide by Beirut

Link #1: cheating with this Tiny Desk concert clip. It features 3 songs, 2 of which are from this album (East Harlem and Santa Fe)
Upside is you get so see the band's endearing nerdiness



Link #2: official video for Riptide (video is weird, song is good)



Why Gheorghies should listen:

It's got a modern 80s throwback feel to it. Angsty and also optimistic. If you like DeVotchKa, you'll like this Beirut album. It was on my regular rotation when I lived in NYC--nice way to tune out and stay zen while you're riding the subway. I think the band is technically labeled as "world folk music" and I'm pretty sure I heard one of their songs on XMU years ago and bought the album. The critics didn't like this album as much as their others, "too mainstream and cute." But that's just the way I like my fringe music: pop-y and cute. Top to bottom, all 9 tunes are good, but if I have to pick one, East Harlem is my fav song on the album.

Get Up, Get Moving

We've talked about NPR's Tiny Desk concert series here before, though probably not enough. One of these days, I'll do a post about my favorite sessions. (Note: that probably won't happen, as it'd require effort.)

Today, though, a little get off your ass and move music to get the day started. Here's Rare Essence from earlier this week, all packed around Bob Boilen's desk and delivering D.C.-style go-go. Hard to watch this and not get body movin'.