I have always been a fan of an acoustic set by my favourite bands and artists and it has been happening more during the pandemic that artists are travelling lighter playing acoustic gigs and playing striped back versions of their songs. When there weren't any gigs to attend I took to Youtube for my fix and I was amazed that I had not come across Tiny Desk Concerts before. Famous bands play behind a funky office desk. Not much room and they belt out some of their greatest hits. Now this isn't some up and coming bands thing. This is from the best bands, artists in the world. Everyone from Taylor Swift to Coldplay and even Lizo and Macklemore have done the Tiny Desk by NPR studios in America. There are easily over 100 Tiny Desk concerts from little known artists to platinum selling artists. Even Seseme street has done a Tiny Desk. What really amazed me was how sheepish and introvert some of the lead singers were. Put them in a stadium and they are dancing around like Mick Jagger. Put them in a small office where they have to converse with people during songs has them rubbing their necks in awkwardness and fidgeting around waiting for the next song to start and they would seamlessly go back to being the rock stars.
Wolf Alice
The two examples of this are a band called Wolf Alice with lead singer Ellie Rowsell. I was amazed with her beauty first of all. I love a nice pair of eyes but these ones are ridiculous. But for someone so beautiful and the lead of an up and coming good band I was amazed at her fragility. She kept looking at her mate the drummer for reassurance. I wasn't a fan of their song picks here but they played their popular number at the end which was worth the wait.
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Pheonix
Another band I thought portrayed this shyness was a band close to my heart called Pheonix. A French outfit (clear from the video the most Frenchiest French you will ever see) that have been around a while now. Some great songs. The lead singer Thomas Mars again came across really really shy at this gig. Looked like a little guy in school with his mates coaxed into singing a song. rubbing his arms finally finding a place for them in his pockets. Music starts, Rockstar. Lisztomania is their first song , totally striped back. Unbelievable. Thomas settles into it while the band speak in their native tongue around their next song which is Armistice which is unreal. You can see the aul' guitarists is the main man. That thumbnail is funny. They then belt into 1901 which is their most popular number. Two bandmates then leave and Thomas sings a cover. An Air cover that they wrote which I wasn't aware of called Playground Love. Such a great song. This is one of my favourite Tiny Desks.
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Idles
Then another favourite is unlike me. A friend told me to watch it. It will be the best 15 minutes of my life. It's a British band called Idles. A punk band from England who are a paradox of themselves. They are a band that sing loutish loud mouth punk, but sing against this kind of culture. For example, the guitarist with no top is a dentist. He normally wears just a pink underpants. They start off with their song "Never punch a man with a perm". And then it just descends into Tiny Desk chaos with the band bringing in members of the public to play with them. I laughed the first time round. Listened to the lyrics the next time, and now I have their album downloaded and what to get to a gig of theres for the craic. The comments on this Tiny Desk are very funny. A mad one but a good one. I would be interested to hear what @penderis thinks of these. The drummer cracks me up. Kidnapped people say. These guys don't lack confidence. They know they are a motley crew so they don't care. I'm scum finishes their gig off. Worth a watch.
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Anderson Paak
Never have I have seen more musical talent in my life. I just thought this guy was a rapper and then I see this video. One of the most watched videos on Youtube and I can see the reason. The drumming number 1 is ridiculous. The way he rests his left hand on the drum itself and makes a beat from the edge of the drum while his right hand hitting the snare. And to top it all off the fucker is rapping. A crazy amount of talent. There are youtube videos by professional drummers describing how good this guy is on the drums. Smiling away during it while his band look on at him in awe. Coolness personified. There are quite a few rappers on Tiny Desk and they all give a great account of themselves.
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Khruangbin
I was recommended this one by a friend too. Never heard of the,. They are a band of few words. The drummer is again world class. Described in the comment section this drummer has such a good sense of time that he probably doesn't find Christopher Nolan movies confusing. The clock in the room take a look at the drummer to check the time. Anyway these guys are just a Tarintino movie. Excellent Tiny Desk. Plus Cleopatra is playing the bass. They are just as smooth as silk.
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Leon Bridges
Another artist that I didn't really know what he looked like. Young guy. His voice is just so soulful. On the 4th minute he sings my favouite song "Smooth Sailing" which is magic. His backing vocalist with the groovy hair is just loving being there. I love that. He plays River to finish off. Such a nice song. Excellent artist.
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Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
An old one. The band with god knows how many members made their way to the studio in the same clothes that they all wore to a concert the night before. Blazed off their head and you can see it especially with Jade Castrinos who looked a bit worst for wear. They still sung really well and put on a good performance no matter how many drugs they had taken.
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Lizzo
How we all doing at this Tiny Ass Desk??
Turns out the girl is very very talented. Even pulling off a Ron Burgundy at the end whipping out non other than the jazz flute. And that girl can play and bloody sing. An inspiration really. Very confident. I looked at her entirely different after this gig. It makes you think. Although now my 5 year likes her and asks me why she is always singing about her cat.
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Alt J
This one made me laugh. The two boys that look like they have just come out of their garage after ten years and realised that they were a famous band so they had to hire an orchestra to back them up. When one of them picks up the little xylophone I was in hysterics. They actually were in their garage. Just fiddling about and they stumble upon a multi platinum record. The lad called Gus with the ronnie and the dodgy hair is my favourite. Don't get me wrong. I like Alt -J. Well I think I do. Last song is class. I dunno really . They sound like they belong in Shakespearian Britain with their melodies and lyrics. I found this both brilliant and hilarious.
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So that's it. What a show. I love them. What is your favourite Tiny Desk?
I will take erykah badu,
Need a link ?
yeah send me one on ! Cheers!
Are you into the jazz @brittandjosie . I quite liked her. Very interesting fish I would say. I thought they were real life moths in her hair do one minute!
I will now be queuing more NPR tiny desk I think. I had them play at work and it is a very good selection. I like Leon Bridges and the first Motley crew the most I think, but will try find more songs from each and see what else they all brought out. It will probably be played tomorrow again at work since combined they are plenty long to not go looking for songs haha.
I remembered where I saw NPR first but never thought to look into other shows. Here ya go, not sure it for the collection but worth a once off for sure haha.
Yeah I've seen that Hobo. Lead singer Hobo is fairly emotional . I didn't know what to make of it tbh. I kind of put it in the alt J list of weird good. Can't get that alt j Taro out of my head now. Idles will grow on you! They are getting massive in Europe now.