SOUNDTRACK: ANNA MEREDITH-Tiny Desk Concert #713 (March 2, 2018).
I have never heard anything like this. From sound to melody, to intensity, to instrumentation, this whole thing just rocked my world.
The melody for “Nautilus” is just so unexpected. It opens with an echoed horn sound repeating. And then the melody progresses up a scale, but not a scale, a kind of modified scale that seems off kilter just as it seems familiar. The cello plays it, the guitar plays it, the sousaphone (!) plays it. And it continues on in like fashion until only the high notes remain and then a menacing low riff on sousaphone cello and guitar breaks through–a great villain soundtrack if ever there was. While everyone plays this riff, Anna returns to the keys to play the modified scale.
Meanwhile, the drummer has looked like he’s asleep behind his small kit. And then 3 anda half minutes in he wakes up and starts playing a loud but slow rhythm. The guitar begins soloing and as it fades out that main riff begins, now with a simple drum beat–not matching what anyone else is playing, mind you. The sousaphone (which must have an echo on it or something and the cello pick up the low menace and it seems like everybody is doing his and her own thing. But it all works amazingly.
So just who is Anna Meredith?
Anna Meredith was a former BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Composer in Residence. Two of the three songs performed here come from her 2016 release called Varmints.
Bob Boilen was also impressed when he first saw Anna Meredith live:
I first saw this British composer a year ago, in a stunning performance at the SXSW musical festival. It was one of the best concerts of my life. The music I heard sent me into a state of reverie. If music could levitate my body, this is how it would sound. It carried me away and thrilled my soul. I was giddy for days.
Now, I know this isn’t music for everyone. … But if you know and love the music of Philip Glass, King Crimson or Steve Reich — music that’s electrifying, challenging and sonically soars and ripples through your body — then crank this up.
Lest you worry that she couldn’t translate it to the Tiny Desk (she says they normally have 23 suitcases full of crap so this has been an exciting challenge to squeeze in here)
Out of nearly 700 performances at the Tiny Desk, this is simply the most exhilarating one I’ve experienced. The instrumentation is unusual, with pulsing bass sounds produced by a wonderful combination of cello, tuba and electronics. It’s all rhythmically propelled by an astonishing drummer and Meredith pounding a pair of floor toms. And much of the repetitive melody is keyboard-and-guitar-driven that morphs and erupt with earth-shaking fervor.
The second song, “Ribbons” is quieter. It’s and new song and it has vocals. Her vocals aren’t great (“hard when you’ve got the voice of a five-year old boy”) but the melody she builds around it shows that her voice is just one more instrument (albeit saying interesting words). Actually, that’s not fair, they are just so different from the noise of the other two songs that it feels very faint in comparison.
It opens with a quiet guitar and electronic drum. And slowly everyone else joins in. A nice string accompaniment from the cello (Maddie Cutter), bass notes on the sousaphone (Tom Kelly) and even backing vocals from everyone. By the third go around the drummer (Sam Wilson) is playing the glockenspiel. By that time the song has built into a beautiful round and the quietness of her voice makes complete sense. As the song nears its end, Sam has switches to a very fast but quiet rhythm on the floor tom.
She introduces the band and wishes a happy birthday to guitarist Jack Ross. She says this is a great present as “so far all we’ve gotten him is an apple corer, the gifts have been a bit low grade.”
They make some gear switches, “we have a bit of a logistics problem with all our gear we can’t quite afford to bring enough glockenspiels, we pass the pure crap glockenspiel around ans everyone gets to go ‘my turn!'”
“The Vapours” opens with a wonderfully wild guitar riff–fast and high-pitched and repeated over and over. Anna Meredith adds waves of synths and then in comes the sousaphone and plucked cello. Then fast thumping on the floor tom propels the song along. The song slows a bit a Anna plays the clarinet (!). The song dramatically shifts to some complicated time signature while Anna plays glockenspiel. After a few rounds, while this complex guitar riff continues the drum and sousaphone start playing a pretty standard beat the contradicts everything else that’s going on and then Anna just starts pounding the crap out of some more toms.
All through this there are electronic sounds adding to the chaos and I have no idea who is triggering them, but it’s really cool.
The end is almost circusy with the big sousaphone notes and yet it’s like no circus anyone has every heard. When the camera pulls back and you can see everyone working so hard and yet smiling ear to ear (especially Maddie), you know this is some great stuff.
The end of the song winds up with a hugely complicated tapping melody on the guitar and everyone else working up a huge sweat.
I couldn’t get over how much I loved this. I immediately ordered Varmints and checked her touring schedule.
How disappointed was I to see that Anna Meredith had played Philly just last month and has now gone back to Europe! I do hope she comes back soon.
[READ: August 30, 2017] McSweeney’s 48
For some reason, I find the prospect of reading McSweeney’s daunting. I think it’s because I like to post about every story in them, so I know I’m in for a lot of work when I undertake it.
And yet I pretty much always enjoy every piece in each issue. Well, that explains why it took me some three years to read this issue (although I did read Boots Riley’s screenplay in under a year).
This issue promised: “dazzling new work; a screenplay from Boots Riley with a septet of stories from Croatia.”
LETTERS
GARY RUDOREN writes about using the Giellete Fusion Platinum Razor every day for 18 days and how things were good but have gotten a little ugly. On day 24 he had a four-inch gash under his nose. Later on Day 38 it was even worse–a face full of bloody tissue squares. By day 67 he is writing to thank McSweeney’s for whatever they did perhaps it was the medical marijuana but now his face is baby butt smooth even without shaving. He wants to change the slogan to Gilette Fusion the shave that lasts forever. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 