SOUNDTRACK: LANKUM-Tiny Desk Concert #975 (May 18, 2020).
At some point “new” Tiny Desk Concerts are going to stop being released to the site. Given what the blurb says, it’s possible that this is the last one they recorded.
The band is super tight musically and I really enjoy the way they play traditional Irish music with a slight modern twist.
Bob Boilen loves this band and if it was the last Tiny Desk Concert for awhile, it seems like it was a good one for him to end on:
All of this was a build-up to a Tiny Desk concert I’ll never forget. I, too, am a massive fan of the drones from the uilleann pipes, harmonium, concertina and the stunning voice of Radie Peat. The Livelong Day to my ears has as much in common with Irish tradition as it does to electronic music, though everything they do is acoustic.
“The Wild Rover” is a nine minute song that builds slowly from its opening melody. Daragh Lynch plays a repetitive quiet guitar chord high up on the neck and Cormac MacDiarmada plays a slow fiddle. Radie Peat sings (in her very Oirish accent) while (I guess) playing the harmonium (although she doesn’t seem to be pumping it). Ian Lynch adds an occasional note from baritone English concertina. After each verse (about drinking) all four of them sing the harmony chorus. And after each chorus the song gets a bit louder–more concertina, louder fiddle.
Then surprisingly at 5 minutes after building so much, all the music drops out except for Lynch’s quiet guitar high notes as all four of them sing in close harmony. Then MacDiarmada plays a fiddle solo and by the 7 minute mark the band starts playing with real discord as the harmonium and fiddle start playing slightly askew notes at the end of each line–adding yet more tension.
The song feels like it has taken you on a journey of its own.
Ian Lynch tells everyone that they are from Dublin (what a strong accent) and that they had lots of problems getting here.
Lankum’s journey from Ireland to the Tiny Desk was a wild and bumpy adventure. First, visa problems forced them to cancel their late February date. A week later, much of the world is more worried about COVID-19, though daily patterns here hadn’t changed. They arrived in New York, hopped in their van to Washington, D.C., only to have that break down. Finally, after all that, some good news: While in their new van heading to the Tiny Desk, the Dublin quartet received news that its brilliant album The Livelong Day had won Ireland’s Choice Music Prize Album of the Year!
The next song “The Young People” sounds very different. It feels very traditional. Daragh Lynch switches guitars and plays without a capo. The sound is so deep compared to the previous song. Daragh and Ian sing this slow, quiet song. I think Cormac MacDiarmada is playing the viola. Mid song, Ian Lynch plays a brief uilleann pipe solo while Peat plays the harmonium.
The final song is an instrumental. They remove the stand that Radie’s harmonium is on and she begins the song with a fast traditional melody on the baritone Irish concertina. MacDiarmada plays a similar melody on the violin while stomping on a box. Daragh Lynch bows the guitar at the start.
Then Radie puts down the concertina and sits on the floor at the harmonium.
After a couple of minute there’s the slightest pause of silence as the song shifts gears into a very catchy middle section complete with uilleann pipe solo. The song flows through to the end with this very pretty melody.
Bob sees a lot of concerts each year. This was his last of 2020 (so far).
A week later I saw Lankum in concert. It was the last one I attended in a real venue and the world was rapidly changing. Their journey home, I trust, was frightening. The idea of getting on a plane was so very different from just a few weeks before. I know it was tough, but I’m ever so grateful for this life experience and grateful to be able to share it here.
His last show was four days after my last show (Destroyer on March 8). I was supposed to go to a show on March 12, but decided it wasn’t safe. In retrospect, I should have gone, if only to get in one more show before music went away for awhile.
[READ: May 20, 2020] Five Years #9
This issue makes me think that either this series isn’t supposed to end in ten issues or he’s planning another series to continue this story after issue 10.
Because, boy howdy, there’s no way he can wrap this up in one more issue.
This book continues with the opening voice over. Although this one is from one of the guards that Zoe has just stabbed. He is dying and he hears the voice of an angel.
The “angel” is Zoe (uh oh). Zoe is on a mission and needs the weapon that she’s stuck in the guy’s chest. Talk about a darkly comic opening. (more…)
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