SOUNDTRACK: HAYLEY WILLIAMS-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #124 (December 9, 2020).
I basically missed Paramore entirely. I’ve heard a few songs not realizing it was them and really liked them. I listened to a bit more recently and really like the pop punk energy.
So this Tiny Desk (Home) Concert came as a real surprise. The music is stripped down and really spare. There’s a real dancey element (funky bass and drums) and the guitars are really quiet.
The second big surprise came when Hayley introduced her band. Becca Mancari on keys and backing vocals! And Julien Baker on guitar!
This change in musicians and sound is intentional.
Petals for Armor is a soul-cleansing exhale from years of holding her breath. Originally released in a series of EPs, her solo debut sings through heartache in a tangle of triumph and hard-earned wisdom. It’s a pop album that knows sadness can simmer, but also shout over an ever-shifting sonic palette.
She plays three songs in ten minutes.
During the pandemic and protests, Williams has played these songs from her couch with muted restraint, and self-serenaded with acoustic covers — sad songs really can be sympathetic companions during dark days. But in her home, surrounded by blank canvases, Williams and friends splash a bottled-up energy.
The joy is infectious, as “Pure Love” bursts from first bloom
Aaron Steele counts off on the drums, while Williams gives a Huh! and Joey Howard introduces a funky bass line. Her voice is powerful and soars throughout.
I’m disconcerted by the high fiving after the song–I hope they’ve been safe.
“Taken” shows off Baker’s jazzy-funk licks.
It opens with an outstanding bass from Joey Howard line that repeats throughout. The song feels quintessentially dancey and a very different sound from Paramore. Baker plays quietly wah-wah’d guitar as Mancari sings the backing bah bah bahs. Williams plays a keyboard on a very tiny stand (I feel for her back). The best moment comes with the five seconds of silence while Williams looks around and then jumps back into the danciness.
For the final song, Williams leans into the “Dead Horse” kiss-off with gleeful abandon.
The foundation of this song is the funky drum and bass once more. Williams picks up the guitar, but it’s Baker who plays the slightly askew riff that opens the song. Baker plays lead licks throughout while Williams adds grace notes. The best of which comes at 10:08 when both Williams and Baker plays a single note in harmony to make it really stand out.
And that kiss off?
When I say goodbye, I hope you cry.
[READ: January 5, 2021] “A Philadelphia Local is Unamused by the Fuss”
Today seemed like an ideal day to post about this election-related essay from Dave Eggers.
Today, a bunch if seditious Senators are going to pretend like our election was unfair. They are going to make a spectacle of themselves and question the integrity of our very democracy. They should be removed from office immediately.
This essay shows, in a small aside, how this phony scandal, this manufactured outrage, was created by the trump team long before the election happened.
On November 5th, while the election results were being tabulated, Eggers was in Philadelphia talking with Anna Palagruto.
Palagruto is the quintessential Philadelphian:
Palagruto has an accent so acute–“gonna” was “go-won-a” and an attitude so Philly-specific, that, if the city ever wanted a no B-S tourism spokesperson, no one but her would suffice. Come to Philly, she’d say. Or don’t. No one cares.
Palagruto is fed up with the protesters on both sides. (more…)
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As it looks like the COVID pandemic will continue into 2021, bands have already begun cancelling their shows/tours in the early parts of the year. Swans were very proactive back in the summer when the virus hit and they are being very proactive again, cancelling the tour in October 2020. 
I Just Read About That... 