SOUNDTRACK: half•alive-Tiny Desk Concert #879 (August 12, 2019).
This is one of the more fun Tiny Desk Concerts I’ve seen. I didn’t think I knew half•alive but I recognized one of the songs from the radio. They had just released their debut album, so I guess they are a New Artist.
Formed in Long Beach, Calif. in 2016, half•alive is a band with a clear vision and gift for design, not just in the earworms they write, but in their entire presentation, with often-matching outfits and carefully selected color schemes.
The band, fronted by singer and guitarist Josh Taylor, didn’t try to squeeze in any costume changes, but they do play three songs from their debut album.
It wasn’t at all surprising to see and hear the care they took to make their Tiny Desk debut a memorable one.
On “RUNAWAY” Taylor sings in a kind of slacker deadpan chattering style (but catchy). It’s quite a surprise when he sings a rather impressive falsetto in the chorus. J Tyler Johnson plays a groovy Wurlitzer. This is the only song with strings (Emiko Bankson: violin; Callie Galvez: cello)
I was really surprised to find that I’d heard “still feel.” before as I didn’t know this band’s name (and never knew what the song was called). Joshua Taylor plays guitar on this song a wicked wah wah riff. Johnson switches to bass and plays a cool funky riff throughout. In fact this song has a massive disco feel and the falsetto vocals in the chorus really sell it
For this song, the strings have been replaced by Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry credited with choreography. For this song one of them reads a book while the other is playing with a Rubik’s cube.
Well before arriving for this performance, the three guys in half•alive asked for the exact dimensions of the space behind Bob Boilen’s desk. Known for their live shows, with elaborate, synchronized dancing and costume changes, the group naturally wondered how they’d pull everything off in such a cozy space.
Their solution? Have the dancers sit for the performance. The choreography, now restricted to the width of two chairs, was incredible. You’ll see how it all works on the final song
The final song is “ice cold.” a new track from the band’s just-released debut full-length, Now, Not Yet. For this song, drummer Brett Kramer switches Septavox while Johnson is back on Wurlitzer. Taylor switches to acoustic guitar, but honestly who can even tell what’s happening musically because Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry have created an elaborate choreography. Whenever they are on camera its impossible not to look at them.
I’m not sure if the song is any good, but I’ll be they’re a lot of fun to see live.
[READ: August 31, 2019] Crowded
I’m not sure what attracted me to this book. The cover was certainly interesting and the visual style was cool.
But I’m so glad I read it because it is a funny (and violent) story that is all an elaborate take on crowd sourcing and social media.
The first chapter opens with a dialogue on the Dfender app. Charlie Ellison has hired Vita to Dfend her. It turns out that someone has posted a bounty on her head on the Reapr app.
Charlie explains that she started the morning by cleaning her house for a couple who were Padhopping it for the weekend. Then she drives for both Muver and Drift. Then she loaned out her car for the day on Wheelsy and rented out a dress on Kloset. Then she took a job on Dogstroll and on Citysitter *(the children seem unlooked after). She ended her day by taking a job from Palrent to sit with an old man who feeds pigeons.
She hooked up with a guy at the bar before bed and snuck out in the morning. That’s when the first person tried to kill her.
It was an old lady with a gun. Charlie threw her coffee in the woman’s face, took the woman’s little dog and ran away because that’s when the second person tried to kill her.
Vita shows her the Reapr app and that the reward for killing her is over a million dollars. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK:
This is another new single from The Flaming Lips’ new, more mellow album American Head.
I Just Read About That... 