SOUNDTRACK: MIGUEL-Tiny Desk Concert #260 (December 31, 2012).
I’d published these posts without Soundtracks while I was reading the calendars. But I decided to add Tiny Desk Concerts to them when I realized that I’d love to post about all of the remaining 100 or shows and this was a good way to knock out 25 of them.
I didn’t know Miguel before this. I’d heard of him, but I didn’t know any of his songs. Given the above blurb I assume that his songs are poppy and really dancey. But this acoustic performance is fantastic. Miguel’s voice is great and he has amazing presence up there.
Miguel turned up in the NPR Music offices early one morning, after playing a show late the night before. He appeared light and calm, and betrayed no hint that he was nervous about stripping his highly produced hits down to their bones. Accompanied by just his guitarist, Dru DeCaro, Miguel eschewed flash and went big on small gestures — ingratiating ad libs, only one full spin and voice control that kept the songs close to his chest but emotive enough to translate to the back of the room.
He commands the room with little gestures like when he takes off his sunglasses or lifts his hat briefly. And then there’s his winning smile.
“Do You…” opens with a fun lyric: “It’s Friday and I’m feeling good.” Then he turns to the audience and asks, “It is Friday right?” The chorus is also fun, and rather unexpected. “Do you like drugs? Do you like drugs?” “Well, me too”(too much laughter) “Do you like hugs? Do you like hugs? Me too.” He hits an amazing falsetto in the middle of the song and then keeps it up high as he sings the next section.
“The Thrill”is his favorite song off his second album. It feels like an anthem or a dance song that people might love. It’s about being at a club, and this line struck me as interesting:
Jamie, Johhny and Jack know
Shoot ’em up, shoot ’em down, jus-jus-just sh-sh-shoot up
Dance it up, we never black out
It’s not quite as successful as an acoustic song, although he sounds great and comfortable singing it. He does some small dance moves during the quiet end section.
“Adorn” was apparently a Grammy nominated song. I wish I knew the original for comparison’s sake. But the song works really well with an acoustic guitar. Frankly, Dru DeCaro is masterful at playing these songs–heavy strumming and even harmonics when called for–nice accents too. Miguel hits some great falsetto hoooos and the ending where he goes high on adore and then ends with a quietly spoken “you” is nicely dramatic.
I don’t know what’s become of Miguel in the last four years, but if the pop music thing doesn’t work out, he’s got a great career with just a guitar and his voice.
[READ: December 23, 2016] “The Lunacy of Gumbo”
Near the end of November, I found out about The Short Story Advent Calendar. Which is what exactly? Well…
The Short Story Advent Calendar returns, not a moment too soon, to spice up your holidays with another collection of 24 stories that readers open one by one on the mornings leading up to Christmas. This year’s stories once again come from some of your favourite writers across the continent—plus a couple of new crushes you haven’t met yet. Most of the stories have never appeared in a book before. Some have never been published, period.
I already had plans for what to post about in December, but since this arrived I’ve decided to post about every story on each day.
This was the least story-like story of the collection. Honestly, I’m not even sure what to make of it.
The narrator says that back in 1980, he was in Louisiana. It was 11PM and they had been drinking all night. Finally someone said they should have a gumbo and the narrator thought that that was insane. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 