SOUNDTRACK: WEYES BLOOD–Tiny Desk Concert #923 (December 11, 2019).
The new Weyes Blood album has been on many people’s best of the of year lists. I hadn’t heard any of it but I’d read that it was lovely.
When I first listened to this Tiny Desk Concert, I really didn’t think much of it–couldn’t imagine what made this simple folk music so special.
But on a second (and third and fourth) listen, I heard a lot of the components that made it quite a beautiful set.
Nataile Mering sings and plays acoustic guitar. Her voice reminds me a lot of Aimee Mann.
The blurb says that this set is
simple and restrained — a strummed guitar, two-part harmonies, a brushed beat — but still managed to re-create the majesty and wonder of the band’s latest release, Titanic Rising, one of 2019’s loftiest and most layered albums.
The music here is simple and straightforward–“rooted in ’70s folk-pop traditions, with mystical themes of rambling on to find meaning and purpose.”
“Andromeda,” an astral ode to love, set the tone with the acoustic guitar. After a minute and a half there is a really cool otherworldly-sounding guitar solo from Stephen Heath. It is just a slide on an electric guitar but it sounds very cool amid the folky quiet. There is a very traditional organ sound from Walt McClements filling in the spaces, but I think what really makes the song transcend folk are the fantastic backing vocals from bassist Eliana Athayde. Whether it’s oohs and ahhs or harmonies, her contributions are monumental.
“Wild Time” is next and Athayde’s oohs are there supporting Mering’s gentle leads. Like the previous song the acoustic guitar sets the pace with the keys filling in the gas and Andres Renteria’s drums keeping pace. This time the standout sound from Heath’s guitar is a buzzing e-bow–an otherworldly insect buzzing around the song. Near the end, Heath turns that buzz into a proper guitar solo and there’s a brief moment where I think Althayde and Mering are singing different lines at the same time. The end of the song rings of early Pink Floyd with the piano sound and Heaths now noisy scratchy e-bow filed soloing.
The final song, “Picture Me Better,” is “a heartbreaking remembrance of a friend who died by suicide while Mering was working on the album.” It’s the quietest song of the bunch. Renteria leaves and it’s just acoustic guitar and keys with gentle electric guitar notes and Mering’s voice. This time Athayde’s backing vocals add an otherworldly quality as we get lost in this song of loss and yearning.
It’s quite a lovely set, and if this is stripped down, I do wonder what a full-on, layered album must sound like.
[READ: December 16, 2019] “Sevastopol”
This was a story about writing stories.
The narrator, Nadia, receives a postcard from Klaus. The postcard is of Sevastopol, although Klaus has never been there–he probably got it from a site like easterneuropeanjunk.com.
Klaus had rented a theater space in São Paulo (the story was written in Portuguese and translated by Zoë Perry) and called Nadia to insist that she come and help him fix it up.
They had met at the museum where she works. He led a drama workshop and since staff could take classes for free she decided to check it out. Klaus had directed a play which ran in a local theater. Nadia hadn’t seen it, but her friend said it was awful. Nevertheless, Nadia liked Klaus. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 