SOUNDTRACK: SERA CAHOONE-Tiny Desk Concert #4 (July 10, 2008).
I had never heard of Sera Cahoone before this show. NPR dude Stephen Thompson is the one who brought her to the Tiny Desk.
Sera used to be a drummer (for Band of Horses and Carissa’s Wierd) but then she picked up a guitar and started writing songs for her 2006 debut album. Cahoone plays five songs (in about 21 minutes) for this set. She plays acoustic guitar (and harmonica).
The songs are pretty, folky songs. Thompson describes them as “hammock music” in that it simulates the sensation of lying in a hammock and sipping an iced tea, possibly while being fanned. And that’s pretty accurate. The songs are soothing and gentle, simple chords played in the right order (F/C/G/C). Her voice is slightly husky, but she still manages high notes. easily.
“Runnin’ Your Way” is a very standard, pretty folk song. “Couch Song” introduces some mild picking which changes the tone but retains the hammock atmosphere. “Only As The Day Is Long” is probably my favorite of the five–I like the way she sings the verses and adds an interesting chord progression to the verse. I’m not thrilled with the harmonica part but it’s fine. “The Colder the Air” is a minor chord song that adds some tension to the proceedings–it’s really quite good. “Last Time” is from her first record. Its a little faster, and I like the change it introduces.
Although Cahoone’s music is similar throughout there’s enough variety for it to be interesting and very enjoyable. This was yet another great Tiny Desk set.
[READ: November 20, 2013] “A Summer Sunday”
This story is an interesting concept–an attempt at the narrator to not tell us something.
I admit that I found the beginning confusing. I’m not sure when it was written but while before 2001 “two towers” may have referenced Tolkien, in 2013 it can only reference one event. But after a few paragraphs we learn that the story is not even set in the United States (although the exact location remains a mystery).
In addition to the towers, there is a cemetery. Near the cemetery is a house which the narrator has visited. While they were there shells started falling near the General’s Residence, which was not too far away. It had been a very bad day–lots of people were killed in the gunfire, but for the narrator and his family it was a pleasant Sunday. Indeed, the whole weekend was nice, even if when he was sitting in a cafe on Saturday a piece of shrapnel landed near him. He gleefully ran to collect it. Later that evening he and friends were drinking in a garden when “rockets came screaming overhead.” Several people dove for cover or huddled in a ball. The next line? “It was very funny and we laughed a lot.”
Interesting reaction, but that appears to be all because of “that other thing I shouldn’t talk about.” (more…)
I Just Read About That... 