SOUNDTRACK: DAWG YAWP-Tiny Desk Concert #655 (September 29, 2017).
I first heard a Dawg Yawp song on All Songs Considered. Since then I’ve heard the band’s name mentioned around but I’d kind of forgotten what they sounded like. I certainly forgot that they played with a sitar. In fact, it is just a duo: Tyler Randall (sitar, vocals, guitar, synthesizers, drums) and Robert Keenan (guitar, vocals, synthesizers).
I love watching unconventional (Western) instruments. And I love watching them played unconventionally–in this case
A man in a black cape holds a sitar like a guitar all while singing a dreamy tale about wanting to be a dog. Well actually a “dawg.” [The band is] a vessel for humor, experimentation and foot-stomping fun, whether that stomping is to an original techno beat or a classic bluegrass tune. Listening to their debut, self-titled album is like listening to kids music made for grownups. It’s both clever and wonderfully weird.
“I Wanna Be A Dawg” is a gentle ballad–a pretty, rather complex melody on the acoustic guitar with the lead and vocal melody played on the sitar. I love the middle section where the guitar is playing a finger-picked section and the sitar is soloing. It sounds terrific. I love that he is employing the sitar with some traditional sounds but also with an electric guitar sensibility.
“Can’t Think” opens with some rowdy sampled guitars and a neat drony singing style while Tyler plays the sitar. There’s even a sample of someone scratching the strings of an electric guitar. It is repetitive but with enough variation to make it incredibly infectious. And it rocks, too.
Before the third song, Tyler mentions talks “the first sitar capo.” He says they weren’t supposed to talk but the silence is intense. “East Virginia Blues,” is a song made famous by the Stanley Brothers “that first won my heart when I heard them replace the more traditional banjo with a sitar”. You can tell that this song was probably played on a banjo but he sitar give its such an interesting twang (as their vocals twang a bit, too). I’m not sure if the drums are done by foot pedal or sequencer.
Before the final song, “Lost At Sea” Robert says, “we’ve played a lot of outdoor summer festivals and I don’t think I’ve sweat as much.” This song is incredibly catchy. The melody is familiar but with a new spin. There’s interesting plucked guitar and a nice sitar solo. There some other kinds of sounds in the sequencer, too. It’s fun to watch them push the squares to get a whole new set of drums and such.
This band seems like a must-see attraction.
[READ: July 26, 2016] Amulet: Escape from Lucien
As the book opens, Max addresses the Elf king and asks for one more chance to destroy the stonekeepers. The king is not in the habit of clemency, but Max’s thirst for vengeance impresses the king, so Max is given another chance.
Meanwhile back at “school” (I seem to have missed this transition), Emily and Navin are flying some aircraft and wind up being late for class. Navin takes the blame to spare them Emily getting in trouble. But his teacher put a governor bracelet on him which prevents him from flying anything on site. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 