SOUNDTRACK: SOCCER MOMMY-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #1 (March 21, 2020).
Since the quarantine began, many many many musicians have been playing shows at home. There are so many online home recordings that it is literally impossible to keep up with them. I have watched a few, but not many. I’m not sure how many of the online shows are going to be available for future watching, but at least these are saved for posterity.
The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.
On Monday March 30, Sophie Allison, aka Soccer Mommy, was to perform a long awaited Tiny Desk concert at my desk. Now the world has changed, and with the coronavirus keeping us at a distance, we’re taking a break from filming Tiny Desks at the office for a while.
Sophie wanted to share her music and her thoughts with you. So we’re kicking off our Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts series with Soccer Mommy from her home in Nashville.
Soccer Mommy was supposed to play a show in Philly on March 31. I had a choice between this show and a show from Vagabon. I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to go to. Well, now I get this home concert instead.
This Home Concert (as most will be) is Sophie and her acoustic guitar. Since I don’t really know (most of) the originals, I can’t compare them.
All three songs have catchy melodies. It’s cool watching her hands up close to see he playing modifications to the chords in “Bloodstream” so it’s not as simple a melody as it seems.
Her voice is soft and high (although a little hard to hear in this mix).
“Circle the Drain” has been getting some airplay and I rather like it. It reminds me of a Lemonheads song in style. This acoustic version is nice, but I prefer the studio version (that extra guitar line is a nice touch). She says it’s about being depressed and staying inside all day. “I’m sure some of you can relate to that right now.”
Before the final song, “Royal Screw Up” she asks if anyone can guess what tuning she is going from and into. My guess is that she is going into standard E tuning, although I’m not sure from what.
Most of her melodies remind me of the singers I liked in the 90s, and I think with a slightly better production I would have really enjoyed this set. I might have to check out her album a little more closely.
[READ: April 1, 2020] The Customer is Always Wrong
I enjoyed, Mimi Pond’s first memoir(ish) book, Over Easy, but I grew tired of it by the end. It was an look at late 1970s San Francisco and all of the low-level drug dealers and users who worked and ate at the restaurant where Madge was a waitress.
And yet, I came away from it with enough good vibes that I was interested in reading this second volume. And this second volume had the heart and soul that I felt the first one lacked.
The story begins with some of Mimi’s past boyfriends (good boys whom her mother loved). Then it moved on to bad boys who treated her like crap. Finally, she meets Bryan, a nurse who treats her kindly–and the sex is amazing.
But the shine starts to wear off and a turd is slowly revealed–the way he breaks up and gets back together (he loves the drama), the way he watches the World Series at her house even though she doesn’t care about baseball (or own a TV–he brought his own). Oh, and the way she finds out later that he lied about nearly everything.
The drug dealer characters from the first book are still there of course. The most prominent one is Camille, a “straight looking” and pretty young woman who has hooked up with Neville, a real dirtbag (but one who tells great stories). She has big dreams–they will sell a ton of coke, make a ton of money and go to Paris. Of course that never happens.
And then there’s Lazlo. Lazlo is the real main character of the story. Even though it is Madge’s story, it all more or less revolves around Lazlo. Lazlo runs the diner where Madge works and he is always around–wearing his cool hat, telling great stories (he is a poet). It’s hard to remember that he is married. Hard for him to remember too, apparently. (more…)
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I really enjoyed Vagabon’s debut album. It had a great indie rock quality, but the fact that Lætitia Tamko is originally from Cameroon gives her music a unique quality that makes it stand out. I haven’t heard much of the new album, but I have heard she puts on an excellent show.
