SOUNDTRACK: TANK AND THE BANGAS-Tiny Desk Concert #604 (March 10, 2017).
Tank and the Bangas won this year’s Tiny Desk Contest. And here is their official Tiny Desk Concert.
There is something so alive and fun about Tank and the Bangas. I definitely get their appeal and how much fun they are live. There are seven members–five musicians and two singers. The musicians are top-notch–and almost never stop, they seem to keep the groove going even between songs while Tank hangs with the audience.
And then there’s the two singers. Jelly is an amazing hype woman. Her voice is terrific wit ha great deal of range and delivery style. And then there’s Tank, versatile, emotional, funny and sweet but not to be trifled with.
I really like a lot about them. I just wish I liked their music a little more.
“Boxes And Squares” opens with a groovy riff and a great flute intro. Tank begins by speaking in a strangely childish voice “I like that, Albert [the flautist], but it’s missing something. It’s missing you [the audience], can I get a snap?” She switches to some deeper voices as she sings/recites/raps the lyrics. Tank is adorable and fun with her huge hair pulled off to thee side and spiked with purple.
I have no idea what she’s going on about in the beginning of the song–I would have been the milk, I would have been the sup etc. Then she switches to a kind of rapping style. Then she interacts with Jelly: “You are like a loop.” “A what?” “You are like a loop.” “A what, girl?” “You don’t understand me?” “I don’t understand what you’re saying.” “You are like a loop a hoop. Like I’m going round and round with you like the o’s in my soup.” There’s much laughter and fun.
I really do like the way Tank and Jelly play off of each other with the staccato riffing about whatever it is they are singing about “you…you…you”
The end of the song is a funny improv of her being excited that she won Tiny Desk. It’s fun and funky with some great synth and bass underneath (her vocal delivery is crazy diverse).
“Quick” was their winning entry, which sounds pretty different from their contest version (I find this version to be far more dynamic and the sounds to be really cool). But once again the focus of this song is on the two front women who are fun and vibrant and have great vocal range.
I really like the chanting: “who who who gonna save me now? (points to the audience).” “I don’t know.” “I don’t know.”
They have a ton of fun introducing the band–singing the band members names and joking with each other. The music pretty much never stops.
Even as they segue into the final song, “Rollercoasters.” In New Orleans, there’s a theme park that still says “will open after storm.” She asks “why people rode those big roller coasters. The feeling of throwing up gave them some type of excitement that they did not receive on a regular day.”
But the song is about when she finally did ride a rollercoaster–the butterflies and fireflies fighting in my stomach. The song is quite emotional–she even seems to be crying during the delivery. “Jelly sings over and over fly fly fly (in a falsetto) and then oh oh oh oh in a deep voice–very cool. I’m not sure how much of the song is improv or what’s normally there. Rollercoasters are for people like me who have never been in love–who want to know how it feels to just fall.” When the song ends, Tanks mumbles, “Shit, I’m such a crybaby).
Here’s a bit more detail about the band from the blurb:
Out of over 6,000 entries — more submissions than we’ve ever received — Tank And The Bangas won, unanimously, this year’s Tiny Desk Contest. I fully expected their victory performance here at NPR headquarters in D.C. to be celebratory. I didn’t know we’d all end up in tears.
This band [Tarriona Tank Ball (vocals); Jelly Joseph (vocals); Merell Burkett Jr. (keys); Norman Spence II (keys); Joshua Johnson (drums); Jonathan Johnson (bass); Albert Allenback (saxophone)] combines R&B with hip-hop’s poetry and rollercoaster storytelling, with a flair and alchemy that could only come from New Orleans. Their winning song, “Quick,” mixes liquor and revenge — a sort of modern day take on a great folk tale, but peppered with their own idiosyncratic flair and humor. What I couldn’t see, until they took over my desk, was the depth of their lyricism and the versatility of their players. At one moment fun-filled funk, the next laid-back jazz, rhythm-driven blues — and it all flows seamlessly. And it’s fun to watch: There’s a magic kinship between Tarriona “Tank” Ball and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph as they share singing roles, like two best friends finishing one another’s sentences.
So yes, i wish I liked them a little better. But I’ll clarify. I enjoyed this and watched it a few times. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them live, but I’ll bet it would be a lot of fun. And I’m petty excited for them that they won.
[READ: January 11, 2017] “Chairman Spaceman”
I see that I have enjoyed a bunch of stories by Thomas Pierce. And I enjoyed this one as well.
Don Whipple, the notorious corporate raider had given away his entire fortune–everything–houses, cars, cash–to a religion. The religion is called God’s Plan for Space and his money has earned him a one way trip to a distant, habitable planet. He will be frozen–and not aging–for the duration of the flight.
They wish to establish a more egalitarian society on another planet and to spread the message of God’s love to e unexplored solar systems.
The story opens on his going away party–he is leaving in a day or two. All kinds of wealthy people are there to see him off And he was happy to never see them again. But he was also attempting to make amends with as many people as he could. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: SAMPHA-Tiny Desk Concert #606 (March 21, 2017).
The name Sampha sounded sorta familiar. I see that he is a producer to the stars (Kayne, Drake). He’s also a musician in his own right. The blurb says “Sampha’s music is more feel everything than feel good, which is why his fans hold him so close to their hearts.”
I Just Read About That... 