SOUNDTRACK: TIANA MAJOR9-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert # 107 (November 6, 2020).
I had never heard of Tiana Major9 even if
in August Adele took to Instagram to call the song “Same Space?” “absolutely stunning!!” (The post was liked more than 430,000 times.)
Interestingly, she does not play that song in this set.
She begins her Tiny Desk with an ending of sorts: the devastating “Collide,” written for the final sequence of Lena Waithe’s critically acclaimed film Queen & Slim.
“Collide” opens with a gentle (but high note) bass melody from Benjamin Bekantoy and Tiana singing. Then some softly echoing keyboards from Daniella Bernard follow the melody. After the chorus, the acoustic guitar from Gaetan Judd comes in and plays along. Tt all sounds very pretty.
It’s followed by “…Exclusively,” a chill love ballad. Tiana’s voice really is quite lovely.
Later, she shows off her range and timbre on “Think About You,” a stunning love song that infuses elements of jazz, alternative R&B and her Jamaican roots. The sweetness in its refrain “I need more hours in the day … just to think about you” feels like a blueprint for how to spend the third wave of quarantine.
“Think About You” is a slightly faster song with a more uptempo bass line. There’s fun jazzy instrumental vamp with her more or less scatting along with the musicians. That’s my favorite part.
“Lucky” is an upbeat song with some cool bass slides. Once again, Tiana’s voice absolutely shines here.
Never did find out what the heck her name means, though.
[READ: December 5, 2020] “Fast Hands, Fast Feet”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
You know the drill by now. The 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America.
This year’s slipcase is a thing of beauty, too, with electric-yellow lining and spot-glossed lettering. It also comes wrapped in two rubber bands to keep those booklets snug in their beds.
As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.
It’s December 6. Alexander Weinstein, author of Universal Love, figures he’ll just have leftover rocks for lunch. [Click the link to the H&O extras for the story].
This story is a fairy tale (as the title suggests).
It is written in several short sections. In the first, Father Troll Watches his Children Hunt, Father Troll is saddened that his children have to resort to eating rocks. He was injured recently by humans and is not able to bring home proper food as he’d like to.
Father Troll tells Mother Troll about his fears and his concerns–he should have taken more sheep this summer, etc. He should have killed more humans before they had a chance to hurt him. Father Troll also thinks about other trolls–younger trolls. He imagines the fun he could have with a youthful female troll. Until he looks at himself and realizes they would never want him. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: TAME IMPALA-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #69 (August 24, 2020).
With so many artists that I’ve never heard of doing really long Home Tiny Desk Concerts, why on earth did Tame Impala, one of the biggest bands around, only play for 16 minutes?
