Bartees Strange: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

From the creator

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. Lars Gotrich | February 22, 2021 Bartees Strange and his band are in a basement, surrounded by electrical wiring and DIY sound-proofing, but also green plants that no doubt have names. In Falls Church, Va., the indie rocker is a stone's throw from the much-missed Tiny Desk space in D.C., yet offers a set just as cozy and crammed. Just a cursory listen of Live Forever, one of NPR Music's 50 Best Albums of 2020, reveals a seeker with several destinations in mind: hip-hop bombast meets sprawling indie-rock riffs and mind-numbing electronic beats. "Sonically it doesn't make sense," Bartees Strange told NPR Music, "but it makes sense because it's me and I think that's like an important part of music – the person." For his Tiny Desk, Bartees Strange keeps the bluesy rock and roll bravado of "Boomer" and the loping smooveness of "Mustang," stripping down the drum kit to include a sheet music stand as an extra cymbal. In between songs, he shouts out the musicians giving him joy lately: Yves Tumor and The National's Aaron Dessner, whom he calls "the indie rock Michael Jordan." It's in the back half where Bartees Strange does the switch-up, as "In A Cab" flows seamlessly into "Flagey God." On record, these are louder and

Published 2021-02-22 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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