Density is constructed into the music of Bartees Unusual — he packs his tracks with lyrical perception and sonic gestures that, upon nearer pay attention, reveal interwoven layers of story and sound. However the dude’s additionally an extremely considerate and highly effective stay performer. On the Tiny Desk, he is obtained the vary, with crunching rock riffs, spitting bars and bringing us to the brink of tears.
Each music on this set comes from Horror, his third in a collection of genre-agnostic albums that more and more simply sound like Bartees Stranges and solely Bartees Unusual. His band provides a leaner and meaner model of “Desires Wants,” that includes a toy megaphone and whirring tape loops. “That is the ripper,” I inform him beforehand, to which he responds, “They’re all rippers, man.” No lies detected. “Sober” has all the energy of an us towards the world Fleetwood Mac jam sung loudly from an outdated automobile, home windows rolled down. “Too A lot” swaggers so exhausting that, after a easy funk break to rap, the band brings again the riff, however louder — you may really feel the room vibrate.
However one of the best second, for me, in a Bartees Unusual music is when you’ll be able to see him and your self inside it. I believe that “17,” a weak ballad that explodes at its humbling revelation, is one of the best music that Bartees Unusual has written for that purpose. “As you become old, you will have these moments the place you simply don’t know what is going on on and also you’re fully misplaced,” he explains in a post-show dialog we had, about returning to that precipice of the unknown. “This music jogs my memory that I have been right here earlier than and there is all the time a cool factor that occurs after.”
SET LIST
- “Desires Wants”
- “Sober”
- “Too A lot”
- “17”
MUSICIANS
- Bartees Unusual: guitar, vocals
- Graham Richman: guitar, piano, keys
- TK Johnson: drums, vocals
- Daniel Kleederman: guitar, vocals
- John Daise: bass
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Lars Gotrich
- Director/Editor: Kara Body
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Host/Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Kara Body, Joshua Bryant, Mitra I. Arthur
- Audio Engineer: David Greenburg
- Manufacturing Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Dora Levite
- Photographer: Alanté Serene
- Tiny Desk Workforce: Maia Stern, Hazel Cills
- Government Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Collection Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins