+mztriz There are two types of singer: entertainer and artist. Entertainers draw people's attention from more than just art. And real artists don't quite give shit about that kind of filth. Glad I can't buy any entertainment from any entertainer at all.
Idc but when I was a softmore I use to walk the water canals listening to you... While practicing my Kendo. U brought a peace to me. As a child I had a tough life, but with u it felt so normal. So thank you THAO. Much love. This is 2018. Took me forever to find this video. I had it on my old iPod which got stolen.... So I am so glad I found it now. Sang these to my kids. I'm 26 now. ❤ being suicidal, I never thought I'd have kids.... So singing your music. Has brought me peace.
Met her at a wedding. Through marriage I guess I will be related to her, in a way. I can say that she is an absolutely sweet human being. You would never guess that she was a performer with a strong fan base. Very easy to talk to. Very intelligent and well spoken. I'm def a big fan of her as a person first and performer second. I hope she continues to do well.
I started on you tube searching for Maria Bamford and ended up finding Thao who I will now be listening to for a while I imagine..would love to hear Thao and Zee Avi playing together.
I've watched this about 15 times already and I just love her flow and feel. It's so amazing, it's weird but she reminds me of Elmo or Grover from sesame street, her energy is awesome
I absolutely love the "Tiny Desk"- idea. It brings music back to life and in a more human and honest way. It`s an healthy reminder. Especial today where MTV and everything else is about narcissistic drama queens, bragging and all that.
Heard this a while back, and was blown away but forgot about Thao. Then she and 'The get down stay down' had a live KEXP set. Blown away yet again, and thought this deserved another visit, god damn these songs are great.
Reading through the comments section has been interesting. It's unfortunate that when people hear Thao's music they dig it then they see what she looks like and they're surprised she *looks* Asian. There's always a comment about how she seems more white than Asian. Guys & gals, she was BORN IN VIRGINIA. The United Fucking States of America! She's not white washed. She's AMERICAN. Just because we're not white (I'm Filipino American) doesn't mean we weren't born here or less American than you. Unless you've got Native American in your blood, just keep your stupidity to yourself, please and thank you.
Well put! As my friend says: "F**k a bunch o' b**ches!" (b**ches being people in general). In any event, spot on. I'd go further: "Yeah, just a human...being (verb)!"
Guia, on behalf of my wife (Born in Cebu, but American naturalized citizen)& on behalf of my nieces & nephews...Thank you!! (and Yes...I'm part Native American as well. ONLY "part". But mostly various European County's heritages going back to the mid-1700's.) An American's an American. Many of us are some kind of mixture if our families were here long enough. Some people just don't seem to get that. Darn near all of us came from some place else. So a lot of us need to climb down from our high horses and get over it. We're Americans doggone it. You are indeed absolutely correct!
jstillusion lol @ "I'm American" The only true Americans are Native Americans. _Everyone else_ is an immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant. Yes, even mixed European Americans (like German Scotch-Irish Italians; basically different shades of white) aren't straight American.
jstillusion And _I'm_ saying there's no such thing as "just an American." The OP is just pointing out how silly -a lot- some of commenters keep saying "OMG she's so white washed for an Asian" and "From her singing I thought she was white, I can't believe she's ethnically Asian!" (after which people want to bring up nationality, which is fine and absolutely correct). Which are things people who are ignorant about intergenerational assimilation say.
of course she's white washed. lots of people are 'american' but have a voice that represents where they come from. These are the things I've noticed about Asian American women. They'e idea of 'American' just seems to be whatever white americans are into but everyone else knows that American can represent something that is non-white and yet very American. Asian American women's idea of success is proportionate to how 'white' they can get.
Seeing her so young and alone there, back at the beginning melts my heart. Standing in her self, in her truth and SO GOOD at her musical expression. She makes me feel brave, and like dancing. All these years later, the meaning of her songs has gotten clearer, and we have come to understand better the depth of her humor and her heart.
I thought this was Yukimi Nagono befor her Little Dragon amazingness... p.s I never realized how long ago y'all started these little desk mini concerts! 🌻😱🥰
ABSOlutely, if you have nothing nice to say, just shut it! ...totally agree with your point, man. This girl's amazing! I'm so thankful for these NPR shows. ...all good in their own way. This is one that should be located on the highest of shelves, IMO. ;-}
Imagine being one of the few people in the room for this. I just wish the cameraperson had captured her guitar playing a little better, especially for the last song. She's all-around amazing.
I can see that. I think its the laid back way of singing they both have, like it seems like they are barely opening their mouths to sing but still amazing warped chill vibes come out. I can feel that.
I had a dream yesterday where I was walking joyfully on a beach and jumping around and it was super bright and sunny. Thao literally followed me everywhere I went and played bag of hammers. She is utterly pleasant.
I've been re-watching this one, and I've got to conclude that she's great. Good melodies, nifty playing, pretty (quirky) voice, and even good between-song chatter (underrated issue among performers), but WOW, what an awkward dismount at the end. I genuinely hope her stuff goes from "Aluminum Foil" to Gold. :)
And people want to get rid of NPR and public radio. There are so many great things you can hear and learn on public radio and public tv. There are SO many artists like her that people would never hear if we only had the corporate media outlets to find new music.
she reminds me of a Muppet character dancing around lol love her sound, and no joke she becomes apart of the song when she sings, she's not just reciting she's experiencing the song
haha i love NPR! the give me good news but they know whats up in music! i hear ratatat between shows and i just discovered thao and im like i love her so i search on youtube and NPR! I love NPR and Thao
How come she's never come back since then? She's released three more albums. Obviously she's gone somewhat further away from folk and acoustic but I'd love to see her perform more on NPR.
@Nomyo I think it is. I just found Thao and Mirah recently and came back to this video to see if she still sounded the same. Great music from both, he voice has good character.
she and the tallest man on earth are alot alike, idk why but shes way talented, and there totally should be a XM radio station for all of the artist NPRMUSIC has shown us
That entire little interaction was excessively awkward. Like the awkwardness diffused through my headphones and onto me. The music was really good but the awkwardness continued to linger on, spreading to every aspect of my life.
Actually, the sound quality on all the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts is pretty dang good! I've commented on it, a couple of times, honestly. (I believe my praise about it is on the one with Edgar Meyers and YoYo Ma.) But settle down-- I wasn't slamming her music (which is good); just making clear that I can't catch her lyrics the first time through, usually.
imagine my surprise when looking for another npr concert and found the history of tiny desk concerts, and see Thao was one of the first!! So so cool.
Why isn't she more famous!? Been listening to this since HS.
+mztriz There are two types of singer: entertainer and artist. Entertainers draw people's attention from more than just art. And real artists don't quite give shit about that kind of filth. Glad I can't buy any entertainment from any entertainer at all.
Idc but when I was a softmore I use to walk the water canals listening to you... While practicing my Kendo. U brought a peace to me. As a child I had a tough life, but with u it felt so normal. So thank you THAO. Much love. This is 2018. Took me forever to find this video. I had it on my old iPod which got stolen.... So I am so glad I found it now. Sang these to my kids. I'm 26 now. ❤ being suicidal, I never thought I'd have kids.... So singing your music. Has brought me peace.
any updates in 2023?
Set List
"Bag of Hammers" 0:00
"Beat (Health, Life and Fire)" 5:52
"Big Kid Table" 8:21
"Feet Asleep" 13:12
thank youuu
I just keep coming back and watching this show. I love the uniqueness of her voice and her songs. Wish I could hear more.
Met her at a wedding. Through marriage I guess I will be related to her, in a way. I can say that she is an absolutely sweet human being. You would never guess that she was a performer with a strong fan base. Very easy to talk to. Very intelligent and well spoken. I'm def a big fan of her as a person first and performer second. I hope she continues to do well.
jebadiah fyefye you're not related her parents came here from Vietnam with no family after the war.
I started on you tube searching for Maria Bamford and ended up finding Thao who I will now be listening to for a while I imagine..would love to hear Thao and Zee Avi playing together.
I've watched this about 15 times already and I just love her flow and feel. It's so amazing, it's weird but she reminds me of Elmo or Grover from sesame street, her energy is awesome
I absolutely love the "Tiny Desk"- idea. It brings music back to life and in a more human and honest way. It`s an healthy reminder.
Especial today where MTV and everything else is about narcissistic drama queens, bragging and all that.
all these years later- the public agreed with you!
I just want to say I love her every day. Her show in PDX was fantastic@
Hi em
got to see her in lubbock, texas recently. she is awesome. can't help but groove to her songs.
Bag of hammers(0:00), Beat (Health, Life, Fire 5:50), Big kid table (8:20), Feet Asleep (13:10)
I can't get enough of this.
MORE PLEASE.
I hope you've been enjoying her musical journey all these years too! I forgot about her for awhile after Bag of Hammers, but she kept going, growing.
i'd love to be able to play guitar like her. she's amazing.
i love her shirt too!!
I love ❤️ her shirt also
Man, I love Tiny Desk!! No way I would ever have heard of Thau. So So glad I found this channel.
Heard this a while back, and was blown away but forgot about Thao. Then she and 'The get down stay down' had a live KEXP set. Blown away yet again, and thought this deserved another visit, god damn these songs are great.
I keep coming back to this
Me to
How are you doing today?
Beat (Health, Life and Fire) has one of my favorite guitar patterns of any song I’ve heard and I’m amazed she can pull it off so well live
She absolutely shreds it on the the solo on Big Kid Table!
how can the first three minutes not make you fall in love with her?
Reading through the comments section has been interesting. It's unfortunate that when people hear Thao's music they dig it then they see what she looks like and they're surprised she *looks* Asian. There's always a comment about how she seems more white than Asian. Guys & gals, she was BORN IN VIRGINIA. The United Fucking States of America! She's not white washed. She's AMERICAN. Just because we're not white (I'm Filipino American) doesn't mean we weren't born here or less American than you. Unless you've got Native American in your blood, just keep your stupidity to yourself, please and thank you.
Well put! As my friend says: "F**k a bunch o' b**ches!" (b**ches being people in general). In any event, spot on. I'd go further: "Yeah, just a human...being (verb)!"
Guia, on behalf of my wife (Born in Cebu, but American naturalized citizen)& on behalf of my nieces & nephews...Thank you!! (and Yes...I'm part Native American as well. ONLY "part". But mostly various European County's heritages going back to the mid-1700's.) An American's an American. Many of us are some kind of mixture if our families were here long enough. Some people just don't seem to get that. Darn near all of us came from some place else. So a lot of us need to climb down from our high horses and get over it. We're Americans doggone it. You are indeed absolutely correct!
jstillusion lol @ "I'm American"
The only true Americans are Native Americans. _Everyone else_ is an immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant. Yes, even mixed European Americans (like German Scotch-Irish Italians; basically different shades of white) aren't straight American.
jstillusion And _I'm_ saying there's no such thing as "just an American." The OP is just pointing out how silly -a lot- some of commenters keep saying "OMG she's so white washed for an Asian" and "From her singing I thought she was white, I can't believe she's ethnically Asian!" (after which people want to bring up nationality, which is fine and absolutely correct). Which are things people who are ignorant about intergenerational assimilation say.
of course she's white washed. lots of people are 'american' but have a voice that represents where they come from. These are the things I've noticed about Asian American women. They'e idea of 'American' just seems to be whatever white americans are into but everyone else knows that American can represent something that is non-white and yet very American. Asian American women's idea of success is proportionate to how 'white' they can get.
Seeing her so young and alone there, back at the beginning melts my heart. Standing in her self, in her truth and SO GOOD at her musical expression. She makes me feel brave, and like dancing.
All these years later, the meaning of her songs has gotten clearer, and we have come to understand better the depth of her humor and her heart.
I thought this was Yukimi Nagono befor her Little Dragon amazingness... p.s I never realized how long ago y'all started these little desk mini concerts! 🌻😱🥰
I just love her, I've been back to watch this video 3 times now and actually bought the cd haha
i love when people compare people to other people. so what. she is she. he is he. we are we. BEAUTIFUL! i am a fan.
ABSOlutely, if you have nothing nice to say, just shut it! ...totally agree with your point, man. This girl's amazing! I'm so thankful for these NPR shows. ...all good in their own way. This is one that should be located on the highest of shelves, IMO. ;-}
If I smile any bigger, I might swallow an ear! This chick's awesome!
What a beautiful sound in your heart.
I love her!!!! She's amazing
Me to
How are you doing today
fell for another one... damn musically inclined girls be growing love in my brains
Thank you!
I love her singing almost as much as her guitar playing!
Me to
How are you doing today
Beat health life and fire gives me chills so incredible
I didn't know the second song was by her, I've been listening to that song for over a year
Such talent, in all musical aspects. Much respect.
I just don't understand how this woman working at NPR is on her computer browsing the internet with her back turned to her haha.
Ayven Moon like ya know....unlike the o.o, some of us actually work for a living
Ayven Moon are you the kido on the internet?
Because her ears work both ways?🤔😋
A power move...she's that cool because she works at NPR.
They should have just cut that whole angle IMO.
Imagine being one of the few people in the room for this. I just wish the cameraperson had captured her guitar playing a little better, especially for the last song. She's all-around amazing.
she has a new album and it's amazing
mmhmm....this is by far my favorite live performance of Thao. It really captures her essence.
-Vincent
GREAT vocal percussion ;D
i would like this a million times if i could
I can see that. I think its the laid back way of singing they both have, like it seems like they are barely opening their mouths to sing but still amazing warped chill vibes come out. I can feel that.
Wow, Tiny Desk has changed so much in the past 8 years!
I had a dream yesterday where I was walking joyfully on a beach and jumping around and it was super bright and sunny. Thao literally followed me everywhere I went and played bag of hammers. She is utterly pleasant.
good sound, i love her shirt!!
Now this is some music you can get down with, and stay down 😁😉
wow . she is really original . makes me want to chill on the beach with her .
GOD she is so cute. I am crushed by it.
truly fresh. what the people crave.
I've been re-watching this one, and I've got to conclude that she's great. Good melodies, nifty playing, pretty (quirky) voice, and even good between-song chatter (underrated issue among performers), but WOW, what an awkward dismount at the end. I genuinely hope her stuff goes from "Aluminum Foil" to Gold. :)
she's so eccentric :)
And people want to get rid of NPR and public radio. There are so many great things you can hear and learn on public radio and public tv. There are SO many artists like her that people would never hear if we only had the corporate media outlets to find new music.
Yeah. She rocks.
she's fearless and beautiful
'Big Kid Table' is amazing! So cute
Yeah it’s really a nice song
How are you doing today
I can't take this...she's friggin' amazing.
This reminds me of this and that of this with a dash of this that.
She's my new favorite artist!
Thao, I been wit ya since the beginning, and you just get better and better. Everyone should know your name.
I love the way she plays guitar
she reminds me of a Muppet character dancing around lol
love her sound, and no joke she becomes apart of the song when she sings, she's not just reciting she's experiencing the song
So much! I just saw her live with her band a few months back and she still absolutely embodies what she's playing.
haha i love NPR! the give me good news but they know whats up in music! i hear ratatat between shows and i just discovered thao and im like i love her so i search on youtube and NPR! I love NPR and Thao
Good I like it keep it up, just simple sounds
Lol I’m glad they got the platform more together these days lollllll
How come she's never come back since then? She's released three more albums. Obviously she's gone somewhat further away from folk and acoustic but I'd love to see her perform more on NPR.
i went from loving punk rock to loving NPR. npr you changed my life...lol
awesome. just awesome.
ah i love her
Uf esa última canción es una locura
amazing
i love this ever so much!
She is her own and she is swell.
wonderful
Fresh - Thank Goddess, there is still creativity left.
This is so sick... now I'm ill listening to this awesomeness.
Such talent i hope she comes to Oregon..
I watched the time: under a minute and I felt in love! When I press: send - the clock is under 3 minutes - what can happen yet? 🙈😂
wonderful.
She has been desensitized to having great artists playing live while she is at work!
Yes queen
@Nomyo I think it is. I just found Thao and Mirah recently and came back to this video to see if she still sounded the same.
Great music from both, he voice has good character.
she and the tallest man on earth are alot alike, idk why but shes way talented, and there totally should be a XM radio station for all of the artist NPRMUSIC has shown us
That entire little interaction was excessively awkward. Like the awkwardness diffused through my headphones and onto me. The music was really good but the awkwardness continued to linger on, spreading to every aspect of my life.
Why deny? :)
incredible
love
Bag of Hammers 0:00
Beat (Health, Life and Fire) 5:51
Big Kid Table 8:21
Feet Asleep 13:11
She has the groove
genius. just genius.
@SeanSeanSeanCanada Yes, you are absolutely right, and thank you for making me aware of that. :)
beautiful full force in the zone grovvy music..
I like!
loved her third song
Love Thao from early on......and love that comment 'phonetic disaster'.
wow ......... just, wow
Definitely.
Actually, the sound quality on all the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts is pretty dang good! I've commented on it, a couple of times, honestly. (I believe my praise about it is on the one with Edgar Meyers and YoYo Ma.) But settle down-- I wasn't slamming her music (which is good); just making clear that I can't catch her lyrics the first time through, usually.
AHHH SHES STILL GREAT
Thao Nguyen has a unique style and with the right song could really catapult her career.
youve got a a fan in me.
I enjoyed this very much. I love music that isn't formula. Nice to have a change and I think you have passion :)
How are you doing
Nice 👍