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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2014
- John Grant's songs don't mess around: The music isn't complicated, while the lyrics function as darts of retort and thought. His album Pale Green Ghosts is decorated with synthesizers, his voice often drenched in reverb; those tools and textures help make the record strong and everlasting.
So when Grant came to the Tiny Desk with just an acoustic guitarist - and wanted to play piano himself - I feared that the power of the songs I'd come to love wouldn't translate amid such bare sounds. I was wrong, and his music was just right. The lyrics rush forward and hit hard. Try this line from the first song he performs, "Where Dreams Go to Die":
Baby, you're where dreams go to die
I regret the day your lovely carcass caught my eye
Grant is known to some as the singer from the Denver band The Czars, but these days he lives in Iceland. He recently helped translate the best-selling Icelandic album from Ásgeir Trausti into English. Pale Green Ghosts is his second album on his own, though he did have help from the band Midlake when he recorded Queen of Denmark in 2010. The two solo records and much of his writings are deeply personal, touching on his sexuality and his battles with drugs and alcohol. Stripped to its core, this material gets even stronger - and here's proof. --BOB BOILEN
SET LIST
"Where Dreams Go To Die"
"Sigourney Weaver"
"It Doesn't Matter To Him"
CREDITS
Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Olivia Merrion; Production Assistant: Alex Schelldorf; photo by Alex Schelldorf/NPR - เพลง
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For me John Grant is perfection. I hope to see him perform live someday. I wish I could tell him how much his talent had buoyed me and walked me along through the last 3 years of my life. It took 30 seconds watching him on J. Holland and it was instant. What a gift!
I listened to the Queen of Denmark album many many years ago, forgot about it and recently got re-acquainted and discovered all his music that came after it. It's baffling to me that his music hasn't gotten more attention over the years.
Love him. Thank goodness he lives. He is a blessing to all!
seriously? simple music? no. complex baseline with switching keys and multiple harmonies almost parody to the main melodies. if anything, showtune awesome in that he bridges back to a major theme with an obvious melody and lyrical message. this guy should write our next Broadway spectacular!!!
It's been four years I know, but the way you worded that just strikes me. "Thank goodness he lives." I'm gonna carry that with me for a long time.
I am magnetised by this man and his music
Where Dreams Go To Die -
amazing song.
I would straight up marry this man it's unreal
Think you'd be in a queue
I didn't know him before, but I'm glad I do now.
A perfect mix between Billy Joel and Carole King! Plus something magical only he has.
I love listening to his records but actually think his music even works better live, especially having had the pleasure of seeing him play live
It simply doesn't get better than this.
He is one of my favorites. I just love him!
i love his music. his album is great. thank you NPR.
I had the lucky privilege to see John Grant live once opening for The Pixies, and I was hooked ever since then. His album with the BBC Philharmonic is absolutely amazing.
What a pleasure to watch and listen to this
I love your music, is wonderful! Thanks.
Precioso!
what a delicate soul. treat people better yo
This is beautiful!
This was perfect John..
Simply Great!
Thank you John xx
love it
Thx
Excellent performance, thank you NPR. Just saw John Grant perform with BBC Symphony Orchestra, it was unforgettable. In ref to a previous comment: sorry, but you cannot compare him to monotone deadpan singer Rufus Wainwright
Gives me Matt Munro vibes. Excellent musician and exceptional vocals.
-Badly- _Extremely annoyingly_ timed ad breaks!
Please change them to 5:45, 10:06 and 16:22 (between songs). Cheers.
That's not how TH-cam works but okay
@@SammyMakepeace Really? I've seen lots of videos where the adverts fitted nicely within natural breaks that don't interrupt the flow. I always assumed it was intentional. I've never tried to monetise my channel though so I wouldn't really know.
@@nagualdesign I've never monetised any of my channels either, but I believe it's one of the options that you can either place the ad points directly yourself (an added faff but perhaps you have videos with timely pauses) or let YT do it automatically (the lazy option). Plus there's an option for how many and for what type (pop-up over the bottom of your vid to x off, interrupting your video to skip in 5 secs, unskippable etc), though I think those are tied to how big your channel is and obviously how brand friendly your output is. I just concentrate on making content no advertiser would ever be interested in. Or viewer for that matter...
can someone tell me what is happening at 4:25!?
John's getting his Rachmaninoff on
Hey NPR staff, you should get Josh Garrels on here. Really good stuff.
The guitar player looks so familiar. Anybody know who he is?
+barkatthemoon100 His name is Petur Hallgrimsson. He is from Iceland and still in Grant's tour band.
+barkatthemoon100 He used to be the singer in R.E.M.
+barkatthemoon100 J.K SIMMONS!!
@@KiddiAgnars I always get the name's Stipe and Stapp mixed up, which is really unfortunate for Stipe.
Poetry
ed banger t shirt
Landenstown
So many critics telling him what to do. Like their Tiny Desk Concert was better. Oh wait, they never had or ever will have one. Posers.
Yeah, quite. I'm also disheartened by the lack of comments as compared to other Tiny Desks, making me assume JG isn't known or loved much in America?
also an upright bass might be better than a guitar accompaniment, you're playing a lot of the same frequencies
:'(
Furst
Rufus Wainwright wannabe...... stick with Reverb John.
because he's gay and plays the piano...?
yes and yes ALSO He SOUNDS just like him. Check out Rufus....
marta lobos
To add to kajomelimaelvitrev I know what he/she means by soudns like Rufus part of the melody in the chorus is the same as a rufus wainwright song which also rufus stole from the beatles - across the universe. specifically the line "I regret the day your lovely carcass caught my eye" Rufus Wainwright is not that good by the way. Also whoever wrote the first line in the description "the music isn't complicated" its much more complicated than the majority of music out on the market today, and I would be offended by that if i was John Grant. John, keep it up dude, it's clear you love the beatles. The end.
I didn't know that... my bad kajomelimaelvitrev
And it's true the music isn't simple
or does Rufus Wainwright sound like John Grant? Rufus was born after JG. In any case, I always thought Rufus was a Billy Joel wannabe.