NPR is turning my mom into a corny indie fuxx

I fucking fear some gene in me that's going to cause me to snap ten years later that's going to make me renounce my entire musical upbringing, only to buy greatest hits CDs by Lee Greenwood and Andrew Gold.

I think Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan is all the crossover in musical taste we have.

Leonard Berstein & NY Philharmonic - "Mahler 2"
Pink Floyd - "The Wall"
One of the James Brown live albums, don't remember which one.
Steely Dan - "Can't Buy A Thrill"
Vanilla Fudge - s/t, I think
Dave Brubeck Quartet - "Take 5"

my parents love that song too!

Hot!

And he keeps nagging me to listen to the Interpol and Wilco live recordings in the archive section...

since my grandmother liked "beautiful" music (what elevator music was called before burt bacharach became hip and all), i wonder what she would think about stereolab. (will never know b/c granny is dead.)

"You've probably never heard of ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND THE SHINS. But now thanks to a surprise hit INDEPENDENT MOVIE, you'll be hearing a lot about them."

"The Shins are an ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND, but some of their ALTERNATIVE FANS worry that they're SELLING OUT"

I've also never seen the movie, so I was a bit shocked by the idiotic-sounding direct plug Portman's character gives in the movie: "It's this band The Shins. Listen to it, it will change your life (etc. etc.)"

ppppspsssAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

My dad tracks anything new that's pop country and western. My mom just likes whatever. (This is how I got her into Aphex Twin.)

I dunno, wouldn't he take that as a compliment?

I still cringe a little when she says "Ludacris is so FUNNY," with that slight Jewish mother twang.

I dunno, wouldn't he take that as a compliment?

-- Ned Raggett (ne...)

Hurting's mom OTM.

-- jaymc (jmcunnin...)

Of course she is, but I can't help but cringe nonetheless.

Has any one here done a review of a group's cd on NPR?

GENE SIMMONS y'all!

I actually really liked the way Terry Gross did the interview, as funny and awkward as it sometimes sounded. She always sounds a little embarassed at her (ahem) "whiteness" and yet willing to get past that embarassment.

yr mom's just trying to be nice and talk about something she thinks you might be interested in...i think that's pretty cool.

But my mother's really young so I don't think that counts...

The Dirty Three & the Sun Ra Arkestra performances were both great

Oh man, need to see those.

I liked the T-Pain one. They're kind of like nicer versions of standard in-studio radio performances -- the room sounds good and it's intimate.

i'm sure if i watched one of a band i liked it would be ok (you got me!) but c'mon the whole concept is hair-raisingly cutesy and early-00s indie sincere, the intimacy is so forcedly quirky 'oh how endearingly cluttered this office is'. and the curation, like the music they choose to play in this nauseatingly hungry for authenticity environment is all folky trembling indie vocalists and like wholesome alt-bluegrass bros and pop punk. also t-pain aside i feel like they adhere to what thing of like, only black artists if they play in a style that was popular 3 or more decades ago whats up with that

well and the whole point of the t-pain thing was steeped in language of authenticity, like "oh he can actually sing"

you seem fun

that said while i love microphone check i think its a little silly to abdicate critical advocacy of artists & songs, its not like indie bros will stop advocating for their favs

xp Well there are other exceptions to that last point, although looking at the list overall you may be onto something. But on the whole it seems like modern "NPR taste" is relatively broad enough that there is some good stuff in there. The name "Tiny Desk" is annoying but I don't really mind the setting, honestly it's nicer than just looking at carpeted studio walls and a bunch of gear.

i feel like they adhere to what thing of like, only black artists if they play in a style that was popular 3 or more decades ago whats up with that

That's Boilen. See the quote from the Post article above. He has also rationalized things by saying most rap and r'n'b is too foul-mouthed for npr. I wouold be fine with Boilen booking stuff he likes if they also let the folks who do the "Microphone Check" thing and the folks who do the alt-latino and the jazz online NPR stuff also have an equal hand in picking music for Tiny Desk. They only occasionally do

well and the whole point of the t-pain thing was steeped in language of authenticity, like "oh he can actually sing"

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, April 22, 2016 2:08 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

the jazz ones are often good. Christian Scott, Matt Ulery, etc.

Yeah the acoustics sound very good for jazz too imo.

obviously it's playing off of all things considered, but the name of the show should be Bob Boilen's Fave Tunes or something. all songs considered makes it seem like it'll be a wide ranging genre-free zone, which it isn't.

i guess i don't really care about the series as a series or what i means or w/e i've just watched specific ones with artists i already liked and i like it mostly because it's really really well engineered soundwise

We used the Steve Gunn Tiny Desk as an object lesson for our young teenager: this is how stoned people look and act. Great set, btw.

yeah what UMS said

yes.
wonder what the original poster's mom is into these days -- deep private press new age shit?

I love the original post

This song popped into my head tonite; I haven’t thought of it in 10 years (....bet you haven’t, either) —

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgBeu3FVi60

To the thread topic -- my mom sometimes emails me links to "Tiny Desk Concert" performance videos... usually I'm already aware of the band (or not interested), though that is how I first encountered Car Seat Headrest (of whom I later became a real fan). "Thanks, mom!"