Bill Callahan: Tiny Desk Concert (NPR)

Link

NPR.org, July 13, 2009 - It's a high compliment to suggest that these three Bill Callahan songs may well implant themselves in your brain, lay eggs and sprout horrifically disturbing dreams at that point when you're banging on the snooze alarm in a state of anguished early-morning half-sleep. After Callahan — a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known As Smog — performed at the NPR Music offices, my own slumber was absolutely haunted by at least one line from each piece he played.

From "Jim Cain": "I used to be darker / Then I got lighter / Then I got dark again."

From "Rococo Zephyr": "I used to be sorta blind / But now I can sorta see."

From "Too Many Birds": "If you could only stop your heartbeat for one heartbeat..."

All three songs are highlights from Callahan's magnificent new album, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, and all three are rendered here in faithful detail by Callahan and his crack team of backing players. The singer is, for obvious reasons, the driving force in these performances — every sound orbits around his deep, detached voice — but all those strings and guitars exude subtle warmth to match Callahan's sly but sneakily empathetic words.

The result is a Tiny Desk Concert that's more serious than most, and at times almost eerily transfixing. Immerse yourself in it, and you may just re-live it in your darkest dreams.

Jim White's Tiny Desk Concert

Link

NPR.org, November 7, 2008 - Jim White is a storyteller first, a musician second. When I first heard his music more than a decade ago, I felt compelled to call him up. His musical tales were so compelling, I thought he'd make a great storyteller for All Things Considered. White loved the idea, so I asked him for a four-minute tale — an appropriate length for a radio newsmagazine. He turned in a 13-minute story. I asked him to shorten it; he came back with 17 minutes. He never got on the air.

Jim White and I stayed in touch, and still correspond now and then. Ten years later, I still enjoy his music, his descriptions and love of detail. His tales have been much darker in the past, but these days, White says he's trying to be more optimistic. It's a kind of storytelling rooted in his own unusual history: He grew up in Florida in a deeply Pentecostal community and fell in love with the white gospel music he heard. But from there, he took a surprising path to become a full-time musician. He was a professional surfer, a boxer, a fashion model in Milan and a cab driver in New York City. When he finally picked up the guitar and wrote a handful of songs for a demo, the tape found its way to David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, which has been releasing White's music ever since. He just put out a new six-song EP titled A Funny Little Cross to Bear.

White's travels recently took him near Washington, D.C., so I invited him to play for one of our Tiny Desk Concerts. What we recorded turned out to be the longest of all the shows we've done at my desk. I expected no less. -Bob Boilen.