The Beast that is Rio
PART ONE
Fig. 1: Randy Newman got back from Europe and became an early advocate of the “don’t leave home” school of video-making. This, back in 2008, was the premiere of a song that’s grown more relevant since and will probably outlive us all.
Fig. 2: The BBC’s “Perfect Day” is older still, and it’s working its way towards a similar place. Predictably, Bono. Less predictably, Tom Jones steals the show. Very sweet cameo by Laurie Anderson, too.
Fig. 3: Roger Waters has things on his mind. Friends of this blog point out that the video's doubly poignant because old farts have to be doubly careful these days.
Fig. 4: SNL’s home edition was weird but stuff that worked (everything MIchael Che did) stood out in high relief. Here’s Miley Cyrus with Waters’ old song for Syd Barrett.
Fig. 5: Here’s her “Jolene”—from a while ago now, not a quarantine vid, but it could be. (Losing your man during quarantine sucks.)
Fig. 6: Little known fact: the Doobie Brothers were cool ever since they taught Rerun and the gang about bootlegging on “What’s Happening.” There’s a quarantine vid of their other hit—I forget what it’s called—on the internet, too. This one’s better. Bassist steals the show, the stock clips are a stroke of genius + (!!) Kim Fields!
Fig. 7: Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas have posted quite a few quarantine vids. This one’s from a concert so-and-so put together for-such-and-such (the Stones performed, as did Sir Paul and Sir Elton); you’ll find Billie & Finneas’s other ones here.
Fig. 8: Britta Phillips sings the ultimate not so much even a quarantine song, except insofar as it is. More about this one tomorrow.
Fig. 9: Everything Peter Hook does sounds like New Order. He is the living embodiment of the New Order sound. Saw him playing with Courtney Love last year or the year before: Courtney + Peter = New Order, too.
Fig. 10: Billy Bragg’s been doing lots of quarantine stuff. Playing live on top of some sort of bluff every evening; writing socially distanced songs for Mother’s Day; we don’t know what else. Here he is, covering Taylor Swift through gritted teeth. It took us a minute to figure out that those opening notes are a riff from Bragg’s own song “Levi Stubbs’ Tears.”
Fig. 11: Norah Jones has posted a few fantastic quarantine concerts.
Fig. 12: Will Oldham gives a long, disarming songwriting lesson.
Fig. 13: We’re all too crowded or too alone in our houses these days, and Finn sings about that too, channeling Bowie.
Fig. 14: A documentary helps to explain this inspiring story today and forever.
Fig. 15: Paul Simon’s “Where did you go, Joe DiMaggio” is actually about Cat Stevens.
Fig. 16-18: NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts are often great, often self-satisfied in that NPR way. Now they’re happening from home and that’s not the worst thing.
Fig. 19: Brought to you through the generous support of United Airlines and the Carnival Cruise Corporation, both of which are so fucked. Then again, Stevie Wonder.
Fig. 21: The kids are alright; sweet, sad, so hopeful. Best cover of this song since Homer & Jethro.
Fig. 22-23: And it scales!
Fig. 24: Julliard FTW, truly.
Fig. 25: Alex Ross wrote about Igor Levit here. This video’s like, the least impressive thing IL has done lately.
Fig. 26: Members of the Budapest Festival Orchestra have been playing chamber music every day on Facebook for three months already. (We liked the FB house concert Randy Ingram gave, early on, too. There’s no easy way to embed on this page but if you’re on FB, you can find it here.) This is BFO conductor Iván Fischer introducing the orchestra’s Quarantine Soirées.
Fig. 27: What’s not to love about H.E.R.? Here’s h.e.r. again as a kid.
Fig. 28: None of us are getting younger except this one man:
