Tiny Desk advent gift
December 11, 2022 6:08 AM Subscribe
Tiny Desk had Stromae in
Stephen Thompson | December 5, 2022:
Belgian dance-pop superstar Stromae puts on one of the best live shows in the world — here’s a two-song set from 2015, presented as evidence — but his stage presentation is tough to strip down. To say nothing of the light show, Stromae’s throbbingly impeccable arrangements involve the extensive use of pre-recorded tracks, all of which are frowned upon at the Tiny Desk. So, given a simple three-word assignment (“no preset sounds”), his team set about re-creating Stromae’s music so that it could be performed in real time.
This involved more gleaming tech than we could have ever imagined when we launched Tiny Desk concerts nearly 15 years ago — veritable banks of laptops, mixers and synthesizers, with multiple producers working out of frame — but damned if every sound in this set wasn’t crafted and played live on the spot. Stromae and his team had to come a day early for hours of setup and rehearsals, and even the band’s clothing was handpicked from the singer’s fashion line, but what they produced felt loose-limbed and organic in the spirit of the series.It helps that, as heard on this year’s outstanding Multitude, Stromae’s songs draw from a deep well of lived emotion. Backed by three members of the Bulgarian women’s choir Yasna Voices, Stromae kicked off his set with “L’enfer,” a wrenching acknowledgement of suicidal thoughts. The song’s chorus, translated to English, reads, “Sometimes I’ve had suicidal thoughts and I’m not proud of it / Sometimes you feel it’d be the only way to silence them / All these thoughts putting me through hell.”
From there, Stromae’s song selections conveyed lighter moods, but even his most danceable tracks contain undercurrents of darkness and conflict: “Santé” is a toast to those who can’t celebrate, “Alors on danse” (from 2009’s Cheese) embraces dancing as a way to drown out life’s hardships and “Mon amour” attempts to reassure a lover against a backdrop of infidelity and dysfunction. On its own, each track is a heady cocktail of painstaking craft and hard-won joy. Taken together, they form a portrait of a world-class showman at the height of his powers.
As bonus videos, I'm going to add in the formidable Formidable, because who doesn't want to see that again. And also a video by the Danish artist Tobias Rahim, who is similar to Stromae in more than one way. He is also very tall, for one. But he also challenges masculinity in both appearance and lyrics and is bi-racial.
And he has also stopped recording in English.
Previously, 2, 3 (with more previouses)
Stephen Thompson | December 5, 2022:
Belgian dance-pop superstar Stromae puts on one of the best live shows in the world — here’s a two-song set from 2015, presented as evidence — but his stage presentation is tough to strip down. To say nothing of the light show, Stromae’s throbbingly impeccable arrangements involve the extensive use of pre-recorded tracks, all of which are frowned upon at the Tiny Desk. So, given a simple three-word assignment (“no preset sounds”), his team set about re-creating Stromae’s music so that it could be performed in real time.
This involved more gleaming tech than we could have ever imagined when we launched Tiny Desk concerts nearly 15 years ago — veritable banks of laptops, mixers and synthesizers, with multiple producers working out of frame — but damned if every sound in this set wasn’t crafted and played live on the spot. Stromae and his team had to come a day early for hours of setup and rehearsals, and even the band’s clothing was handpicked from the singer’s fashion line, but what they produced felt loose-limbed and organic in the spirit of the series.It helps that, as heard on this year’s outstanding Multitude, Stromae’s songs draw from a deep well of lived emotion. Backed by three members of the Bulgarian women’s choir Yasna Voices, Stromae kicked off his set with “L’enfer,” a wrenching acknowledgement of suicidal thoughts. The song’s chorus, translated to English, reads, “Sometimes I’ve had suicidal thoughts and I’m not proud of it / Sometimes you feel it’d be the only way to silence them / All these thoughts putting me through hell.”
From there, Stromae’s song selections conveyed lighter moods, but even his most danceable tracks contain undercurrents of darkness and conflict: “Santé” is a toast to those who can’t celebrate, “Alors on danse” (from 2009’s Cheese) embraces dancing as a way to drown out life’s hardships and “Mon amour” attempts to reassure a lover against a backdrop of infidelity and dysfunction. On its own, each track is a heady cocktail of painstaking craft and hard-won joy. Taken together, they form a portrait of a world-class showman at the height of his powers.
As bonus videos, I'm going to add in the formidable Formidable, because who doesn't want to see that again. And also a video by the Danish artist Tobias Rahim, who is similar to Stromae in more than one way. He is also very tall, for one. But he also challenges masculinity in both appearance and lyrics and is bi-racial.
And he has also stopped recording in English.
Previously, 2, 3 (with more previouses)
He has such a lovely voice! ^_^
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:11 AM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:11 AM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thanks to some observant friends, I got to go to his live show in Boston on Thursday.
Friends, I've never been in such a rainbow crowd, ages 10 to 80, of happy, dancing people. I've always thought he was talented and his music awesome, but the marriage of light, sound, and deep humanity was astounding.
Let us never learn that this fave is problematic.
posted by allthinky at 8:34 AM on December 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
Friends, I've never been in such a rainbow crowd, ages 10 to 80, of happy, dancing people. I've always thought he was talented and his music awesome, but the marriage of light, sound, and deep humanity was astounding.
Let us never learn that this fave is problematic.
posted by allthinky at 8:34 AM on December 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
last week I biked past a veritable convoy of road crew trucks parked by DC's SW waterfront. In recounting the ride to my husband, I wondered aloud about who might be playing at the Anthem that night. He checked the scheduled and said "Stromae." We both shrugged with ignorance. Clearly we're now both old. Watching the Tiny Desk Concert, I would have loved the show...
posted by jburka at 10:44 AM on December 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by jburka at 10:44 AM on December 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
his live show is… something else.
He’a quite an amazing individual, who strikes many chords others can’t. And it’s not as though he flirts with empathy as a shtick, he’s been through a lot. But carries such grace, humanity and groove. His way with words also shows the amount of work he puts into his art (if I remember correctly, the concert video actually has pretty good translations in the cc). What a treasure of a performer…
posted by progosk at 12:48 PM on December 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
He’a quite an amazing individual, who strikes many chords others can’t. And it’s not as though he flirts with empathy as a shtick, he’s been through a lot. But carries such grace, humanity and groove. His way with words also shows the amount of work he puts into his art (if I remember correctly, the concert video actually has pretty good translations in the cc). What a treasure of a performer…
posted by progosk at 12:48 PM on December 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love Stromae, and L’enfer is such a brilliant song, with such powerful lyrics! So glad he did a Tiny Desk Concert.
posted by ellieBOA at 1:12 PM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ellieBOA at 1:12 PM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
The song and video for Mon Amour with Camila Cabello are great too!
posted by ellieBOA at 1:18 PM on December 11, 2022
posted by ellieBOA at 1:18 PM on December 11, 2022
I love Stromae's music and this past year has made me happy as a fan (i.e., since his music hits were ~ a decade or so ago and there had not been any new music, I had feared... what if there is no more music from him?) So I'm ecstatic that not only is he producing and singing again, but his music is (for me) often nuanced and/or he approaches topics and songs and videos in novel ways... or maybe in ways that top 20 songs don't often hit me.
On the off-chance, someone else here is new to him (or for others that also love his stuff and want to go - hey! - I love that too, here are some faves:
Older stuff from before:
Papaoutai (for a more nuanced rapport with family in a story/video/song)
Ave Cesaria (because it feels like you are in the middle of a family celebration.. and even the side conversations going on make you laugh)
From the past yr:
Sante
Fils de joie
L'enfer (To me it is phenomenal for a musician to approach/discuss thoughts of suicidality/depression)
In interviews, Stromae sometimes speaks to how he grew up with and was influenced by music all over the world and that is what I often hear in his music. Is that a bit of zouk wrapped into a song? Then it is often to the next song.
Thanks for sharing this mumimor!
posted by Wolfster at 3:32 PM on December 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
On the off-chance, someone else here is new to him (or for others that also love his stuff and want to go - hey! - I love that too, here are some faves:
Older stuff from before:
Papaoutai (for a more nuanced rapport with family in a story/video/song)
Ave Cesaria (because it feels like you are in the middle of a family celebration.. and even the side conversations going on make you laugh)
From the past yr:
Sante
Fils de joie
L'enfer (To me it is phenomenal for a musician to approach/discuss thoughts of suicidality/depression)
In interviews, Stromae sometimes speaks to how he grew up with and was influenced by music all over the world and that is what I often hear in his music. Is that a bit of zouk wrapped into a song? Then it is often to the next song.
Thanks for sharing this mumimor!
posted by Wolfster at 3:32 PM on December 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Stroemae: How to Make a Hit Song in One Minute This young man is inspiring.
posted by mecran01 at 11:44 AM on December 15, 2022
posted by mecran01 at 11:44 AM on December 15, 2022
« Older 20 years of As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2! | “Let me guess. Somebody stole your sweetroll.” Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by wenestvedt at 6:20 AM on December 11, 2022