12 New YouTube Videos I'm Recommending Right Now
Including the trendiest band of the current moment
Here’s my latest batch of fun and edifying YouTube videos. If I missed any of your favorite recent videos, please provide links in the comments.
Enjoy!
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Just a band in bathrobes playing a Stevie Wonder cover.
A few days ago, I shared my ballot for the NY Times list of best living American songwriters. I used that as an occasion to praise Stevie Wonder and say how much fun I’ve had playing his music.
Here is a case in point. I don’t know any of these musicians, and the gig is bizarre (a sauna festival?). But they find a sweet, happy groove. The song is so inviting it sounds like it practically plays itself. Or maybe the sauna just got all the performers loose and relaxed.
People keep asking me about this crazy band in polka dot costumes.
I keep hearing from subscribers who want me to write about the masked microtonal rock duo Angine de Poitrine. (I’m not the only one getting these requests—see Rick Beato’s recent video entitled “Please STOP Sending Me This.”) In my circles, this is the trendiest band of the current moment.
Is Angine de Poitrine just a stunt or gimmick? I don’t think so. There’s a lot happening here musically. But I’m going to start with a cover version (not the original, which you will find below). This cover comes to us with a useful transcription, and it allows us to focus on the music, not the costumes.
The song is played here on two pianos, tuned an agonizing quarter tone apart. Even from this tame adaptation you can see how wild this stuff is from a purely musical perspective—no polka dots required.
Now here is the original in all its eccentricity.
For my money, this is far more interesting than any of the music at the Grammy show or Super Bowl halftime performance.
