They Might Be Giants
July 1, 2014 7:48 PM Subscribe
No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful.
My preteen self thanks you from the bottom of her weird little heart for this link. My adult self too. If I were to find out they were doing a Lincoln Live album next, I would probably explode.
posted by augustimagination at 8:01 PM on July 1, 2014 [6 favorites]
My preteen self thanks you from the bottom of her weird little heart for this link. My adult self too. If I were to find out they were doing a Lincoln Live album next, I would probably explode.
posted by augustimagination at 8:01 PM on July 1, 2014 [6 favorites]
Downloaded and listened to this last night. The intersection of performance art and rock music in the late 1980s produced some of my most treasured pieces of culture. The first TMBG album. Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave.
posted by escabeche at 8:10 PM on July 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by escabeche at 8:10 PM on July 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well I ain't feeling happy / About the state of things in my life / But I'm working to make it better / With a six of Miller High Life.
posted by Slothrup at 8:43 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Slothrup at 8:43 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
escabeche, if you get the chance watch "Stop Making Sense" back-to-back with "Home of the Brave". Inexplicably the two concerts feature the same backup singers, and together they make a triumph of musical performance art.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:12 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by IAmBroom at 9:12 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
yes please and thank you
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:15 PM on July 1, 2014
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:15 PM on July 1, 2014
A note to myself, do the dumb things I gotta do, "Touch The Puppet Head!"
posted by boilermonster at 10:57 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by boilermonster at 10:57 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
They did the whole first album at Royce Hall last year and it was a really great experience. I've been listening to that album for 25 years, and I admit I teared up a little during "Rhythm Section Want Ad". The song just radiates positivity and inclusivity without being at all corny.
posted by anazgnos at 11:24 PM on July 1, 2014
posted by anazgnos at 11:24 PM on July 1, 2014
How did I miss the video for You're On Fire the first time around? Sing, hamburger, sing!
posted by benzenedream at 1:02 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 1:02 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
Along the same lines, Presidents of the United States often play their first album live end-to-end, 20 years after it was released. They still got it too.
posted by smackfu at 5:50 AM on July 2, 2014
posted by smackfu at 5:50 AM on July 2, 2014
What what! so on this.
posted by Theta States at 6:25 AM on July 2, 2014
posted by Theta States at 6:25 AM on July 2, 2014
I love these guys so much. They put on a great live show. I've been to several of their concerts, but the best was at EMP Skychurch in Seattle. I was 5 feet from the stage, right in front of Linnell's keyboard.
He was mashing on the little electronic pad thingy he uses and telling us our children would be listening to music that sounds just like this while screeching AAAH AAAH AAAH!
posted by Fleebnork at 6:30 AM on July 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
He was mashing on the little electronic pad thingy he uses and telling us our children would be listening to music that sounds just like this while screeching AAAH AAAH AAAH!
posted by Fleebnork at 6:30 AM on July 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
I took my son to one of their kid-focused concerts, and afterwards the Johns were just hanging out on the stage chatting with people so I went up there and told Flansburgh "You know, it's twenty years to the week since the first time I saw you guys play" and he said "Then you are old."
posted by escabeche at 6:53 AM on July 2, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by escabeche at 6:53 AM on July 2, 2014 [5 favorites]
Memo to myself: do the dumb things I gotta do. Touch the download link.
posted by tommasz at 7:19 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 7:19 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Then you are old."
Older than you've ever been, in fact.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:34 AM on July 2, 2014 [7 favorites]
Older than you've ever been, in fact.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:34 AM on July 2, 2014 [7 favorites]
I probably went to 20 or so TMBG shows between 5th and 9th grades. Definitely lost interest in their newer stuff after that (Factory Showroom was the last album I really cared about) but the old stuff really holds up.
However! Listening to this makes me think I should get back to a show. Around the time they released Then: The Earlier Years (which was a compilation of their first two albums, all relevant B-Sides, and a bunch of Dial-a-Song stuff) they did shows that were the full albums. I remember how disappointed I was at how phoned in they seemed. Once I realized Linnell wasn't playing the arpeggios on Puppet Head, I was kind of bummed for the rest of the show.
But damn, 15ish years later, these songs sound great! Arpeggios for all!
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:36 AM on July 2, 2014
However! Listening to this makes me think I should get back to a show. Around the time they released Then: The Earlier Years (which was a compilation of their first two albums, all relevant B-Sides, and a bunch of Dial-a-Song stuff) they did shows that were the full albums. I remember how disappointed I was at how phoned in they seemed. Once I realized Linnell wasn't playing the arpeggios on Puppet Head, I was kind of bummed for the rest of the show.
But damn, 15ish years later, these songs sound great! Arpeggios for all!
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:36 AM on July 2, 2014
"Then you are old."
Older than you've ever been, in fact.
And now you're even older.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 8:39 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
Older than you've ever been, in fact.
And now you're even older.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 8:39 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
However - and I am unanimous on this - They were not Giants.
posted by Twang at 10:18 AM on July 2, 2014
posted by Twang at 10:18 AM on July 2, 2014
"Then you are old."
Older than you've ever been, in fact.
And now you're even older.
And now you're older still.
posted by inturnaround at 12:50 PM on July 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Older than you've ever been, in fact.
And now you're even older.
And now you're older still.
posted by inturnaround at 12:50 PM on July 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by eschatfische at 7:53 PM on July 1, 2014 [3 favorites]