
Album review - Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
We the Common
Ribbon Music
There's nothing "common" about Thao Nguyen's talent and vibe. A delicious unease grasps these 12 tracks, a sort of folksy Williamsburg (Kentucky AND Brooklyn) feeling. Her voice, gritty as a washboard and sincere as a dove, slices through young-adult monotony.
"We don't call, we don't write. We love some strangers every night-- oh, no," she laments in the brassy "We Don't Call." In battling with a dooting sax that acts as her foil, she musically walks the tightrope of coolness and frailty. It's a song that's all at once a throwback to Edie Brickell and a rocket blasting off into the future NYC sound.
In further looking back to look forward, Nguyen teams with Appalacian-granny-sounding Joanna Newsom on "Kindness Be Conceived," a Carter Family-like boot-stomper. It's a fun little think-piece on "why we breathe and why we die." Agnosticism never sounded so pretty.
T&TGDSD take other cues from nascent acoustic R&B (Dirty Projectors influence rings clear and true on the spidery "Every Body)" and other ferocious fillies ("Move" would make Karen O and Alison Mosshart proud). Nguyen is an artist that sings as gayly of life's tribulations as she does of its triumphs. And that is worth celebrating.
- Melissa Bobbitt
More from Melissa Bobbitt (See All)
Kudos and Complaints for Coachella 2013
Melissa Bobbitt 0Wheel in the sky keeps on turning at Coachella. Photos by Melissa Bobbitt. Through sand, wind and dubious amounts of dub step, we survived Coachella 2013! This was definitely one of the more contentious...
Apr 22, 2013Victory for Love and Self-Ownership
Melissa Bobbitt 0WBEZ/Shawn Allee Mirari Erdoiza It was a historic week in politics-- a topic that often inspires hard-charging music. In Texas, Sen. Wendy Davis single-handedly fended off a bill that would essentially shut down most of...
Jun 30, 2013Comments
Recent posts
Subscribe!
Receive updates on what's going on in live entertainment, events, and music.