Stephen Thompson | April 22, 2024
For a roughly three-year stretch beginning in late 2007, Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein reached the pinnacle of a career that has included stints as a rock star, a TV actor and an author. During that time, Brownstein wrote the NPR Music blog Monitor Mix and appeared as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. But she foolishly climbed down from that mountaintop in 2010 in order to launch the TV show Portlandia and the band Wild Flag, among other dalliances.
Last month, she finally came crawling back to NPR. On the heels of Sleater-Kinney's 11th studio album, Little Rope, the band convened at the Tiny Desk to perform two songs from the new record, as well as a pair of songs from 2005's The Woods. Thanks in part to a terrific string quartet - whom the band had just met in what Corin Tucker described as a "blind date" - the Little Rope tracks benefited from a fresh sense of sweep. And the whole show doubled as an exercise in careful balance, as old songs coexisted with new ones, Brownstein swapped the vocal spotlight with powerhouse singer Tucker, and intensity met restraint.
Behind the scenes, the band's presence triggered a kind of impromptu family reunion, as Bob Boilen took a momentary break from retirement to show up and cheer on his former colleague. But on camera, Sleater-Kinney was all business - as wiry and vital as ever. It's too bad for everyone involved that Brownstein no longer works for NPR, but this performance felt like far and away the next best thing.
SET LIST
"Jumpers"
"Modern Girl"
"Say It Like You Mean It"
"Untidy Creature"
MUSICIANS
Corin Tucker: vocals, guitar
Carrie Brownstein: vocals, guitar
Toko Yasuda: keyboards, melodica
Angie Boylan: drums, percussion
Kristina "Teeny" Lieberson: piano, percussion
Nataly Merezhuk: violin
Celaya Kirchner: violin
Kimia Hesabi: viola
Erin Murphy Snedecor: cello
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Stephen Thompson
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Technical Director: Neil Tevault
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Michael Zamora, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Phil Edfors
Production Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Devon Williams
Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
Tiny Desk Team: Hazel Cills, Kara Frame
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
#nprmusic #tinydesk #sleaterkinney
The dream of the 90's is alive at Tiny Desk.
I'm sure Fred is hiding in there somewhere....
love how carrie still does her high kicks on tiny desk
Tiny high kick. Absolutely essential in any live situation.
Absolute legends. Also, musicians who create for 30+yrs often evolve their sound. Love them for the phase you loved them for, enjoy your day, and keep it moving. 🙂
"Say It Like You Mean It" Wow!! So powerful. What a wonderful song. Thank you
The video description is fantastic. 😂
Omg your comment made me go read it, and Stephen Thompson is NOT AT ALL bitter! Love the NPR family dynamics LOL😂❤
I didn't realize they released an album this year! What a wonderful surprise! They've been putting out amazing work since they got back together for No Cities to Love.
I saw them back in 1997 open for Yo La Tengo in NYC. I wonder if that place is still around where I saw them. It was literally a dive bar. haha
@@wildomegamusic Thank you so much I was trying to remember the name. That’s it… good memory. 👍🏻
@@wildomegamusic Pick up the Village Voice for free and checking out what was playing in the city. Ah, those were the days
Great performance, the new album is awesome!! It's so cool seeing Toko Yasuda playing with Sleater-Kinney, she was in the brilliant band Enon and has performed with St. Vincent and Blonde Redhead over the years. Please give Enon - "In This City" a listen if you haven't, criminally underrated band.
Wow, you are all fabulous musicians, 🎶 I really enjoyed it. Greetings from Frankfurt 👏🏻
Omg I’ve loved them for so long!!!! I was so happy to see this pop up in my notifications.
STILL 🔥🔥🔥
How good was that. And to play the last track on the album, awesome
Amazing! I saw them in Seattle 3 weeks ago.
Oh yeah Modern Girl 🤘🤘
Same ❤
I saw them play that in London, UK, just before the pandemic and it was basically a powerful, almost religious experience for me. Love it.
Brilliant performance, as always! ❤❤❤
Just lovely versions with the strings!
thanks SK for such an amazing music, feeling and inspiration ! here a musician from Argentina, dreaming of you coming here once❤
wow jumpers and untidy creature, two of my favorite songs of theirs (love the others too). i regret missing them and black belt eagle scout in ABQ. edit: that was fantastic.
Legends.
Their vibe is like a cold glass of lemonade on a sunny Summer afternoon.
Absolutely f@@@@@g brilliant! Totally awesome! Greetings from Athens, Greece.
“Say It Like You Mean It” wow 🔥
Love the surprise quartet
thank you!
this is really great! amazing performance
They're really good
Chappell Roan and now Sleater-Kinney 🫠
Chappell's wig on the skull above Carrie.
This just makes me so happy
Oh?! 🥰 Wonderful!
Sleater-Kinney is a National Treasure. One of those bands that gave me goosebumps from the first song I heard so many years ago to this incredible performance.
I love that the drummer looks like Tina Belcher
or Sid from Hey Arnold
Heyyy!! Love you two!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ Hope you’re doing well
beautiful set.
i miss janet…
Ahh, okay. The song "Jumpers" is about suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge. I've read that article but never knew SK wrote a song about it. Morbid subject matter never sounded so good. This was awesome. I only wish it had been a bit longer. Wonderful regardless 👏👏👍👍
a very beautiful jam indeed
Oustanding!
Say it like you mean it goes on the top of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard alongisde "your song", "blind" by placebo and "fare thee well"
Wonderful 👏👏👏👏👏✨✨✨👏🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Brilliant!
I love them
O Brasil te ama 🇧🇷
Lucky lucky for me too, Today. I'm so lucky!
olympia washington respresent!!!!!
The beginning of the first song was giving strong 'My Lovely Horse' version 1 vibes, from Father Ted.
They used the same drum kit featured on the album Pet Sounds.
The song is amazingly busy 🎉
Listening to this is realllly making me kick myself for not listening to them far earlier. Hopefully better late than never.
saludos de uruguay muy bueno !!!!
Woooooooooooo!!!! 🎉🎉❤
This is as acoustic as Sleater-Kinney gets!
🔥♥👏
YAYYY
Fastest click of my life
oh my god!!!!!
I’m getting a smooth road rage vibe from these musicians.
wowowowowoow!
My girls still holding it down
I want to like it
muito bom este SOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Put a bird on it!
Why so many ads! Like every minute. 😢
Teeny was great with SVE too.
This was way too short. 😔
What’s up with all the negative comments. Jumpers is a classic.
🇧🇷🔥
The producer wrote this bio and I'm here for it 🤣🥂 full of shade and love
Yes! I'm so glad I read the description when another commenter pointed it out, too! Hilarious and sweet 😂❤
I don't know what I'd do with myself if I'd never heard Say It Like You Mean It
Y E S
Your comment translated to FORKS
I would consider "The Woods" as my top 10 favourite album of all time and Sleater-Kinney as one of my favourite bands ever, but this is really sad how little energy and power there is without Janet on the drums. Especially hearing "Jumpers" played slower, but not slow, just mediocre. I don't know man, this isn't doing it for me :(
Tiny Desk + Sabrina Claudio. Please make this happen!
Carrie ages in reverse.
Fred always goes too far with the wigs I swear.
Put a bird on it
@@kevburkecacao
@healthycathy9782 it's beets... you're fine, it's just beets
Is this the mids?
Tokyo Tea Room, please! 🫰Please!
the description is SO MEAN LOL
Oh
ooo, number 7 commenter , loves these ladies, 4seconds
Junia as in Laufey’s twin sister???
うーむ、誰か説明してもらえるとありがたいのですが…
説明するために何がありますか?これらは、ロックするバッキングバンドを持つ2人の才能のある女の子で、日本では成功を収めませんでした。大丈夫です。彼らは常に実際に人々にとって何かを意味するロックンロール音楽の女王になります。例えば、最初の曲であるジャンパーズは、ゴールデンゲートブリッジでの自殺についてです。当時のストロークスや他のバンドとは異なり、彼らは過去のバンドを直接引き裂いておらず、もしそうなら、彼らは人生を形作るのに役立つ方法でそれをやっていました。
@@Genny-Zee Wow thank you so much.But unfortunately it is still hard to understand their music despite your enthusiastic explanation. Don’t worry it’s not your fault but it’s a matter of AI translation. And what I’ve got to know is it’s difficult to understand that kind of songs unless you understand the lyrics in original language. Anyway thanks for your trying.
@@rioneige yeah lol that’s basically it. They never were successful in Japan unfortunately. Too initimdating and strong with their song matter maybe. But still Fuji Rock material IMO! Check out their earlier stuff-more poppy and expressive and worth a look.
Please invite prof 🙏
R.i.p. sleater kinney … died the day Janet left. Still love them but I said what I said ✌️❤️
They died the last album she played on, which is the album that made her leave. The one produced by the insufferably pretentious st vincent.
They better do Dig Me Out bro
Strange seeing a band from olympia on here...
Cacao
I still have respect for Sleater-Kinney. Not a fan of their new musical direction though. Sounds too sanded down and of course, without Janet Weiss’s drumming, that urgency her playing provided is gone.
Negative comments from poseurs, so obvious 🙄. Sleater-Kinney is for lovers ❤
It's great that Carrie Brownstein was able to parlay her success on Portlandia into her cute little music side project.
Seek help
It’s always nice when the office after work band gets together
Literally the plot to plot to Wild Flag's music video for "Romance" 😊
Where in Canada is this ?
Noice. 👍
believe it or not
I win❤
I dont get it, to each their own i guess.
Janet carried the band? Who knew…
Her energy and rock presence is unmatched
Music for people that hate music! Well done!
They did Janet dirty. That pretty much ruined the band/any of the new stuff for me.
jazzmaster, stratocaster or telecaster could be a better electric guitar type for that kind of playing style
your CEO is f'ing delusional btw..
Who are they making fun of this time?