King Krule: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Dec. 6, 2017 | Bob Boilen -- The Ooz, the title to King Krule's latest album, is the perfect name for his music. It conjures, in my mind, a word mashup of "cool" and "jazz." The music is eerily evocative with lyrics that talk about the sorts of depression singer and guitarist Archy Marshall has dealt with in his young life. And, at 23, he has a lot to say on the subject. His opening song at the Tiny Desk, "Midnight 01 (Deep Sea Diver)," includes the line, "Why'd you leave me? Because of my depression? / You used to complete me but I guess I learnt a lesson." The song continues with water-sinking metaphors and how he deals with the pressure. All this comes from someone who honestly looks like he couldn't care less, which seems like a far cry from the words and care he puts into his twisted, woozy tones.

Those tones are played here by five other musicians, including sax, guitars, bass, drums, live vocal processing of Archy's voice and electronics. It's a winning path down a musical road rarely traveled – and an acquired taste well worth dipping in.

Set List

"Midnight 01 (Deep Sea Diver)"

"Logos/Sublunary"

"Lonely Blue"

MUSICIANS

Archy Marshall; Connor Atanda; John Keek; George Bass; Jack Towell; James Wilson

CREDITS

Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Assistant Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, CJ Riculan, Beck Harlan, Alyse Young; Production Assistant: Salvatore Maicki; Photo: Jennifer Kerrigan/NPR

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[aet]

At 3:34 the drummer puts his stick under his arm to adjust his snare and then just comes right back in and doesn't miss a beat. That is talent. Also shoutout to the bass player. That guy deserves some love. He kept it all together and never lost the beat. Such an amazing performance

[mishycrawford]

This dude can full out spit bars and rap then goes and plays the most chilled out jazz not to mention he always plays and loves Punk, dudes like the best of everything

[nahdontevenstart]

every song on the OOZ sounds dramatically better live

[clementkee]

Drummer's a beast on those ghost notes

[jamestree]

he put a lot of sentiment in his songs for a guy without a soul

[williammichael]

This guy appreciates all forms of music. My hats off to him and his band.

[JuwanElcock]

Been watching this video for 5 years. Will never forget how I felt when I first listened

[franciscorodriguez]

Anthony Fantano has no idea what he is talking about. Archy is beautiful

[ATLTraveler]

That drummer is extremely talented...some jazz beats like that are extremely hard to keep in time.

[Monica-lugb]

I watch this instead of going to therapy

[adamhartman]

Best recording of Midnight 01 anywhere. Love the brass

[rhett_s]

I religiously come back to this video once a month

[madebymarcoalexander]

The drummer, as always, the best person in king krule. Give him credit where credit is due.

[NoJoshinJoshy]

Their music makes me cry. I don't understand.. im not sad. I just feel immense joy from the sounds they produce that it utterly renders me helpless

[DavidDoingLife]

Wow he has some great musicians playing with him. I half expected Mac demarco style “I just play with my friends” but these guys are legitimately great musicians

[ryansacco]

Absolutely love the full stops they do during lonely blue. Really emphasizes the lyrics and the feeling. I would love to see that in more music it feels absolutely unique

[archiet]

People who don’t know about drumming don’t understand how good that drummer is. Literally one of the best drummers I have ever seen and he looks about 19 in this

[bearboyyyyy]

They're all in total sync. Mesmerizing performance. The subtly of Connor's delay textures are really adding to the atmosphere of this performance. I wish we could have seen Emergency Blimp in this office space, and/or La Lune. Hopefully next time. Incredible to watch. Thank you, King Krule and NPR.

[DS-qzgu]

Jazz + depression, what a beautiful combination

[catgirlthyme]

Midnight 01 (Deep Sea Diver) - 0:00
Lonely Blue - 4:35
Logos/Sublunary - 9:32

There you go, lads.