Palehound: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

April 11, 2016 by STEPHEN THOMPSON
Last fall in New York City, NPR Music recorded a blistering concert by Palehound, in which singer, songwriter and guitarist Ellen Kempner presided over a string of tense and evocative songs about overcoming doubt and, when necessary, spitting venom. A few months ago, we jumped at the opportunity to capture Kempner's band in a quieter and more contained setting, in which Palehound could perform amid the pin-drop silence of a rapt and brightly daylit crowd.
The results - three spare, nervy renditions of songs from 2015's Dry Food - are, naturally, a bit rawer and more exposed than Palehound's earlier show in New York. But, with the aid of drummer Jesse Weiss and bassist Davood Khoshtinat, Kempner uses that intimacy to her advantage. She may have paused to show off a bit of glittery flair on her guitar (courtesy of her former tourmates in PWR BTTM), but her set felt unadorned in every other way.
Dry Food is available now:
iTunes: itunes.apple.c...
Amazon: www.amazon.com/...
Set List:
"Pet Carrot"
"Dry Food"
"Dixie"
Credits:
Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Kara Frame; Production Assistant: Jackson Sinnenberg; Photo: Brandon Chew/NPR.
For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: www.npr.org/pod...

[@IKanTowtallySpel]

"you made beauty a monster to me, so im kissing all the ugly things i see" this is the type of lyricism that i hope to achieve in my lifetime

[@lucaamorosoofficial]

Love this gig so much. Somehow whenever im Sad or very depressed i fall into Palehound. Love’em.

[@DelScully]

I cant tell if I like this or not, so I've come to the conclusion they are brilliant.

[@bridgeb8281]

i just saw her perform last night. one of the most upbeat/fun performances ever. she was great when i met her afterwards & signed posters for everyone & gave 100% of her t-shirt sales to black lives matter :)

[@mskcrc]

Easy to be charitable when you grew up in a mansion next to a yacht club in one of the wealthiest cities in America and went to a $65k/year private college. No offense.

[@DmsStudios]

@@mskcrc almost like she’s aware of her very* privileged position to actually make valuable contributions to a meaningful movement :)

[@grizzlysparks7117]

@@mskcrcwhat a wild thing to try and use as an insult lol

[@mskcrc]

@@grizzlysparks7117 she’s a rich kid masquerading as a punk, nothing like a $250k education to go with those punk DIY ethos

[@giuliapugliese1507]

I saw them live and they were angels.

[@bigmac51290]

When she sings "I say things that he don't mind" totally sounds like Brand New Key by Melanie when she sings "I got a brand new pair of roller skates".

[@LibertarianLatina]

Yes! Very reminiscent.

[@s.t.7630]

I'm watching this for the second time since the first time i watched it more than a year ago, and i'm still amazed by how good this band is. By far one of the best bands ever, there's a special place for them in my heart.

[@baileybarker6086]

I love Kempner. She sounds no different live than she does in her recordings -- save for maybe seeming slightly less loud -- which is such an admirable trait in my opinion. The entire ensemble is completely belonging, though, a very unique and talented group, Palehound is.

[@LibertarianLatina]

I despise NPR but whoever finds these bands and curates these concerts is one of my favorite people on earth.

[@samheithoff6716]

Oh sure, Palehound can be great friends with PWR BTTM, but when I say it, it's "not appropriate for the dinner table."

[@allydeng9131]

She has got such a beautiful voice, gently touch my heart!

[@ronaldwhayesjr]

Not my particular favorite of music however at 54 years old and I consider myself to be very well-versed in music I would just like to say that you guys have a lot of respect for me and I love the fact that you are going in your direction and doing what you want to do and enjoying it. It is extremely self-evident that you enjoy what you're doing and getting your artistic juices flowing. Congrats on being able to present your music on another platform and I hope you have all the success

[@zionwitherspoon880]

Her voice is so soothing to me, Love this. Thanks NPR.

[@shelbymartinez104]

wow her voice is fantastic

[@hannahrhcp]

im in love with this band, i specially loved the song "Pet Carrot"

[@witlsj1999]

Such a treasure. I need more music like this!!

[@mariannerose5661]

Beautiful singer with a strong and beautiful voice! Very touching and inspiring!! :-)

[@dolcedolente]

And, dear God, this is some lovely songwriting

[@bobmarleyswar]

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.

[@mskcrc]

Are you referring to her ultra-privileged upbringing? Because if so, co-signed. There's nothing "indie" about this. She's a rich kid from a rich city and a rich college. When she's done with her musical career I'm sure her well-connected parents will get her a cushy job in NYC.

[@deathflying]

Absolutely loving her voice and this band

[@hbzdgaf9010]

from the description - "three spare, nervy renditions of songs from 2015's Dry Food" Pet Carrot is not on Dry Food! I can't believe this heinous error has remained for three years, I expect this to be fixed ASAP, NPR social media intern!!!

[@patysmith3584]

ay te amo demasiado, krishna kiera que algun día toques en uruguay, love u queen.

[@AlexMuccino]

The day Mac Demarco gets a tiny desk will be the happiest day of my life

[@iDigress77times]

Ok, I deep-dived Palehound, and wow, to where they are now.

[@DominicaSagati]

Wish I could like this more than once.

[@FarisMonshi]

I... Am pretty sure I like this...? Uhh... Yes. I've decided, yes.

[@pamjarvis4805]

+Faris Monshi i am trying ,more i hear , yes, got it , and like !!

[@TheFourteenthWard]

yesss I love Palehound!

[@tudis9142]

I didn't know this band! They made a pretty good song. I'm going to do some research and put some songs in my playlists ;) Thank you, guys!

[@stan_dinghere]

i cant effing believe i let myself miss them x pwr bttm that wouldve been LIFECHANGING

[@surfinmuso37]

Liking these guys more and more. Great songwriting.

[@MathewWoodard]

I met the bassist today in Boston! He was a great guy and I wish him all the best

[@SPLENDIDZEN]

Beautiful voice!... nice songs!...

[@intherein]

She has so much more than talky Malcy (and I love Pavement). I can't wait to hear what she does next.

[@iwillnevergetone5]

all i really wanna know is how that jazzmaster is intoned when all the bridge saddles are maxed out (check the close up shots). must be magic

[@MoonAlongMyHead]

+Darrien Day pardon my ignorance, but intoned means in tune? I used to have an Ibanez bass and I would play with the saddle from time to time, never had a problem with tunning my instrument even if the strings were really close to the body of the bass.. but then again I haven't had a bass guitar in my hands for years, more than 5 years the least. I'd only like to understand what you're pointing out better ^_^

[@iwillnevergetone5]

+Moon Along My Head on guits with a bridge like the tune-o-matic as seen on Ellen's jm, the height of the whole thing as well as the individual string saddles are adjustable. shots like the one at @1:56 show that all six of the saddles are essentially maxed out. This usually prevents the strings from achieving (relatively) accurate intonation, meaning that as you go higher on the neck notes will be unable to reach their correct pitch. Somehow (perhaps via the aforementioned magic), Ellen's jm still sounds great despite this fact. Hope that helps? after noticing this, i'd like to hear some stuff played super high on the neck just to see if it still sounds in pitch

[@MoonAlongMyHead]

+Darrien Day I confess that I was paying attention to the bass guitar instead of Ellen's guitar XD yeah! that's really unusual! Damned.. magic is flowing everywhere. Yeah, me too, I'd love to hear the higher notes in this configuration, damned. Thanks for the heads up, nice that you caught that up. Nice version of Halleluja, btw, I just went to check out your channel ^_^

[@iwillnevergetone5]

Moon Along My Head thanks!

[@shanesealy]

+Darrien Day It pretty obviously isn't.

[@stanconnorstan4266]

I'm loving this, but I feel like it's missing a huge, loud kick-ass punk chorus or bridge

[@demolay8]

Agreed! I was waiting for the screeming and wailing over drum fills to, "you made beauty a monster to me!"

[@mantra3000]

They're like a very good and totally unknown 90s band.

[@TheOtherSun]

+mantra3000 haha thats exactly what i was thinking.

[@aidan_bonner]

Which is the best kind of band

[@lucaamorosoofficial]

6/24/2019 Saw this 103 times.

[@darkwaterblue]

My best friend is a Carrot.

[@localfox1000]

Make sure it's clean before you stick it in.

[@nataliewn]

I talk to a parrot.

[@m3l0d1cg]

this needed to be longer!

[@MLElf]

You are actually amazing

[@matthewiannantuoni6121]

Saw Palehound at a little basement show in Hamden, Ct it was awesome, a little less tense, but it must be terribly nervewracking to play for NPR

[@swampmagicians4541]

Captcha: Prove you're not a robot 🔲 Palehound: ♾️

[@letmegoletmego]

Beautiful

[@opencarrydrift6308]

Fuck that second song is soooo tight. Also anybody know what kind of guitar that one is? I think it says harmony?

[@MoonAlongMyHead]

I'm starting to get this.. And it's really good!

[@aw00gag0rl]

I am loving these vibes ✨🖖👽

[@lillianf.5021]

She has great fucking skin. I've watched this like 3 times and every time she says "ol switcheroo" I die kinda. In a good way.

[@ignoredonthenet]

Fantastic!

[@TheSweetestCurse]

singer sounds similar to the singer of hop along, nice

[@MoonAlongMyHead]

+TheSweetestCurse Do you think so? I really don't find a lot of similarities, she reminded me of Kim Gordon but I find these song more pleasant than SY's. I'm in love with Hop Along, btw ^_^

[@robertgomez7414]

I thought she sounded a little bit like Thao (Nguyen).

[@popmastaa]

Pale hound rocks

[@dolcedolente]

So friggin' weird... so friggin' GOOD!

[@Vavoom09]

What type mic? Great tone and isolation

[@CoolCatAlecs]

amazing.

[@blueshirt3165]

The bassist's Femignome shirt 😍😍😍

[@jeremylouis8297]

I really like this.

[@enskogochhunden806]

what a voice !!

[@stevenholmes9955]

sometimes its good for the rain to rain upside down

[@CloudSturgeon]

i think i saw them perform at the bronze once upon a time ;)

[@pzilla3612]

Love it.

[@pretzl420]

The Fender Jag... I was almost expecting Kurt to start screaming. This was good tho.

[@jazzzblaster]

Spencer R it's a jazzmaster you normie

[@yupihaveone4070]

Carrots they're green at the top, and they're orange at the bottom. My other fav song about carrots. c/o Skating Polly

[@johnrezende-shalom2784]

I saw them in 2019 and I really like this but it's crazy how much better they'd gotten, maybe just the sound is off here i dunno

[@melissaarmendariz4611]

Pet Carrot is such a good song, holy fuck

[@J4KETS]

Nice Elliott Smith vibe, really digging the latest tiny desks PWR BTTM and this being big highlights.

[@AlmostLeroy]

reminds me of Slothrust

[@daviddanielmerkle9520]

Why didn't I know about that PWR BTTM tour?!

[@Manuel-oe4gv]

nice

[@kittywatchesyoutube]

Hey NPR Music, why was the 2013 Foxygen Tiny Desk Concert never released?

[@bnbnbnbnbn]

Remind me of Manchester Orchestra

[@alberto-martino]

1:13 The bassist stretch his hand. Ouch dude, maybe you hit too hard lol

[@dalons3]

hahahaha

[@oldbirdwing9114]

i feel like she held back on her voice

[@iwillnevergetone5]

+Old Bird Wing agreed. probs because the amps were so quiet. might have felt weird to sing at usual show volume with everything else being so low. #turnup

[@robfayder]

🔥✊🏽❤️❤️❤️✊🏽🔥

[@cinquecinque]

Which snare does the drummer use?

[@NIGHTHAWK3127]

reminds me of speedy ortiz

[@colourheists5587]

we will talk soon

[@miguelviana2001]

that first song's main riff sounds similar to another song and its on the tip and i would appreciate help from someon pls

[@thisisAsh1]

+done with it the high parts remind you of "i've got a brand new pair of roller skates , you got a brand new key"

[@HLLLLYH]

Is it Unreal is Here by Chavez? That is what it reminded me of kinda...

[@hyperventilatinggeek]

Some Nirvana, some Breeders, some XTC, v digworthy

[@blahkabelison2234]

Cody Stabelfeldt Lotta Pavement as well

[@TheZatrahc]

speedy ortiz

[@OiuchaErendeteOich]

la hueona bacan

[@darrenwitkowski6104]

Get pile on tiny desk

[@juhsousa3630]

+renealmeida se liga nesse som amor

[@poprzecinana]

sooo grunge!

[@rudibasabasi]

yet rihanna & drake - work music video have millions view. somethings wrong with this generation.

[@fsudave87]

Hate to say it, but it's the previous generations' fault :(

[@sparkyblast2745]

I love this band even though jammy Carr is on the drums haha

[@avsky837]

ehhhhh.... ehh. eehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. ?? ehhhh

[@bradwurst8141]

Very pretty, to a fault nearly I think. They'd be way doper with SOME edge at least.

[@mfmason2226]

Femignome!!!!!!!

[@KazuyaKane]

Poundcake

[@AlexMuccino]

Too many zooz

[@crapadopalese]

Not very impressed. The bassist doesn't even manage to keep time when he's knocking on his bass with the drums around 1:00

[@thomaskittock2866]

Maybe he wasn't really trying...

[@crapadopalese]

+Thomas Kittock Yes, exactly! it seems no one in this band is really trying

[@patrick4833]

shitty angst bands will always prevail

[@theherbpuffer]

sorry folks, not diggin it

[@sd09gfh8sfgjmsf9yhkm]

+theherbpuffer If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all.

[@theherbpuffer]

+AlexanderSuperTramp I have the right to say im not diggin something(:

[@toriilene1213]

+theherbpuffer just because you have right/opportunity to say your opinion doesn't mean you have to..

[@thomaskittock2866]

Why don't you like it? Instead of posting something that's in obvious contradiction to what everyone else is saying to get attention, why don't you say a bit more to support your statement.

[@VitalityMassage]

If this is talent I've got three balls.

[@middleC17]

You've got three balls.

[@dannyholland6719]

worst crap i have ever heard on npr!!!!!!!

[@loserbiotch2]

I love this holy shit

[@creepyboners9645]

genius

[@nataliewn]

Not sure how to feel about this...