#harmonium

today's gregor samsa is: playing the harmonium

Show notes:

“Lars Gotrich | October 31, 2025

The pot lid didn't sound the way we wanted. "What about our Webby?" I suggested. The award statue's metallic spring had just the right amount of wobble — a ride cymbal with a drip like Dalí. What you're about to see has never been attempted at the Tiny Desk before: small, MIDI-triggered robots strike and vibrate glass bottles, coffee mugs, plastic wrap and a pizza box to make futuristic music out of the present's refuse and rubbish. What band besides clipping. could pull this off?

For more than 15 years, clipping. has made its name from the deconstruction and celebration of hip-hop. This concert takes that philosophy literally: Producers Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson spent months digging through thrift stores to find the right clinks, clangs and clongs that could reshape their hypnotic melodies and serrating beats. A sturdy cardboard box becomes the kick drum. A chain bouncing off aluminum foil, the hi-hat. A panoply of glasses, bottles and mugs, the synths. Harmonium, piano and fretless bass fill out the edges. Kid Koala, a turntablist whose unique style no doubt has had an influence on clipping., guests on "Night of Heaven" and "Work Work."

This set, featuring songs that span 2014's CLPPNG to 2025's Dead Channel Sky, exemplifies the idea that something thrilling and beautiful can be created from the noise and debris of everyday life. Daveed Diggs, eternally game to exquisitely rap over whatever creative chaos bursts from his cohorts, sums up the process perfectly: "Thank y'all for this opportunity to do needlessly complicated s***."

SET LIST

"Nothing is Safe"

"True Believer"

"Code"

"Dodger"

"Night of Heaven"

"Work Work"

MUSICIANS

Daveed Diggs: vocals

Jonathan Snipes: electronics, harmonium, melodica, table of nonsense

William Hutson: percussion, loon call, table of nonsense

Sharon Udoh: vocals, piano

David Rothbaum: bass

Kid Koala: turntables

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Lars Gotrich

Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel

Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai

Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda

Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen

Photographer: Maansi Srivastava

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Executive Director: Sonali Mehta

Boucles d'oreilles inspirées par les éditions de l'album L'Heptade du groupe Harmonium

Hi. Long time no see, huh ? You might be wondering what happened to the may rotation, and, well, it didn't happen, is what happened. May turned out to be a weird month and, to make a long story short, I guess it wasnt the right time to start new things ^^;

Now, the project is still on, but im gonna give myself more time and put myself under less pressure, I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

Now, first things first :

I'm still staying away from youtube from now on. I will upload low quality mp3 directly on tumblr when possible, otherwise, a preview is always available on the mega download link for individual files ♪

I'm going to eventually start x-posting these on ko-fi, cause I figured it made sense, considering the work I put into this 🤔 DO NOT WORRY I am NEVER going to paywall my little project, but I will put a link for tips on each post.

But, as usual : Song titles link to individual mp3 file preview and download

And, all 5 songs can also be downloaded together in a zip file from the link at the bottom

Since I skipped last month, I figured that I could double up the rotation for June... and then some because why the fuck not ! And I'm not one to really celebrate our national holiday, but I am one to share music, so I'm gonna focus on Québécois bands and artists for this month's rotation :)

Alors maintenant, voyons voir !

Arch Enemy - Vivre Libre

Her grammar is pretty anglophone, I think its cute ! Pretty typical from anglo Montrealers who also learned french lol What's also interesting is that they made sure that this was recorded in a style that would absolutely hit, here (especially for old heads, like older than me, but I guess that's a subject for another time lol)

Vivre Libre was on the last album Alissa White-Gluz recorder with Arch Enemy, Blood Dynasty, just last year in 2025

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

Corbeau - Illégal

You know, I was 100% convinced I had shared Baby Lilly here, before, but I guess I haven't ! Gonna be a song for another time, then, cause today the focus is on Illégal. I did introduce Marjo in my first Made in Québec rotation, though ! Well, Corbeau was what first got her know. Corbeau was born out of most of Offenbach (not that one, ours is older lol), who then went to recruit young Marjolaine Morin to become one of Québec most iconic bands, imho. And Illégal is definitely what gave them that status ! (fun fact : Marjo did record a track with Offenbach's vocalist Gerry Boulet before he passed. It's a corny ballad called Les yeux du coeur, but what I find interesting about that song is that she sings the lower harmonies, while he sings the higher parts, and I think it distinguishes it from other corny love ballads because of that !)

Illégal was the opening track from the album of the same name, released in 1982. Though my file is from the 1992 compilation, L'intégrale

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

Dan Bigras - Tue-Moi

Aaaand that is another song from my childhood. I'm not kidding when I say I always was fond of dramatic songs/music lol. Similarly to what I was saying about les Vilain Pingouin and Laurence Jalbert in April's rotation, it was nice to hear who I'm pretty sure is Luce Duffault and Isabelle Boulay as chorists here.

Tue-moi was on the album with the same name, released in 1992

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

Diane Dufresne - Oxygène

Diane Dufresne is another one of our iconic divas. Now i only wish that people would still celebrate weirdness the way they were celebrating her weirdness back then (our was that just my mother ? oupslol.)

Oxygène is her most well known track, honestly putting it here was a no brainer. It's still pretty resonant with today's troubles, I think, especially as a woman.

"À midi Et demi Encore un grand café noir

Je ne mange Qu'une orange Pour tenir le coup jusqu'au soir"

Like... she literally was just standing up cause she was on coke, was she ? :') (loose translation : "at noon thirty, another tall black coffee (she had a first one on an empty stomach earlier in the song), i eat nothing but an orange to hold up until tonight")

Oxygène was on the album Turbulences released in 1981

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

eXterio - Bonhomme 7h

Look, I miss eXterio so much, ok ? When this was released, I was using it as proof, maybe more to myself than anyone else, that québécois music was more than corny pop ballads lmao. This one also aged better than some of their other material, I have to admit. The POV here is a kid with night terrors who's afraid to go to sleep, the language is simple like a child would use, and it's part of what I like about this song :) (Bonhomme Sept-heures is a similar concept as the boogeyman in english, it was used as a way to scare the kids into coming home before its dark, back then)

Bonhomme 7h was on eXterio's first album, Vous êtes ici, released in 2003

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

Harmonium - Un musicien parmis tant d'autres

What would be a so-called St-Jean-themed rotation without Harmonium ? This is another song with a still very relatable subject matter. "On a mis quelqu'un au monde, on devrait peut-être l'écouter" (loose translation: "we gave birth to someone, maybe we should listen to them") in particular.

Un musicien parmis tant d'autres was on Harmonium's first and self-titled album, from 1974

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

Les Cowboys Fringants - Plus Rien

Oh look, another song that's is still very very relevant, 20+ years later ! But like... Look. And keep in mind this song is a little over 20 years old :

"C'est des années plus tard qu'ils ont vu le non-sens Dans la panique ont déclaré l'état d'urgence Quand tous les océans ont englouti les îles Et que les innondations ont frappé les grandes villes

Et par la suite pendant toute une décennie Ce fut les ouragans et puis les incendies Les tremblements de terre et la grande séch'resse Partout sur les visages on lisait la détresse

Les gens ont dû se battre contre les pandémies Décimés par millions par d'atroces maladies Puis les autres sont morts par la soif ou la faim Comme tombent les mouches Jusqu'à c'qu'il n'y ai plus rien Plus rien..."

(again, lose translation : It's only years later that they noticed the non-sense And in a panic declared a state of emergency When oceans have swallowed islands And great cities were flooded

And then for a whole decade It has been hurricanes and fires, Earthquakes and droughts Distress was painted on every face

People had to fight against pandemics Millions decimated by atrocious diseases And then the others died of thirst and hunger Falling like flies Until nothing is left Nothing left at all)

It was already hitting me hard at 15, and it only has gotten worse with years, as I realized how right he was while the end of the world he's describing actually became current event... 🤷🏻‍♀️

Plus rien is found on La Grand-Messe, release in 2004 (i promise the rest of the album is not as depressing as this ahahah they usually are rather jolly :3 )

wow of all songs THIS one works ?! you know what ok. let's go \o/

Lili Fatale - Depuis que tu es parti

That break up was messy, huh ? haha (même le savon chinois ! 😂)

I first introduced Lili Fatale here years ago, as Feels still is one of my favourite songs of all time. Now I'm going with something people are wrong for having forgotten !! Their second album deserve as much love as their first one !!!!

Depuis que tu es parti opens Panavision, released in 2001

that's less surprising, considering they disbanded right after that album, i guess

Marie Carmen - J'veux d'la tendresse

I originally went with something completely different from her, but I then added the Dan Bigras song and I guess my brain linked to that song and pushed it forward 🤔

Retrospectively, maybe it's funny how much this is surfing on the Savage Garden wave ? Idk, I just love her voice so much 😩💖 Plus, as someone who was a kid when this was released, her "j'cachais mes rêves dans mes cartables, entre mes livres et mes crayons" ("i would hide my dreams in my binders, between my books and my pencils") resonated, you know (i didn't need much i guess lol)

J'veux d'la tendresse is from the ...l'Autre album, released in 1998

oh this one surprises me too, actually ! but then again idk that she has put out anything in the past 20 years and my understanding is that labels here really dont care to keep old stuff unless its the most iconic of the iconic or something, so they wont put an album like this on the likes of spotify etc. actually, thinking about les cowboys fringants, it would be on brand for them to specifically not want their music on american streaming platforms, so this may explain that...

Mélanie Renaud - Il était une fois nous deux

This was originally a Joe Dassin song, it is from a cover compilation that honestly did a really good job at matching songs with artists, ngl. Even the Éric Lapointe one is, like, really good. It really is a fun listen from A to Z, especially when you're familiar with the source material :3

And maybe it's corny and cliché that they went for disco for the one Black woman on the compilation, but it also really works ! And I feel like she gave it a slightly different meaning from the original, and to me, that's always a plus when women cover songs by men 🤔

Il était une fois nous deux is from the Salut Joe! compilation, from 2006

!!!!! amaze amaze amaze ! I was expecting to be able to upload maximum 2 songs in this post lmao

Melissa Auf der Maur - Te Goûter

Like the bassist from the Smashing Pumpkins ? Like the bassist from the Smashing Pumpkins ! She released her solo debut album all the way back in 2004 and it's been overlooked ever since, imo (go listen to it !!!!)

Now she doesn't usually go for french, but I do prefer the french version of Taste You ! It's hard to explain, but I feel like even if the subject matter is the same, it hits harder in french... Or maybe the french makes it sound hornier idk

Te Goûter was a bonus track from Montrealer Auf der Maur's eponymous album, released, like mentioned previously, in 2004

No preview due to copyrights and capitalism.

Noir Silence - Malade

Sorry, no english page for that one :3 This one goes with the Cowboys Fringants song, actually :

"Malade que l'homme possède la Terre Et qu'il veuille conquérir les airs, Trouver un autre sol à violer Une autre race pour faire la guerre" (Sick that man owns the Earth And wants to conquer airspace, Find another ground to violate/rape Another race to go to war against)

And it also goes in my dramatic darlings basket ! As in, even as a kid, the piano and the way his voice cracks made me fall in love with the song ! Also ! I think it's worth mentioning that the keyboardist is a trans woman ! :) (watch this post get flagged just for that sentence 🙄)

Malade is on the album Piège which was released in 1997

And you can get all 12 songs together

♪ H E R E ♪