#featured

Thank You, Philly!

On Tuesday night, we had our second-ever Tiny Desk Contest tour event at World Cafe Live with our friends at WXPN. We featured four amazing local acts at the showcase, and you can watch their entries below. Each act put on an incredible show.

-ILL DOOTS
-Maitland
-APHRA
-Hardwork Movement

There are many great Philly-area entries to enjoy, though: This year, we had more entrants from Philadelphia than ever before. Check them out, share what you love and stay tuned for more updates from the road!

Image Credit: Bob Boilen/NPR

From our “10 More Tiny Desk Contest Entries We Love” article:

The Break Lights, “Holiest Ghost”

The Break Lights was a favorite among our judges. The members of the New Jersey rock group are masters at defying expectations. Unassuming in instrumentation, visuals and sound, they begin “Holiest Ghost” as a standard rock band shooting a simple basement video; the camera even blurs with the bass-drum hits. Then, Jake Roggenkamp starts singing. The sound of his voice is completely unexpected — it sounds almost like Janis Joplin’s: high, reedy and powerful. “Holiest Ghost” is a flawlessly constructed rock song — pulling back and letting loose in all the right places in its ode to the religious feeling of good love — and Roggenkamp’s voice is what gives it a unique flavor. — Ben

From our “10 More Tiny Desk Contest Entries We Love” article:

Haley Heynderickx, “The Bug Collector”

At the beginning of her entry video, you can hear Haley Heynderickx call out “Take one? Kind of?” before launching into “The Bug Collector.” The folk singer from Portland, Ore., has a smoky, sweet voice and a knack for intricate guitar lines. Though her entry video evinces solitude — she performs alone in a dimly-lit room with high ceilings — her lyrics evoke intimacy and compassion. Just after she finishes the song, you hear a voice — presumably her videographer — say “I think that was it,” and Heynderickx’s joy is audible. Even she seems surprised at the beauty in her performance (and, perhaps, at how quickly it came together); it certainly impressed us. — Marissa

Aurora borealis at Krafla lava fields

Krafla lava fields at Leirhnjúkur

Berlin, 2013

[Lovers at the Memorial of the Holocaust]

“Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason rather than its rarity that it is not only apolitical but antipolitical, perhaps the most powerful of all antipolitical forces.” 

― Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

It is Easter, and Christians around the world celebrate to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has redeemed the world from death; yet it is only too visceral to realise that at this very moment in our lives, much political and humanitarian strife remains - the war in Syria, the Senkaku island disputes between China and Japan, the South Korean ferry disaster - and there is still so much more to be done. Have we truly moved on from atrocities such as the Cold War and the Holocaust?

But this redemption is not just commemorating the death and life of a god; redemption is only complete insofar as we are moved to be there for others, amidst apparent despair, because of hope; to neglect this second step of loving from the first step of believing, is to do injustice to the entire theology of things altogether.

The dichotomy of Christianity and atheism aside, we must always remember that love can and must exist amidst suffering, and we must always be there for others, regardless.

Have a wonderful Easter, everyone!

Berlin, 2013