MUSIC | NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert : Patrick Watson

by STEPHEN THOMPSON

Patrick Watson has a lovely, flexible voice and a gift for wringing evocative sounds out of everything from vintage keyboards to bicycle chains, but his real gift lies in his ability to maximize beauty at all times; to guide every noise in such a way that it coheres into something dramatic and graceful. When the Polaris Prize winner performs, he seems almost hypnotized by the sounds around him, yet every second and every unlikely component seems plotted to maximize its impact. It's deliberate, impeccably appointed music that still seems airy and spontaneous.
Given that every note Watson has ever played is etched into some nook or cranny of Bob Boilen's living soul, it's a wonder that we'd managed to schedule more than 200 Tiny Desk Concerts without bringing the Montreal singer-songwriter to the NPR Music offices. With a gifted and like-minded backing band on hand to help flesh out these three songs from Adventures in Your Own Backyard, Watson conducts a swirl of interlocking loveliness that still finds room for surprises, from a singing saw to a microphone that makes his voice sound as if it's bouncing off some faraway satellite.

Set List:

• "Adventures In Your Own Backyard"

• "Words In The Fire"

• "Into Giants"

Credits:
Producer: Bob Boilen; Editor: Michael Katzif; Videographers: Michael Katzif and Emily Bogle; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; photo by Michael Katzif/NPR