It's weird that I start a post with a live version of a song, especially one that I have to start in the middle of a video because it's part of a longer performance - in this case, an NPR Tiny Desk live set.
Santigold is something of a weird artist. She's a black artist making music that's a little punk, a little pop, a little rock, a little folk - not necessarily what is considered traditional black music - which, given that she started her career working for Epic Records's urban music division, is even more interesting.
She's pretty clear that this song isn't punk, though. It's a song that wouldn't sound out of place in the Siouxsie and the Banshees catalog, or the Pixies - as would the rest of her debut album, Santogold. That's not misspelled - that was her stage name at the time (her real name is Santi White).
It makes sense to have you hear the studio version of the song, which features co-writer Trouble Andrew (probably better known as a snowboarder than a musician) as a second vocalist. Since the song was never an official single, it was never released in an official video format - but that's OK, because these people in this video made one.
The video is wild. The song is super cool.
Since this was her debut album, she immediately toured in support of it. This performance is from the 2009 Lowlands festival in the Netherlands. Her stage presence is already felt at this point in her career.
Ten years later, she still had that stage presence.
It's important to note that she doesn't have Trouble Andrew and his husky voice to do his part of the song, so she has to adapt it to her voice. She does so effortlessly.
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