OK Go Forth and Conquer

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:14 pm by Joseph Susanka

OK Go Forth and Conquer 2017-03-17T15:14:03-06:00 Joseph Susanka

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For those not yet familiar with OK Go, they’re an alternative rock band who exploded onto my radar a number of years ago as a result of their absurdly complex, gleefully imaginative music videos.

“This Too Shall Pass,” for example, is a masterpiece of Goldbergian, single-take extravagance that must be seen to be believed — and even then, only barely. “White Knuckles” is only slightly less insane, and a good bit more bizarre. And who could forget their viral smash-hit, the wildly tread-milling, one-take brilliance of “Here It Goes Again?” (Honestly, I almost never pay attention to the music, so mesmerized am I by the images. Not sure that’s quite what the group’s hoping to achieve, but they’ve definitely find a way to make themselves memorable.)

Imagine my excitement, then, when I stumbled across this clip a few days ago. (And imagine my surprise as I realized it was at least as much “stop motion/MTV Freneti-cut” as it was “single-take.”)

Bob Boilen, host of NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” shares a few more details:

Earlier this year, we needed to figure out the best possible way to move my Tiny Desk from NPR’s old headquarters to our new facility just north of the U.S. Capitol. We wanted to go out with a bang and arrive at our new space in style, so our thoughts naturally turned to a catchy pop band we love: OK Go, whose unforgettable videos have been viewed tens of millions of times on YouTube.

Bandleader Damian Kulash used to be an engineer at an NPR member station in Chicago, so we figured he’d be up for helping us execute a simple idea: Have OK Go start performing a Tiny Desk Concert at our old location, continue playing the same song while the furniture and shelving is loaded onto a truck, and finish the performance at our new home. In addition to cameos by many of our NPR colleagues — Ari Shapiro, Audie Cornish, David Greene, Guy Raz, Scott Simon, Alix Spiegel, Susan Stamberg and more — this required a few ingredients:

Number of video takes: 223
Percent used in final version: 50
Number of raw audio channels: 2,007
Percent used in final version: 50
Number of microphones: 5
Number of hard-boiled eggs consumed: 8, mostly by bassist Tim Nordwind
Number of seconds Carl Kasell spent in the elevator with OK Go: 98
Number of times Ari Shapiro played the tubular bells: 15
Number of pounds the tubular bells weighed: 300
Number of times the shelves were taken down and put back up: 6
Number of days it took to shoot: 2
Number of cameras: 1

Looking for a way to turn my snap-shot impression of your signature “single-take” style on its head? Try 223 takes, all spliced together to produce a semi-single-take. That should do the trick. Nicely played, OK Go. (Also, Carl Kasell is awesome.)

On the other hand, the whimsy and humor of Goldberg is still present, so it’s not really that much of a departure, is it? And besides, “Last Leaf” is a two-and-a-half minute stop-motion animation. On a toast. So maybe Susanka just needs to broaden his horizons a bit. (And he should stop stealing blog post titles from NPR’s “This Is NPR” blog. But one thing at a time, I suppose.)

Music

Quodlibets

Previous Post

June 10, 2013

A World Without Traffic Lights

Next Post

June 14, 2013 Stunning Aerial Photographs From A Commercial Airline Pilot

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Baseball Faith Family Lenten Music Movies Music No Commentary Necessary Parked By the Jukebox Photography Politics Quodlibets Streaming Video Suggestions Summa Short Films Television The Man Behind the Booth Through a Lens, Darkly

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz