Mitski: Tiny Desk Concert
Mitski’s music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through. Watch the singer perform three of her songs in the NPR Music offices.
Tag: NPR
Eskimeaux: Tiny Desk Concert
There’s lighthearted, almost childlike beauty in the way Gabrielle Smith puts words to song. Here, she performs a few of Bob Boilen’s favorite songs of 2015.
Review: Dam-Funk, ‘Invite The Light’
The man born Damon Riddick makes an epic 20-song album that draws on the entire history of funk. Six years in the making, Invite The Light has a sound that’s almost impossible to pin down.
Review: Joan Shelley, ‘Over And Even’
Songs on the Kentucky folk singer’s second album sound ancient and true, even on first hearing.
Review: Cécile McLorin Salvant, ‘For One To Love’
Salvant explores the quaint art of jazz singing, but with her own aesthetic idiosyncrasies intact. Her toolbox contains anywhere from a rich, husky voice to one that tiptoes theatrically, girlishly.
First Listen: Lou Barlow, ‘Brace The Wave’
Brace The Wave keeps the Sebadoh singer’s sound stripped to its barren bones, an approach suited to the pleas and confessions therein.
First Listen: Diane Coffee, ‘Everybody’s A Good Dog’
Foxygen’s Shaun Fleming aspires to a ’70s ideal that rolls up sugarcoated bubblegum glam, soul balladry, Francophone pop and echoes of the Brill Building.
Review: The Arcs, ‘Yours, Dreamily’
In his new band, The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach plays immersive, funky R&B and soul that’s embellished with velvety harmonies, hissy tape recordings and lip-curling attitude.
Yo La Tengo: Morning Edition’s In-House Band For A Day
“This morning thing’s not really working for me,” says guitarist/vocalist Ira Kaplan. Well, too bad. Yo La Tengo played the music you hear between stories live.
Yo La Tengo: ‘When We Let The World In, It Can Be So Profound’
The New Jersey band’s members say their longevity comes from not projecting ideas onto themselves. Their new album, Stuff Like That There, features covers and reworked songs.
Review: Royal Headache, ‘High’
The Australian band’s soulful, Motown-worthy punk poetry sounds simple and direct on its second album, whose innate momentum makes even the calmest moments feel tense.
First Listen: Anna Thorvaldsdottír, ‘In The Light Of Air’
With flashes of lyricism, a young composer excels at weaving sound textures together to create distinct atmospheres. Hear the album, performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble.
First Listen: Maddie & Tae, ‘Start Here’
With a sound rooted in rich vocal harmonies and acoustic instrumentation, the young country-pop duo explores a sense of living in between childhood and the next thing.
Review: Ruby Amanfu, ‘Standing Still’
Amanfu has performed alongside Jack White, among many others. The singer takes another step into the foreground on her first solo album, which showcases her incredible interpretive gifts.
Review: Destroyer, ‘Poison Season’
On his 10th album as Destroyer, Dan Bejar keeps mining discarded sounds and reclaiming them, recalling everyone from Harry Nilsson to Clarence Clemons.
First Listen: Beach House, ‘Depression Cherry’
On its fifth album, the Baltimore duo still finds a way to settle jangled nerves and transport listeners to a warmer, softer, easier place.
First Listen: Yo La Tengo, ‘Stuff Like That There’
Amid two invigorating new songs and three fresh renditions of Yo La Tengo classics, nine wide-ranging covers are performed with varying degrees of sweetness, sadness, silliness and joy.
Kacey Musgraves: Tiny Desk Concert
Before closing with the go-your-own-way anthem “Follow Your Arrow,” the country singer showcases four songs from her terrific second album, Pageant Material.
Restorations: Tiny Desk Concert
The Philly rock band’s big-hearted and decibel-shattering songs are stripped down to a few guitars and a MiniKorg in a set that will leave a lump in your throat.
Review: Christian Rich, ‘FW14’
Best known for hard-hitting hip-hop beats, the Nigeria-raised, L.A.-based production duo uses its debut album to showcase its ability to flip the script — again and again and again.