Diane Coffee: Tiny Desk Concert
At times conjuring Mick Jagger and David Bowie, Diane Coffee’s Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.
Tag: NPR
Review: Bob Dylan, ‘The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12’
The fevered 14 months captured here represent the moment when Dylan became comfortable in his shoes — and, if not yet confident about every decision, at least trusting the authority of his writing.
Review: Old Dominion, ‘Meat And Candy’
The fast-rising country band brings first-rate craftsmanship to one of popular music’s abiding themes: savoring fleeting pleasures.
Review: Carla Morrison, ‘Amor Supremo’
The Mexican singer-songwriter crafts a sublime and captivating representation of her lyrical gifts. Throughout Amor Supremo, she expands her sound by couching subtle springs in electronics.
Review: Floating Points, ‘Elaenia’
A slice of ambient, psychedelic-jazz dance music from one of the London club scene’s top producers. There are only hints of vocals, and the ones that do appear aren’t used in the service of language.
Review: Bill Ryder-Jones, ‘West Kirby County Primary’
The former Coral frontman’s songs ache with the resignation of someone still searching for answers. Remarkably, these songs sway with a light touch, with melodies that feel lived-in and singable.
The Suffers: Tiny Desk Concert
Led by the irrepressible Kam Franklin, the 10-piece Houston soul band can barely fit all its horns, guitars, percussion and energy behind a single desk.
Beauty Pill: Tiny Desk Concert
In Beauty Pill’s music, life whirs with plunderphonic glee and riffs are funky from the inside out. Watch the D.C. band adapt its deeply textured songs without removing anything vital.
First Listen: Moufang-Czamanski, ‘Live In Seattle’
In this recording from 2013, two of techno’s most distinctive musicians use the live stage as a way to surprise and innovate while stretching their improvisational muscles.
First Listen: Grupo Fantasma, ‘Problemas’
The Austin band’s raucous, good-time mix of funk, cumbia and soul forms a sound that’s built to last — always evolving, but always joyful, too.
Review: Beach Slang, ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’
The Philly rock band creates earnest rallying cries for the uncool, for anyone who’s ever felt like they don’t fit in, and for those who eventually found belonging in cramped basement shows.
Review: Escort, ‘Animal Nature’
The disco-inspired band’s new album is slick and stylish and light, and clearly in thrall to the sound it revisits. But there’s weight behind it, too.
The Life And Death Of Tower Records, Revisited
A new documentary from Colin Hanks looks back on a business empire that helped shape the tastes of many music fanatics.
The Current Presents: Laura Marling
It’s just the English songwriter and her guitar in this acoustic performance of “How Can I.”
Oh Pep!: Tiny Desk Concert
The band’s clever, thoughtful, infectious, harmony-filled music fits in everywhere from Nashville to its hometown of Melbourne.
First Listen: Fuzz, ‘II’
Ty Segall’s power trio heaves forth a 14-song double album that’s made for headbanging and the cultivation of bad vibes, as if all the warmth and goodwill of last year’s Manipulator had turned to ash.
First Listen: Skatebård, ‘CDIII’
Clocking in at 80 minutes, CDIII finds Skatebård having copious fun with dance-music tropes across its 11 tracks, as the producer mixes heavy beat programming with lighter touches.
Review: Dexter Story, ‘Wondem’
What happens when a veteran L.A. soul and jazz instrumentalist discovers the music of Ethiopia? The answer: a world of influence and possibility.
Review: Dave Gahan & Soulsavers, ‘Angels & Ghosts’
The Depeche Mode frontman’s second album with Soulsavers sets his anguished cry against a sparse desert-rock sound that’s far from the music for which he’s known.
Review: Chic Gamine, ‘Light A Match’
The French-Canadian pop quintet’s new album examines the thought processes and motivations of a woman’s inner life, on a platform of classic R&B/soul.