The Bots: Tiny Desk Concert
A Jimi Hendrix influence informs The Bots’ bluesy moments, both in the guitar and in Mikaiah Lei’s voice. There’s also a great rock-duo punch that recalls The White Stripes or JEFF The Brotherhood.
Tag: Tiny Desk
Bio Ritmo: Tiny Desk Concert
The 10-piece salsa band has burnished its reputation on dance floors, where it never fails to make people move. So push some furniture out of the way, press play on this video, and enjoy.
Tweedy: Tiny Desk Concert
With his drummer son Spencer, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy performs three songs from their new album, Sukierae — plus a cover of “You Are Not Alone,” which the elder Tweedy wrote for Mavis Staples.
Justin Townes Earle: Tiny Desk Concert
In advance of his new album Single Mothers, the singer performs two new songs and an old favorite.
Bob Mould: Tiny Desk Concert
The former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman plugs in for a characteristically loud four-song set — three from his new solo album (Beauty and Ruin) and one from the band that launched his career.
Hamilton Leithauser: Tiny Desk Concert
The Walkmen went on hiatus at the end of 2013. In this three-song set, singer Hamilton Leithauser demonstrates that he’s lost none of his power, even as he’s matured and loosened as a performer.
Lydia Loveless: Tiny Desk Concert
A 23-year-old singer-guitarist, Loveless performs gritty, countrified blues-rock in the NPR Music offices. Her three subdued but seething songs paint a picture of a smart, no-nonsense talent.
Conor Oberst: Tiny Desk Concert
The Bright Eyes singer performs songs from Upside Down Mountain with help from members of Dawes, recorded live on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the NPR Music offices.
Marian McLaughlin: Tiny Desk Concert
A quirky and wistful performer with a string section, McLaughlin makes music like few others. Listening feels as if you’ve entered her meticulously decorated living room.
Quilt: Tiny Desk Concert
Interweaving harmonies and guitar lines from Anna Fox Rochinski and Shane Butler set the tone for these tunes — soft and benevolent, dreamy and quivering.
Lowland Hum: Tiny Desk Concert
It’s hard to convey the sound of two people in love, but Lowland Hum does that effortlessly. The married couple’s music is mostly unadorned and pure, with considerable attention to detail.
Asaf Avidan: Tiny Desk Concert
A well-known Israeli singer, formerly with a folkish rock band called Asaf Avidan & The Mojos, Avidan has a new record and no U.S. record label to put it out. But he’s on a solo tour that’s stunning.
Brass Bed: Tiny Desk Concert
The four guys in the Louisiana band buck a long streak of bad luck on the road and make it to the NPR Music offices for a memorable performance.
Cate Le Bon: Tiny Desk Concert
The Welsh singer’s set conveys loneliness and doubt with just two guitars and an inviting whisper. These three songs from Mug Museum work well stripped-down — not that there was much excess in the original versions to begin with.
Fanfare Ciocarlia: Tiny Desk Concert
From wedding songs to American rock ‘n’ roll to the occasional James Bond theme, the joyous Balkan brass band plays at a pace that would make the Ramones burst into a sweat.
Pixies: Tiny Desk Concert
This three-song set features a 2014 tune called “Greens and Blues,” a song yet to make it onto a Pixies release called “Silver Snail,” and 1989’s “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” which melted hearts and seared minds with a new memory from a time long past.
Angel Olsen: Tiny Desk Concert
Without her backing band, the expressive, powerful singer previews songs from her new album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness. Watch her and you’ll see calm in her eyes; listen to her and you’ll sense torment in her heart.
The Dismemberment Plan: Tiny Desk Concert
The recently reunited band’s funky, fleshed-out sound wouldn’t seem to lend itself to vastly stripped-down arrangements. But The Dismemberment Plan exudes playfulness and wry charm throughout these three songs from this year’s Uncanney Valley.