Tag: National Public Radio

Bobby Carter | December 18, 2023 Scarface’s Tiny Desk concert radiates with his decadeslong passion as an emcee and producer. There’s calculated intent behind every word and note of this 30-minute set and I learned that his love for golf also runs deep during our initial meeting. He was playing a round and had difficulty dividing his attention between the plan and the course. Three days before the show, amid rehearsals, I got a call from Facemob asking, “What if I brought Mike Dean?” My expectations were already high, but that final addition set the stage for something special. Mike [See More…]

Stephen Thompson | December 15, 2023 Tiny Desk concerts involve challenges and constraints that aren’t always immediately apparent: The crowd stands closer than many artists expect, it’s truly a working office and not a soundstage, in-ear monitors are a no-no and so on. The guideline that caught Alvvays off-guard came in the form of our limit on reverb and other vocal sweeteners, which get used to glorious effect on 2022’s Blue Rev, but are otherwise frowned-upon at the Tiny Desk. The restriction forced the Toronto band — and recent first-time Grammy nominee — well outside its comfort zone. But it [See More…]

Ashley Pointer | December 13, 2023 “I grew up playing classical music and it’s so special to get to play my songs almost in this chamber-like setting,” Laufey says in her performance. Accompanied by a string quartet, the singer-songwriter’s modern jazz-pop love songs soared at the Tiny Desk, the intimacy of our little corner only heightened its impact. Laufey’s music undeniably bridges the gap between jazz and younger, mainstream audiences coming to the genre. Her sophomore album, Bewitched, broke Spotify’s all-time streaming record for a jazz debut ever in the platform’s history and resulted in her first Grammy nomination. She [See More…]

Hazel Cills | December 11, 2023 The last time Olivia Rodrigo performed a Tiny Desk concert, it was two years ago, in a deserted DMV office, back when pandemic precautions meant artists sadly couldn’t play the real Desk. But this year, the singer-songwriter returned, bringing a handful of songs from her wildly fun sophomore album to the NPR Music office. “It’s much cooler to be here,” Rodrigo says. “I was saying earlier, I’ve never been starstruck by a room before.” Many of the songs on GUTS, which earned a special recommendation on NPR Music’s Best Albums of 2023 list, blow [See More…]

Ashley Pointer | November 29, 2023 When Sampha first performed at the Tiny Desk in 2017, it was just him and his keys. But for this second round, he had a very specific vision to execute. Accompanied by a spirited four-piece band who double as his background singers and percussionists, each member relishes in making music in multiple, creative configurations. Sampha Lahai Sisay’s music is known for its sheer vulnerability in tackling the human experience. On his debut album, Process, we met a son mourning the loss of his parents while navigating the relationship with his partner and future mother [See More…]

Ann Powers | November 17, 2023 Polly Harvey has inhabited many characters throughout her 30-year career and always dressed the part: catsuit-rocking glam queen, high-collared Victorian wraith, mini-skirted libertine, feather-adorned warrior. Bringing the story told in her latest album, I Inside the Old Year Dying to the Tiny Desk, she stands at the microphone in a draped dress the wintry color of a gray alder tree, designed by her longtime costumier Todd Lynn. Its torn elegance perfectly suits the dual role she plays in these gently ferocious songs, which originated in her novel-in-verse, Orlam. As she lets loose her inimitable [See More…]

Ashley Pointer | November 10, 2023 Out of the thousand and some Tiny Desk concerts to date, it’s seldom an artist returns to the Desk. But when they do, there are a couple requirements: come in a new iteration or present something completely different. In this case, the Chicago-bred, emcee-activist Noname does both when she performs some revolutionary raps from her third album, Sundial, and premieres an unreleased single from hip-hop trio Ghetto Sage, made up of her and frequent collaborators, Smino and Saba. A lot has changed since Fatimah Warner dropped her classic debut, Telefone, in 2016 and made [See More…]

Felix Contreras | October 30, 2023 It’s hard to get past the significance of this performance by the Indian jazz fusion band, Shakti. Initially formed in 1973 by jazz guitarist John McLaughlin with virtuoso traditional Indian musicians, the band opened the doors for others to expand their musical appreciation beyond Western music. 50 years later, as guitarist McLaughlin reunites with tabla player Zakir Hussain to take Shakti on another world tour, the group stopped by for a magically inspiring performance behind the Tiny Desk. “Shrini’s Dream” sets the stage with both melodic and rhythm instruments, before vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist [See More…]

Sheldon Pearce | October 25, 2023 Before Nile Rodgers & CHIC set the Tiny Desk off, the icon established a sort of mission statement for the group’s sound: “If we can funk in this, you know we can funk.” They surely can. In stints since 1972, CHIC has assured its position as funk ambassadors — a position its members clearly relish — and no space is resistant to their grooves. When Rodgers asks singer Kimberly Davis to show the audience “how we do it in the CHIC organization,” she launches into high-powered vocals that vaporize every note. And when he [See More…]

Anamaria Sayre | October 20, 2023 Maluma, baby. Literally. The Colombian superestrella’s debonair smile and mesmerizing vocals were as captivating as ever during his El Tiny performance, yet nothing could draw the spotlight away from the three little words proclaimed boldly across his chest: “Papa de Paris.” Of all the titles Maluma has donned — Don Juan, Papi Juancho — none have ever been worn with more pride. Maluma on becoming a new dad and using music to defy stereotypes about Colombia “Esa cancion … se la compuse a alguien y es bien bonito tenerlas aquí,” the singer said in [See More…]