Tag: National Public Radio

Stephen Thompson | December 2, 2022 Now that we’re back to recording Tiny Desk concerts in the office, home concerts mostly happen under special circumstances: when the artist is overseas, for example, or otherwise unable to get to Washington, D.C., when we’re recording. Given that BTS’s RM (aka Kim Nam-joon) is based in South Korea, we let it slide — not least because his team put together one of the most impressive Tiny Desk facsimiles we’ve seen yet. What really sets it apart is the huge array of shelf-bound ephemera, which is bound to have the BTS Army sleuthing in [See More…]

Hazel Cills | November 29, 2022 Beatrice Laus, who performs as beabadoobee, possesses the sort of soft, lilting voice that often runs the risk of getting lost in her signature sound — a mix of grungy, ’90s rock and noisy dream pop. Mix Laus the wrong way in a live setting and you miss out on vocals that lend whatever song they’re paired with an undeniable sweetness and sincerity. But in her Tiny Desk performance, beabadoobee drops her rock and roll tendencies to a low simmer, giving her voice ample room to shine in a collection of songs suited for [See More…]

Stephen Thompson | November 21, 2022 The Tiny Desk often forces radical changes to an artist’s sound and style, but Santigold faced more than most. There was the live band assembled for the occasion, which included George Lewis Jr. (aka Twin Shadow) on bass and drummer Chuck Treece, who’s worked with everyone from Bad Brains to Billy Joel. There was the lack of a microphone — and, by extension, vocal amplification — not to mention the fact that, as Santigold herself noted, “I don’t know what I’m doing up here with no dancers.” Fortunately, Santi White has been revising and [See More…]

Josh Rogosin | November 11, 2022 Actors and musicians on Broadway have a grueling performance schedule: eight shows a week with only Mondays off. Yet the band and cast of The Lion King were ecstatic to spend their one free day traveling from New York to Washington, D.C. to celebrate 25 years of the iconic musical with a performance at NPR’s Tiny Desk. Many of the songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice will be familiar — like the Oscar-winning “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “Hakuna Matata.” But the cast also treated the enthusiastic Tiny Desk crowd [See More…]

Suraya Mohamed | November 10, 2022 The day before The Ezra Collective’s Tiny Desk concert, the band members practiced for hours at a nearby community music space and the next morning, they walked in the door giddy and ready to go. The warm-up was good, but once we started to record, a crazy intensity and energy spilled out into the room. They were fierce and fun and all of their solos were on fire. The band makes amazing jazz music and mixes it with a fusion of other genres like Afrobeat, hip-hop and grime. The London-based band was supposed to [See More…]

Bob Boilen | November 8, 2022 While there’s a quiet element to Lizzy McAlpine’s music, there’s also an explosive element of electronics, electric guitars and drums on her 2022 album five seconds flat that feels cinematic. So when Lizzy told us that all she’d need for her Tiny Desk concert were some microphones and a few acoustic guitars, I was surprised — curious and eager to hear her rise to the challenge of our intimate setting. Her backing vocalists are a trio coincidentally and appropriately called Tiny Habits, a group she met on Instagram about a year ago. “I wanted [See More…]

From Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, Tiny Desk is celebrating Latinx Heritage Month with an “El Tiny” takeover, featuring Jessie Reyez, Susana Baca and more musicians from all corners of Latinidad. Vita Dadoo | September 27, 2022 With his roots in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires and arms outstretched to the rest of the world, Trueno is rewriting the playbook for Latin American hip-hop. Wearing a cap for the soccer team Boca Juniors and moving among the spaces of his childhood, the 20-year-old, premier Argentinian freestyler shows us exactly where he’s from in his Tiny Desk (home) concert, an [See More…]

From Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, Tiny Desk is celebrating Latinx Heritage Month with an “El Tiny” takeover, featuring Jessie Reyez, Susana Baca and more musicians from all corners of Latinidad. Fi O’Reilly | September 15, 2022 What a way to get our second annual El Tiny series going! Omar Apollo kicks off Latinx Heritage Month with a full-band rendition of “En El Olvido,” backed by Las Mariachis Lindas, as he channels a childhood spent listening to Juan Gabriel into his performance of the Mexican corrido. In the eternal wisdom of Alt.Latino co-host Anamaria Sayre, it’s not a Mexican party [See More…]

Bobby Carter | September 8, 2022 Everything JID does is intricately detailed. He seems to care much more than the average emcee, and throughout this entire production, I felt his strong desire to get it right. The weight was lifted from his shoulders at the midway point of the set as he turned to his band, saying, “We’re pretty hot guys. We’re pretty f***ing hot.” In this performance, recorded weeks before the release of his now widely praised third studio album, The Forever Story, the East Atlanta native performs songs from the album live for the first time, plus career-defining [See More…]

Bob Boilen | August 5, 2022 Regina Spektor sat in her hotel room waiting as we tuned the piano behind my desk. In those idle moments, she whipped up a “Tiny Song,” and she opens her concert singing this sweet, funny and tiny ditty. “Took a train from New York to D.C. / And everyone was coughing on me,” she sings, “But I wore a real tight mask / And got myself a negative COVID test.” I won’t spoil the rest except to say that what unfolds over the course of the next five songs is the humor and passions [See More…]