Tag: NPR Music

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Recording Drums At The Tiny Desk (With Josh Rogosin) 0 (0)

In honor of the fourth-ever Tiny Desk Contest, our intrepid Tiny Desk audio engineer Josh Rogosin goes deep on recording drums. The Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on March 25, 2018, so get those last-minute submissions in to npr.org/tinydeskcontest! Remember: You don’t need to have fancy audio equipment to make a great entry — just be yourself, and let your music shine through. Good luck! NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts is a popular video series featuring live, intimate music performances by diverse artists, from major stars to up-and-coming musicians, recorded in the small workspace of Bob Boilen’s NPR office in [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Tyler, The Creator: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Watch Tyler, The Creator play “Boredom”, “See You Again” and “Glitter”at the Tiny Desk. Did you know you can watch new Tiny Desk Concerts on npr.org ONE WEEK before they go up on YouTube? Click here: https://www.npr.org/tinydesk Follow NPR Music: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nprmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nprmusic Content advisory: The video above may contain language that is offensive to some. Dec. 11, 2017 | Sidney Madden — Tyler, The Creator’s Tiny Desk performance was a first for many reasons. It was the Los Angeles rapper’s first time performing at our offices, but moreover, it was the Tiny Desk’s first nighttime performance, a special [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Billy Corgan: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Nov. 20, 2017 | Robin Hilton — Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan is a complicated guy. In the years since that iconic and much-beloved rock band broke up in 2000, Corgan has continued to put out music under various names and projects – including several releases as Smashing Pumpkins, with different lineups – while often stumbling through a bumpy minefield of his own making. To the head-scratching surprise of some longtime fans, he’s gotten heavily involved in pro wrestling, talked conspiracy theories during several appearances on The Alex Jones Show (warning of weaponized zombies in one interview), and, over the [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Natalia Lafourcade: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Watch Natalia Lafourcade play at the Tiny Desk. Did you know you can watch new Tiny Desk Concerts on npr.org ONE WEEK before they go up on YouTube? Click here: https://www.npr.org/tinydesk Follow NPR Music: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nprmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nprmusic Oct. 27, 2017 | Felix Contreras — Natalia Lafourcade is a successful singer-songwriter whose voice and music live on the edge of pop, but maintain a distinct independence. A few years ago, while Lafourcade was traveling Brazil, she felt a great nostalgia for her native Mexico and its folk music. When she finally returned home, she immediately called some friends for the [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Chronixx: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Sept. 27, 2017 | Abby O’Neill — Reggae has long been the most vivid musical escape for me. Its soul-cleansing riddims always feel familiar and cozy, like rushing into your lover’s arms after a significant time away. This is especially true for roots reggae, whose staccato guitar licks, billowing bass, and sonic splashes on a canvas of negative space, are like salve for the soul. The mid-tempo pulse varnishes heads with Kool-Aid grins and daydreams of living beachside amid nature’s unrestricted beauty. Given all that, you can understand why I’ve been obsessed with Chronixx lately. At a time when dancehall [See More…]

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Maggie Rogers: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Stephen Thompson | August 7, 2017 — Maggie Rogers became a viral star on the strength of a video in which Pharrell Williams raves about a demo of what’s become her signature song, “Alaska.” Since then, Rogers has signed a label deal, toured extensively and released a sweetly approachable, inventively arranged EP called Now That The Light Is Fading. For her Tiny Desk debut, Rogers performed all three of the EP’s best-known songs, opening with the recent singles “On + Off” and “Dog Years,” the latter of which she calls “a song for all the pups.” Then, after dismissing her [See More…]

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Tank And The Bangas: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Bob Boilen | March 10, 2017 — Out of over 6,000 entries — more submissions than we’ve ever received — Tank And The Bangas won, unanimously, this year’s Tiny Desk Contest. I fully expected their victory performance here at NPR headquarters in D.C. to be celebratory. I didn’t know we’d all end up in tears. This band combines R&B with hip-hop’s poetry and rollercoaster storytelling, with a flair and alchemy that could only come from New Orleans. Their winning song, “Quick,” mixes liquor and revenge — a sort of modern day take on a great folk tale, but peppered with [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Bon Iver: Full Concert | NPR MUSIC FRONT ROW 0 (0)

On Dec. 4, just before Bon Iver took the stage at Pioneer Works, an old ironworks warehouse turned nonprofit arts and culture space, these prophetic words from Union Army officer Sullivan Ballou echoed off the Civil War-era brick walls: “Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.” A week after writing those lines, Ballou was mortally wounded, dying for a [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Ta-ku & Wafia: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Cameron Robert | November 7, 2016 — The chemistry between Australian singer-producer Ta-ku and his fellow Aussie singer-songwriter Wafia becomes apparent the instant you hear their voices intertwined in song. On their first collaborative EP, (m)edian, they draw on their individual experiences to touch on subjects like compromise in relationships as they trade verses and harmonize over hollow melodies. Ta-ku and Wafia live within the sonic landscape of artists like Drake or Bryson Tiller, but their style puts them in a world all their own. With production characterized by weary low-end rumbles and resonant keys, the two float above the [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Common At The White House: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

October 4, 2016 by BOB BOILEN • We’ve never done a Tiny Desk Concert that wasn’t behind my desk at NPR. But when the White House called and said they were putting on an event called South by South Lawn, a day-long festival filled with innovators and creators from the worlds of technology and art, including music, we jumped at the chance to get involved. We chose Common as the performer and the White House library as the space. This Tiny Desk Concert was a convergence of art and soul, mixing politics with heart. Common’s choice of songs dealt with [See More…]