Tag: tiny desk concert

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Chris Stapleton: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

September 14, 2015 by JACOB GANZ As a songwriter in Nashville, Chris Stapleton has written hits for Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Darius Rucker. As a singer, he once led the bluegrass band The SteelDrivers, and more recently stepped into the solo spotlight with Traveller, his debut album. It’s the kind of country record that gets better the more you wear it in: When NPR Music named it one of our favorite albums of the first half of 2015, critic Ann Powers compared it to a “soft denim jacket … pulled out time after time, lending comfort, suiting every occasion, [See More…]

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DakhaBrakha: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

People always ask me, “What’s your favorite Tiny Desk Concert?” Well, right now it’s the one recently performed by DakhaBrakha. The creative quartet from Kiev, Ukraine make music that sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard, with strands of everything I’ve ever heard. There are rhythms that sound West African and drone that feels as if it could have emanated from India or Australia. At times, DakhaBrakha is simply a rock band whose crazy homeland harmonies are filled with joy. All the while, they play tight-knit tunes featuring accordion, drums, reeds and shakers while wearing tall, Marge Simpson-looking wool hats that [See More…]

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Yusuf/Cat Stevens: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

In the summer of 1971, I was a camp counselor at a sleep-away camp for a bunch of 5- to 7-year-olds. For those eight weeks, I walked home with about $50. I bought a guitar and began to learn the songs I’d come to love from the recently released Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens. “Father and Son” touched me most — it’s a song about growing old, and about beliefs and conviction. More than 40 years later, that songwriter is performing at my desk with his son standing right behind me. You can never imagine the turns life [See More…]

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St. Paul And The Broken Bones: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Close your eyes and listen, and you might imagine someone who looks a bit like Otis Redding. Open them, and you’re likely to see someone who looks more like your neighborhood bank teller. That man standing on my desk in the golden shoes is Paul Janeway. He was, in fact, a bank teller in Alabama not long ago — and this stupendous seven-piece band from Birmingham has only been doing this since 2012. But take a look at this Tiny Desk Concert and you’ll see why St. Paul And The Broken Bones’ music is so winning. It’s got heart and [See More…]

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Tom Brosseau: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Tom Brosseau possesses one of the most arresting voices in folk music today. Many people who hear him sing, without knowing his name or face, assume the voice belongs to a woman, as he hovers somewhere around the countertenor range, with an unusually pure tone. The beauty of Brosseau’s voice is magnified in this Tiny Desk Concert by the spare accompaniment of two acoustic guitars. Brosseau is on rhythm, accompanied by Sean Watkins. Watkins, who also plays and sings with Nickel Creek, produced and plays on Brosseau’s new album, Grass Punks. Brosseau is unabashedly sentimental and earnest. It informs his [See More…]

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Pixies: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

The windowsills were lined with people standing, as every nook between every office desk filled to capacity with NPR employees and their assorted guests. Pixies, after getting misplaced for a time in our parking garage during a moment worthy of This Is Spinal Tap, showed up in time to encounter the largest crowd we’ve ever assembled for a Tiny Desk Concert. (Our new office space allows for more guests than the old one did, but it’s still a mark of this band’s significance for so many youthful grownups.) Black Francis played an acoustic guitar for this set, while drummer David [See More…]

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The National: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

The first thing you might notice about this video is the change in surroundings: NPR recently moved to a new building, and though we worked to make the Tiny Desk as visually similar as possible to the old space — a process we recently documented with the help of OK Go — the ceilings are higher, the square footage more generous and the surfaces lavishly unsullied. The visuals will surely evolve in the months and years to come, as more tchotchkes and coffee stains accumulate on, around and behind Bob Boilen’s desk. In the days leading up to this hotly [See More…]

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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Tears and laughter in the span of about 15 minutes — that’s what’s so astonishing about these Macklemore & Ryan Lewis songs. The first time I heard “Same Love,” it brought tears to the eyes of a roomful of people, myself included. The song is about equality, specifically gay rights, with an unambiguous message: “It’s human rights for everybody / There is no difference.” Then, in a flip of a backing-track beat, Macklemore (a.k.a. Ben Haggerty) sings about wearing a velour jumpsuit and some house slippers, “grandpa style.” The contrast in these songs, “Same Love” and “Thrift Shop,” makes the [See More…]

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Reggie Watts: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Comedian and musician Reggie Watts recently visited the NPR Music offices with a simple setup of loop and delay pedals and a microphone. But the spontaneous improvisations he created by building up layers of sound and melody provide a magical showcase for his soulful musicianship and deadpan humor. Set List: “Song #4” “Untitled Improv (Coffee Sips)” “Another Untitled Improv” For more videos and to subscribe to the Tiny Desk Concerts podcast, visit npr.org/tinydeskconcerts. 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 [See More…]

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Adele: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Watch Adele play “Someone Like You”, “Chasing Pavements” and “Rolling In The Deep” 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 In a stripped-down three-song set at the NPR Music offices, the Grammy-winning U.K. pop star showcases her brilliant voice and seemingly effortless charisma. Watch Adele perform two new songs to go with her ubiquitous hit “Chasing Pavements.” Set List: “Someone Like You” “Chasing Pavements” “Rolling In The Deep” For more videos, visit npr.org/tinydeskconcerts [See More…]