NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

Season 2013

68 episodes · Jan 7, 2013

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  • Lucius
    S6E1

    Lucius

    Jan 7, 2013

    One minute, Lucius sounds like a '60s girl group; the next might conjure images of Emmylou Harris.

    Reviews
  • Black Prairie
    S6E2

    Black Prairie

    Jan 14, 2013

    With members of The Decemberists, the band lends a snappy, lilting quality to songs of alienation.

    Reviews
  • Of Montreal
    S6E3

    Of Montreal

    Jan 28, 2013

    Frontman Kevin Barnes uses the intimacy of the NPR Music offices to try out some quiet new material.

    Reviews
  • Cantus
    S6E4

    Cantus

    Feb 4, 2013

    The a cappella ensemble sings widely divergent songs from American, European and Sufi traditions.

    Reviews
  • The xx
    S6E5

    The xx

    Feb 11, 2013

    In The xx's songs, all the calm chilliness in the world can't quite contain an exposed heart.

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  • Night Beds
    S6E6

    Night Beds

    Feb 18, 2013

    Winston Yellen's arresting voice propels a lighthearted but deeply affecting set at the NPR office.

    Reviews
  • Mary Halvorson Quintet
    S6E7

    Mary Halvorson Quintet

    Feb 25, 2013

    The guitarist brings a decidedly non-standard approach to jazz's standard practices.

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  • The Lone Bellow
    S6E8

    The Lone Bellow

    Mar 4, 2013

    The fast-rising Brooklyn trio sings beautiful, heartfelt, impeccably harmonized folk-pop songs.

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  • Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill
    S6E9

    Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill

    Mar 11, 2013

    Watch one of the best fiddlers on the planet and a subtle guitar master work their magic.

    Reviews
  • Efterklang
    S6E10

    Efterklang

    Apr 8, 2013

    The Danish band ransacks the NPR Music offices looking for sound-making material and new ideas.

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  • Yo La Tengo
    S6E11

    Yo La Tengo

    Apr 15, 2013

    To coincide with the release of the band's 13th album, Fade, Yo La Tengo performs an acoustic set.

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  • Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu
    S6E12

    Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu

    Apr 22, 2013

    The duo's quietly energetic performance hangs over the the NPR Music offices like a soft mist.

    Reviews
  • Father Figures
    S6E13

    Father Figures

    Apr 29, 2013

    Zany, brainy and danceable, these guys' music mixes rock and jazz like King Crimson at its fiercest.

    Reviews
  • Nicola Benedetti
    S6E14

    Nicola Benedetti

    May 6, 2013

    Watch the violinist spin out music by John Williams and Bach in sweet, soulful tendrils of sound.

    Reviews
  • Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
    S6E15

    Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale

    May 13, 2013

    The veteran country players mix corny humor, musical merrymaking and timeless vocal harmonies.

    Reviews
  • Mohammad Reza Shajarian
    S6E16

    Mohammad Reza Shajarian

    May 20, 2013

    The 73-year-old Iranian icon unleashes torrents of swooping, soaring sound that elicit goosebumps.

    Reviews
  • Imani Winds
    S6E17

    Imani Winds

    May 29, 2013

    Imani Winds' members shrink Igor Stravinsky down to size in a quintet take on The Rite of Spring.

    Reviews
  • OK Go
    S6E18

    OK Go

    Jun 3, 2013

    OK Go helps us transport the Tiny Desk from NPR Music's old headquarters to our new facility.

    Reviews
  • The National
    S6E19

    The National

    Jun 10, 2013

    Watch the band perform acoustic arrangements of four songs from its new album, Trouble Will Find Me.

    Reviews
  • NO BS! Brass Band
    S6E20

    NO BS! Brass Band

    Jun 15, 2013

    An 11-piece brass band turns up the funk and flies the flag high for its native Richmond, Va.

    Reviews
  • Billy Bragg
    S6E21

    Billy Bragg

    Jun 17, 2013

    One of the world's finest folksingers channels the spirit of Woody Guthrie at the NPR Music offices.

    Reviews
  • Patty Griffin
    S6E22

    Patty Griffin

    Jun 24, 2013

    Watch the singer-songwriter and her band perform three songs from her fine new album, American Kid.

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  • Maya Beiser
    S6E23

    Maya Beiser

    Jun 29, 2013

    A brilliant cellist with a stunning command of her instrument, Beiser performs at the NPR offices.

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  • Laura Mvula
    S6E24

    Laura Mvula

    Jul 1, 2013

    The U.K. singer performs some of her most intimate material in a short set at the NPR Music offices.

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  • Cheick Hamala Diabate
    S6E25

    Cheick Hamala Diabate

    Jul 6, 2013

    The Malian musician and his band craft melodies and rhythms that cut across age and ethnicity.

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  • Skinny Lister
    S6E26

    Skinny Lister

    Jul 8, 2013

    The rowdy English folk-punk band brings its barely controlled mayhem to the NPR Music offices.

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  • Frank Turner
    S6E27

    Frank Turner

    Jul 13, 2013

    Two men with unplugged instruments convey the bawdy rowdiness of a full band.

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  • Alice Russell
    S6E28

    Alice Russell

    Jul 15, 2013

    When the British singer performs, her emotionally fiery music just gets hotter and grittier.

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  • Cheyenne Mize
    S6E29

    Cheyenne Mize

    Jul 20, 2013

    The singer, instrumentalist and music therapist plays slinky, forceful songs at NPR Music.

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  • Guards
    S6E30

    Guards

    Jul 22, 2013

    Hear three sturdy pop songs from In Guards We Trust, performed live at the NPR Music offices.

    Reviews
  • Time For Three
    S6E31

    Time For Three

    Jul 27, 2013

    Hear the "classically trained garage band" perform with staggering technique and contagious energy.

    Reviews
  • Dana Falconberry
    S6E32

    Dana Falconberry

    Jul 29, 2013

    Watch Falconberry and five bandmates perform three delicate songs from her recent album Leelanau.

    Reviews
  • Keaton Henson
    S6E33

    Keaton Henson

    Aug 3, 201314m

    Henson's voice is so fragile and hushed, if you were 10 feet away from him you'd barely hear a peep.

    Reviews
  • Jim Guthrie
    S6E34

    Jim Guthrie

    Aug 10, 2013

    Guthrie and his band drove 18 hours round-trip from Ontario to perform three songs for NPR Music.

    Reviews
  • Alpine
    S6E35

    Alpine

    Aug 12, 2013

    The Australian sextet crafts busily impeccable, harmony-intensive pop music with a danceable sway.

    Reviews
  • Mother Falcon
    S6E36

    Mother Falcon

    Aug 17, 2013

    The 17-member chamber-rock collective uses its size in the service of great, snappy, stirring songs.

    Reviews
  • The Front Bottoms
    S6E37

    The Front Bottoms

    Aug 19, 2013

    The community that's formed around The Front Bottoms speaks to the band's passion and compassion.

    Reviews
  • Buika
    S6E38

    Buika

    Aug 26, 2013

    Concha Buika's voice comes from Africa and the past. Watch her perform in the NPR Music offices.

    Reviews
  • Steve Gunn
    S6E39

    Steve Gunn

    Aug 31, 2013

    Watch Gunn's trio perform a set of hypnotic long-form jams that are perfect for taking it easy.

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  • Baths
    S6E40

    Baths

    Sep 4, 2013

    Watch Baths' Will Wiesenfeld perform mysterious, textured electronic music in the NPR offices.

    Reviews
  • Bombino
    S6E41

    Bombino

    Sep 7, 2013

    For our 300th Tiny Desk Concert, we showcase a Tuareg guitarist's fierce, hypnotic, alluring jams.

    Reviews
  • The 1975
    S6E42

    The 1975

    Sep 10, 2013

    Performing solo, singer Matthew Healy doesn't hesitate to transform both his songs and himself.

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  • Arturo O'Farrill
    S6E43

    Arturo O'Farrill

    Sep 14, 2013

    With an eye on both the past and the future, O'Farrill has jazz and Afro-Cuban music in his DNA.

    Reviews
  • Shovels & Rope
    S6E44

    Shovels & Rope

    Sep 16, 2013

    The husband-and-wife duo mixes rowdy folk-rock and rootsy ballads, with the help of a canine friend.

    Reviews
  • The Cristina Pato Trio
    S6E45

    The Cristina Pato Trio

    Sep 21, 2013

    A Galician bagpiper and her trio take Celtic sounds in an entirely wild and wonderful direction.

    Reviews
  • Hem
    S6E46

    Hem

    Sep 28, 2013

    Hem makes a homey, fireside kind of music, with songs that feel as if they've always been there.

    Reviews
  • Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi
    S6E47

    Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi

    Sep 30, 2013

    The Zimbabwean legend performs songs from the mournful but celebratory Sarawoga for NPR Music.

    Reviews
  • Lawrence Brownlee
    S6E48

    Lawrence Brownlee

    Oct 5, 2013

    The operatic tenor, acclaimed for his Rossini, circles back to his roots as a singer of spirituals.

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  • Superchunk
    S6E49

    Superchunk

    Oct 7, 2013

    Watch the venerable band translate its electric sound to acoustic instruments in an intimate way.

    Reviews
  • Valerie June
    S6E50

    Valerie June

    Oct 12, 2013

    Short of seeing her live and in person, this is the best way to encounter June's heartfelt sound.

    Reviews
  • Okkervil River
    S6E51

    Okkervil River

    Oct 15, 2013

    The band performs three songs from a record inspired by the childhood of singer Will Sheff.

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  • Matt Ulery's Loom
    S6E52

    Matt Ulery's Loom

    Oct 19, 2013

    The bassist composes beautiful, unpretentious music for an unusual jazz band with accordion.

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  • Daughter
    S6E53

    Daughter

    Oct 21, 2013

    Pretty and melancholy, the Londoners' music conjures a perfect mix of gloom, desire and hostility.

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  • Typhoon
    S6E54

    Typhoon

    Oct 26, 2013

    The dozen members of this Portland, Ore. band crammed behind the Tiny Desk for a transcendent set.

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  • San Fermin
    S6E55

    San Fermin

    Oct 28, 2013

    The orchestral folk-pop band's little song-worlds burst with ambition, talent and extreme joy.

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  • Neko Case
    S6E56

    Neko Case

    Oct 31, 2013

    Watch a Halloween Tiny Desk Concert in which Case performs with Kelly Hogan and Eric Bachmann.

    Reviews
  • Ashley Monroe
    S6E57

    Ashley Monroe

    Nov 3, 2013

    This three-song set in the NPR Music offices captures a nice cross-section of Monroe's appeal.

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  • Gary Burton
    S6E58

    Gary Burton

    Nov 9, 2013

    The jazz vibraphone pioneer is 70 now, but that hasn't slowed his flying four-mallet technique.

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  • Debashish Bhattacharya
    S6E59

    Debashish Bhattacharya

    Nov 12, 2013

    Bhattacharya draws on North Indian classical music, but blues also pours out of his stunning work.

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  • John Legend
    S6E60

    John Legend

    Nov 16, 2013

    The soul singer retains the easygoing grace of a performer fit for any stage — even a tiny one.

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  • Waxahatchee
    S6E61

    Waxahatchee

    Nov 23, 2013

    This is Katie Crutchfield as Waxahatchee, playing intimate music for an intimate setting.

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  • Kronos Quartet
    S6E62

    Kronos Quartet

    Nov 25, 2013

    The intrepid champions of new music bring a lullaby, rare blues and a work by Bryce Dessner to NPR.

    Reviews
  • The Dismemberment Plan
    S6E63

    The Dismemberment Plan

    Dec 2, 2013

    The band exudes playfulness and wry charm throughout these three songs from Uncanney Valley.

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  • Sarah Jarosz
    S6E64

    Sarah Jarosz

    Dec 7, 2013

    Jarosz and her small backing band craft a careful mix of technical proficiency and poppy warmth.

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  • Dessa
    S6E65

    Dessa

    Dec 9, 2013

    The whip-smart rapper, singer, poet and songwriter performs three tracks from Parts of Speech.

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  • Christine Salem
    S6E66

    Christine Salem

    Dec 14, 2013

    Salem sings work songs and chants from the maloya tradition on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

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  • La Santa Cecilia
    S6E67

    La Santa Cecilia

    Dec 16, 2013

    The video here provides just a hint of the L.A. band's dynamic live shows, albeit a spectacular one.

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  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band
    S6E68

    Preservation Hall Jazz Band

    Dec 21, 2013

    The hot and historic New Orleans band brings a tuba-wielding Santa and some original holiday cheer.

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