NPR Tiny Desk Concerts – Season 2012
Episodes
Tinariwen
Even in a stripped-down acoustic set, Tinariwen's trance-inducing desert music doesn't disappoint.
Le Butcherettes
Watch singer Teri Gender Bender transform from a soft-spoken musician into a rock 'n' roll beast.
Screaming Females
The band's keen sense of song prevails, especially in a new song called "It All Means Nothing."
Jake Schepps' Expedition Quartet
Banjo master Schepps and friends create an intriguing goulash of Bartók, bluegrass and bebop.
Glenn Jones
Watch the masterful folk guitarist perform a lovely instrumental set at the NPR Music offices.
Anna Calvi
Calvi plays songs from her self-titled debut in this powerful performance at the NPR Music offices.
Girl In A Coma
The San Antonio trio gets back to basics to explore its songs' forms and the soul of its lyrics.
Bill Frisell
The brilliant and nimble guitarist reinvents the songs of John Lennon at the NPR Music offices.
The Creole Choir Of Cuba
The group has revitalized a long-lost culture through music performed entirely in Haitian Creole.
Craig Finn
The Hold Steady singer's stark side is nicely conducive to barren arrangements at the NPR offices.
Red Baraat
The dance-friendly, India-inspired funk group performs a high-energy set at the NPR Music offices.
Joan Soriano
"The Duke of Bachata" gives a raw but beautiful interpretation of bachata at the NPR Music offices.
Joyce El Khoury And Brian Jagde
Hear the fresh-faced opera singers perform Puccini at the NPR Music offices.
The Cranberries
In this performance at the NPR Music offices, the Irish pop band mixes new songs with early hits.
Milagres
A band of selective minimalism, Milagres gets the most of simple sounds at the NPR Music offices.
Pistolera
Through her insightful lyrics, Sandra Velasquez conjures the sounds of the Mexican desert.
Laura Gibson
Her gorgeous, whispery voice inspired the Tiny Desk Concerts series in 2008. Now, Laura Gibson returns with her band to perform four songs from her new album, La Grande.
Rudresh Mahanthappa
The saxophonist's new repertoire salutes electric funk, South Indian modes and swarming solos.
Real Estate
Real Estate wears placidity well: It's a band born and bred to convey and celebrate laconic comfort.
Kayhan Kalhor
A soulful master musician from Iran, Kalhor performs a beautiful improvisation at the NPR offices.
First Aid Kit
Sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg make charming, folk-infused pop music that lulls and enchants.
So Percussion
The ensemble employs all kinds of toys, from an amplified cactus to a mug filled with spare change.
Kathleen Edwards
The Canadian singer performs four sweet, warm, relatable songs that soothe as they nourish.
Caveman
Caveman writes guitar-based pop songs full of space and melodies you can carry around in your head.
Novalima
At the NPR offices, the band plays in a lean, funky configuration that gets the room grooving along.
Soweto Gospel Choir
The group fuses the music of many Christian cultures, with nods to African songs of celebration.
Jolie Holland
Holland plays songs with an unadorned tone that makes the voice and lyrics all the more touching.
Cowboy Junkies
The venerable band sounds as poignant and tender as ever in this performance at the NPR offices.
Hospitality
The group doesn't overwhelm so much as it wears listeners down with a subtle charm offensive.
Nathan Salsburg
The guitarist displays intricate fingerpicking in two songs inspired by Kentucky Derby racehorses.
Endangered Blood
The jazz quartet draws from post-bop, 20th-century chromaticism and New Orleans funeral marches.
Kishi Bashi
K Ishibashi is a master at building songs from live violin loops, layered singing and beatboxing.
Pedro Soler And Gaspar Claus
The improvisational music of the father-son, guitar-cello duo functions as a beautiful conversation.
Chuck Brown
The Godfather of Go-Go died Wednesday. In 2010, he brought his full band to the NPR Music office.
Arborea
Rooted in acoustic traditions, the music of Arborea stands out for its calm beauty and rough edges.
Yann Tiersen
Tiersen's rich, liltingly eccentric pop music is constructed from lots of sweet, intricate pieces.
Canadian Brass
The venerable brass quintet sports virtuosic, fresh-faced players in tried-and-true repertoire.
Patrick Watson
Watson has a lovely voice and a gift for wringing evocative sounds out of everything he touches.
Kelly Hogan
The unflappable singer performs three songs with seeming effortlessness and easygoing charm.
Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom
The drummer dedicates tunes to her friends, including her first teacher — a "sometimes great guy."
Daniel Johnston
Watch three songs by a troubled soul with a talent for writing honest, disarmingly direct music.
Glen Hansard
Hansard flexes his neck muscles a bit as he performs new songs and deep cuts at the NPR offices.
Mariachi El Bronx
The band plays with just the right mixture of passion and pathos in a fun set at the NPR offices.
Reggie Watts
The comedian and musician performs spontaneous improvisations full of killer grooves and humor.
Exitmusic
The band plays a beautifully buzzing, nuanced set, marked by gorgeous grace and stirring melodies.
Brandi Carlile
At the NPR offices, Carlile and her band sing from-the-gut songs about messy lives, loudly lived.
Laura Marling
Two songs from A Creature I Don't Know bookend a gorgeous new, unreleased song called "Once."
Souad Massi
A soulful yet steely singer-songwriter from Algeria charts her own course in these four songs.
The Milk Carton Kids
Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale sing sweet but intricate folk-pop songs in the NPR offices.
Janet Feder
Feder marries classical and folk techniques with otherworldly guitar textures and sounds.
The Walkmen
The band makes the Tiny Desk accommodate its booming sound rather than the other way around.
Beth Orton
Known for mixing folk and electronics, Orton unveils three new songs with just an acoustic guitar.
The Zombies
Two surviving members of the band still have the same chemistry here in a stripped-down performance.
Rufus Wainwright
By the middle of Wainwright's final song, "Montauk," few dry eyes remained in the NPR offices.
Renaud Garcia-Fons
Watch the renowned double bassist thump, strum and loop his way through three mesmerizing songs.
Avi Avital
Avital's mandolin sings with the sounds of Ernest Bloch and a raucous Bulgarian folk tune.
Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra
These songs' fervor is the product of a singer armed with intensity and musicians who can match it.
Yva Las Vegass
Watch Las Vegass bring a punk aesthetic to Venezuelan folk music with a cuatro at the NPR offices.
Kat Edmonson
Hearing the 29-year-old singer makes it virtually impossible to do anything but stop and listen.
Antibalas
It's one thing for 11 musicians to make a big sound, but what stands out is Antibalas' subtlety.
Spirit Family Reunion
The group plays fiddle, banjo, guitar and washboard, all gathered around a single microphone.
Dirty Three
The band unleashes a gorgeous flurry of shambolic rumbling, prolific hairiness and dramatic yelling.
Robert Cray Band
Like any great blues singer, Cray makes heartache and dysfunction sound engaging and relatable.
Lord Huron
The band's rich harmonies are welcoming, its lyrics relatable and its live performances thrilling.
Passion Pit
Michael Angelakos makes electro-pop with monster hooks. But his songs are sturdy, versatile things.
Jason Lytle
The longtime frontman for Grandaddy goes it alone with acoustic solo songs from his latest record.
Flaco Jimenez
The conjunto icon spins magic, and stays true to tradition, with his trademark button accordion.
Ben Gibbard
For Tiny Desk Concert No. 250, the Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service singer performs solo.
Martha Wainwright
Wainwright roughs up life's smooth spots, then digs her fingertips into the cracks that form.
Taken By Trees
Victoria Bergsman's songs seem to come from a place somewhere between a dream state and waking life.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
The Seattle duo literally shakes the dust off the ceiling tiles at the NPR Music offices.
Anaïs Mitchell
The singer-songwriter performs three of Young Man in America's most bracingly beautiful songs.
Daniel Bachman
Once the acoustic guitarist zeroes in on the center of a song, it's easy to get lost in it yourself.
Lyle Lovett
Lovett gives a loose, engaging performance that feels like both an introduction and a victory lap.
Alt-J
The Mercury Prize-winning band plays angular, poetic, inventive music that takes unexpected turns.
The Polyphonic Spree
The sprawling group, 17 strong, squeezes behind Bob Boilen's desk for a special holiday performance.
Miguel
Performing at the NPR Music offices, Miguel strips his highly produced hits down to their bones.