About this season
Intimate musical performances, recorded live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.
Episodes (68)
1. Lucius
Aired 7 January 2013
One minute, Lucius sounds like a '60s girl group; the next might conjure images of Emmylou Harris.
2. Black Prairie
Aired 14 January 2013
With members of The Decemberists, the band lends a snappy, lilting quality to songs of alienation.
3. Of Montreal
Aired 28 January 2013
Frontman Kevin Barnes uses the intimacy of the NPR Music offices to try out some quiet new material.
4. Cantus
Aired 4 February 2013
The a cappella ensemble sings widely divergent songs from American, European and Sufi traditions.
5. The xx
Aired 11 February 2013
In The xx's songs, all the calm chilliness in the world can't quite contain an exposed heart.
6. Night Beds
Aired 18 February 2013
Winston Yellen's arresting voice propels a lighthearted but deeply affecting set at the NPR office.
7. Mary Halvorson Quintet
Aired 25 February 2013
The guitarist brings a decidedly non-standard approach to jazz's standard practices.
8. The Lone Bellow
Aired 4 March 2013
The fast-rising Brooklyn trio sings beautiful, heartfelt, impeccably harmonized folk-pop songs.
9. Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill
Aired 11 March 2013
Watch one of the best fiddlers on the planet and a subtle guitar master work their magic.
10. Efterklang
Aired 8 April 2013
The Danish band ransacks the NPR Music offices looking for sound-making material and new ideas.
11. Yo La Tengo
Aired 15 April 2013
To coincide with the release of the band's 13th album, Fade, Yo La Tengo performs an acoustic set.
12. Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu
Aired 22 April 2013
The duo's quietly energetic performance hangs over the the NPR Music offices like a soft mist.
13. Father Figures
Aired 29 April 2013
Zany, brainy and danceable, these guys' music mixes rock and jazz like King Crimson at its fiercest.
14. Nicola Benedetti
Aired 6 May 2013
Watch the violinist spin out music by John Williams and Bach in sweet, soulful tendrils of sound.
15. Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
Aired 13 May 2013
The veteran country players mix corny humor, musical merrymaking and timeless vocal harmonies.
16. Mohammad Reza Shajarian
Aired 20 May 2013
The 73-year-old Iranian icon unleashes torrents of swooping, soaring sound that elicit goosebumps.
17. Imani Winds
Aired 29 May 2013
Imani Winds' members shrink Igor Stravinsky down to size in a quintet take on The Rite of Spring.
18. OK Go
Aired 3 June 2013
OK Go helps us transport the Tiny Desk from NPR Music's old headquarters to our new facility.
19. The National
Aired 10 June 2013
Watch the band perform acoustic arrangements of four songs from its new album, Trouble Will Find Me.
20. NO BS! Brass Band
Aired 15 June 2013
An 11-piece brass band turns up the funk and flies the flag high for its native Richmond, Va.
21. Billy Bragg
Aired 17 June 2013
One of the world's finest folksingers channels the spirit of Woody Guthrie at the NPR Music offices.
22. Patty Griffin
Aired 24 June 2013
Watch the singer-songwriter and her band perform three songs from her fine new album, American Kid.
23. Maya Beiser
Aired 29 June 2013
A brilliant cellist with a stunning command of her instrument, Beiser performs at the NPR offices.
24. Laura Mvula
Aired 1 July 2013
The U.K. singer performs some of her most intimate material in a short set at the NPR Music offices.
25. Cheick Hamala Diabate
Aired 6 July 2013
The Malian musician and his band craft melodies and rhythms that cut across age and ethnicity.
26. Skinny Lister
Aired 8 July 2013
The rowdy English folk-punk band brings its barely controlled mayhem to the NPR Music offices.
27. Frank Turner
Aired 13 July 2013
Two men with unplugged instruments convey the bawdy rowdiness of a full band.
28. Alice Russell
Aired 15 July 2013
When the British singer performs, her emotionally fiery music just gets hotter and grittier.
29. Cheyenne Mize
Aired 20 July 2013
The singer, instrumentalist and music therapist plays slinky, forceful songs at NPR Music.
30. Guards
Aired 22 July 2013
Hear three sturdy pop songs from In Guards We Trust, performed live at the NPR Music offices.
31. Time For Three
Aired 27 July 2013
Hear the "classically trained garage band" perform with staggering technique and contagious energy.
32. Dana Falconberry
Aired 29 July 2013
Watch Falconberry and five bandmates perform three delicate songs from her recent album Leelanau.
33. Keaton Henson
Aired 3 August 2013 âą 14 min
Henson's voice is so fragile and hushed, if you were 10 feet away from him you'd barely hear a peep.
34. Jim Guthrie
Aired 10 August 2013
Guthrie and his band drove 18 hours round-trip from Ontario to perform three songs for NPR Music.
35. Alpine
Aired 12 August 2013
The Australian sextet crafts busily impeccable, harmony-intensive pop music with a danceable sway.
36. Mother Falcon
Aired 17 August 2013
The 17-member chamber-rock collective uses its size in the service of great, snappy, stirring songs.
37. The Front Bottoms
Aired 19 August 2013
The community that's formed around The Front Bottoms speaks to the band's passion and compassion.
38. Buika
Aired 26 August 2013
Concha Buika's voice comes from Africa and the past. Watch her perform in the NPR Music offices.
39. Steve Gunn
Aired 31 August 2013
Watch Gunn's trio perform a set of hypnotic long-form jams that are perfect for taking it easy.
40. Baths
Aired 4 September 2013
Watch Baths' Will Wiesenfeld perform mysterious, textured electronic music in the NPR offices.
41. Bombino
Aired 7 September 2013
For our 300th Tiny Desk Concert, we showcase a Tuareg guitarist's fierce, hypnotic, alluring jams.
42. The 1975
Aired 10 September 2013
Performing solo, singer Matthew Healy doesn't hesitate to transform both his songs and himself.
43. Arturo O'Farrill
Aired 14 September 2013
With an eye on both the past and the future, O'Farrill has jazz and Afro-Cuban music in his DNA.
44. Shovels & Rope
Aired 16 September 2013
The husband-and-wife duo mixes rowdy folk-rock and rootsy ballads, with the help of a canine friend.
45. The Cristina Pato Trio
Aired 21 September 2013
A Galician bagpiper and her trio take Celtic sounds in an entirely wild and wonderful direction.
46. Hem
Aired 28 September 2013
Hem makes a homey, fireside kind of music, with songs that feel as if they've always been there.
47. Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi
Aired 30 September 2013
The Zimbabwean legend performs songs from the mournful but celebratory Sarawoga for NPR Music.
48. Lawrence Brownlee
Aired 5 October 2013
The operatic tenor, acclaimed for his Rossini, circles back to his roots as a singer of spirituals.
49. Superchunk
Aired 7 October 2013
Watch the venerable band translate its electric sound to acoustic instruments in an intimate way.
50. Valerie June
Aired 12 October 2013
Short of seeing her live and in person, this is the best way to encounter June's heartfelt sound.
51. Okkervil River
Aired 15 October 2013
The band performs three songs from a record inspired by the childhood of singer Will Sheff.
52. Matt Ulery's Loom
Aired 19 October 2013
The bassist composes beautiful, unpretentious music for an unusual jazz band with accordion.
53. Daughter
Aired 21 October 2013
Pretty and melancholy, the Londoners' music conjures a perfect mix of gloom, desire and hostility.
54. Typhoon
Aired 26 October 2013
The dozen members of this Portland, Ore. band crammed behind the Tiny Desk for a transcendent set.
55. San Fermin
Aired 28 October 2013
The orchestral folk-pop band's little song-worlds burst with ambition, talent and extreme joy.
56. Neko Case
Aired 31 October 2013
Watch a Halloween Tiny Desk Concert in which Case performs with Kelly Hogan and Eric Bachmann.
57. Ashley Monroe
Aired 3 November 2013
This three-song set in the NPR Music offices captures a nice cross-section of Monroe's appeal.
58. Gary Burton
Aired 9 November 2013
The jazz vibraphone pioneer is 70 now, but that hasn't slowed his flying four-mallet technique.
59. Debashish Bhattacharya
Aired 12 November 2013
Bhattacharya draws on North Indian classical music, but blues also pours out of his stunning work.
60. John Legend
Aired 16 November 2013
The soul singer retains the easygoing grace of a performer fit for any stage â even a tiny one.
61. Waxahatchee
Aired 23 November 2013
This is Katie Crutchfield as Waxahatchee, playing intimate music for an intimate setting.
62. Kronos Quartet
Aired 25 November 2013
The intrepid champions of new music bring a lullaby, rare blues and a work by Bryce Dessner to NPR.
63. The Dismemberment Plan
Aired 2 December 2013
The band exudes playfulness and wry charm throughout these three songs from Uncanney Valley.
64. Sarah Jarosz
Aired 7 December 2013
Jarosz and her small backing band craft a careful mix of technical proficiency and poppy warmth.
65. Dessa
Aired 9 December 2013
The whip-smart rapper, singer, poet and songwriter performs three tracks from Parts of Speech.
66. Christine Salem
Aired 14 December 2013
Salem sings work songs and chants from the maloya tradition on RĂ©union Island in the Indian Ocean.
67. La Santa Cecilia
Aired 16 December 2013
The video here provides just a hint of the L.A. band's dynamic live shows, albeit a spectacular one.
68. Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Aired 21 December 2013
The hot and historic New Orleans band brings a tuba-wielding Santa and some original holiday cheer.