14:46
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Tears and laughter in the span of about 15 minutes — that's what's so astonishing about th...
published: 03 Dec 2012
author: NPR Music
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
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 Lov...- published: 03 Dec 2012
- views: 670141
- author: NPR Music
13:41
Daughter: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Daughter first popped up on our radar when we heard the London band's song "Landfill" whil...
published: 22 Oct 2013
Daughter: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Daughter: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Daughter first popped up on our radar when we heard the London band's song "Landfill" while preparing for SXSW early last year: Achingly pretty and melancholy, the track builds to an absolute gut-punch of a line — "I want you so much, but I hate your guts" — that conjures a pitch-perfect mix of gloom, desire and hostility. The group has since released a full-length album, this year's lovely If You Leave, but Daughter was kind enough to resuscitate "Landfill" for this stripped-down performance at the Tiny Desk. As you'll see and hear, that aforementioned gut-punch is a recurring specialty for the band: In all three of these sad, searing songs, singer Elena Tonra showcases a remarkable gift for coolly but approachably dishing out weary words that resonate and devastate. --STEPHEN THOMPSON Set List "Youth" "Landfill" "Tomorrow" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius, Stephen Thompson; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Parker Miles Blohm, Chloe Coleman, Denise DeBelius- published: 22 Oct 2013
- views: 16592
18:18
The National: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The first thing you might notice about this video is the change in surroundings: NPR recen...
published: 10 Jun 2013
author: NPR Music
The National: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The National: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
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 ...- published: 10 Jun 2013
- views: 120434
- author: NPR Music
18:11
Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
He seemed so casual — sitting on a bar stool behind the Tiny Desk, acoustic guitar in hand...
published: 01 Oct 2013
Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
He seemed so casual — sitting on a bar stool behind the Tiny Desk, acoustic guitar in hand — but when you hear that husky voice, you'll know why he's a legend. Oliver Mtukudzi, or "Tuku" as his fans lovingly call him, plays spirited music, born from the soul of Zimbabwe. He's been recording since the late 1970s, with about as many albums as his age: 60. But Mtukudzi's new record reveals a heavier heart than before: Sarawoga is his first recording since the loss of his son Sam. He and Sam — also a guitar player, as well as a saxophonist — had a special relationship touring together. But in March 2010, Sam Mtukudzi was killed in a car crash at the age of 21. Oliver Mtukudzi recently told NPR's Tell Me More that "the only way to console myself is to carry on doing what we loved doing most. Sitting down [to] cry and mourn — I think it would have killed me." So here is the legend himself, with much to share in the odd intimacy of an office desk. A special moment. --BOB BOILEN Set List "Todii" "Huroi" "Haidyoreke" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Editor: Gabriella Garcia-Pardo; Audio Engineer: Suraya Mohamed; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Christopher Parks- published: 01 Oct 2013
- views: 1551
15:54
The Lone Bellow: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
After hearing The Lone Bellow's self-titled debut, I couldn't wait to play it for friends ...
published: 04 Mar 2013
author: NPR Music
The Lone Bellow: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The Lone Bellow: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
After hearing The Lone Bellow's self-titled debut, I couldn't wait to play it for friends and on All Songs Considered — I knew people would love it. Still, h...- published: 04 Mar 2013
- views: 97405
- author: NPR Music
10:56
Lily & Madeleine: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Sisters Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz aren't the youngest musicians ever to play the Tiny ...
published: 07 Jan 2014
Lily & Madeleine: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Lily & Madeleine: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Sisters Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz aren't the youngest musicians ever to play the Tiny Desk, but they come pretty close. Their music — a restrained, homespun mix of folk and pop with undeniably sweet harmonies — certainly ranks among the loveliest we've heard. Lily is just 16. Her sister Madeleine is 18. And while the older of the two Indiana natives recently headed off to college, leaving her sister behind to finish high school, they still write and record together. They released a stellar EP, The Weight of the Globe, last June, and a self-titled full-length debut followed in October. Lily & Madeleine's openhearted ballads first found an audience in the fall of 2012, after the pair posted a video for "In the Middle" on YouTube. It quickly received more than a quarter of a million views — enough to draw the attention of the Sufjan Stevens-led Asthmatic Kitty label, which signed the sisters and released both their EP and their full-length album. For the duo's Tiny Desk set, Lily & Madeleine chose not to perform that breakthrough song, opting instead to focus on newer material from the album: the wistful "Devil We Know," "Paradise" and "You Got Out." --ROBIN HILTON Set List "Devil We Know" "Paradise" "You Got Out" Credits Producers: Denise DeBelius, Robin Hilton; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Mito Habe-Evans, Becky Harlan- published: 07 Jan 2014
- views: 301
16:02
John Legend: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
At 34, John Legend has sold millions of records, won nine Grammys, collaborated with many ...
published: 18 Nov 2013
John Legend: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
John Legend: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
At 34, John Legend has sold millions of records, won nine Grammys, collaborated with many of the biggest stars in music (Jay-Z, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, The Roots, et al), and achieved the kind of statesmanlike musical-ambassador status usually afforded to artists twice his age. He is, in short, the sort of star who doesn't usually perform behind desks in offices. But once we'd wedged a piano back there, Legend sounded perfectly at home. His rich, soulful voice never suffered for a lack of processing and production as he performed three songs for NPR Music and a few hundred of our rapt coworkers, loved ones and hangers-on. Though he recently released a fine new album titled Love in the Future, from which "Made to Love" and "All of Me" were drawn for this set, Legend took special care to provide the backstory for "Move," which he'd recorded for the soundtrack to 12 Years a Slave. Legend executive-produced that soundtrack himself — don't be surprised if you wind up hearing him perform "Move" again on Oscar night — and recorded the album version with U.K. musician Fink. Here, though, it's stripped down considerably, with just Legend's piano and the acoustic guitar of guest Bobby Anderson providing accompaniment. Legend doesn't play settings this intimate very often, and it's not as if he has anything to prove at this point in his career. But, just in case he did, he retains a busker's lung capacity, the charisma of a born star and the easygoing grace of a performer fit for any stage — even a tiny one. --STEPHEN THOMPSON Set List "Made To Love" "Move" "All Of Me" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Becky Harlan, Abbey Oldham, Meredith Rizzo- published: 18 Nov 2013
- views: 9258
12:19
Mother Falcon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
When it comes to Tiny Desk Concerts, we're suckers for milestones at NPR Music: We're gear...
published: 17 Aug 2013
author: NPR Music
Mother Falcon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Mother Falcon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
When it comes to Tiny Desk Concerts, we're suckers for milestones at NPR Music: We're gearing up to acknowledge No. 300, for example, and are constantly taki...- published: 17 Aug 2013
- views: 189
- author: NPR Music
14:45
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros can't exactly slip into an office building unnoticed: C...
published: 02 Nov 2009
author: NPR Music
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros can't exactly slip into an office building unnoticed: Clad in the same clothes they'd worn at a concert the night before, ...- published: 02 Nov 2009
- views: 1600970
- author: NPR Music
13:18
Alt-J: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
There's mystery in the music of Alt-J: The band's songs are wrapped in enigmatic textures,...
published: 17 Dec 2012
author: NPR Music
Alt-J: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Alt-J: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
There's mystery in the music of Alt-J: The band's songs are wrapped in enigmatic textures, with swift shifts in arrangements inside every song and an oddness...- published: 17 Dec 2012
- views: 176263
- author: NPR Music
13:33
Typhoon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The appropriately named Typhoon is a sprawling band with an epic sound. The group from Por...
published: 29 Oct 2013
Typhoon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Typhoon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The appropriately named Typhoon is a sprawling band with an epic sound. The group from Portland, Ore. crafts rock anthems like emotional tidal waves, propelled by the stories of frontman Kyle Morton. His deeply personal tales are often full of grief and loss. But just as often they celebrate and praise life's simple wonders. Morton himself is a very grateful (and lucky) man who writes songs as if he were living on borrowed time. That's because a random bug bite when he was a child left him with a monstrous case of Lyme disease that led to multiple organ failures. Morton's own father donated a kidney to save his son's life. At 27, with a backing band of a dozen musicians, Morton and the rest of Typhoon are making some of the most poignant pop tunes around. We've been following this group for a few years now, but Typhoon has never done anything quite like what you can hear on its latest album, White Lighter. The songs are by far the best arranged and most compelling of the group's nearly 10-year run. Somehow everyone in Typhoon not only managed to fit behind the Tiny Desk, but also managed to shine in this performance. If you're looking for music that touches your heart, that helps you appreciate the everyday, sit back and get ready for Typhoon to carry you away. --BOB BOILEN Set List "Young Fathers" "The Lake" "Dreams Of Cannibalism" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Becky Harlan, Abbey Oldham- published: 29 Oct 2013
- views: 2024
10:38
Foster The People: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Armed with the summer song of 2011, the band brings "Pumped Up Kicks" and more to NPR Musi...
published: 13 Sep 2011
author: NPR Music
Foster The People: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Foster The People: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Armed with the summer song of 2011, the band brings "Pumped Up Kicks" and more to NPR Music. Set List: "Houdini" "Helena Beat" "Pumped Up Kicks" For more vid...- published: 13 Sep 2011
- views: 427321
- author: NPR Music
24:58
Robert Glasper Experiment: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The third song in this Tiny Desk Concert, explains the jocose pianist Robert Glasper, firs...
published: 21 Jan 2014
Robert Glasper Experiment: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Robert Glasper Experiment: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The third song in this Tiny Desk Concert, explains the jocose pianist Robert Glasper, first appeared on one of his trio's albums of acoustic, instrumental jazz. It was called "F.T.B." then, though it later acquired words and a singer and was retitled "Gonna Be Alright" on the record which won the 2013 Grammy for Best R&B; Album. That in itself provides a sense of the worlds to which Glasper has access; depending on your point of view, he either freely traverses or explodes those boundaries. Glasper has released two albums of what you might call neo-soul, or maybe organic R&B;, featuring a core band (The Robert Glasper Experiment) and guest stars like Erykah Badu, Lupe Fiasco and Norah Jones. Black Radio and last year's sequel, Black Radio 2, aren't heard much on "urban" radio, but the point is that they ought to be. Glasper builds his songs with old-school values: singers and MCs who don't need software to carry a melody, improvising within a band, hand-building beats and vamps with live instruments. That's what you see at the Tiny Desk. "Trust" features Marsha Ambrosius, formerly of the duo Floetry, and it's a good example of the Black Radio concept in raw, unpasteurized form. The middle tune is an ad hoc improvisation, and a good example of how Glasper and his Experiment have so dialed in their communication that they can plant seeds of noise and harvest blooms of music. By the time "F.T.B" (a.k.a. "Gonna Be Alright") rolls around, the mood is familiar and at ease. It's the sound of a band whose members speak many musical languages, but decide to converse in one that feels like its native tongue. --PATRICK JARENWATTANANON Set List "Trust" "NPR Tiny Desk Jam" "F.T.B. (Gonna Be Alright)" Personnel Robert Glasper, keyboards Derrick Hodge, bass Mark Colenburg, drums Marsha Ambrosius, voice Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Becky Harlan, Meredith Rizzo- published: 21 Jan 2014
- views: 3422
15:56
The Avett Brothers Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music
With all due respect to its terrific albums and kinetic, frenetic live shows, if The Avett...
published: 25 Jun 2009
author: NPR Music
The Avett Brothers Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music
The Avett Brothers Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music
With all due respect to its terrific albums and kinetic, frenetic live shows, if The Avett Brothers could put on a three-song acoustic concert at every workp...- published: 25 Jun 2009
- views: 1669050
- author: NPR Music
Vimeo results:
3:34
A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight?
Try as you might, you can't walk in a straight line without a visible guide point, like th...
published: 22 Nov 2010
author: NPR
A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight?
Try as you might, you can't walk in a straight line without a visible guide point, like the Sun or a star. You might think you're walking straight, but as NPR's Robert Krulwich reports, a map of your route would reveal you are doomed to walk in circles.
3:30
Look Up! The Billion-Bug Highway You Can't See
Look up at the sky and what do you see? Well, blue, yes. And maybe a plane or a bird, but ...
published: 25 Mar 2011
author: NPR
Look Up! The Billion-Bug Highway You Can't See
Look up at the sky and what do you see? Well, blue, yes. And maybe a plane or a bird, but otherwise ... nothing. Or so you think. It turns out that right above you, totally invisible, is an enormous herd of animal life -- tiny bugs riding the wind currents.
5:36
Human-Powered Helicopters: Straight Up Difficult
Read the full story here: http://www.npr.org/2012/10/14/160670295/flight-club-human-powere...
published: 12 Oct 2012
author: NPR
Human-Powered Helicopters: Straight Up Difficult
Read the full story here: http://www.npr.org/2012/10/14/160670295/flight-club-human-powered-helicopter
Explore the history of human flight here: http://www.npr.org/2012/10/12/159773795/timeline-the-history-of-human-powered-flight
It's difficult to build a working four-rotor helicopter that spans 100 feet and only weighs 80 pounds. It's even harder when your engine is a 0.7-horsepower person. But one team of engineering students is trying to do just that.
3:06
A Blast From The Past: Shuttle Through The Decades
Over three decades, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour flew more than...
published: 08 Jul 2011
author: NPR
A Blast From The Past: Shuttle Through The Decades
Over three decades, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour flew more than 100 missions. NPR takes a look back at some of the momentous video that came out of NASA's space shuttle program.
Credit: Andrew Prince, Maggie Starbard, Marina Dominguez/NPR
Youtube results:
14:35
Adele: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
In a stripped-down three-song set at the NPR Music offices, the Grammy-winning U.K. pop st...
published: 14 Feb 2011
Adele: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Adele: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
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- published: 14 Feb 2011
- views: 1715612
11:59
Sarah Jarosz: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Bluegrass' most beloved pros often play well into their 80s and 90s, so it would surprise ...
published: 09 Dec 2013
Sarah Jarosz: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Sarah Jarosz: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Bluegrass' most beloved pros often play well into their 80s and 90s, so it would surprise no one if our children's children's children turn up at a Sarah Jarosz concert 70 years from now. The singer and multi-instrumentalist first surfaced as an 18-year-old wunderkind with the release of 2009's Song Up In Her Head, which generated the first of what will likely be many Grammy nominations; now a grizzled 22, she's out performing songs from her fine new third album, Build Me Up From Bones. That record forms the basis of Jarosz's recent concert at the NPR Music offices, performed with the aid of fiddler Alex Hargreaves and cellist Nathaniel Smith. All polished young pros, the three breezed in happily and knocked us out with a careful mix of technical proficiency and poppy warmth. It's an enduring combination, as this sweet little set of songs amply demonstrates. --STEPHEN THOMPSON Set List "Over The Edge" "Build Me Up From Bones" "Fuel The Fire" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius, Stephen Thompson; Editor: Gabriella Garcia-Pardo; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Becky Harlan, Abbey Oldham- published: 09 Dec 2013
- views: 4040
11:48
Beirut: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Beirut arrived at the NPR Music offices dusty and exhausted following a weekend at Bonnaro...
published: 22 Sep 2011
author: NPR Music
Beirut: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Beirut: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Beirut arrived at the NPR Music offices dusty and exhausted following a weekend at Bonnaroo in Tennessee. But after some much-needed showers, the band brough...- published: 22 Sep 2011
- views: 390673
- author: NPR Music
22:49
Angel Olsen: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Angel Olsen came to the Tiny Desk on an odd autumn day, as an impending storm loomed outsi...
published: 27 Jan 2014
Angel Olsen: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Angel Olsen: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Angel Olsen came to the Tiny Desk on an odd autumn day, as an impending storm loomed outside our office windows. It all seemed just right for occasion: Watch her and you'll see calm in her eyes; listen to her and you'll sense torment in her heart. Olsen gave us a preview of her third record on that October day; she wouldn't tell us the title, but she did say the word "Burn" with a hint of the title in the words to a song she'd sing. Now, months later and just a few weeks before the release of Burn Your Fire for No Witness, we can share this exclusive preview. Olsen is a Missouri-born — and now Asheville, N.C.-based — musician via Chicago. The new record was produced by John Congleton with a new band featuring Josh Jaeger on drums and bassist Stewart Bronaugh. The trio began rehearsing these songs in a church turned recording studio in Asheville over the summer. The songs are at times explosive and at times lulling. At the Tiny Desk, the expressive and powerful singer stood alone, and in the process gave us the perfect way to first hear these songs. --BOB BOILEN Set List "Unf—theworld" "lota" "Enemy" "White Fire" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Becky Harlan, Meredith Rizzo- published: 27 Jan 2014
- views: 5222