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NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

Season 2013 2013
NR

  • 2013-01-07T05:00:00Z on NPR
  • 14m
  • 15h 52m (68 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
Intimate musical performances, recorded live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

68 episodes

Season Premiere

2013-01-07T05:00:00Z

2013x01 Lucius

Season Premiere

2013x01 Lucius

  • 2013-01-07T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-01-14T05:00:00Z

2013x02 Black Prairie

2013x02 Black Prairie

  • 2013-01-14T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-01-28T05:00:00Z

2013x03 Of Montreal

2013x03 Of Montreal

  • 2013-01-28T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-02-04T05:00:00Z

2013x04 Cantus

2013x04 Cantus

  • 2013-02-04T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-02-11T05:00:00Z

2013x05 The xx

2013x05 The xx

  • 2013-02-11T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-02-18T05:00:00Z

2013x06 Night Beds

2013x06 Night Beds

  • 2013-02-18T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-02-25T05:00:00Z

2013x07 Mary Halvorson Quintet

2013x07 Mary Halvorson Quintet

  • 2013-02-25T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-03-04T05:00:00Z

2013x08 The Lone Bellow

2013x08 The Lone Bellow

  • 2013-03-04T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013x09 Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill

  • 2013-03-11T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-04-08T04:00:00Z

2013x10 Efterklang

2013x10 Efterklang

  • 2013-04-08T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-04-15T04:00:00Z

2013x11 Yo La Tengo

2013x11 Yo La Tengo

  • 2013-04-15T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013x12 Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu

  • 2013-04-22T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-04-29T04:00:00Z

2013x13 Father Figures

2013x13 Father Figures

  • 2013-04-29T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-05-06T04:00:00Z

2013x14 Nicola Benedetti

2013x14 Nicola Benedetti

  • 2013-05-06T04:00:00Z14m

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

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

2013x16 Mohammad Reza Shajarian

  • 2013-05-20T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-05-29T04:00:00Z

2013x17 Imani Winds

2013x17 Imani Winds

  • 2013-05-29T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-06-03T04:00:00Z

2013x18 OK Go

2013x18 OK Go

  • 2013-06-03T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-06-10T04:00:00Z

2013x19 The National

2013x19 The National

  • 2013-06-10T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-06-15T04:00:00Z

2013x20 NO BS! Brass Band

2013x20 NO BS! Brass Band

  • 2013-06-15T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-06-17T04:00:00Z

2013x21 Billy Bragg

2013x21 Billy Bragg

  • 2013-06-17T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-06-24T04:00:00Z

2013x22 Patty Griffin

2013x22 Patty Griffin

  • 2013-06-24T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-06-29T04:00:00Z

2013x23 Maya Beiser

2013x23 Maya Beiser

  • 2013-06-29T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-01T04:00:00Z

2013x24 Laura Mvula

2013x24 Laura Mvula

  • 2013-07-01T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-06T04:00:00Z

2013x25 Cheick Hamala Diabate

2013x25 Cheick Hamala Diabate

  • 2013-07-06T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-08T04:00:00Z

2013x26 Skinny Lister

2013x26 Skinny Lister

  • 2013-07-08T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-13T04:00:00Z

2013x27 Frank Turner

2013x27 Frank Turner

  • 2013-07-13T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-15T04:00:00Z

2013x28 Alice Russell

2013x28 Alice Russell

  • 2013-07-15T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-20T04:00:00Z

2013x29 Cheyenne Mize

2013x29 Cheyenne Mize

  • 2013-07-20T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-22T04:00:00Z

2013x30 Guards

2013x30 Guards

  • 2013-07-22T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-27T04:00:00Z

2013x31 Time For Three

2013x31 Time For Three

  • 2013-07-27T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-07-29T04:00:00Z

2013x32 Dana Falconberry

2013x32 Dana Falconberry

  • 2013-07-29T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-03T04:00:00Z

2013x33 Keaton Henson

2013x33 Keaton Henson

  • 2013-08-03T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-10T04:00:00Z

2013x34 Jim Guthrie

2013x34 Jim Guthrie

  • 2013-08-10T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-12T04:00:00Z

2013x35 Alpine

2013x35 Alpine

  • 2013-08-12T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-17T04:00:00Z

2013x36 Mother Falcon

2013x36 Mother Falcon

  • 2013-08-17T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-19T04:00:00Z

2013x37 The Front Bottoms

2013x37 The Front Bottoms

  • 2013-08-19T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-26T04:00:00Z

2013x38 Buika

2013x38 Buika

  • 2013-08-26T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-08-31T04:00:00Z

2013x39 Steve Gunn

2013x39 Steve Gunn

  • 2013-08-31T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-04T04:00:00Z

2013x40 Baths

2013x40 Baths

  • 2013-09-04T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-07T04:00:00Z

2013x41 Bombino

2013x41 Bombino

  • 2013-09-07T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-10T04:00:00Z

2013x42 The 1975

2013x42 The 1975

  • 2013-09-10T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-14T04:00:00Z

2013x43 Arturo O'Farrill

2013x43 Arturo O'Farrill

  • 2013-09-14T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-16T04:00:00Z

2013x44 Shovels & Rope

2013x44 Shovels & Rope

  • 2013-09-16T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-21T04:00:00Z

2013x45 The Cristina Pato Trio

2013x45 The Cristina Pato Trio

  • 2013-09-21T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-28T04:00:00Z

2013x46 Hem

2013x46 Hem

  • 2013-09-28T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-09-30T04:00:00Z

2013x47 Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi

2013x47 Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi

  • 2013-09-30T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-05T04:00:00Z

2013x48 Lawrence Brownlee

2013x48 Lawrence Brownlee

  • 2013-10-05T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-07T04:00:00Z

2013x49 Superchunk

2013x49 Superchunk

  • 2013-10-07T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-12T04:00:00Z

2013x50 Valerie June

2013x50 Valerie June

  • 2013-10-12T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-15T04:00:00Z

2013x51 Okkervil River

2013x51 Okkervil River

  • 2013-10-15T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-19T04:00:00Z

2013x52 Matt Ulery's Loom

2013x52 Matt Ulery's Loom

  • 2013-10-19T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-21T04:00:00Z

2013x53 Daughter

2013x53 Daughter

  • 2013-10-21T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-26T04:00:00Z

2013x54 Typhoon

2013x54 Typhoon

  • 2013-10-26T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-28T04:00:00Z

2013x55 San Fermin

2013x55 San Fermin

  • 2013-10-28T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-10-31T04:00:00Z

2013x56 Neko Case

2013x56 Neko Case

  • 2013-10-31T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-11-03T04:00:00Z

2013x57 Ashley Monroe

2013x57 Ashley Monroe

  • 2013-11-03T04:00:00Z14m

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

2013-11-09T05:00:00Z

2013x58 Gary Burton

2013x58 Gary Burton

  • 2013-11-09T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-11-12T05:00:00Z

2013x59 Debashish Bhattacharya

2013x59 Debashish Bhattacharya

  • 2013-11-12T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-11-16T05:00:00Z

2013x60 John Legend

2013x60 John Legend

  • 2013-11-16T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-11-23T05:00:00Z

2013x61 Waxahatchee

2013x61 Waxahatchee

  • 2013-11-23T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-11-25T05:00:00Z

2013x62 Kronos Quartet

2013x62 Kronos Quartet

  • 2013-11-25T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-12-02T05:00:00Z

2013x63 The Dismemberment Plan

2013x63 The Dismemberment Plan

  • 2013-12-02T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-12-07T05:00:00Z

2013x64 Sarah Jarosz

2013x64 Sarah Jarosz

  • 2013-12-07T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-12-09T05:00:00Z

2013x65 Dessa

2013x65 Dessa

  • 2013-12-09T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-12-14T05:00:00Z

2013x66 Christine Salem

2013x66 Christine Salem

  • 2013-12-14T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013-12-16T05:00:00Z

2013x67 La Santa Cecilia

2013x67 La Santa Cecilia

  • 2013-12-16T05:00:00Z14m

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

2013x68 Preservation Hall Jazz Band

  • 2013-12-21T05:00:00Z14m

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

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