cold and rainy is the afternoon forecast here in houston, quite fitting for this chilly barebones performance from the xx at npr’s tiny desk offices. watch the above clip for performances of “angels” and “sunset.”
-grizzly
what is it that makes these intimate videos so good? i have no clue, but something as simple as acoustic guitars and pianos can go a long way for r&b artists it seems. watch above for performances of “do you,” “the thrill,” and “adorn.”
also, kaleidoscope dream is still great and you missed out.
-grizzly
fuck-freakin’-yes!! mysterious leeds band alt-j brought their nocturnal freak-groove to the npr offices, to the utter delight of all songs considered host, bob boilen. watch the group’s intimate acoustic performance of “an awesome wave tracks “tesselate,” “something good,” and, my favorite “matilda” above.
will an awesome wave edge out the other frontrunners in my year end list? you’ll find out soon.
- sunbear
mackelymores and ryan lewis got the opportunity for a small set on NPR’s beloved tiny desk concert series, where they brought some of the heist’s biggest tracks to perform: “same love,” “thrift shop” (ugh) and “can’t hold us.”
-grizzly
this is a beaut. passion pit bring a couple of gossamer tracks (which is still in the running for AOTY for me, personally) and “sleepyhead” to the NPR offices for their very own tiny desk concert. watch the clip above as michael takes on a different tone than what you’ve heard on their albums.
-grizzly
tiny desk delivers yet again, this time shoving rufus and a yamaha in a small space for a 15 minute performance. try not to cry and shit.
-grizzly
multi-instrumentalist, comedian and all around badass reggie watts stopped by the npr studios to raise his personal brand of hell. he performed a handful of songs for the ‘tiny desk concert’ series, for which you can see the non embeddable video AND download the performance’s mp3 counterpart at.
watch/download:
reggie watts – tiny desk concert [npr]
-grizzly
wilco playing a tiny desk concert is what it’s all about – a stadium sized band packing it in close quarters with tiny amps and a miniscule amount of microphones to perform an intimate set to the their hometown pencil pushing fans in the npr offices.
the band run through three songs from their latest album the whole love, as well as an old favorite “war on war” from yankee hotel foxtrot, playing to a packed and adoring audience. catch the performance at the link below.
the whole love is out now.
watch:
wilco – npr’s tiny desk concert
- sunbear
baltimore synth-poppers future islands are set to release their third album, the intensely yearning on the water, this october 11th, but thanks to the courteous folks at npr, you can stream the album in its entirety now just by clicking here.
added bonus: the band also swung by the offices a few months ago and performed what might be one of the most intense tiny desk concerts i’ve ever seen. check that out (and hold it all in) by going here.
- sunbear
- “is that the first time you’ve said ‘this is “pumped up kicks”‘ and no one said anything?”
- “yeah, right? i think people are over that song.”
foster the people shed the glossy synths and hermetic production of their smash debut torches to pick up an acoustic guitar for npr’s tiny desk concerts. all three torches songs, stripped of their technological polish, sound downright pretty and sometimes even folky coming from the trio. check out the performance at the npr link below.
watch:
foster the people – npr’s tiny desk concert
- sunbear
these brilliant bastards can’t stop, won’t stop. the quintet stopped by and crammed into npr’s tiny desk offices to perform “wide eyes,” “cards and quarters” and “airplanes.” hopefully, they’re playing another nine shows at sxsw; i’d enjoy seeing them a few more times.
watch:
local natives – tiny desk concerts for npr
-grizzly
this is one of the best things to happen all day. adele’s in the npr offices to performn her 3-song set, full of charm and endearment. head over to npr to watch the set, which consists of “someone like you,” “chasing pavements” and “rolling in the deep.” and yeah, 21 is in stores next week. get that ish.
watch:
adele’s tiny desk concert for npr
-grizzly
the masters of guerilla acoustic shows, phoenix, have landed themselves in the offices of npr to perform for the pen pushers and whispery voices of the radio station. 4 tracks from wolfgang amadeus phoenix are played and smiles abound. and their french accents are so charming!
watch:
phoenix – tiny desk concert at npr
- sunbear