NPR Tiny Desk Concerts Season 11, Episode 72: The Messthetics

Open Mike Eagle

The indie rap denizen behind one of 2017's most inventive albums came to the nation's capital to represent all the Brick Body Kids who Still Daydream.

Lo Moon

The LA band's signature sound is intimate and demonstrative, haunting yet uplifting, an old-fashioned rock beat under glimmering guitar and keys. And at the Tiny Desk, it was at ease.

The Weather Station

One of the joys of listening to The Weather station is the tension and release in the group's enchanting music. It's what made the band's most recent album one of Bob Boilen's favorite of 2017.

Julien Baker

Julien Baker's Turn Out The Lights brought her much-deserved critical acclaim and wider attention in 2017. Before its release we asked her to make a rare return to the Tiny Desk for something special.

Daniil Trifonov

Watch the young Russian musician, who The Times of London calls “the most astounding pianist of our age,” play a smart, Chopin-focused concert on a grand piano, precisely wedged behind the Tiny Desk.

Artists From The 'Take Me To The River' Tour

More than a dozen artists gather behind the Tiny Desk to celebrate Memphis soul in a joyful, triumphant performance.

AHI

The Ontario-based singer has a gruff but sweet voice with openly honest words behind soulful tunes of hope.

The Lemon Twigs

Brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario seem like they beamed into the Tiny Desk from the year 1971, untouched by the 21st century.

Amadou and Mariam

The Malian musicians, who've been playing together for nearly 40 years, bring some of the most lyrical melodies and joyful sounds we've ever had at the Tiny Desk.

St. Vincent

The singer performed at the Tiny Desk without a warmup or soundcheck, with just her acoustic guitar and un-amplified voice, letting the wordplay in her songs shine through.

George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars

George Clinton brought his family, both immediate and extended, to the Tiny Desk for a set of classic cosmic slop.

Barbara Hannigan

Eavesdrop on a beautiful recital of German songs from fin de siècle Vienna, when music was transitioning from the swells of romanticism to the uncharted waters of modernism.

Jamila Woods

In three songs celebrating black ancestry and self-love, Woods demonstrated just how adept she is at creating songs rich with philosophical meaning that also move and groove.

Alice Smith

The beloved singer-songwriter premiered three new songs while turning NPR's headquarters into a Harlem speakeasy.

Vicente García

This under-the-radar singer from the Dominican Republic is starting to turn some heads. You'll see why in this Tiny Desk performance.

Hurray For The Riff Raff

The music of Hurray For The Riff Raff builds bridges, unites people and forms communities. It's a spirit singer Alynda Segarra and the rest of the band bring to this memorable Tiny Desk performance.

Ibeyi

Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz never fail to mesmerize. Watch the twin sisters perform a four-song set at the Tiny Desk.

The Crossrhodes

The Crossrhodes showed up to the Tiny Desk with game faces on, bringing with it a locally cultivated, globally appreciated energy.

Marlon Williams

Marlon Williams has a heart-stopping voice, is in love with a good, traditional blues or country tune, and writes songs about vampires and horror films.

Nick Hakim

The music of Nick Hakim occupies a space and time that feels out of this world, with songs that explore the quietude of inner thoughts.

Betsayda Machado y Parranda El Clavo

The Afro-Venezuelan collective brings the boisterous parranda sound to the Tiny Desk.

Big Daddy Kane

One of the greatest to ever bless the mic treated the Tiny Desk audience to an office block party.

August Greene (Common, Robert Glasper, Karriem Riggins)

August Greene, Common's new trio with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, brought some special guest vocalists to the Tiny Desk.

Vagabon

Laetitia Tamko, the artist known as Vagabon, is a 25-year-old, Cameroon-born musician with a big, tenor voice just bursting with new musical ideas.

Lee Ann Womack

The Nashville star brought some good old country music stories to the Tiny Desk.

Roy Ayers

Watch the 77-year-old jazz-funk icon perform “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” (and more) at the Tiny Desk.

Anna Meredith

Out of nearly 700 performances at the Tiny Desk over the past decade, this one by British composer Anna Meredith is one of the most exhilarating.

Big K.R.I.T.

The Mississippi rapper paid homage to his grandmother and performed songs from his new album 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time.

Alex Clare

Clare's songs ask listeners to probe their own emotions through the lens of life’s bigger pictures. His visit to Bob Boilen’s desk is the perfect setting to bask in the power of his voice.

Kuinka

Each year we get thousands of submissions for our annual Tiny Desk contest. Seattle's Kuinka was one of last year's entrants. While they didn't win, we loved them so much we invited them to come play.

John Prine

For more than 45 years, the legendary John Prine has written some of the most powerful lyrics in the American music canon. He brings some of his best to this unforgettable Tiny Desk performance.

16 min

Raul Midón

Raul Midón brought nothing but a guitar and his voice to an extended Tiny Desk set of dense, breathtaking jazz and soul textures.

Cornelius

Cornelius' Keigo Oyamada deconstructs and reassembles music like it's a neon cubist-pop sculpture. On a rare U.S. tour, the Japanese band brought its complex cool to the Tiny Desk.

Väsen

The Swedish trio brought a 30-string sonic blast to the Tiny Desk, performing on 12-string guitar, viola and the nyckelharpa (a fiddle with keys — think 15th century keytar).

Jenny And The Mexicats

Sometimes frenetic, sometimes slow and luxurious, the grooves the band creates are the perfect cushion for Jenny Ball's impassioned singing and engaging stage presence.

I'm With Her

Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins are bound by a love for bluegrass, chamber music, jazz, storytelling and singing.

Masta Ace

The Juice Crew legend brought his biggest hit, "Born To Roll," and a heartfelt recollection of his personal journey to the Tiny Desk.

Robin Olson

Hear the elusive avant-garde pianist debut a new piece, etched in shimmering chords and dark, lamenting octaves.

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Bridgewater connects with her roots, her birthplace and the town she's loved all her life, with a set of songs from Memphis.

Dan Auerbach

The guitarist and singer for The Black Keys and The Arcs brings his Easy Eye Sound Revue to the Tiny Desk, recalling a time and sound from the '60s when southern R&B, including Nashville, was a force.

Rhye

See the band perform a rare evening Tiny Desk concert, illuminated by flickering lights

Lara Bello

Flamenco, jazz and classical share the stage in this Tiny Desk from one of our favorite Spanish composers.

16 min

Tyler Childers

Tyler Childers writes songs about hard lives and hard love with direct heart and a soulful Kentucky drawl.

10 min

Jorge Drexler

The Uruguayan singer-songwriter is one of the finest lyricists operating today. Watch his stunning performance behind the Tiny Desk.

The Breeders

The Breeders' dreamy scuzz sounds wiser and more frazzled at the Tiny Desk, featuring the same lineup behind the band's breakout, 1993 album Last Splash.

O.C.

The veteran Brooklyn rapper was an underground star during hip-hop's golden era. At the Tiny Desk, O.C. made it clear that he hasn't lost his edge.

John Moreland

When you hear John Moreland's sweet voice, it's hard to believe he spent years singing in punk, metal-core and hardcore bands. He plays acoustic guitar now, but his songs are still full of passion.

Logan Richardson

Hear a triumphant fusion of jazz, rock and blues that moves with momentum and fresh anticipation. Logan Richardson plays with a lyrical intensity that is both focused and free.

Superorganism

The multinational band of theatrically fun and talented musicians in Superorganism mix melody and mischievous with almost Seussian folly.

ÌFÉ

ÌFÉ isn't playing anything new. In fact, the band takes on something quite old: ritual Afro-Caribbean music that takes a lifetime to absorb and master.

Bedouine

Bedouine is Azniv Korkejian, a singer and guitarist who echoes sounds from the 1960's North American folk songwriters, but with vocal inflections closer to Leonard Cohen than to Joni Mitchell.

GZA & The Soul Rebels

Most rap fans would name RZA as the head of the Wu-Tang Clan. But Wu purists know that GZA, or The Genius, is the crew's unspoken elder statesman.

Darlingside

Even if the world came to an end, there's still beauty and hope in all of us and in song. That about sums up the wistful mystery that is the music of Darlingside.

Gordi

In three songs from Reservoir, Gordi keeps her voice both unadorned and centered within warm, cool arrangements that include piano, guitar, pedal steel, a harmonium named Barbara, and more.

Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn are two American musical treasures. This husband-and-wife banjo duo write original tunes steeped in the roots of folk music.

Naia Izumi

The winner of this year's Tiny Desk Contest makes his official debut behind the desk.

Khruangbin

This trio from Houston, Texas makes trance-inducing music heavily inspired by 1960s and '70s funk and soul from, of all places, Thailand.

Partner

The dream of the '90s is alive in this Canadian rock band.

The Band's Visit

Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk and the cast of the Tony-nominated play The Band's Visit marked the first Broadway performance at the Tiny Desk.

Juanes & Mon Laferte

The Colombian pop star and Chilean rising star brought their duet tour to the Tiny Desk.

Ill Camille

The Los Angeles rapper and Kendrick Lamar collaborator performed four songs from her excellent album, Heirloom.

Third Coast Percussion

Watch the Chicago-based ensemble conjure otherworldly sounds from steel pipes, tuned cowbells and a bowl that sings.

Trouble Funk

We squeezed 12 go-go musicians behind the Tiny Desk. Watch what ensued.

Tom Misch

This 22-year-old Brit has soul for days.

Daniel Caesar

Watch the R&B star-in-the-making perform three songs, including a guest appearance by H.E.R.

Grace VanderWaal

The 14-year-old singer who signed to Columbia after winning America's Got Talent, dazzles the Tiny Desk with her breathtaking voice.

MILCK

The one-woman riot who made headlines during the inaugural Women's March On Washington visits the Tiny Desk.

Jorja Smith

Watch the rising U.K. star perform intimate renditions of "Blue Lights," "On My Mind" and "Teenage Fantasy" with a full band.

GoldLink

The D.C. rapper brought quite the crew to his Tiny Desk performance.

Yissy García & Bandancha

Come for one of Havana's most talented acts. Stay for García's incredible mohawk.

Khalid

Watch the 20-year-old star perform acoustic versions of "Location," "Saved" and "Young Dumb & Broke."

From The Top

A handful of teenagers, and a 12-year-old violinist, from the radio show From the Top, give sparkling performances, proving there's a bright future for classical music.

Rakim

Watch the New York rap icon perform "Paid In Full" and "Know The Ledge," as well as a new song for Marvel's Luke Cage, at the Tiny Desk.

Dave Matthews

The star sheds his band for a warm, winning, utterly game, happily overstuffed five-song performance of songs from across his long career.

Golden Dawn Arkestra

Join the "Children of the Sun" - or sit back and enjoy the spectacle - in this Tiny Desk experience.

PJ Morton

New Orleans' native son brought his musical Gumbo — and a 10-piece orchestra — to the Tiny Desk for some well-seasoned soul and a lesson in creative freedom.

Frédéric Yonnet With Special Guest Dave Chappelle

Yonnet is a magician on the harmonica. You'll see why he's performed with Stevie Wonder, Prince and Ed Sheeran.

Rev. Sekou And The Seal Breakers

Rev. Sekou and the Seal Breakers gave one of the most rousing Tiny Desks we've ever had, opening with one question: "Do you want to get free?"

Mumu Fresh Feat. Black Thought & DJ Dummy

Occasionally a new voice emerges so rich in experience that the only way to describe it is old soul.

The Midnight Hour

A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad and composer Adrian Younge brought their Luke Cage-inspired collaboration to the Tiny Desk.

Ólafur Arnalds

The Icelandic composer is joined by two "ghost" pianists, making mysterious and memorable music at the Tiny Desk.

The King's Singers

The storied vocal ensemble brings close harmony singing to a diverse set list that includes a Beatles tune and a bawdy madrigal from the 1500s.

Lalah Hathaway

The veteran singer showcases her soaring powerfully expressive voice in a performance that bridges several generations of classic soul.

Flasher

The precise serrations of Washington, D.C. band Flasher get softened for a visit to the Tiny Desk — their vocals, normally side-by-side rushing electric instruments, get the center stage treatment.

The Del McCoury Band

Del McCoury has been performing, and updating, his take on bluegrass for some 60 years. At the Tiny Desk, he brought three traveling songs and some good yarns to share from his ample time on the road.

Haley Heynderickx

One of our favorite new artists of 2018 visits the Tiny Desk.

Mac Miller

Mac Miller reflects on his journey's peaks and valleys in a boisterous set of songs from Swimming, featuring special guest Thundercat on "What's the Use?"

DAWN

DAWN has a breathless enthusiasm for shape-shifting pop music. She strips three songs to just the essentials, illuminating the impeccable songwriting behind her wild combination of sounds.

Tower Of Power

Even from its beginnings in late-'60s Oakland, the band has always stood out. Fifty years later, its devotion to classic horn-driven soul remains unmatched, its passion and precision unchanged.

Erykah Badu

The singer's performance at the Tiny Desk was an almost spiritual experience, leaving many at the NPR Music offices in awe.

Yo-Yo Ma

Watch the 19-time Grammy winner return to his lifelong passion for J.S. Bach, playing music from the Cello Suites and offering advice on the art of incremental learning.

Camp Cope

The Australian band uses tiny moments of introspection to illuminate life's bewildering, terrifying, isolating aspects — especially as they apply to women.

Dermot Kennedy

Backed for the first time ever by members of the Howard Gospel Choir, the Irish singer-songwriter shows off a voice built to fill stadiums in more ways than one.

T.I.

In the fifteen years since he released Trap Muzik, Tip Harris has reinvented himself a thousand times over. But the stories he recounts from that era make his Tiny Desk a memorable one.

Tech N9ne Feat. Krizz Kaliko

Two of Kansas City's finest — and indie hip-hop's trailblazers — deliver a dose of Strange Music.

George Li

Watch the young Harvard grad dispatch some of the most "knuckle-busting" piano repertoire with uncommon panache and precision.

Kalbells

The band makes life-affirming music that singer Kalmia Traver created over the past few years, filled with the triumph of being cancer free.

Jupiter & Okwess

Jupiter Bokondji and his band Okwess play music that feels both African and American, with Jupiter's early musical tastes inspired by The Jackson 5, James Brown and the sounds of Motown.

Hobo Johnson

While this Sacramento, Calif. band didn't win this year's Tiny Desk contest, their video entry, for the song "Peach Scones," was among the more memorable we've ever seen.

GoGo Penguin

This trio has become a reference point of their own for new school instrumentalists, a coveted achievement for any jazz group, though their appeal stretches far outside the jazz ecosystem.

Smif-N-Wessun

Brooklyn-bred hip-hop duo Smif-N-Wessun – consisting of partners in rhyme, Steele and Tek – illuminated the Tiny Desk with their signature, 80-proof poetry: straight, no chaser.

Julie Byrne

Julie Byrne's transporting music can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Anthony Roth Costanzo

Watch the ambitious countertenor sing music that spans more than 250 years, connecting the dots between David Byrne, George Frideric Handel and Philip Glass.

Cécile McLorin Salvant

The jazz singer, who used to be into radical feminist punk, now composes and sings beautiful jazz ballads.

Saba

Before embarking on a tour of Australia and Asia, the Chicago native brought the squad that helped make Care For Me one of 2018's best — along with a very special guest.

Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles

Henry and his band would have sounded right at home on Stax Records in the '70s — no small accomplishment. Watch them perform three funky, soulful jams.

Big Boi

The OutKast star performs "So Fresh, So Clean," "The Way You Move" and his solo single "All Night" with the help of singer Sleepy Brown and an eight-member backing band.

Café Tacvba

The pioneering Mexican band recreates the adventurous musical energy of their massive stadium shows behind Bob Boilen's desk.

Florence + the Machine

"I'm sorry I'm shy," Florence Welch told the crowd of NPR family and friends gathered for her Tiny Desk performance. "If this was a big gig, I'd probably be climbing all over here and running around."

Alfredo Rodríguez

The Cuban pianist thrilled the NPR office with an intense performance that was as melodic as it was rhythmic.

Chromeo

The self-proclaimed "Funklordz" normally perform as a duo, but played with a live band for the first time at the Tiny Desk.

Cautious Clay

The charismatic singer and saxophonist brought a group of longtime friends to play a warm, thoughtful and chill set at the Tiny Desk.

Jim James

A single voice can send a powerful message - and that's just what Jim James did at the Tiny Desk, with just his voice and an acoustic guitar.

Liniker e os Caramelows

Liniker e os Caramelows are from Brazil but steeped in the tradition of soul from here in the U.S. Watching this performance is to witness a spell being cast, note-by-note.

Nicholas Payton Trio

After back-to-back performances in South Africa, Argentina, Chile and New York, Payton hit the Tiny Desk, where he dazzled the audience, simultaneously playing his trumpet and a Fender Rhodes.

Pedro The Lion

No matter how dark or disastrous, there's always been an undercurrent of grace to the music of David Bazan. He returns to his Pedro the Lion moniker for this memorable Tiny Desk performance.

Half Waif

The band's songs, stripped here to their essence, are particularly peaceful and calm — and sometimes chilling.

Bernie And The Believers Feat. Essence

The story of Bernie and the Believers is the story of Bernie Dalton's diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's disease and compassionate friends making his dream come true and his songs come to life.

Boygenius

Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers are all Tiny Desk alumae, but here they play together at NPR for the first time as boygenius, one of this year's best surprises.

dvsn

The Toronto-based R&B duo bathed the Tiny Desk in vibrant blue, purple and orange light to make it feel more like a concert hall.

The Innocence Mission

The Innocence Mission, ever the most careful cultivators of quiet, encouraged us to come closer, to discover the "thing beautiful enough" in the moment it's delivered.

Joey Alexander

No one in the NPR offices could have imagined how remarkable this 15-year old pianist would be at the Tiny Desk.

Dirty Projectors

The band takes its quirks of production, rhythm and rhyme and brilliantly arranges them to work behind the Tiny Desk.

Wu-Tang Clan

The Clan celebrates its 25th anniversary with an old-school cipher at the Tiny Desk.

H.E.R.

The singer stuns in her second appearance at the Tiny Desk, showcasing not only her vocal mastery, but her skills as a captivating multi-instrumentalist.

Harold López-Nussa Trio

Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa, along with his brother Ruy on drums and bassist Gaston Joya, deliver a set of danceable jazz explorations rooted in Afro-Cuban musical traditions to the Tiny Desk.

Amy Grant

Amy Grant maps her fabulous, four-decade career with some of her coziest and heartfelt Christmas songs, not to mention a delightful version of "Jingle Bells."