NPR Tiny Desk Concerts Season 7, Episode 27: Timber Timbre

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo

The musician unpacks an array of traditional Vietnamese instruments — and 1,000 years of culture.

Lily & Madeleine

The teenagers play a restrained, homespun mix of folk and pop with undeniably sweet harmonies.

Afro Blue

The Howard University vocal jazz ensemble performs beautiful African-American spirituals.

Robert Glasper Experiment

Members of the Grammy-winning, organic R&B Experiment band jam with singer Marsha Ambrosius.

Angel Olsen

The expressive, powerful singer previews songs from her new album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness.

Pixies

Hear the legendary band perform 1989's "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and two new songs — one unreleased.

Fanfare Ciocarlia

The joyous Balkan brass band plays at a pace that would make the Ramones burst into a sweat.

Suzanne Vega

The inventive folk-music veteran book-ends a four-song set with her hits "Luka" and "Tom's Diner."

Cate Le Bon

The Welsh singer's set conveys loneliness and doubt with just two guitars and an inviting whisper.

Sofia Rei

For about 20 minutes one sunny afternoon, Rei turned a desk into a small Latin American folk club.

Brass Bed

See the band re-create some of its stellar studio effects with a pedal steel and some novelty mics.

Asaf Avidan

Avidan has an album and no U.S. record label to put it out. But he's on a solo tour that's stunning.

Lowland Hum

It's hard to convey the sound of two people in love, but Lowland Hum does that effortlessly.

Jake Bugg

Watch the 20-year-old English singer-songwriter, who has worked with superproducer Rick Rubin.

Diane Cluck

On record, Cluck's elastic voice and fingerpicking are impressive. Live, they jam the senses.

Joseph Calleja

All the world's top opera houses want the young tenor with the old-school approach.

The Haden Triplets

When the sisters cover classic country music together, the result is a treat and a trip in time.

The Both

Singer-songwriters Aimee Mann and Ted Leo unite from opposite ends of the volume knob.

Tom Brosseau

The North Dakota singer-songwriter possesses one of the most arresting voices in folk music today.

Courtney Barnett

Barnett tells stories like your best friend, provided your best friend is a funny Australian poet.

Usman Riaz

A young Pakistani musician treats the guitar as percussion — with surprisingly shimmering results.

Federico Aubele

The Argentine singer uses his dark, husky voice to produce a specific effect in these three songs.

Quilt

Interweaving harmonies and guitar lines set the tone for these soft, benevolent, dreamy songs.

Johnnyswim

Impossibly telegenic and charming, the band mixes booming intensity with polish and sparkle.

Cian Nugent

The Dublin guitarist runs through a ragtime jaunt, a basement-bar choogle and a sad-sack closer.

Public Service Broadcasting

The duo's sample-laden instrumental music is entertainment as education for the head and feet alike.

Chvrches

The Scottish synth-pop band turns up with a small arsenal of synthesizers to perform three songs.

Iestyn Davies

See the countertenor and lutenist Thomas Dunford perform John Dowland's melancholy songs.

Ages And Ages

The band makes the kind of music that can at least briefly restore your faith in humanity.

Yasmine Hamdan

The Lebanese singer-songwriter is one of the most groundbreaking musicians in the Middle East.

Hozier

Andrew Hozier-Byrne wraps his rich, vital, soulful voice around songs rooted in the blues.

15 min

Juana Molina

Molina sounds as if she'd been raised by wolves and discovered the world of music on her own.

Simone Dinnerstein

Watch the celebrated pianist make Bach's Two-part Inventions sing and zing.

Marian McLaughlin

A quirky and wistful performer with a string section, McLaughlin makes music like few others.

Eliot Fisk And Paco Peña

A classical virtuoso and an equally captivating flamenco player combine for a set of duets.

Rodney Crowell

The country singer-songwriter performs with the ease and swagger of a man comfortable in his ways.

Mali Music

The singer-songwriter and musician performs with unabashed positivity and an uplifting spirit.

Conor Oberst

The Bright Eyes singer performs songs from Upside Down Mountain with help from members of Dawes.

Tracy Silverman

See the innovative player create waves of sound with a six-string violin.

Lydia Loveless

The 23-year-old singer-guitarist performs gritty, countrified blues-rock in the NPR Music offices.

The Foreign Exchange

Watch the Tiny Desk turn into a church, comedy club and neo-soul spot.

Moon Hooch

They call what they make "cave music" — but it's just as powerful at the Tiny Desk.

John Grant

Grant's songs don't mess around, with lyrics that function as darts of retort and thought.

Holly Williams

The singer has a magnificent way with phrasing, not to mention a remarkable country-music lineage.

Marisa Anderson

The guitarist kicks up some dirt with a Rev. Gary Davis deconstruction and a Stratocaster hoedown.

Hamilton Leithauser

In this three-song set, the Walkmen singer demonstrates that he's lost none of his vocal power.

Highasakite

Watch an atmospheric Norwegian band with a yearning sound. Also: See a flugabone!

Saintseneca

In the NPR offices, the Ohio band plays three alternately brooding and stomping songs from Dark Arc.

Quetzal

The veteran East L.A. band's music penetrates the intellect even as it makes your hips sway.

The Family Crest

The band's seven players are trained in classical and jazz, led by Liam McCormick's powerful voice.

Irene Diaz

With Carolyn Cardoza, Diaz conjures a place where emotions run deep and beauty is unmistakable.

Bob Mould

The former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman plugs in for a characteristically loud four-song set.

Ernest Ranglin

Watch a talented, charming guitar legend make magic as his band Avila holds down the beat.

Pacifica Quartet

Watch the group play selections from Shostakovich's cycle of introspective string quartets.

Rodrigo Amarante

A veteran of Little Joy and Los Hermanos, Amarante makes warm, tender music as a solo artist.

Nickel Creek

The band was made to sing and play around one microphone, so a Tiny Desk Concert seemed inevitable.

Sturgill Simpson

The Kentucky native writes country songs about loneliness, failed dreams, drinking and drugs.

15 min

Trampled By Turtles

Known for the speed of their playing, the Minnesotans are about more than just blistering bluegrass.

Jessica Lea Mayfield

Mayfield's music has gotten more beguiling as she explores the many contrasts in her hypnotic sound.

Justin Townes Earle

In advance of his new album Single Mothers, the singer performs two new songs and an old favorite.

Luluc

Graceful singing and storytelling meet guitars and textures that help create an unforgettable aura.

Tweedy

With his drummer son Spencer, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy performs songs from their new album, Sukierae.

Bio Ritmo

The 10-piece salsa band built its career on dance floors, where it never fails to make people move.

Ryan Keberle & Catharsis

The trombonist's working band established some nifty swing, assisted in absentia by Sufjan Stevens.

Jackson Browne

Browne still writes songs with conviction, craftsmanship and careful attention to detail.

Raquel Sofia

Sofia has spent most of her career 20 feet from stardom as a backup singer for Juanes and Shakira.

The Bots

The band plays with a great rock-duo punch that recalls The White Stripes or JEFF The Brotherhood.

Ásgeir

The Icelandic singer's voice is angelic and yearning, his songs simple and universal.

Anthony D'Amato

D'Amato's music can feel Motown-y, garage-y and Springsteen-y, but he sounds sparer here.

Danish String Quartet

Watch the young, versatile ensemble play folk music from around Denmark and beyond.

T-Pain

We asked the King of Auto-Tune to grace the Tiny Desk without any embellishment or effects.

Banks

Known for lavish electronic productions, Banks serves notice as a powerful singer in her own right.

Sun Ra Arkestra

With costumes inspired by Egyptian symbolism and sci-fi, Ra's band plays a special Halloween set.

Making Movies

A rousing band from Kansas City, Making Movies mixes languages and eras with infectious energy.

Roomful Of Teeth

Watch the group sing new music with yelps, yodels and a few fine harmonies.

Davíd Garza

The Austin singer-songwriter joins his stunning voice with that of touring partner Gaby Moreno.

J Mascis

The Dinosaur Jr. frontman, one of the world's loudest musicians, performs unplugged and acoustic.

Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo

Benatar and Giraldo play three classics: "We Live For Love," "We Belong" and "Promises In The Dark."

Sam Amidon & Bill Frisell

Amidon weaves his compositions into traditional music, while Frisell adds atmospheric guitar.

Dublin Guitar Quartet

Hear the Irish ensemble's fresh take on Philip Glass' propulsive yet intimate string quartets.

St. Paul And The Broken Bones

The band's got heart and soul and flair, with a well-worn sound buoyed by strong, fresh songwriting.

Yusuf/Cat Stevens

The singer performs two new songs, as well as "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Father and Son."

Lucinda Williams

She came to the desk a little unsure, and left singing "West Memphis" with intensity and passion.

HMSTR

Watch our favorite hamsters play their twee-as-all-get-out holiday pop-punk song, "Snow Day."