I LOVE… NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts

The story has been told many times, but let me entertain you with another rendition – back in 2008, the host and producer of All Songs Considered (a podcast/radio show on NPR) named Bob Boilen was walking around the annual South By Southwest with his colleague Stephen Thompson. They ended up at a bar to see a performance by folk artist Laura Gibson. Annoyed by all the people talking, drinking, and watching baseball on TV, Thompson jokingly suggested that it would be better if Gibson just performed at Boilen’s desk in their office.

Three weeks later, that’s exactly what happened. Looking back at how this joke format came to be – a relatively amateurish live session in a radio station office – and knowing the cultural phenomenon with millions of views it has become today makes for an interesting ride.

I bloody love Tiny Desk Concerts. In fact, when I first came up with the idea for the I LOVE feature, my main motivation was to have a canvas to talk about how much I love Tiny Desk Concerts. Over the years, it’s become one of the last beacons of pure celebration of music, giving a now-legendary stage to all kinds of artists, often making them shine like no big stage at a revered venue could. There is some serious fucking magic going on behind Bob Boilen’s trusty desk. The team that produces these sessions is a big part of why these shows are so special – you can find a ton of videos and articles about the great production value of Tiny Desk Concerts.

Right here, instead of rambling on about the greatness of this project and how it has made me appreciate artists I never cared about before, I want to share some of my favorite Tiny Desk shows – you know, just for the good feeling.

Until this session, I knew nothing more about Randy Newman than his popular songs for movies and shows – especially his work for Toy Story. After watching this then old gentleman rip through a few songs, showing not only his captivating presence, his withered appearance that tells a million stories, and his absolutely breathtaking feel for the symbiosis of his voice, his piano playing, and his storytelling – I was obsessed with Newman and delved deep into his catalog.

I’m still an avid fan of his stuff, especially his authenticity and stories, and I probably never would have heard of him if it wasn’t for his fantastic Tiny Desk Concert.

Huge production, intricate sound design – today’s music is often accompanied by an elaborate technical backdrop. The beauty of a concept like Tiny Desk is that it strips an artist down to the basics, revealing a different kind of magic.

Moses Sumney is a unique modern artist who tears down concepts of pop music and artistic identity with larger-than-life songs. Sumney’s cascading soundscapes lose none of their power when presented in front of the famous bookshelves – on the contrary, the raw presentation of the songs inevitably makes them stronger.

The genre that shines the brightest within the confines of a Tiny Desk Concert is easily hip hop – probably because hip hop doesn’t usually have this kind of sonic environment. It’s not surprising to see an indie band swap out their instruments for their acoustic versions and give a quieter rendition of their stuff, but it’s very rare in hip-hop. When artists like T-Pain or Tyler, The Creator enter the hallowed halls of NPR and show you a completely different shade of who they are and what they can be, it makes for some jaw-dropping experiences.

The contrast isn’t as strong for kind-of-local rapper Oddisee (both he and NPR are based in Washington, D.C.) – yet Oddisee becomes a force of nature with just drums, piano, and his fantastic stories. One of the rawest and most authentic performances around.

Sometimes you are in for an arc. From angsty mid-twenties math rock/Midwest emo guys to charming sad dads, the history of American Football is something very special. Its maturation is a reflection of our own mortality, of what time does to us. ‘I can’t believe life is happening to me‘ – Wise words, Kinsella.

Lukewarm take: their third album is their best, and on their Tiny Desk show, the band plays through some of the best songs from that album. From the hauntingly beautiful textures of Cory Bracken’s vibraphone or Sarah Versprille’s amazing backing vocals (expertly replacing Hayley Williams‘ contribution on “Uncomfortably Numb”) to the amazing children’s choir on “Heir Apparent”, everything that makes American Football such an amazing band is amplified by the right additions for this show.

One of the most famous and watched sessions, and a prime example of one of my favorite uses for Tiny Desk Concerts. When I have friends over or I’m at someone’s house and they ask me to put on some music, I have a plethora of sessions that I put on the TV – and everyone has a good time. It’s fun, it’s engaging, but it’s not so imposing that it takes all the attention out of the room. To be fair, Anderson .Paak is fucking destroying it with The Free Nationals, you know those cats can play. They seem too cool for this world, to be honest.

The performance of these guys is so smooth, it looks and sounds so effortless that it still amazes me every time I watch it. My 3 year-old started dancing to it like crazy every time I put it on. Mission accomplished, the cycle continues.

The sweetest time travel, the sweetest nostalgia. I’ve always admired how irresistibly Soccer Mommy pulls you into their ’90s-infused, soft grunge and slacker rock-flavored songs, and the unconventional way their band transports some of their best songs – I’m still convinced that “circle the drain” is one of the best songs of the last 10 years – is truly magnificent.

This is just a bunch of ultra-talented nerds with damn good songs and some clever twists on them, and more often than not, that’s all you need.

When the pandemic hit, the world was turned upside down. We had never seen anything like it collectively – so many things were in jeopardy, and live music was one of them. NPR started doing Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, which gave us so many wonderful things during the isolation. Some of the artists I’ve already talked about did those. Soccer Mommy had a Tiny Desk show scheduled, then the pandemic hit and she was forced to do a super stripped-down, acoustic guitar-only show at home, which was awesome – a few years later she was able to do her real show behind the famous desk.

Pakistani-American jazz singer Arooj Aftab was one of the artists who did a session more or less at home – no drums, just violin, guitar, bass, harp, and vocals. A very ethereal, very beautiful show.

All you need to show the world that you are the coolest person in town is a massive 6-string bass (preferably your own signature instrument), a bright pink hoodie, fever dream shorts, and some serious chops. Simple. Anyone could do it.

After making a name for himself playing bass in Suicidal Tendencies, working with Flying Lotus, and being a part of one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, Thundercat went solo again (two solo albums under his belt), gathered some of the best musicians, and made Drunk, his best work to date. A few songs from this album were played live at the Tiny Desk, and how you could not love Thundercat after this performance is beyond me.

I’m not American, so I was born without the kinda-dismissive-towards-Dave-Matthews gene. For the most part, I didn’t care until this performance piqued my curiosity. It didn’t make me a fan like Randy Newman‘s performance did, but it made me appreciate Dave Matthews as an artist – and I’m sure a lot of people who think he makes lame music for lame people would agree if they could get over their prejudices.

This session is a good place to start. Very enjoyable and surprisingly powerful.

I always love it when Tiny Desk asks rappers to bring a jazz band with them. Almost every time, the addition of a jazz band elevates the music, giving it more warmth. Saba is no stranger to jazzy instrumentation on his records, but this intimate performance is comfortable and wholesome. It also foreshadows what a force of nature Saba would eventually become in today’s hip-hop landscape.

He clearly enjoyed his performance and always had a smile on his face. It makes me smile, too.

It’s probably the session I’ve watched the most in recent years. I spent hours admiring the bass lines within the crystal-clear production – absolutely addictive stuff. This is what made me fall in love with Men I Trust. This is the magic of Tiny Desk – it showcases artists at their purest, when they reach a level of authenticity that’s often impossible to capture on a regular album.

It’s also great to put on when you want to get cuddly. Just sayin’.

Brittany Howard owns it. The room, the songs, your attention – you name it. The Alabama Shakes vocalist has embarked on an amazing solo career. If you want to give her music a shot, there’s no better place to start than with this commanding and intense Tiny Desk performance. I’m not usually into stuff like that, but everyone dressed in red looks stunning. Also Nate fucking Smith on drums, come on.

Whether it’s just two people or a borderline big band, there’s room behind that table for greatness.

Rodrigo Amarante is my little secret. He’s not an unknown artist by any means – he performed “Tuyo”, the title track for the Netflix show Narcos – but I rarely see him mentioned when people talk about great modern folk artists. For me, he is exactly that. His debut solo album, Cavalo, is one of my favorite albums of all time (he is usually known for being part of the Brazilian rock band Los Hermanos). When this session dropped, I got lost in it, knowing those songs like the back of my hand.

Here’s a condensed list of reasons why I love Rodrigo’s art so much, song by song.

If someone asked me what my favorite Tiny Desk session is, I would probably point them to this one. You can definitely hear that this is the end of Jorja Smith and her band’s extensive touring cycle – they are so in sync! The pulse, the groove, the mojo – whatever you want to call it – oozes out of them and is nearly overwhelming. This performance introduced me to Jorja Smith as an artist, but nothing she ever recorded came close to the magic she achieved with her incredible band.

If anyone has contact information for Jorja, please tell her to go into the studio with her band instead of just a producer. She should shape her sound more towards this live sound. It’s to die for.

This doesn’t really count because it’s overproduced and doesn’t have a raw quality, but it’s so fucking good. Son Lux is amazing. Sometimes, a concept is just an excuse to plug, and that’s fine. You love what you love.