Live In Concert from NPR's All Songs Considered - NPR

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Video: The Low Anthem: Tiny Desk Concert Jan 20, 2010

Show notes

When The Low Anthem came to perform at NPR Music, the band seemed humbled and comfortable sitting on and around Bob Boilen's desk, playing music as if it were hanging around in someone's living room. The group's sullen, spacious music was a perfect fit for the intimacy of an office.

Video: Adam Arcuragi: Tiny Desk Concert Jan 11, 2010

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When Arcuragi came to the NPR Music offices to play a Tiny Desk Concert, many of us hadn't heard his music. After hearing him play three songs, many walked away dazzled by his voice. Arcuragi's voice is powerful, but without unnecessary melodrama.

Video: Mountain Goats: Tiny Desk Concert Jan 04, 2010

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In person, John Darnielle's twitchy, nervous energy serves his fearless songwriting well: His performances are utterly committed, with intensity that infuses his screams and whispers alike. In this solo Tiny Desk Concert, his four songs fit nearly into distinct categories: new and quiet, new and loud, old and quiet, and old and loud. It's no surprise that all four approaches serve him well.

Ray Davies: The Kinks Choral Concert Dec 23, 2009

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For some diehard Kinks fans, the idea of mixing the band's classic songs with a full choir had little appeal. One of those fans, All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, was dubious, before he heard the results on the latest CD from Kinks frontman Ray Davies, The Kinks Choral Collection. Boilen was part of a rapt audience at a Nov. 20 performance of the songs, recorded live in New York, by Ray Davies and the Dessoff Chamber Choir. Hear that show in its entirety here.

Video: Australian Chamber Orchestra: Tiny Desk Concert Dec 21, 2009

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The adventurous ensemble has been widely praised for its risk-taking attitude. Gathered around Bob Boilen's desk, a stripped-down incarnation of the group plays music by Ravel, then unpacks several Egyptian instruments for an original composition.

Video: Fanfarlo Tiny Desk Concert Dec 17, 2009

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We had an opportunity to bring Fanfarlo into the NPR Music offices during its trip from Baltimore to Philadelphia, so All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen asked the band's members in advance if they wouldn't mind dressing up their playlist with a holiday song.

Video: Lightning Dust: Tiny Desk Concert Dec 07, 2009

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Lightning Dust should be seen in the smallest possible venue; its music is so spare and raw that its music could easily get drowned out. With singer Amber Webber's quivering vibrato and Joshua Wells' warm piano accompaniment, the group specializes in quietly dark moments, whether in a shared glance or a finely knit harmony.

Video: Andrew W.K.: Tiny Desk Concert Dec 01, 2009

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Sometimes, an idea is so perverse and bizarre that it needs to be carried out and followed to its logical end. So once we hatched the idea to bring long-haired, wild-eyed, keyboard-pounding, sublimely over-the-top party-rocker Andrew W.K. to perform an intimate concert at Bob Boilen's desk, there was no abandoning it. It simply had to happen.

Video: Zee Avi: Tiny Desk Concert Nov 23, 2009

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The success of Malaysian-born singer-songwriter Zee Avi is an increasingly familiar but noteworthy story: Avi was discovered after she posted a few songs on YouTube. Within two months, she was signed to release her self-titled debut. Here in this intimate Tiny Desk Concert, Avi sings three hushed lullabies, including what has become one of her signature songs: a cover of Morrissey's "First of the Gang."

Video: Bowerbirds: Tiny Desk Concert Nov 16, 2009

Show notes

Bowerbirds' handcrafted songs creak and swell like wooden floorboards in an old house. With acoustic guitar, accordion and violin, the band's pastoral folk music has a distinctively spare yet harmonious sound. Hear the group, fronted by Phil Moore and Beth Tacular, perform a captivating Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices.