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Who are your favorite Tiny Desk concert musicians? Bob Boilen - Tiny Desk founder is leaving National Public Radio
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- Title
- Bob Boilen, All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Founder, Leaving NPR After 35 Years
- Authors
- Matthew Ismael Ruiz, Jazz Monroe, Matthew Strauss, Evan Minsker, Madison Bloom, Hattie Lindert
- Published
- Sep 14 2023
- Word count
- 277 words
T-Pain Changed my perspective on him from "the autotune guy" to a talented vocalist.
I think most people are listing their personal favorites, but objectively the T-Pain performance is the defining tiny desk moment. He was the butt of jokes about auto tune usage for years, and then he absolutely kills it with his raw vocal power. It’s also interesting given the improvement in attitudes towards hip hop this past decade.
For those who need more info, here's a complete list of the concerts.
Honestly, I was just happy whenever an artist that I love ended up on the show. I really also like the evolution of the Tiny Desk series and NPR music as a whole. It used be what I can only describe as very Newport Festival-y. I was glad when they were able to pull in artists who the stereotypical NPR listener may not be familiar with, especially rappers.
Some of my favorites include:
Turnstile
Phoebe Bridgers
American Football
Hop Along
Foxing (still don't know how they ended up doing this but the rendition of Grand Paradise is just amazing esp. compared to the original)
Thundercat
Denzel Curry
Kenny Beats ft Remy Wolf and Jpegmafia
Anderson Paak
I was hoping to find the Anderson Paak Tiny Concert posted here. Absolutely love that jam.
Tiny desk got me into Hop Along, that’s definitely another of my all time favorites
Slightly off topic but I first heard of Anderson Paak while looking for relaxing vibey House music.
Anderson Paak - Am I Wrong (Melchior Sultana Remix)
Absolutely love this track, and that whole channel is just full of good stuff.
Dope, yea he's great and I can see his music being remixed quite easily. Really weird that video has a picture of Beabadoobee who had her own Tiny Desk show recently as well.
Additionally, for the audio geeks (or anyone curious), here's How We Record Audio at the Tiny Desk and Recording Drums at the Tiny Desk.
I'll limit myself to 5
Haitus Kaiyote
Lous and the Yakuza
Kirk Franklin
Phony Ppl (they were also the backing band for Megan Thee Stalion's Tiny Desk)
Raveena
Also if you're a fan of the format of Tiny Desks, you'll probably like:
Young Thug. I adore this performance, it could be the best thing Thug has done. Covid restrictions meant it was recorded 'in the lush, almost regal, gardens of The Houdini Estate in Los Angeles'. Thugger always toyed with a punk sound, and it shines through here more than anywhere - with live instruments that start jazzy and transition heavier as the performance goes on.
I love how the sun sets across the show, it's gorgeous. This had me so hyped for the album - it's a shame it turned out to be straight buns.
Mac Miller.
I remember feeling uneasy about how strung out he looked the first time I saw it but it’s still amazing- especially the last song. I don’t know if it’s the fact that he died a month later or what, but it really resonates and I go back to it from time to time.
I like Lianne la Havas and Melanie Faye who I discovered thanks to ~music.
Someone else named Nathaniel Rateliff, Monsieur Perinee and Jorge Drexper
Lianne la Havas was fantastic.
For years I've also been regularly listening to:
Maria Taylor
Lucius
My Bubba
Mandolin Orange
The Wild Reeds
Conor Oberst (really just the first song)
and when I'm in a particular mood, DakhaBrakha
Nickelcreek, Meg Myers, Khruangbin, Run The Jewels...so many good ones, I don't think I can pick a single favorite.
Natalia Lafourcade. So sweet and joyful, really fun to listen to.
Came in to say this, glad it was already in here.
Had to go digging in my view history a bit, but...
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag (not actually an NPR Tiny Desk, but along the same lines)
Sesame Street
Cat Stevens
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Chvrches
Billy Corgan
The Mountain Goats
Chvrches was a really good one.
Yeah their cover of "Do I wanna Know" hits so much harder for me. It's on Spotify, in several of my playlists
Their cover of Love by Kendrick is a song I want to get married to ngl. It's beautiful, and it's the type of cover that changes the original so much but still being incredible.
Finally had a chance to check that one out. I enjoy it, but feel it's a bit less transformative than the "Do I Wanna Know". I feel like they could have done a bit more with mixing up the beat or pacing. But it's good, and I'm glad you love it.
Ages and Ages! kickstarted my love for their album Divisionary
I saw this Kirk Franklin one the other day, and I'm blown away.
I have had zero crossover with gospel music, especially "urban contemporary gospel" (as wikipedia calls it), and I am in no way religious, but it is one of the most beautiful performances I've seen. I love seeing the little flourishes he puts in during the performance, he's sitting there at a keyboard, there's only so much movement you can do, and he's not part of the choir, but I get a strong sense of how he brings all the musicians together and keeps it on track, leading the piece, conducting it. It all just looks so fun, makes me want to join a choir and be part of it.
Depending on where you live, there are community gospel choirs that people join. There are also open churches that don't test what you believe such as this one in San Francisco.
https://www.glide.org/church/ensemble/
https://www.glide.org/church/
Glide is famous locally for providing food directly and for outreach to marginalized communities.
I might be biased because NIKI is a beautiful person and it starts off with my favorite song from her latest album, but it's just so good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ljnXV-q40
I’m partial to Alt J’s performances, they’ve done two of them
First performance
Second performance
I really liked c tangana’s despite not liking more than one or two songs from him (being from Madrid it’s almost obligatory to know him). It came out during the end of the pandemic I think, and it’s a classic Spanish sobremesa of friends eating, drinking and making music, at a time we couldn’t do that for like a year. Has a special spot in my heart for that.
Also one of my most listened to tiny desks. I'm not Spanish but it reminded me of family get-togethers in Mexico. The transition into the strings was grandiose in the best way. The video is also really beautifully shot.
i was so surprised to find out it is one of the most listened to. I knew spanish speaking audience is very large but man, i just checked and its at 48m views. Justin biebers, one of the most, if not the most high earning music artists, has "only" 32m.
Nate Smith & Kinfolk
Just love these guys.
Tiny desk has become my recommendation engine. I love the way it gets artists to strip their music down and I more than often end up liking these versions way more than the studio recordings. There are so many good ones but here's a selection of my favorites in no particular order:
Anderson .Paak
H.E.R
Daniel Caesar
Yebba
Noname
C. Tangana
Lous and the Yakuza
Nicki Nicole
Lau Noah
Ohmme
Natalia Lafourcade
Tank and the Bangas
Khruangbin
Daughter is my favorite.
While I haven't yet seen too many of them, my current highlight is Stromae's concert.
I always liked the SsingSsing and Superorganism shows.
Idles really managed to do a proper punk rock show, despite / thanks to Tiny Desk space. It's really awesome.
I also enjoyed Red Baraat who filled out the space completly with their ensemble and personality.
I discovered Moon Hooch thanks to Tiny Desk Concerts! They've become one of my all time favourite live bands; incredible tunes, unbelievable musicianship, and an extremely well thought-out live experience. Miss them at your peril.
I thought the Avett Brothers did a pretty good job. You can really see how their muted recording albums translate into more intense live performances.