June is Black Music Month and Tiny Desk is celebrating with a series of performances by Black women. As always, the Queen of Funk brought the fire. Watch below.

"The moment guitarist Rob Bacon opened the set on the talk box, with bassist Melvin Davis and drummer Jay Williams laying down the beat, it was clear we were about to get a lesson in some naaaasty funk with 'Tell Me Something Good,' reports NPR. — Read the rest

Check out this mind-blowing NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert performed by jazz fusion band Moon Hooch back in July, 2014. Bob Boilen, co-creator of the Tiny Desk Concert series, described the 12-minute set: 

The band is saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen, and drummer James Muschler.

The great PJ Harvey took over NPR's Tiny Desk to perform tracks from her latest album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, release in July.

Following four of those new songs, she closed with the title track from White Chalk (2007), connecting her newest work "to her lifelong project of expressing women's solitude, pain and resistance," as described by Ann Powers. — Read the rest

I've never seen anything quite like this musical pairing, but honestly it somehow works perfectly. Watch pianist Conrad Tao and dancer-choreographer Caleb Teicher performing together as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series. NPR explains that the duo "created an experience so unexpectedly fresh and suffused with joy, it moved some to tears and others to cheer for more." — Read the rest

Motown legend Smokey Robinson brought his heart—and soul—to the NPR Tiny Desk. The 83-year-old R&B icon packed the room with a full band, including strings and brass, to perform his classic tunes like "The Tears of a Clown," "Quiet Storm," "Cruisin" and a couple tracks from his new record Gasms. — Read the rest

Heavy metal icons, GWAR, took to NPR to perform a Tiny Desk concert, and it was everything you'd expect, and hope for, from GWAR.

NPR:

On Feb. 15, 2020, a parody news site ran the headline: "GWAR asks NPR's Tiny Desk Staff if They're Ready to Get Their A* Ripped Open."

The highly anticipated NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring Juvenile just dropped, and it's terrific. 

Also participating are Mannie Fresh (vocals, effects, keys), Alvin Ford (music director/drums), Josh Connelly (guitar), DJ Raymond (bass), Brandon Butler (keys), BK Jackson (saxophone), Trombone Shorty (trombone), Kevin Woods (trumpet), Jon Batiste (melodica), Jakiya Ayanna (vocals), Shaina Aisha, (vocals), Hannah Yim (violin) and Jake Fowler (cello). — Read the rest

I'm excitedly awaiting the NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring New Orleans rapper Juvenile, joined by Jon Batiste, Trombone Shorty, and Mannie Fresh. They recently recorded the set in Washington, DC. NOLA.com provides more details:

When fans initially raised the possibility this spring of Juvenile participating in a "Tiny Desk" concert this spring, he professed not to know what a "Tiny Desk" was.

DJ Fred again…'s Tiny Desk concert is worth the 26 minutes of your time. He faced the challenge of translating his electronic music for a Tiny Desk concert, a more intimate setting than he's used to playing. He rose to the occasion by re-learning the marimba, playing the vibraphone, singing at the piano, and looping sounds and beats simultaneously. — Read the rest

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss released Raising Sand 14 years ago to wide praise. They joined up again for a three-song set as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series.

From NPR:

They kick it off with the rockabilly sounds of "Can't Let Go," a song originally recorded by Lucinda Williams and written by Randy Weeks.

The fantastic band Wet Leg, hailing from Isle of Wight, appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk (Home) Concert today. Watch them perform "Chaise Longue," "Too Late Now," "Oh No," and "Wet Dream"

During the pandemic, musical artists have raised the bar on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. Because they can't actually perform from Bob Boilen's "tiny desk" in NPR's music office, they've been given carte blanche to imagine outside the box. The performances themselves are what you'd expect from these artists — terrific — it's the sets that they're having fun with. — Read the rest

The latest edition of NPR's Tiny Desk Home Concerts features singer/songwriter/National Treasure Phoebe Bridgers, who found a pretty incredible way to elevate the artform — first with the delightfully tacky Green Screen rendition of the Oval Office, and then, at the end, when it all falls apart in a cathartic collapse. — Read the rest

While it appears that Billie Eilish and brother Finneas are performing at NPR's music offices for a Tiny Desk concert, they are, in fact, not. They recorded this at home in front of a convincing cardboard re-creation of Bob Boilen's desk. — Read the rest

Get ready to smile. Set List:

"Now That I Found You"
"Want You In My Room"
"The Sound"

For more Carly Rae Jepsen, check out Boy Problems, A Carly Rae Jepsen-themed heist tabletop RPG one shot:

It is many years into the future.

Hedgehogs dream of musical glory in these charming announcements for NPR's annual Tiny Desk Concert competition.

NPR's fantastic Tiny Desk concert by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis has me going back through the entire series as it looks so wonderful.

Contemporary classical composer Max Richter performed a gorgeous Tiny Desk (Home) Concert from his studio in southern England. The solo piano is perfect for Richter's graceful post-minimalism. If you're not hip to Richter beyond his score for Arrival and other films, I suggest immersing yourself in Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons (2012) and Memoryhouse (2002). — Read the rest

"Saudade is a Portuguese word that can be roughly defined as a feeling of melancholy, nostalgia or yearning for something that is beloved but not present," writes NPR's Anamaria Artemisa Sayre. — Read the rest

The National Park Service once again brings its "A" game and showcases how awesome and talented its Rangers are! This time, the NPS brilliance comes in the form of a concert series called "NPS Front Desk," a clever riff on NPR's Tiny Desk series. — Read the rest