npr	Phoenix: Tiny Desk Concert May 19, 2010 The sounds of the group’s best-selling 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix are so ubiquitous to viewers of TV commercials that they produce a Pavlovian impulse to purchase portable music players ...

npr	Josh Ritter Goes to the 'Dogs' May 11, 2010 Josh Ritter describes his new album as an attempt to stop seeking perfection and instead embrace wild music. Live in the Bryant Park studios, the Idaho-born songwriter performs "To the Dogs or ...

npr	Lizz Wright Returns with 'The ... May 11, 2010 The soulful singer-songwriter talks about her new album, The Orchard, during a studio performance chat. Wright opens up about her music, her life, and what’s next for her recording career.

npr	Rachael Yamagata Writes To Overcome May 11, 2010 The singer-songwriter’s newest project is a double album focusing on two different parts of her personality. Elephants is contemplative, while Teeth Sinking Into Heart is upbeat, rhythmic and fun.

npr	Bowerbirds: What Sunday Morning Sounds Like May 11, 2010 With sharp songwriting and constant touring, the Bowerbirds trio of North Carolina are turning heads around the country. They play from their debut album, Hymns for a Dark Horse.

npr	Jim White: Tiny Desk Concert May 11, 2010 Jim White is a storyteller first and a musician second. It’s a kind of storytelling rooted in his own unusual history: He grew up in Florida in a deeply Pentecostal community and fell in love with ...

npr	Ray Bonneville: True-to-Life Troubadour May 11, 2010 Bonneville’s songs are full of characters who stumble their way through a rough-and-tumble world of violence, hope, and despair. In four videos from Folk Alley, Bonneville stomps his cowboy boots ...

npr	Laura Veirs: Tiny Desk Concert May 11, 2010 The songs on July Flame orbit around Veirs' acoustic-guitar playing and voice. But it’s her idiosyncratic lyrics and melodic flourishes that imbue her music with sun-dappled warmth; hers ...

npr	Stephin Merritt: Two Days, 'A ... May 11, 2010 From a group of six photos and six words, Magnetic Fields guru Stephin Merritt picked "1974" — and an image of a man wearing a kind of suit covered with baby dolls. Two days later, the song they ...

npr	Omara Portuondo: Tiny Desk Concert May 11, 2010 The singer was part of a musical scene in 1950s Cuba that produced an entire generation of musical innovators and pioneers. The two classic boleros she performs in this Tiny Desk Concert are a ...

npr	The Merry Sound of the Pipettes May 11, 2010 The Pipettes, an ultracool British pop trio, put a postmodern spin on songs that throw back to the sound of Phil Spector. The group is defiantly catchy, a new kind of bubblegum for ...

npr	SXSW 2008: Vampire Weekend May 11, 2010 However listeners perceive the hyped backlash against the backlash, Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut is a charming piece of Afropop-flecked indie-rock. Its tones are as starch-clean as Vampire ...

npr	Vic Chesnutt: Tiny Desk Concert May 11, 2010 Athens, Ga., songwriter Vic Chesnutt is on tour in support of his latest album, North Star Deserter. In Washington, D.C., for a concert at the Black Cat, he stopped by NPR to perform live at All ...

npr	Janis Ian: Behind Her Songs And Life May 11, 2010 By the time she was 16, Janis Ian already had a Grammy and a permanent place in the American consciousness. Her new autobiography shares the sometimes shocking stories behind her life and music. ...

npr	OK Go Fights For Its Viral Video May 11, 2010 Damian Kulash, singer-songwriter-guitarist with OK Go, talks about the group’s split with its label as the result of a label policy that kept a popular video the band made from being embedded on ...

npr	Mark Olson Finds 'Salvation' May 11, 2010 Before embarking on a solo career, Olson was a founding member of The Jayhawks. Since the band’s demise in 1995, he's remained one of the most respected singer-songwriters in roots ...

npr	Billy Bragg’s 'Mao-ist ... May 11, 2010 Backed by just an electric guitar, folk-punk legend Billy Bragg took the stage at The Current’s showcase, on the corner of 7th and Red River in Austin, Texas, for SXSW. Bragg performed his ...

npr	Sen. Lamar Alexander’s 'Tennessee ... May 11, 2010 Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) made a musical splash Memorial Day weekend in a performance with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra; it was later posted in a video clip on YouTube. Alexander performed a ...

npr	Shearwater: Tiny Desk Concert May 11, 2010 We’ve come up with many excuses to have artists come in and perform Tiny Desk Concerts at the workspace of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. Some are too quiet to be well-served by traditional ...

npr	Tegan and Sara’s Walk in the ... May 11, 2010 The twin sisters of the Canadian acoustic pop duo Tegan and Sara play live from their newest release, The Con.