what to include in cogs tip free

Feb. 11, 2019 | Bob Boilen -- There's a magical aura that surrounds Lau Noah as she sits behind my desk and embraces her guitar with one foot propped unnaturally high on a stool. As melodies pour from the strings, she sings these words in Spanish: "On the verge of the soul, there is a red petal, attached to the skins of mortals." A few lines later in the song she continues, "a fragile petal that drinks the water of the most cruel stories: children who have never heard a fairytale, lovers who love, dressed in regret." This is the sort of poetic tale that captured my heart amongst the thousands of entries I watched during the Tiny Desk Contest in 2018. Her song she submitted for the contest is called "La Realidad."

Lau Noah's journey as a songwriter and guitarist occurred by happenstance. She was born in Reus, Spain barely a few hours drive from Barcelona. She speaks and now sings in Catalan, Spanish, English and sometimes Hebrew. She'd played piano growing up (never guitar) and left Spain for New York City five years ago while in her late teens.

On a visit to Montreal in 2016, Lau hoped to go to a Patrick Watson concert with friends. But the performance sold out and she was left alone in an apartment while her friends went to the show. Then a snowstorm ensued. The apartment had two guitars and, with nothing else to do, she picked one up and began to play. She wrote her first song, "Pequitas," which means "Little Freckles." Now, not too many years later, her creativity on both classical guitar, her narrative poetry and the singing of that poetry make the musician Lau Noah a unique spirit.

Before she played her final song, "Red Bird," at the Tiny Desk, she quoted Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, from his novel Don Quixote: "When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies," Lau said, reading from her notes. "Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams is madness. And maddest of all: to see life as it is and not as it should be."

Lau Noah herself writes the kinds of story-songs that provoke that sort of thought, so we've included translations for you to fully enjoy her vision.

Set List
"El Jardinero (The Gardener)"
"La Realidad (The Reality)"
"L'Adéu (The Goodbye)"
"La Belleza (The Beauty)"
"Red Bird"

Credits
Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Kimani Oletu; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Photo: Amr Alfiky/NPR

Sept. 13, 2017 | Bob Boilen -- Lookman Adekunle Salami, who writes and records as L.A. Salami, is a storyteller and a poet. His songs are deliberate meanderings on the mundane and the poignancy in everyday life. And in the way Bob Dylan took his guitar and harmonica to accompany his rarely repeating ramblings, L.A Salami embraces a similar aesthetic, albeit as a black Englishman instead of a white Minnesotan.

His opening song at the Tiny Desk, "Day to Day (For 6 Days a Week)," runs about six minutes, with over 600 words. He seems to rattle them all off effortlessly, with compelling, complicated rhymes that never repeat and phrases such as:

"Went to work for the NHS -

Mental health, people depressed.

Met Joanne - Scared of living,

Afraid of dying, terrified of being.

Then met Paul, a schizophrenic,

Shaking limbs, paranoid fanatic -

Unwashed 10 days in a row -

So afraid almost paralytic."

L.A. Salami released one of my favorite albums of 2016, Dancing With Bad Grammar, which was produce by Matt Ingram, known for his creative work with artists as diverse as Laura Marling and FKA Twigs. So if you have a penchant for broadside ballads, and observations of our times reflected through the mind of a brilliant songwriter, take a look at L.A. Salami.

Set List

"Day To Day (For 6 Days A Week)"

"Terrorism (The ISIS Crisis)"

"My Thoughts, They Too Will Tire"

Musician

Lookman Adekunle Salami (vocals, guitars, harmonicas)

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin; Videographer: Morgan Noelle Smith; Production Assistant: Jenna Li; Photo: Liam James Doyle/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

MUSICIANS
Amelia Meath: vocals; Nick Sanborn: chord organ; Jenn Wasner: piano


CREDITS
Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC
Produced by Sylvan Esso
Mixed and Engineered by Jon Ashley
Mastered by Evan Bradford

VIDEO CREW
Production Company: Remedy; Director: Josh Sliffe; DP: Rob Russell; Gaffer: Brian DeContreras; Camera Operators: Rob Russell, Josh Sliffe, Brian DeContreras

http://www.sylvanesso.com
http://www.lomavistarecordings.com

Follow Sylvan Esso:
Spotify: http://found.ee/SE_Spotify-1
Facebook: http://found.ee/SE_facebook
Twitter: http://found.ee/SE_twitter
Instagram: http://found.ee/SE_instagram
Soundcloud: http://found.ee/SE_soundcloud

MUSICIANS
Matt Douglas: saxophone; Ryan Gustafson: guitar; Amelia Meath: vocals; Nick Sanborn: keys; Molly Sarle: vocals; Alexandra Sauser-Monnig: vocals; Jenn Wasner: bass; Joe Westerlund: drums

CREDITS
Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC
Produced by Sylvan Esso
Mixed and Engineered by Jon Ashley
Mastered by Evan Bradford

VIDEO CREW
Production Company: Remedy; Director: Josh Sliffe; DP: Rob Russell; Gaffer: Brian DeContreras; Camera Operators: Rob Russell, Josh Sliffe, Brian DeContreras

http://www.sylvanesso.com
http://www.lomavistarecordings.com

Follow Sylvan Esso:
Spotify: http://found.ee/SE_Spotify-1
Facebook: http://found.ee/SE_facebook
Twitter: http://found.ee/SE_twitter
Instagram: http://found.ee/SE_instagram
Soundcloud: http://found.ee/SE_soundcloud

Bob Boilen | Aug 2, 2017 - The high-energy blast that musicians often reserve for their finale is the starting point for Diet Cig.

The band's boundless, leaping pop is exhilarating and pleasantly exhausting to watch, with drummer Noah Bowman propelling the high kicks and constant pogo bounce of guitarist and singer Alex Luciano. With a candied voice, she sings of being on the cusp of adolescence — but underneath that bright veneer Alex sings truth to power, and about what it means to be a punk in a skirt, dealing with disrespectful souls. "I think you're the kind of guy / who would meet me at a party / and forget my name / and try to take me home all the same," she sings on "Sixteen."

These songs, which crackle like Pop Rocks — and in this case stomp, as Alex dances on my desk — retain a simple fun that makes them memorable, without undermining their gravity.

Swear I'm Good At This is available now.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/swe...

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Swear-Im-Good-...


Set List

"Sixteen"
"Tummy Ache"
"Harvard"

Musicians

Alex Luciano (vocals, guitar); Noah Bowman (drums)

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker, Bronson Arcuri; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Tsering Bista; PA: Morgan Noelle Smith; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

Sept. 8, 2017 | Bob Boilen -- When I listened blindly to nearly a thousand songs while attempting to make my schedule of bands to see at this year's SXSW music festival, one of the few tracks that leapt to the top was "Arizona" by Frances Cone. I wasn't alone. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson also singled out this now Brooklyn-based band for the way it wraps its storytelling in a catchy, pop parcel.

Led by singer and songwriter Christina Cone, the band is set to release Late Riser, its second full-length album, later this year. The first track the group performed for this Tiny Desk concert is its just-released single, "Unraveling," a tale of falling apart, of life becoming so overwhelming that the song's character simply stops and lets go.

With each verse of "Unraveling" the saga builds to a climax and then a calm. It's this sort of craft that makes Frances Cone stand out. Think Lucius, another band that captured my attention years ago for similar reasons. In fact, Dan Molad, the drummer and producer for Lucius, mixed that first Frances Cone song that grabbed my attention, "Arizona." This is wonderfully literate pop that won't hit you over the head, but might gently find a home in your heart.

Set List

"Unraveling"
"Arizona"
"Leave Without You"

Musicians

Christina Cone (keys, vocals); Andrew Doherty (electric bass, electric guitar, vocals); Adam Melchor (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals); Alex Baron (drums)

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Tsering Bista; PA: Jenna Li; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

Nov. 3, 2017 | Suraya Mohamed -- Rhythm is the foundation for many a musical experience. Its driving pulse yields a power that quite often demands movement - a toe to tap, a body to sway. But drummer Nate Smith provides more than just a beat. He intentionally weaves nuanced rhythmic counterpoint in and out of his catchy melodies and dulcet harmonies.

Just try to discern the multiple time signatures in the first tune, "Skip Step" Syncopated yet steady, its rhythmic motifs bolster Jon Cowherd's keyboard riff and the song's melodic statement, played in unison by saxophonist Jaleel Shaw and guitarist Jeremy Most.

The quintet slides right into "Retold," a beautiful song with a nostalgic melody that suggests a quiet moment for personal reflection and self-discovery. On "Pages," Smith welcomed vocalist Amma Whatt to the stage (so to speak). She wrote the lyrics for Smith's 2017 album Kinfolk: Postcards From Everywhere, his first eponymous record after a 15-year career performing with other jazz artists like Chris Potter and Dave Holland.

What really impressed the audience was the performance of Smith's self described "short but angry" final tune, "Rambo: The Vigilante." Hypnotized by its shifting time signatures, this fusion jam is punctuated with a haunting rock lick played simultaneously by the entire band, and seamlessly aligned with Smith's dazzling display of dexterous genius.

Set List

"Skip Step"
"Retold"
"Pages"
"Rambo: The Vigilante"

Musicians

Nate Smith (drums); Jaleel Shaw (saxophone); Amma Whatt (vocals); Fima Ephron (bass); Jon Cowherd (keyboard); Jeremy Most (guitar)

Credits

Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Producers: Suraya Mohamed, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Niki Walker, Nicholas Garbaty, Alyse Young; Editor: Niki WalkerProduction Assistant: Salvatore Maicki; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

'When You Gonna Get A Real Job': Philip Glass And Devonté Hynes Compare Notes

by THOMAS HUIZENGA

At first glance, Devonté Hynes and Philip Glass might appear like musical opposites. Hynes, the 31-year-old British producer and songwriter who performs under the name Blood Orange, makes hit records with Solange and Carly Rae Jepson. Glass, the 80-year-old Baltimore-born New Yorker who writes operas and film scores, is one of classical music's legendary artists.

But walk into Hynes' third floor loft in New York's Chinatown and you'll find a photo of Glass on his piano. Hynes, it turns out, is a fan. He discovered Glass' music by chance as a London teenager, when he bought the 1982 album Glassworks on the strength of its crystalline cover image alone. What he heard after he brought it home transfixed him. Today, he says Glass' influence "seeps" into his music — the interlocking marimba parts in "Best to You" or the feather light ostinato that ignites "Better Than Me." Last year, he surprised a few ears when he played excerpts from Glass' solo piano suite Metamorphosis during a live session on SiriusXM.

This spring, Hynes invited Glass to his apartment where they sat at a piano, compared chords and traded stories. Ninety minutes later, their wide ranging conversation had touched on the pulse of New York City, the pains of striking out on your own as a musician, what role the arts play in society today and Hamilton. Plus about a hundred other ideas.

Perhaps the most potent virtue Hynes and Glass share is an instinctive ear for collaboration. Glass has worked with everyone from Ravi Shankar and Paul Simon to dozens of filmmakers, dancers, poets and visual artists. Hynes moves adroitly, too. These days he pairs up with Sky Ferreira, FKA Twigs, Haim and ballet dancer Maria Kochetkova, but in his teens he joined a dance-punk band named Test Icicles, then moved on to the quirky folk-pop of Lightspeed Champion.

Maybe it's that willingness to let something unknown percolate into a new idea. And maybe that's why these two musicians, some 50 years apart in age, decided to meet on a cloudy April afternoon in Chinatown to let yet another intriguing collaboration blossom.

Sept. 15, 2017 | Lars Gotrich -- Snail Mail's sleepy songs have a way of waking you up. They rumble at a steady pace like a scrappy rock band playing to a small room, but then Lindsey Jordan, who just graduated from high school this past spring, drops a line like, "So if you look death right in the face, don't thank him / Because there's nothing and there won't ever be." You can feel the room nod in solidarity, and you could feel the NPR Music office do the same when Snail Mail performed "Slug."

Encouraged by punks in the Baltimore scene, Jordan started Snail Mail at 15 and released the quietly stunning Habit EP via Priests' in-house label last year. She's quickly found fans in Helium and Ex Hex's Mary Timony (who also happens to be Jordan's guitar teacher) and just went on tour with Waxahatchee and Palehound. Oh, and she once made blueberry pancakes with me on a short-lived NPR cooking show because clearly my kitchen is the path to success.

Jordan's joined in this performance by what's become her consistent live band (drummer Ray Brown and bassist Alex Russell), giving weight to both "Slug" and the soaring coming-of-age anthem "Thinning." Because we often ask bands to turn down for the office space, she jokes, "I guess I don't really know what we sound like because we're so loud. Now we're quiet and Ray's using the mallets and my guitar's all the way down — I was like, 'We sound like this?'"

Jordan closes the set solo with a new song, "Anytime." It is, perhaps typically for Snail Mail, slow and sad, but the alternate guitar tuning and Jordan's drawled vocal performance gives this song about a crush an aerial motion, like acrobats sliding down a long sheet of fabric.

Habit is out now via Sister Polygon. Snail Mail goes on tour with Beach Fossils in October.

Set List

"Slug"
"Thinning"
"Anytime"

MUSICIANS

Lindsey Jordan (electric guitar, vocals); Raymond Brown (drums); Alex Russell (bass)

CREDITS

Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineers: James Willetts, Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Tsering Bista; Production Assistant: Marissa Lorusso; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

Oct. 6, 2017 | Bob Boilen -- Landlady's music is more than sonic exploration, it's an adventure. The Brooklyn-based band's songs are the initial creation of leader Adam Schatz, who observes the world with fresh, almost alien eyes. The songs can feel a bit drugged-out – a bit high and full of curiosity – but never overly intoxicated or out-of-touch.

The opening track for Landlady's Tiny Desk performance, "Cadaver," has its origins in a friend of Schatz's who went to medical school, and the years she spent examining a single cadaver over and over and even more specifically about a tattoo on that cadaver's buttocks.

Landlady is also a band of brilliant musicians who carefully craft their playing to serve the songs. Each player on their own might seem to be making quirky sounds or playing odd rhythms, but together they create head-turning tunes.

For their Tiny Desk Concert they came in as a foursome but also recruited the Washington D.C. string quartet, Rogue Collective to flesh-out their sound on the third song, "Electric Abdomen." That cut, which seems to be about being uncomfortable in your own skin, sounds like it came from a long-lost tape from The Beatles during a session for Abbey Road, full of wonder and, like this Tiny Desk performance, worth digging deep into.

Set List

"Cadaver"
"Solid Brass"
"Electric Abdomen"

Musicians

Adam Schatz (keys, vocals); Will Graefe (guitar, vocals); Ryan Dugre (bass, vocals); Ian Chang (drums, vocals); Alexa Cantalupo (violin); Livia Amoruso (violin); Deanna Said (viola); Natalie Spehar (cello)

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Bronson Arcuri; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin, James Willetts; Videographers: Bronson Arcuri, Colin Marshall, Maia Stern, Tsering Bista; Production Assistant: Jenna Li; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

Bob Boilen | July 28, 2017 -- Intensity in songs often expresses itself as volume – a loud guitar, a scream, a piercing synth line. But in the case of Aldous Harding it's in the spaces, the pauses, and her unique delivery. Watch her Tiny Desk Concert and you can see this in her facial expressions and body posture.

The first song she performs,"Imagining My Man," is about what she calls the "tender and frightening thoughts that come with being in love," and what you witness while watching her are often painful, pensive expressions that are as important to the song as the notes being played.

Aldous Harding is a singer from New Zealand who's inspired by British folk singer Vashti Bunyan, but making something truly unique and her own. Party, her second album, is full of deeply personal songs with memorable melodies and spare instrumentation that linger in my head long after the headphone batteries have drained. It'll certainly be a favorite on my year-end list.

Aldous Harding's musical partner for the Tiny Desk is Jared Samuel, a keyboardist who was so impressive at SXSW this year in the band, Invisible Familiars. It's his deft accompaniment on these songs that shapes the texture and pulse of them, adding tension to already taut tunes. Aldous Harding's music isn't universal, but if you lean toward loving the poetic, the melodic and the mysterious, you'll likely love it.

Party is available now.
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/par...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Party-Aldous-H...

Set List

"Imagining My Man"
"Blend"
"Horizon"

Musicians

Aldous Harding (guitar, vocals); Jared Elioseff (keyboard, vocals)

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Tsering Bista; Video Editor: Bronson Arcuri; PA: Jenna Li; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

Regina Carter's expressive playing can conjure sounds inspired by European classical, bebop, Afro-Cuban and Southern blues music. Watch her perform 'R&R" with bassist Robert Hurst from the 2017 Detroit Jazz Festival in this Night Owl with Michigan Public Radio.

Sept. 5, 2017 | Bobby Carter -- "Classic Man," the 2015 debut single from Nigerian-American MC Jidenna, caught everyone off guard. The song found him teetering between rapping and singing about elegance, politeness and Nat "King" Cole, and the melody felt irresistible. Then there's the look: He rocks thrift-wear tailored to a T. The song eventually went double platinum and earned a Grammy nomination. Jidenna followed it with a few more club bangers before releasing his debut album, The Chief, earlier this year. A tribute to his father, a Nigerian chief, the record is peppered with African rhythms and themes.

Jidenna and his band recently visited NPR to perform three reworked selections from The Chief. They excitedly explored every nook and cranny of the Tiny Desk in search of props, eventually settling on a toy, the magic microphone, a tambourine and a bottle of whiskey. Jidenna bounced straight through "Trampoline" to "Long Live the Chief," in which he explains why his threads are always so sharp:

You can either sink, swim or be the captain
Get the last word I'ma get the last laugh in
Now they say, "Jidenna, why you dressing so classic?"
I don't want my best-dressed day in a casket

Finally, the band pauses, glides into the arresting harmonies of "Bambi," and finishes charming the socks off the entire room.

Set List
"Trampoline"
"Long Live the Chief"
"Bambi"

Musicians
Jidenna Theodore Mobisson (vocals); George Peters (percussion); Andrew Brown (bass, keys); Jordan Hemby (drums); William Gittens (guitar)

Credits
Producers: Bobby Carter, Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith, Tsering Bista; Production Assistant: Jenna Li; Photo: Liam James Doyle/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

Aug 28, 2017 | Stephen Thompson - Like many singer-songwriters, Jason Isbell writes music that mirrors developments in his own life. In recent years, that's thankfully included the hard-won contentment he's experienced on his path to 40: sobriety, marriage and on from there. On this summer's The Nashville Sound, the decorated Alabama-born star understandably casts his gaze toward parenthood — a job he's recently come to share with singer, fiddler and Tiny Desk veteran Amanda Shires — but expands his scope further to encompass politics, fear of obsolescence, and his place in the world. It's a gorgeous record: noble and scruffy, graceful and human.

For his Tiny Desk debut, Isbell and his band The 400 Unit performed three songs from The Nashville Sound, but their set fanned out to include lengthy bits of funny banter, a false start and an impromptu bit in which he shone a spotlight on a member of the audience. "This is like an audition and a rock show at once," he deadpanned to Ashwin Wadekar, a guest in the building who — not to spoil anything — got more than he'd likely expected from his visit to NPR headquarters.

The Nashville Sound is available now.
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the...
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Nashville-Soun...

SET LIST

"Chaos and Clothes"

"Molotov"

"Last of My Kind"

MUSICIANS

Jason Isbell (vocals, guitar); Sadler Vaden (guitar); Amanda Shires (fiddle, backing vocals); Jimbo Hart (bass); Derry deBorja (keyboards); Chad Gamble (drums); Ashwin Wadekar (guitar on "Last of My Kind").

CREDITS

Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker, Bronson Arcuri; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin, Jason Willetts; Videographers: Niki Walker, Tsering Bista; Production Assistant: Nick Michael; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

MUSICIANS
Matt Douglas: saxophone; Ryan Gustafson: guitar; Amelia Meath: vocals; Nick Sanborn: bass; Molly Sarle: vocals; Alexandra Sauser-Monnig: vocals; Jenn Wasner: keys; Joe Westerlund: drums

CREDITS
Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC
Produced by Sylvan Esso
Mixed and Engineered by Jon Ashley
Mastered by Evan Bradford

VIDEO CREW
Production Company: Remedy; Director: Josh Sliffe; DP: Rob Russell; Gaffer: Brian DeContreras; Camera Operators: Rob Russell, Josh Sliffe, Brian DeContreras

http://www.sylvanesso.com
http://www.lomavistarecordings.com

Follow Sylvan Esso:
Spotify: http://found.ee/SE_Spotify-1
Facebook: http://found.ee/SE_facebook
Twitter: http://found.ee/SE_twitter
Instagram: http://found.ee/SE_instagram
Soundcloud: http://found.ee/SE_soundcloud