Live In Concert from NPR's All Songs Considered

It's not often you find a band with three lead singers who each sound as impressive on their own as they do together.

A power trio of an entirely different kind, the Houston band led a journey through globally-influenced funk, jazz, surf and psych-rock — before creating a live, instrumental hip-hop mixtape.

The Nashville-by-way-of-Brooklyn band repeatedly took the Newport audience from joyful, foot-stomping singalongs, to a rapturous hush.

Darlingside's dark songs are full of light, illuminated by voices that come from on high.

"I'm ready for the world," Alynda Lee Segarra sings in the chorus of the rousing "Hungry Ghost" — and her band's set told that simple truth again and again. In the past seven or eight years, Hurray For The Riff Raff has blossomed slowly but fully, transforming its sound from intense-but-delicate one-woman bedroom recordings to the rip-roaring full-band jams that dominated the group's set at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Texas. Setlist: 1. Life To Save 2. Nothing's Gonna Change That Girl 3. Hungry Ghost 4. Rican Beach 5. The Navigator 6. Living In The City 7. Fourteen Floors 8. Pa'lante

If you've only heard Lizzo's hit "Good As Hell" you might think the Twin Cities singer is a funny and ingratiating but fairly straightforward purveyor of self-affirmation and charismatic confidence. But as her joyful and explosive live show unfolded, complete with the arrival of the ecstatic backup dancers she calls "The Big Girls," it became clear that Lizzo has something more powerful going on: 1. Worship, 2. Phone, 3. Bam Bam, 4. Deep, 5. Drone Bomb Me, 6. Easy Easy, 7. 'Scuse Me, 8. Coconut Oil, 9. Good As Hell

When PWR BTTM takes the stage, it doesn't take long to figure out what you're going to get. From the first glitter-smeared seconds of the set-opening "Silly," the band came to shred and swagger with infectious joy, complete with backbends and solos and spangly outfits — at least one of which wouldn't survive the band's set at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Texas, recorded live for NPR Music on March 15, 20217.

Southern California's Chicano Batman sent waves of velvet-sounding Chicano soul out over the audience at Stubb's — think 1970s-era guitar and organ funk played by a band outfitted in quicenera tuxedos. When the band shifted into a high energy cumbia I saw spontaneous dancing breaking out on the dirt floor of the outdoor venue.

Without a doubt, Anderson .Paak is the new "it" guy of that place where R&B and hip-hop overlap. It sort of happened overnight, and we can kind of credit Dr. Dre, who gave .Paak permission to leave his fingerprints all over Dre's long-awaited return to music, 2015's Compton. But the palpable, feverish excitement in the breezy night air at Stubb's during NPR Music's SXSW showcase in the moments leading up to .Paak's set was all his own.

Brandi Carlile Tim Hanseroth – backup vocals and guitar Phil Hanseroth – backup vocals and bass Raise Hell Wherever Is Your Heart The Story Hard Way Home Again Today That Wasn't Me The Things I Regret Beginning To Feel The Years That Year Pride And Joy The Eye Murder In The City

LORD HURON Ben Schneider - guitar, vocals Mark Barry - percussion, vocals Miguel Briseño - bass, keys, percussion Tom Renaud - guitar, vocals Brandon Walters- guitar, vocals 1. Love Like Ghosts 2. Until The Night Turns 3. Dead Man's Hand 4. Lonesome Dream 5. She Lit A Fire 6. Hurricane (Johnnie's Theme) 7. Meet Me In The Woods 8. The World Ender 9. Fool for Love 10. The Stranger 11. Ends Of The Earth 12. Time To Run

Courtney Barnett-vox/Guitar Bones Sloane-Bass/vox Dave Mudie-drums Setlist: 1. Dead Fox 2. Depreston 3. Debbie Downer 4 . Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party 5. Avant Gardener 6. History Eraser 7. Pedestrian At Best

Barely a week after releasing Something More Than Free, Jason Isbell took the stage at Newport Folk for a set that highlighted many of the new songs from that album. Isbell has attained star status in the alt-country world, but his performance channeled the best of the southern rock tradition that emerged in north Alabama and Georgia in the 1970s — two places where Isbell lived and worked before relocating to Nashville.

Kristian Matsson aka the Tallest Man on Earth's brilliant performance at the Newport Folk Festival 2015

Here this inspired set from The Lone Bellow from the Newport Folk Festival 2015 LONE BELLOW: Zach Williams-/vox Kanene Donehey Pipkin-Vox/Keys/Bass JasonPipkin-Bss/Keys BrianElmquist-Elec. Git Justin Glasco-Drums Set List: 1. Then Came The Morning 2. Fake Roses 4. Cold As It Is 5. Green Eyes And A Heart of Gold 6. Heaven Don't Call Me Home 7. Watch Over Us with Leon Bridges 8. When Will I Be Loved (with Holly and Jess of Lucius) 9. Call To War 10. Teach Me To Know 11. You Never Need Nobody 12. If You Don't Love Me 13. The One You Should've Let Go with New Breed Brass Band

The last time Sleater-Kinney played the 9:30 Club, a transformer threatened to blow in the midst of a summer heat wave. Or maybe the Washington, D.C., club just couldn't handle Corin Tucker's pipes. That was nine years ago, on a goodbye-for-now tour that caught the trio at the top of its game. The show was rescheduled and taped for NPR Music, and we had our closure, crossing fingers that it wouldn't be the last we'd hear from Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss. In the intervening years, all three put their energies into other projects, musical and not, sometimes even with each other. But Sleater-Kinney has an electric chemistry of its own. As Brownstein says, "I really think Sleater-Kinney is a singular band with no clear predecessor or successor, so I don't think we started out creating music that you could see the palette of colors that we were using, and maybe draw a lineage." On the first night of a two-night gig at the 9:30 Club, Sleater-Kinney went all-in with its set list. Tracks from the band's monster of a new album, No Cities To Love, felt natural alongside songs like "Oh!" and "Words And Guitar," obliterating the band's timeline by demonstrating a catalog that's always present, always on fire.

Hear Mavis Staples perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Aoife O'Donovan perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Featival, recorded live on Saturday, July 26 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Band Of Horses perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Friday, July 25 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer perform together as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Friday, July 25 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Dawes perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Saturday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Shovels & Rope perform some of its new songs and some old favorites as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Saturday, July 26 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Deer Tick perform live in concert at the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Saturday, July 26 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Ages and Ages perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.

Backed by his touring band and vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig — the co-leads of the band Lucius — Jeff Tweedy surveyed his career onstage as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.

Nickel Creek recently reunited to put out its first album in eight years, A Dotted Line, which naturally reflects its members' creatively ambitious recent pursuits.

Hear Conor Oberst perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.

Hear the Berklee Gospel & Roots Choir perform Negro spirituals and contemporary gospel as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Pokey LaFarge perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Saturday, July 26 in Newport, R.I.

Ryan Adams showcased some of his new songs — and many others from his long and frequently glorious catalog — in a performance webcast live from the 2014 Newport Folk Festival on Friday, July 25 in Newport, R.I.

Hear Jenny Lewis perform as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Friday, July 25 in Newport, R.I.

The band performed live at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club on Thursday, May 1, as part of an NPR Music live video webstream. Set List "Back In The Tall Grass" "Sun In The Morning" "Balance" "Before The Bridge" "A Dream Of You And Me" "Doves" "A Song For Our Grandfathers" "Lighthouse" "Seasons (Waiting On You)" "Spirit" "Walking Through That Door " "Long Flight" "Tin Man" "Old Friend" "Vireo's Eye" "Little Dreamer"

Hear the singer perform live from the NPR Music SXSW 2014 showcase, at Stubb's Barbecue in Austin, TX.

Not to be confused with Glenn Frey or Don Henley's middle-of-the-road soft rock, British post-punk act Eagulls did anything but take it easy at our SXSW showcase.

"We're Perfect Pussy and we're terrified." Watch the rising Syracuse punk band make their first national splash during our SXSW showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas.

Singer and composer Gary Numan is considered a pioneer of synth-based electronic music who has often featured a heavy rock influence. For this special Mountain Oasis set, Numan performed a number of his classic hits, as well as new tracks from his 2013 album, Splinter. I Am Dust Films The Fall Everything Comes Down To This Here In The Black The Calling Down In The Park Splinter When The Sky Bleeds, He Will Come Lost Cars We're The Unforgiven Love Hurt Bleed My Last Day Metal A Prayer For The Unborn

It's been a pretty big year for Brit producers (and brothers) Guy and Howard Lawrence. The electronic duo, better known as Disclosure, released their debut album, Settle, to great fanfare, and have been selling out venues across America. This set was recorded live in Asheville, NC on Oct. 27, 2013. F Four You When A Fire Starts You & Me White Noise Voices What's In Your Head Confess To Me Running (Disclosure Remix) Help Me Lose My Mind Latch

The Minneapolis-based noise-rock band Marijuana Deathsquads has a name that implies mind-altering chaos. And that's largely what you get in the group's live performances - a thrilling, relentless bombardment of sight and sound. For this concert, originally webcast live on Nov. 6, 2013, the group's members were lost in a flickering shower of lights while blasting their way through highlights from its latest album, 'Oh My Sexy Lord.'

Set List: Spilling Lines Lay Your Cards Out Very Cruel Amongster Torre Tiff Warrior Lord Vegas Chain My Name Dark Star I Need $ Smug So Leave Wandering Star You Don't Own Me Matty

America's favorite Syrian wedding singer crossed the Atlantic Ocean to hold court at NPR Music's showcase in New York City. Wearing his trademark keffiyeh and sunglasses, Souleyman performed songs from his new album, Wenu Wenu, with help from keyboard wizard Rizan Sa'id. "Mawal" "Leh Jani" "Ghazoula" "Ali Khudino" "Nujuaz" "Shift Al Mani"

The New York City synth-rock duo of singer Madeline Follin and keyboardist Brian Oblivion expanded to a raucous five-piece band for NPR Music's Oct. 16 showcase at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York. Watch a nine-song set including cuts from the new album, Static, just one day after its release. "High Road" "Slow Song" "Abducted" "Always Forever" "Were Before" "You Know What I Mean" "I Can Hardly Make You Mine" "Go Outside" "Keep Your Head Up"

The chart-topping rapper pulled no punches during his performance at NPR Music's showcase in New York City on Wednesday night. Watch Pusha T perform a 17-song set that ranged from his work with Kanye West to his critically acclaimed new album, My Name Is My Name. "King Push" "Blocka" "Millions" "Hold On" "Suicide" "So Appalled" "Mercy" "Cook It Down" "My God" "Exodus 23:1" "I Don't Like" "New God Flow" "Pain" "Nosetalgia" "Sweet Serenade" "Numbers On The Board" "40 Acres"

Volcano Choir is known in no small part for its frontman Justin Vernon, an artist who built legions of fans recording as Bon Iver. But Volcano Choir isn't a Bon Iver side project. Hear the band give a transfixing performance, recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. "Tiderays" "Island, IS" "Comrade" "The Valleyinaire" "Keel" "Dancepack" "Blue Ni Ni (The Volcano Schores)" "Alaskans" "Acetate" "Byegone"

Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent have spent the last decade or so singing sweetly, rowdily anthemic folk-country music together, most recently under the name Shovels & Rope. Hear them perform as part of the 2013 Newport Folk Festival. "Keeper" "Cavalier" "Shank Hill Street" "When I" "O' Be Joyful" "Kemba's Got The Cabbage Moth Blues" "Forsaken Blues" "Gasoline" "Tell The Truth" "Hail Hail" "Birmingham"

Hear Amanda Palmer recorded live in concert from the 2013 Newport Folk Festival.

A young, Niger-born Tuareg guitarist inspired by the wizardry of Saharan rock bands like Tinariwen, Omar Moctar (a.k.a. Bombino) has helped make African music more relatable to U.S. Watch Bombino perform as part of the 2013 Newport Folk Festival. "Amidinine"  "Her Tenere"  "Tar Hani (My Love)"  "Iyat Idounia Ayashen (Another Life)"  "Aman"  "Kammou Taliat (You, My Beloved)"  "Amidinine" (reprise)

The rising Brooklyn folk-pop band infuses its songs with charm, radiant hooks and intense emotions. Formed as a creative outlet for singer Zach Williams as his wife recovered from an accident that nearly paralyzed her, The Lone Bellow performs with a sense of necessity. Hear the band perform as part of the 2013 Newport Folk Festival. "You Can Be All Kinds Of Emotional"  "You Never Need Nobody"  "Two Sides Of Lonely" "Tree To Grow"  "Green Eyes And A Heart Of Gold"  "You Don't Love Me Like You Used To"  "Watch Over Us"  "Looking For You"  "The One You Should've Let Go"  "Teach Me To Know"

Raised in Alabama and based in Brooklyn, Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck makes moody, searching, raggedly pretty music. But there's also a wise, homesick weariness to Houck's voice that transcends time and place. Watch Phosphorescent perform the cosmic country song "Ride On/Right On" at the 2013 Newport Folk Festival. "Terror In The Canyons (The Wounded Master)"  "The Quotidian Beasts"  "A New Anhedonia"  "Tell Me Baby (Have You Had Enough)"  "A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise"  "Song For Zula"  "Ride On / Right On"  "Nothing Was Stolen (Love Me Foolishly)"  "Los Angeles"

Half Simon & Garfunkel and half Smothers Brothers, Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale's melancholic harmonies intertwine beautifully, while their playful, deadpan banter is worth the price of admission on its own. "Hope Of A Lifetime"  "The Ash & Clay"  "Honey, Honey"  "Charlie" "Michigan"  "Girls, Gather 'Round'  "New York"  "Snake Eyes"  "I Still Want A Little More"  "Memphis"

It's not a stretch to call U.K. singer-songwriter Frank Turner a folksinger, especially when he performs solo with an acoustic guitar. But he's also a rocker, a punk and a storyteller. Hear Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls perform as part of the 2013 Newport Folk Festival "Four Simple Words"  "If Ever I Stray"  "Try This At Home"  "Losing Days"  "Glory Hallelujah"  "The Way I Tend To Be"  "Wessex Boy"  "Substitute"  "Wherefore Art Thou, Gene Simmons?"  "The Road"  "Peggy Sang The Blues"  "Recovery"  "I Still Believe"  "Photosynthesis"

Icelandic composer and piano player Olafur Arnalds managed to squeeze a 28 piece orchestra onto the stage of Le Poisson Rouge...a nightclub in Greenwich Village. The orchestra is known as The LPR Ensemble and the music made that evening was simply magical.

Sinewy and powerful as ever, and backed by his longtime band, Nick Cave works the crowd like a revival preacher at half-speed during NPR Music's SXSW showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas.  Here are 3 songs from the set: "Jubilee Street" - "From Her To Eternity" and "Push The Sky Away."

Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield was tucked in a back room at Stubb's during SXSW on March 14.  She opened her 25-minute set with a string of fragile solo songs, each more delicate than the last. This was interior music, made of guts and nerves and other viscera we don't share easily.

An easy way to embrace Alt-J's idiosyncratic charm is to witness the band live; hear how often Joe Newman sings quietly and subtly, and get a feel for the prettiness at the core of Alt-J's songs.

Le1f is a New Yorker and Wesleyan graduate who raps, produces and happens to be observably out of the closet. His boundless, arty individuality pops out over every jittery beat; he stands out in virtually every possible way

Youth Lagoon's Trevor Powers is the band's sole member.  He layers strange but alluring synth textures under quirky melodies and simple pop beats, in the process creating an expansive and endlessly engrossing world of sonic curiosities.

Hear the psych-rock trio douse a sold-out Washington, D.C., crowd in an epic wash of guitar noise during an hour-long performance at the Rock and Roll Hotel.

Hear the trippy pop group give a thrilling, sometimes chaotic live performance at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. Along the way, Foxygen channels everyone from The Velvet Underground to The Rolling Stones and Ramones.

Ritter's new album, The Beast in Its Tracks, is by any definition a breakup record; he wrote it following his own divorce, and every song finds him picking through a relationship's wreckage in pursuit of root causes and a way forward. Hear him perform the album's songs live from New York City.

The Los Angeles band, named after the patron saint of musicians, blends Latin styles such as cumbia, norteño and ranchera. Hear La Santa Cecilia, recorded live in concert from New York City's Webster Hall.

Hear the extraordinary singer from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion as she performs with her band, recorded live at Webster Hall in New York City.

Hear one of Zimbabwe's greatest artists, recorded live in concert with his band The Black Spirits at New York City's Webster Hall.

The U.K. producer is known for deep, brooding techno that's shrouded in fuzzy tones. His latest album, Luxury Problems, is dark, textural and balanced with haunting, elegant vocals. Here, Stott performs live at Moogfest 2012 in Asheville, N.C.

Morton Subotnick released the first all-electronic album, Silver Apples of the Moon, in 1967. Last Friday, he returned to Moogfest 2012 in Asheville, N.C., to perform the whole thing live. Hear the performance in its entirety.

Fans overflowed well beyond the point at which they could reasonably be expected to see the singer on stage, as Kristian Matsson blazed through songs from each of his records, with an emphasis on this summer's terrific 'There's No Leaving Now.'

All I Can Warsaw Save Yourself Kevin's Way Magic Chords Give Out Ask Life Of His Own  Leonard Serpents I'm Wrong

It's not hyperbolic to suggest that Sigur Rós is one of the world's greatest live bands, creating a hypnotic, almost overwhelming experience. Hear the group, back on tour after four years, as it plays a sweeping two-hour set at Brooklyn's Prospect Park Bandshell during Celebrate Brooklyn recorded live on July 31, 2012. Set List: "Ekki múkk" "Varúð" "Ný batterí" "Í Gær""Vaka" (Untitled 1) "Sæglópur" "Svefn-g-englar" "Viðrar vel til loftárása" "Hoppípolla" "Med blóðnasir" "Olsen Olsen" "Festival" "Hafsól" Encore: "Glósóli" "Popplagið" (Untitled 8)

Impeccable, sweet-voiced folk-pop hangs heavy over the Pacific Northwest — it's infused in every droplet of drizzle. But The Head and the Heart is a particularly lovable practitioner, making a nationwide name for itself alongside the harmony-rich likes of Fleet Foxes. Here, the band performs at the 2012 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 29 in Newport, R.I. For more of NPR's coverage of the Newport Folk Festival visit www.npr.org/newportfolk

tUnE-yArDs' strange, joyous concoction is wild, rhythmic, layered and swirling with surprises. Leader Merrill Garbus forms a cut-up collage of coos, howls and bold statements of purpose, but her live shows fan out into epic rave-ups, complete with a pair of saxophonists. tUnE-yArDs performs here as part of the 2012 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 29 in Newport, R.I. For more of NPR's coverage of the Newport Folk Festival visit www.npr.org/newportfolk.

The North Carolina band has a knack for blending classic-rock traditionalism with a real ear for experimentation. The songs on last year's self-titled album can whisper or rage, meander or kick. Megafaun performs here as part of the 2012 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Friday, July 27 in Newport, R.I. For more of NPR's coverage of the Newport Folk Festival visit www.npr.org/newportfolk.

Blitzen Trapper's sixth album, last year's American Goldwing, finds the group settling ever further into a breezy classic-rock vibe. But sharp edges poke out, as the Portland, Ore., band finds ways to indulge its gift for psychedelic freakouts. Here, Blitzen Trapper performs live in Newport, R.I. For more of NPR's coverage of the Newport Folk Festival, visit www.npr.org/newportfolk.

Early this year, the Swedish sister act broke through with a lovely album called The Lion's Roar, which mixes wearily winsome mountain music with a welcome sunny side in tracks like "Emmylou" — an ode to musical couples seemingly made for the Newport crowd. First Aid Kit performs here as part of the 2012 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Saturday, July 28 in Newport, R.I. For more of NPR's coverage of the Newport Folk Festival, visit www.npr.org/newportfolk.

In concert, the soulful blues-rock band's music reached ecstatic, rafter-shaking heights. Singer Brittany Howard has the bearing, power and charisma of a star twice her age, but on stage, she's positively dominant. Here, the band performs at the 2012 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Saturday, July 28 in Newport, R.I. Find NPR's complete Newport Folk Festival coverage at www.npr.org/newportfolk.

Hear the band recorded live in concert from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Best Coast is currently on tour for its latest record 'The Only Place,' a captivating collection of sparkling pop. "The End" "Crazy For You" "Goodbye" "Last Year" "Summer Mood" "The Only Place" "No One Like You" "How They Want Me To Be" "Why I Cry" "Dreaming My Life Away" "Let's Go Home" "Our Deal" "When The Sun Don't Shine" "Do You Love Me Like You Used To" "Something In The Way" "I Want To" "Sun Was High (So Was I)" "When I'm With You" "Boyfriend"

Spiritualized, led by Jason Pierce (a.k.a. J. Spaceman), has experienced agony, recovery, redemption and two near-death experiences in its 13 years as a band. Hear it explode into space-rock bliss at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. in a concert recorded live on May 10, 2012. Set List: "Hey Jane""Lord Let It Rain On Me""Headin' for the Top Now""Walkin' with Jesus""Oh Baby""Rated X""Born Never Asked""Electric Mainline""Soul on Fire""I Am What I Am""Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space""Mary""Stay with Me""So Long You Pretty Thing""She Kissed Me (And It Felt Like a Hit)""Come Together""Cop Shoot Cop"

Juggling violin, beatboxing and both English and Japanese vocals, Kishi Bashi is a one-man orchestra who blends a mess of ingredients into a symphony of loop-pedaled wonders. Watch him build his music one melody at a time, live in concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. on April 3, 2012. Set List: "Atticus, In The Desert" "Bright Whites" "I Am The Antichrist To You" "It All Began With A Burst" "Manchester"

Lost in the Trees finds beauty in the darkest places, mixing breathtaking string arrangements with acoustic guitars to tell tragic stories of depression, suicide and family strife. The band performed its deeply affecting songs, recorded live from Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on April 11, 2012. Set List: "Walk Around the Lake" "Red""Tall Ceilings" "An Artist's Song" "This Dead Bird Is Beautiful" "Garden""Song for the Painter" "Golden Eyelids" "Neither Here Nor There" "Fireplace" "All Alone In An Empty House" "A Room Where Your Paintings Hang"

Music from Hospitality's Tiny Desk Concert. The New York band Hospitality makes music that's unmistakably friendly and welcoming — it's hug-and-a-handshake pop that lives up to its name by jangling and chiming comfortably. The group doesn't overwhelm so muchas it wears listeners down with a subtle charm offensive. To watch the video and subscribe to the Tiny Desk Concerts podcast, visit npr.org/tinydeskconcerts.

The Athens, Ga., rock group Of Montreal has built its reputation on wildly theatrical live performances. Sprung from the twisted imagination of flamboyant frontman Kevin Barnes, the band's shows include elaborate costumes and stage sets, synchronized dancing and massive bursts of psychedelic lighting effects. For Of Montreal's latest album, Paralytic Stalks, Barnes and his bandmates call their tour and stage show "hallucinatory and transportive," with more than a dozen projection screens and strange, wandering creatures that look like amoebas. You can hear the spectacle unfold in this concert, recorded live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., on April 3. To watch video of this concert, visit npr.org/liveconcerts.

The Athens, Ga., rock group Of Montreal has built its reputation on wildly theatrical live performances. Sprung from the twisted imagination of flamboyant frontman Kevin Barnes, the band's shows include elaborate costumes and stage sets, synchronized dancing and massive bursts of psychedelic lighting effects. For Of Montreal's latest album, Paralytic Stalks, Barnes and his bandmates call their tour and stage show "hallucinatory and transportive," with more than a dozen projection screens and strange, wandering creatures that look like amoebas. You can hear the spectacle unfold in this concert, recorded live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., on April 3. To watch video of this concert, visit npr.org/liveconcerts.

The final night at the South By Southwest music conference offered our team in Austin new favorites, classic performances and a few welcome surprises.

Day three at South by Southwest included death metal, hip-hop from Seattle, a set from the band with the number one song in the country and the emergence of a new All Songs favorite.

On Thursday at SXSW, our intrepid team hosted a day party, caught two performances by Bruce Springsteen and experienced a whole lot of emotion.

Lower Dens' music is about mood more than stage-stalking showmanship: Singer Jana Hunter's icy-cool demeanor sets a hauntingly atmospheric tone that's all about mystery, washes of guitar-saturated noise and the difficult emotions that lie, unexpressed, beneath the surface. Mixing songs from 2010's majestic Twin Hand Movement with material from the hotly anticipated Nootropics, Lower Dens seethed through a gorgeous, brooding set at NPR Music's SXSW day party, held Thursday at The Parish in Austin, Texas recorded on March 15, 2012.

Not many bands can boast two drummers and an uncluttered sound, but Polica made it work at NPR Music's SXSW day party, held Thursday at The Parish in Austin, Texas. At The Parish, the band toned down the heavily manipulated vocals of Channy Leaneagh — on the new Give You the Ghost, her voice slides lithely all over the place — to reveal her as a bold, even ferocious singer in her own right. Hear the band, recorded live from Austin on March 15, 2012.

The first thing that jumps out about rising rapper Sugar Tongue Slim is his playful, funny, generous spirit. Surrounded by a lively and crackling backing band — a laptop, turntables, bass and a full drum kit — STS cut a smiling and conspiratorial figure on stage at NPR Music's SXSW day party, held Thursday at The Parish in Austin, Texas on March 15, 2012. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may contain language not suitable for all audiences.

Backs to the stage, shirts drenched and spattered with blue paint, La Vida Boheme opened NPR Music's SXSW day party in kinetically jumpy style Thursday. A boundlessly gleeful young band, La Vida Boheme invigorates Latin rock with the grit and viscera of punk and the churning drive of dance music. Hear the band perform live at The Parish during the South by Southwest music festival on March 15, 2012.

Highlights from day one at SXSW included discoveries, old favorites and NPR Music's official showcase at Stubbs, featuring the return of Fiona Apple.

Classically trained and once known as a purveyor of old-time hot jazz, Andrew Bird is now the picture of indie-pop sophistication, known for employing $10 words and the clearest, most identifiable whistle in the business. Naturally, both came into play when Bird took the Stubb's stage as the headliner of NPR Music's SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2012.

Led by Brittany Howard, one of the most charismatic up-and-coming singers in the business, the group enjoyed an auspicious breakthrough with a self-titled record last year. But this is a full, tight, ridiculously proficient rock/soul band with remarkable live chemistry and a strong, consistent catalog. A staple of "Bands To Watch" lists far and wide, Alabama Shakes sure didn't shrink under the open Texas skies during NPR Music's SXSW showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas. Hear the band perform live in concert, recorded on March 14, 2012.

Few high-profile musicians fit into the SXSW crowd as seamlessly as Dan Deacon, who doesn't exactly cut a lithe, otherworldly, Mick Jagger-esque figure offstage. But everything about his live show is a raving, raging bundle of surprises: Deacon puts on some of the most rivetingly unpredictable, oddly interactive concerts in the business, whether he's teaching the crowd how to move in choreographed unison or issuing a long spoken riff that somehow invokes both Avatar and the mom from the movie Big. Hear Dan Deacon's set, recorded live from Stubbs during SXSW on March 14, 2012.

At SXSW in 2010, Sharon Van Etten slunk shyly onstage at a church to tentatively sang breathtakingly fragile songs from her breakthrough album, Because I Was in Love. It's almost impossible to comprehend the transformation she's made since, as her wounded acoustic material gives way to "Serpents," the bracing and caustic rocker which closes Van Etten's performance during NPR Music's showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas. Without sacrificing the intimacy of a small club Van Etten flexed her songs' newfound muscle without obscuring the beating heart and raw nerves that lie beneath. Hear Sharon Van Etten's set performed live during South By Southwest on March 14, 2012.

All Songs Considered is Austin-bound! On this week's show, host Bob Boilen, producer and co-host Robin Hilton, editor Stephen Thompson and NPR Music critic Ann Powers talk about the bands they're most excited to see this year at South by Southwest. The four-day music festivalkicks off on Wednesday, March 14 in Austin, Texas, and features roughly 2,000 artists, spanning countless genres.On the show:Bad Sports: "Can't Just Be Friends" Lady Leshurr: "Lego" Filastine: "Colony Collapse" Quiet Company: "You, Me and The Bottom" Mr. Gnome: "House of Circles" Teen Daze: "Let's Groove" Bright Moments: "Natives" The City And Horses: "We Will Never Be Discovered" No: "Stay With Me" Sauti Sol: "Soma Kijana" Daughter: "Landfill" Impending Doom: "There Will Be Violence" The Black And White Years: "Up!" Mirel Wagner: "No Death" Deafheaven: "Violet" Trippple Nippple: "LSD" Line Upon Line Percussion: "A Man With A Gun Lives Here" Clyde And Clem's Whiskey Business: "The Ballad of Ed Geen" Young Prism: "Floating In Blue" Sore Losers: "Letter To My Competition" ZZ Ward: "Criminal" Kishi Bashi: "Bright Whites"

Julia Holter's music is hard to pin down. With 'Ekstasis,' she blurs the line between composer and songwriter, between ambient and pop. Hear Holter turn pop music inside-out in her first-ever New York City performance, recorded live from Le Poisson Rouge on Tuesday March 6, 2012.

It got loud when NPR Music live webcast these full concerts from two of the grittiest rock duos of the past decade, The Kills and JEFF The Brotherhood. Each band has an outsize sound, fueled by deafening guitar noise and trashy rhythms, and is known for feverish but playful live performances. JEFF The Brotherhood opened the webcast from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club, followed by The Kills. Real-life brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall founded the duo JEFF The Brotherhood in Nashville in 2001. Over the course of a half-dozen full-length albums, they've built a reputation on distorted, noisy rock with a wry sense of humor. For the band's Tiny Desk performance at the NPR Music offices, they insisted on removing their shirts for what they called "a sad love song," which was immediately followed by plenty of guitar shredding and messy beats. No promises on whether the duo will shirt-up for Thursday's live webcast.

It got loud when NPR Music live webcast these full concerts from two of the grittiest rock duos of the past decade, The Kills and JEFF The Brotherhood. Each band has an outsize sound, fueled by deafening guitar noise and trashy rhythms, and is known for feverish but playful live performances. JEFF The Brotherhood opened the webcast from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club, followed by The Kills. Singer-guitarist Alison Mosshart and drummer Jamie Hince formed The Kills in 2001 after bonding over their shared love of blues- and punk-infused garage rock. Their fourth and most recent record, 2011's Blood Pressure — released after Mosshart heightened her profile alongside Jack White in The Dead Weather — is full of sex and swagger, dark guitar riffs and twisted beats. Real-life brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall founded the duo JEFF The Brotherhood in Nashville in 2001. Over the course of a half-dozen full-length albums, they've built a reputation on distorted, noisy rock with a wry sense of humor. For the band's Tiny Desk performance at the NPR Music offices, they insisted on removing their shirts for what they called "a sad love song," which was immediately followed by plenty of guitar shredding and messy beats. No promises on whether the duo will shirt-up for Thursday's live webcast.

Earth-rattling horns and mesmerizingly oscillating vocals: Boston's Debo Band takes the funky, psychedelic groove of 1960s Ethiopiaand transplants it firmly onto a 21st-century dance floor. With 11 musicians crammed every which way onto the tiniest stage of the night — the sousaphone barely cleared overhead pipes — Debo Band closed globalFEST in serious, sweaty, funky style. For more concerts, visit npr.org/liveconcerts. Set List: "Musicawi Silt" "Yene Neger" "Belomi Benna" "Ney Ney Waleba" "Asha Gedawo" "Lantchi Biye" "Tenesh Kelbe Lay" "Addis Ababa Bete" "Gedawo"

Beirut's latest album, The Rip Tide, was recorded in New York during the winter of 2010 and takes a surprise turn away from the group's early, ?o?ek-influenced sound and toward more mainstream indie rock. But the band hasn't reinvented itself entirely: Anyone drawn to the trumpet and ukulele on Beirut's first album, Gulag Orkestar, will find those familiar sounds on The Rip Tide, but set amidst wurlitzer, pump organ and percussion that can sound almost electronic at times. Beirut showcased this new material in a live concert webcast from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club.

Few working composers transcend their compositional means as thoroughly as Tim Hecker. Hecker's sixth and most recent album — titled Ravedeath, 1972 — is an enveloping, almost suffocating exploration of noise music. Hecker buries melodies and rhythms in a deluge of dissonance and sound, obfuscating instrumentation; sifting through the thick, ambient textures of "The Piano Drop" is as gratifying as it is hypnotic. Hear Hecker's textured noise in a full concert, recorded live on October 30, 2011 at Moogfest in Asheville, N.C.

It's obvious on even a cursory listen to Chris Taylor's new project CANT that he's taken advantage of his time off from Grizzly Bear. "Ghost," his first release in this incarnation, came hot off the heels of Grizzly Bear's critically adoredVeckatimest (an album he produced), and it sounded like it. On the recent Dreams Come True, however, the stylistic markers of Grizzly Bear are conspicuously absent. Gone are the tone cluster vocal harmonies and heavily reverbed guitar. The crunchy fuzz bass of "Believe" plays more like a brilliant cover of a lost '80s R&B ballad, while "Answer" is a glitchy Goth new-wave slog and "Be Around" would feel at home under an action-movie montage. They comprise a dazzling alternative universe from an already accomplished artist. Hear CANT in a full concert, recorded live on October 29, 2011 at Moogfest in Asheville, N.C.

Few artists have survived the constantly mutating world of dance music from era to era quite like Moby. From his roots in New York's early-'90s rave scene to the commercial gold of Play and 18's ambient electronica, Moby has maintained his place on the shortlist of the genre's crossover stars. His recent performances have highlighted his work as a DJ, departing from his mid-period forays into rock musicianship, but at Moogfest, he was in full-on rock star mode, stalking the stage and playing guitar, drums and keyboards while leading a band clad all in black through songs from throughout his nearly 20-year career. Hear Moby perform a full concert, recorded live on October 28, 2011 at Moogfest in Asheville, N.C.

Austra, a.k.a. Toronto-based Katie Stelmanis, released her debut album Feel It Break all of one month before it was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize. It's easy to see why: The disc pairs clear, powerful vocals with dark, distorted analog synthesizers to beautiful effect. She didn't win, but — as she rides a rising tide of dark new-wave artists along with Zola Jesus and a rejuvenated Trent Reznor — it's safe to say things are looking up for her. Hear Stelmanis and her band in a full concert, recorded live on October 28, 2011 at Moogfest in Asheville, N.C.

Wild Flag has only been together for about a year, and just released its debut album last month. But the group has already earned a reputation for stunning, frenetic live performances. Wild Flag's members play with near-total abandon, thrashing on stage to bursts of guitar noise and fierce rhythms.  This performance was recorded live at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 20, 2011.

As a kid growing up in rural Wisconsin, Nika Roza Danilova wanted to sing opera, but youthful insecurities and performance anxiety kept the diminutive singer from finding her voice. By her late teens, Danilova found it instead in the dark and brooding worlds of goth and experimental synth-rock. In 2006, she began writing and performing as Zola Jesus, and in the past two years unleashed a torrent of intense, mesmerizing songs on three EPs and three full-length albums, including this fall's Conatus.

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 is the sound of spongy pop music hitting a brick wall. Playfully weird and fuzzy, this group of pop deviants has annoyed and delighted since 1986. Even though the band hasn't released any new music in ten years, Thinking Fellers fit right in at Asbury Lanes (yes, a bowling alley) on opening day of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival, inciting the weekend's rowdiest crowd. Recorded on Friday, September 30, 2011.

Hear the legendary English roots -and country-rock singer live from Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, recorded on Sept. 25, 2011. Lowe performs material from his new album, The Old Magic, as well as classic songs. He also tips his hat to Elvis Costello with a version of "Alison," a song Lowe originally produced for Costello's breakthrough record, My Aim Is True.

Hear the band recorded live in concert from (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City, from Sept. 21, 2011. Set List: Opening A Peculiar Noise Called Train Director I'm Not Feeling Human Memories Of Jacqueline 1906 Define A Transparent Dream Courtyard A Place We Have Been To The Game You Play Is In Your Head Parts 1, 2, 3 Jumping Fences Grass Canons California Demise 3 Green Typewriters (suite) NYC-25 Black Foliage Paranormal Echoes I Have Been Floated No Growing A Sleepy Company Mystery Hideaway The Sylvan Screen Encore: Holiday Surprise 1, 2, 3 The Opera House

The love for Justin Vernon and Bon Iver at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club was so overwhelming for this performance, it seemed fans might storm the stage and eat the humble frontman alive. The stage was set with just the essentials, bathed in thin columns of warmly colored lights. It was just enough to reveal the faces of a thousand or so glassy-eyed fans who mouthed the words to every song and swayed in a state of pure bliss. 8/4/11 Perth Minnesota, WI Towers Holocene Creature Fear Flume Hinnom, TX Wash. Brackett, WI Blood Bank Re: Stacks Calgary Wolves (Act I and II) ENCORE: Skinny Love Beth/Rest For Emma

Portland, Ore., has bred or attracted so many tremendous indie-folk musicians that they're getting stuffed into bigger and bigger bands to make room for everyone. A collective that swells from seven to as many as 17 members, Typhoon is built for soul-stirring beauty on a grand scale. Conceived by singer Kyle Morton as a vehicle for grandiose uplift, Typhoon hammers his points home with ambitious swells of brass and strings. At the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., the group finally commanded a stage big enough for what it throws down on its marvelous new EP, A New Kind of House.

In the span of just a few years, The Decemberists' Colin Meloy has taken an unlikely path from brainy folk-pop obscurity to commanding frontman — the sort of confident singer who can fill open-air venues with his lone voice when he's not crafting ludicrously ambitious "folk operas" like 2009's The Hazards of Love. The Decemberists scaled back those ambitions on this year's lustrous-but-straightforward The King Is Dead. But make no mistake: Songs this infectious aren't crafted without a healthy dollop of ambition — and an even greater application of craft and skill. Hear The Decemberists' members reach back into their rich catalog live at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Emmylou Harris' Grammy-festooned career stretches back more than 40 years, to her legendary early collaborations with the late country-folk legend Gram Parsons. Hard Bargain, her new album, is suffused with mourning, both for Parsons (in "The Road") and for her late friend Kate McGarrigle, whom she memorably memorializes in "Darlin' Kate." But the Country Music Hall of Famer still knows where and how to locate sweetness and joy in her music, and she remains vital and contemporary. Here, Harris closes out the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. joined on stage by many special guests: Pete Seeger, The Civil Wars, David Wax Museum and more.

Joy Williams and John Paul White were strangers when they were paired up at a Nashville songwriting session in 2008, but you'd never know that now: Though not romantically involved, they perform their sweet, harmony-rich folk-pop songs with loving chemistry, often staring sweetly into each other's eyes. After attracting huge buzz at this year's SXSW music festival, the pair has gone on to be a large-scale cult item, thanks in part to the warmly winning songs on this year's Barton Hollow. The Civil Wars draw heavily from that album, and a few choice covers, when the band performs live at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Last year, Boston's David Wax Museum couldn't play the Newport Folk Festival without first winning a contest. But talk about making the most of an opportunity: The band was everywhere at Newport last year, passing out CDs and signing bands up to its mailing list when it wasn't breaking spontaneously into song every chance it got. Since that breakthrough, the group has found a national audience for its recent album Everything Is Saved, which finds David Wax mixing the roots of American and Mexican folk music while Suz Slezak gives the band's music the percussive edge that can only come from a stick dragged rhythmically against a donkey's jawbone. Hear David Wax Museum perform live at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Chris Thile enjoyed massive success at a very early age, selling millions with the prodigiously gifted bluegrass band Nickel Creek. But he's remained remarkably level-headed and creatively ambitious in the five years since the group's demise, exploring his more progressive leanings in Punch Brothers and teaming up with Michael Daves for a more traditional collection paying tribute to past bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and fellow Newport artist Earl Scruggs. Sleep With One Eye Open, their album together, may look to the past, but make no mistake: This is blazingly intense music, and it shows live when they take the stage at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin usually traffic in fizzy, punky pop music, so it's a refreshing twist to see them pop up at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. The smart and outspoken pair will throw an extra curveball when they show their faces Saturday: They're translating their spiky music into acoustic arrangements. The mission is to highlight the sturdy songcraft behind Tegan and Sara's cultishly adored music, without sacrificing any of the hard-earned potency.

Mountain Man is significantly less burly than its name suggests: Founded at Bennington College in Vermont, the mostly a cappella trio of Molly Sarle, Amelia Meath and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig weaves its voices into a stark, reverent and unadorned sound that can be hauntingly beautiful. Tours with Jonsi and The Decemberists helped put the group on the map last year — as did a spot at the Glastonbury Festival, which preceded the release of Mountain Man's debut album — and it's just followed that breakthrough with a live set called Live at the Wiltern. Mountain Man brings its gorgeous three-part harmonies to the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

It almost goes without saying that Pokey LaFarge is a man out of time: With his slicked-back hair and vintage clothing, he looks like a grown-up street urchin from early in the previous century. His music matches his look: Recorded with his band The South City Three, the new Middle of Everywhere could have emerged from a decades-old field recording, even as it exudes modern whiz-bang energy. (It's no surprise that the man is putting out his own 78 RPM record.) LaFarge and his players put on a tremendously tight live show at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., the result of years spent busking and wandering.

One of the most demented and infectious live bands in the world, Gogol Bordello assembles something approximating an Eastern European punk-rock circus, suitable for non-stop movement and hearty sing-alongs. Look for the band to showcase songs from 2010's Rick Rubin-produced Trans-Continental Hustle when it plays the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., but don't be surprised by the abundant surprises.

Hear the sludgy doom-metal duo play with a 24-member female choir at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City as part of the Blackened Music Series on June 25, 2011.

Multi-instrumentalist Jenny Conlee wasn't expected to join the band only weeks removed from a breast-cancer diagnosis. But she appeared nonetheless. The band interspersed old favorites with tunes from this year's The King Is Dead. Recorded live at The Gorge on Monday, May 30, The Decemberists performs here as part of the 2011 Sasquatch Music Festival outside Seattle, Wash. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

Following a tour in support of its 2010 album Expo 86, the band announced it would be going on indefinite hiatus. Hear its penultimate show from day two of the Sasquatch Music Festival. Recorded live at The Gorge on Sunday, May 28, Wolf Parade performs here as part of the 2011 Sasquatch Music Festival outside Seattle, Wash. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

Van Etten is no ordinary guitar-wielding singer-songwriter: Sure, she sings softly and woundedly, but her music has teeth. Recorded live at The Gorge on Saturday, May 28, Sharon Van Etten performs here as part of the 2011 Sasquatch Music Festival outside Seattle, Wash. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

Featuring songs from his forthcoming album, Ernest Greene brings hazy bedroom electronica to the Sasquatch Music Festival with a broader sound and an expanded backing band. Recorded live at The Gorge on Saturday, May 28, Washed Out performs here as part of the 2011 Sasquatch Music Festival outside Seattle, Wash. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

One of the great recent records to accompany a late-night drive through the city, Aloe Blacc's Good Things synthesizes the sounds of vintage soul with a contemporary vision. Recorded live at The Gorge on Saturday, May 28, Aloe Blacc performs here as part of the 2011 Sasquatch Music Festival outside Seattle, Wash. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

The band plays briskly infectious, harmony-rich folk-pop music that benefits greatly from its propulsive, Afrobeat-inspired rhythms. It performed songs from its 2010 album at Sasquatch. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

The Seattle folk-rock sextet showcases songs from its sweet self-titled debut outside Seattle. Language Advisory: This is a live concert recording, and may not contain language suitable for all audiences.

Iconoclastic singer-songwriter PJ Harvey is making four U.S. stops in support of her recent album Let England Shake. Hear one of those concerts featuring songs from her latest album 'Let England Shake,' recorded live from the Warfield Theater in San Francisco on April 14, 2011. To hear the full concert, visit our website, npr.org/music. Set List: 1) "Let England Shake" 2) "The Words That Maketh Murder" 3) "All & Everyone" 4) "In the Dark Places" 5) "The Glorious Land" 6) "The Last Living Rose" 7)"England" 8) "Bitter Branches" 9) "On Battleship Hill" 10) "The Colour of the Earth"

Hear the band recorded live in concert from the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. on March 25, 2011.

Surrounded by banners adorned with elk, with incense lit at the front of the stage, Agalloch's performance felt like a savagely beautiful and personal ritual. Hear the black-metal band's first-ever New York City performance, recorded live at Le Poisson Rouge on March 22, 2011.

Dreamy and haunting, Worm Ouroboro's set at Le Poisson Rouge on March 22, 2011 felt like a processional. Led by two vocalists, the band's quiet, almost medieval melodies led down a path leading to heavy doom metal.

On the new People's Key, Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst is no longer a prodigiously gifted kid; he's become an adventurous, fully formed folk-rock icon. Hear Bright Eyes cap SXSW 2011 with a monster two-hour concert as part of a SXSW showcase at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas, on March 19, 2011.

The members of Felice Brothers know how to make a madly spirited, ramshackle racket onstage: That's how the Upstate New York band got its start. their mix of rock, country and folk has a freewheeling energy at its core: It accesses the spirit of Bruce Springsteen as frequently as it wallows in thoughtful, Bob Dylan-esque folk. Hear the band perform live as part of a SXSW showcase at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas, on March 19, 2011.

A supergroup featuring the leaders of three largely likeminded bands — Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith, Deer Tick's John McCauley and Delta Spirit's Matthew Vasquez — Middle Brother naturally takes on many incarnations: moodily brooding folk-pop, boozily spirited rock, spotlight-sharing roots music. Altogether, it adds up to roughly the sum of its parts. Hear the band perform live as part of a SXSW showcase at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas, on March 19, 2011.

The NPR Music crew gather one last time in Austin, Texas for their 4th SXSW 2011 nightly wrap up. Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers talk about the music they loved on this last day and night of the festival.

The NPR Music crew gather in a churchyard in Austin Texas for their 3rd SXSW 2011 nightly wrap up. Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers talk about the music they loved on this 3rd day of the festival.

The NPR Music crew gather on a street corner again in Austin Texas for their 2nd SXSW 2011 nightly wrap up. Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers talk about the music they loved on this 2nd day of the festival.

It's hard to imagine a band doing more with limited time than the Welsh-raised, London-based pop-rock trio The Joy Formidable. The group had to cut its set at NPR Music's daytime SXSW party in Austin, Texas, down to a lean four songs due to time constraints. But those spiky, bouncy songs absolutely slayed. Hear the band perform live at NPR Music's SXSW day party from The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2011.

A new supergroup featuring Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater-Kinney and NPR's Monitor Mix blog), Janet Weiss (of Sleater-Kinney and Quasi, among others), Mary Timony (of Helium) and Rebecca Cole (of The Minders), WILD FLAG hasn't even released its first single yet. Which means that virtually no one attending NPR Music's SXSW day party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, had heard a note of its rollicking, adventurous pop-rock before walking in the door. Hear the band perform live at NPR Music's SXSW day party from The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2011.

One of the great living legends of Malian music, Khaira Arby is widely hailed as the queen of Malian desert soul, and with good reason. Shrouded in regal colors, she presides over a small army of brilliant African musicians, who create a hypnotic backdrop for her gloriously swooping vocals. It feels a little silly to think of her as a frontwoman — the mere lead singer of some band — but she's all showmanship and command on the live stage. Hear Khaira Arby and her band perform the gorgeous songs from her album Timbuktu Tarab live at NPR Music's SXSW day party from The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2011.

Colin Stetson is coveted as a sideman for countless big names: The Montreal bass saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist is a touring member of Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre, and has performed guest work with Tom Waits, TV on the Radio, The National, David Byrne, Bon Iver and countless others. ?As a solo artist kicking off NPR Music's SXSW day party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, Stetson crafts vivid, enveloping, seemingly freeform soundscapes that sprawl and convulse. Hear Stetson perform live at NPR Music's SXSW day party from The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2011.

The NPR Music crew gather on a street corner in Austin Texas for their first SXSW 2011 nightly wrap up. Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers talk about the music they loved on this first day of the festival.

For all its irresistibly soulful energy, what really jumps out about Raphael Saadiq's music is the smooth precision with which it falls into place. A perfectly tailored showman, with perhaps the whitest teeth in show business, the producer and former member of Tony! Toni! Ton?! plays the part of the in-control frontman to perfection. But don't mistake his impeccably presented persona with sterility: This set from Stubb's in Austin, Texas -- recorded live as part of the South by Southwest music festival — is a full-blown soul revue, complete with choreographed backup singers and buckets of sweat. When a guy this cool exerts this much effort, it's a joy to behold. Hear Saadiq perform live at SXSW from Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 16, 2011.

Smith Westerns' members are no strangers to NPR Music's coverage of the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas: Just last year, they were a bunch of skinny, no-name teenagers winning over the crowd at NPR Music's annual daytime party. That enjoyable and ingratiating set — all propulsive rock energy, timeless pop hooks and some of the shiniest hair in music — laid the groundwork nicely for last fall's well-received Dye It Blonde, an engaging blast of candy-coated swagger. Hear the band perform live at SXSW from Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 16, 2011.

Yuck doesn't worry much about first impressions: Short of calling a band "We're Terrible," it's hard to imagine a name riper for dismissal. On stage, though, this is a remarkably assured young riser. Yuck captures the frayed noise and hooky, guitar-driven melodies of '90s rock, even though its members, at 20, are too young to have experienced it firsthand. Hear the band perform live at SXSW from Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 16, 2011.

From the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington DC, NPR Music presents The Low Anthem. This is their first show for their new album Smart Flesh. It is also the biggest crowd they've ever headlined. Here's the setlist, enjoy. Ghost Woman Blues Ocean of Noise Apothecary Love Hey, All You Hippies American Songwriter Home I'll Never Be (Jack Kerouac cover) I'll Take Out Your Ashes To The Ghosts Who Write History Books Hand Me Down My Walking Cane (Traditional cover) Love and Altar A new, unnamed song Boeing 737 This Goddamn House Dreams Can Chase You Down To Ohio (encore) Smart Flesh

Wavves opened for Best Coast at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC on a cold winter night. Part of their "Summer is Forever" tour. Here's the set list. 1. Idiot 2. Friends Were Gone 3. To the Dregs 4. In the Sand 5. WAVVES 6. Take on the World 7. Beach Demon 8. Linus Spacehead 9. No Hope Kids 10. Bug 11. Super Soaker 12. So Bored 13. Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag cover) 14. Green Eyes 15. Post Acid

Listen to Best Coast live from Washington DC's 9:30 Club. Their tour along with the band Wavves was billed as the Summer is Forever tour. That was a hopeful thought on a night when an ice storm was about to hit the city. Here's the set list 1. Bratty B 2. Summer Mood 3. Goodbye 4. The End 5. Crazy For You 6. Make You Mine 7. Sunny Adventure 8. Far Away 9. Fist City (Loretta Lynn cover) 10. Wish He Was You 11. I Want To 12. When I'm With You 13. That's the Way Boys Are (Lesley Gore cover) 14. When the Sun Don't Shine 15. Our Deal 16. When You Wake Up 17. Sun Was High (So Was I) 18. Something in the Way

Composer and guitarist Aurelio Martinez is one of the leading singers of Garifuna music from Central America. Martinez was added to globalFEST at the last minute after a Cuban group had visa trouble; he also played without his own band and had to put together a pickup group quickly. Despite all this, Martinez was a delight. He has been studying under the the legendary African singer and bandleader Youssou N'Dour — an important connection in his life since the Garifuna community descends from escaped African slaves. The culturally endangered Garifuna song forms such as paranda ballads find new life as the Honduran musician complements them with his melancholy yet hopeful singing.

This was one show everyone wanted to catch. Magic happens when Ballak? Sissoko and Vincent Segal perform. This night at globalFEST was no exception. When the kora and a cello sit side by side, there's a clear cultural juxtaposition of African and European musical tradition. But despite the striking contrast, when the Malian kora player Sissoko and French cellist Segal sit down together, nothing sounds more natural. Sissoko plucks sweet harp-like sounds from the 21-stringed kora, while Segal draws unexpected sounds from his cello, sometimes evoking woodwinds. The acoustic pairing and cultural combination has become an exciting new sound in chamber music.

This was my globalFEST surprise. Imagine a New Orleans street band playing Indian Bollywood tunes with a go-go beat — you can't? Then just listen, because your day is about to get better. Red Baraat is the only bhangra brass band in North America. Hailing from New York City and formed in 2008, the group uses their improvisational sound to blend the dhol, a double-sided, barrel-shaped North Indian drum, with brass funk. It's a crazy blast of fun.

Like 'The Shepherd's Dog,' 'Kiss Each Other Clean' showcases Iron and Wine's subtly exploratory, even meandering side. Hear the increasingly exploratory band perform its new album at New York City's Greene Space. Tickets for the surprise show were scarce, but fans got to watch the intimate performance on Jan. 4, 2011 from WNYC and NPR Music.

Hear the Sigur Ros singer in a stunning solo concert, recorded live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Nov. 9, 2010.

Swedish singer and guitarist Kristian Matsson is a soft-spoken guy who stands somewhere around five and a half feet tall. But on stage, he's known as The Tallest Man on Earth, a name he's earned by giving unforgettable live performances with one of the boldest, most captivating voices around. Hear him perform live in this full concert, recorded in Washington, D.C. Oct. 3, 2010.

Sean Carey, who performs as S. Carey, was best known as the beautifully understated drummer for Bon Iver before releasing his own solo album this year called All We Grow. Hear him in this full concert, recorded live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Oct. 3, 2010.

Everything about Of Montreal is a spectacle, and the band's live performances are no exception. Led by frenetic frontman Kevin Barnes, Of Montreal stages fantastically theatrical concerts with elaborate sets, multiple costume changes and synchronized dancing, all driven by breathlessly unpredictable songs. Of Montreal is on tour for its latest album, False Priest, and this concert is at 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.

Hear the band recorded live in concert from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club.

It sure did take Glen Hansard a while to capture the world's attention. Long a star in his native Ireland, thanks to a long string of albums with The Frames, Hansard couldn't catch a break in America, where he bounced from label to label without finding much success. But then Hansard and young Czech singer Marketa Irglova sang and starred together in a little 2007 indie movie called 'Once,' and everything changed: The two won an Oscar for "Falling Slowly," the movie's soundtrack sold millions, and The Frames gave way to The Swell Season, in which Hansard and his old band perform with Irglova. The two singers' romantic relationship ended as they were recording 2009's 'Strict Joy,' but they continue to work and perform together. Here, The Swell Season performs live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

It's no surprise that two Kentucky singer-songwriters would come together to bond over their love of mountain life. But the first album-length collaboration by cellist Ben Sollee and guitarist/banjo player Daniel Martin Moore, 'Dear Companion,' is about little else. Recorded to raise money and awareness for Appalachian preservation -- most pointedly in opposition to mountaintop-removal coal mining -- the album was produced by another likeminded Kentuckian, Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Here, Sollee and Moore perform live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

You can't turn on a TV these days without hearing a song by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros: "Janglin'" and especially "Home" have popped up in countless ads and musical montages, everywhere from 'American Idol' to 'Community.' Still, the absolute best place to take in the 10-piece band's gloriously uplifting ruckus is on the concert stage, where the music takes on the celebratory and intense air of a revival show. When singers Edward Sharpe (a.k.a. Alex Ebert) and Jade Castrinos lock eyes and sing to each other, it conjures images of Johnny and June, if Johnny Cash were a towering figure with dreadlocks and no undershirt. Here, the L.A. band performs live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

You wouldn't expect someone called Pokey LaFarge to grow up in fancy boarding schools, so it's not a huge surprise to learn that he came of age as an all-around rural wanderer who found his voice in roving packs of fellow buskers. Naturally, he keeps one eye on tradition, but -- true to form for an adventure- seeking free spirit -- he's always looking forward, too. LaFarge's newest album, recorded with his South City Three, is titled 'Riverboat Soul.' Here, LaFarge and his band perform live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

David Wax Museum knows how to make the most of an opportunity. The talented Boston roots-folk band won its spot on a Newport Folk Festival stage after winning a contest, then spent the first day of the festival courting fans cheerfully but aggressively. By the time its set was half over -- after it had passed around its mailing list and hawked its line of hats -- the group had gathered a fairly enormous crowd, which it proceeded to win over in an increasingly big way. Before its set was over, the full band had congregated in the middle of the crowd to perform without amplification; judging by the deafening roar that followed, David Wax Museum won't need to enter contests much longer.

When Nickel Creek broke up in 2006, it was only a matter of time before the massively popular bluegrass band would spin off into new projects. Among the most prominent is singer-mandolinist Chris Thile's creatively ambitious Punch Brothers, whose recordings have already included a 40-minute suite called "The Blind Leaving the Blind." Less than two months after performing at Bonnaroo, Thile and Punch Brothers are hitting the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., wielding new songs from an album titled 'Antifogmatic.'

One of the most self-assured stage performers in the business, Sharon Jones commands her audience's attention for every second of her hard-hitting concerts. For proof, look no further than her remarkable performance at NPR Music's SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas, this past March: Even if she didn't have the brilliant Dap-Kings horn section backing her blazing throwback soul songs, she'd have dominated. Jones performed music from this year's polished 'I Learned the Hard Way' when she takes the Newport Folk Festival stage in Newport, R.I.

April Smith sounds like an artist out of time: Her massive voice seems particularly well suited to the pop sounds of the '30s and '40s, when brassy belters reigned. Funded through $13,000 in donations from fans, Smith's recent album with her band The Great Picture Show, 'Songs for a Sinking Ship,' is a buoyant collection of quirky, charming songs. Here, Smith and her band perform live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Cory Chisel grew up in Appleton, Wis., where he got into music while singing in church for his father, a Baptist minister. But while that period of his life helped him find his voice -- particularly in performances with his family -- Chisel remained isolated from popular culture at large. That changed when his uncle introduced him to classic rock and soul music, which in turn helped lead to Cory Chisel's recording career. Expect him to showcase material from last year's full- length major-label debut, 'Death Won't Send a Letter,' in this live performance from the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, the grandson of folk all-timer Pete Seeger, has carried on in the family tradition of musical activism, making frequent appearances at the venerable folk festival his grandfather helped found. But that's not his only claim to fame: The younger Seeger has also put out four albums with his band The Mammals, played with Sarah Lee Guthrie (Woody Guthrie's granddaughter) in the group RIG, and even sung with Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger at President Obama's inaugural celebration. Here, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger plays songs from his new solo album, 'Rise and Bloom,' at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

This is a golden age for fans of beardy guys who infuse their indie-rock sound with rich vocal harmonies that recall the heady days of Crosby, Stills & Nash. The L.A. band Dawes may be led by singer Taylor Goldsmith, but the group's layered backing vocals are just as much the star of its sweetly melancholy debut album, 'North Hills.' Here, Dawes performs live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

At first blush, Horse Feathers might seem like the prototypical purveyor of ineffectual beard-folk, complete with a stirring string section. But two factors elevate the band to greatness: 1) That is a 'hell' of a stirring string section, which helps Horse Feathers achieve rare exquisiteness; and 2) singer Justin Ringle knows how to use his warm, kind tenor to mask powerful lyrics about dark secrets and bruised souls. Hear Horse Feathers perform songs from this year's excellent 'Thistled Spring' live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

The only way O'Death could be a better name for a Gothic folk-punk band would be if the band only performed on St. Patrick's Day. As it is, the New York group plays grippingly intense Americana, in the process bringing to mind the white-knuckle hellrides of '16 Horsepower.' Here, O'Death plays songs from its latest album, 'Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin,' at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

An Arizona band led by singer-guitarist Joey Burns and drummer/multi- instrumentalist John Convertino, Calexico has spent a decade and a half as a go-to purveyor of atmospheric, even cinematic desert pop. With the aid of trumpets, pedal-steel guitars and piano, Calexico has become a festival favorite (playing a set at Bonnaroo earlier this summer), recorded high-profile collaborations (including 'In the Reins,' a tremendous album with Iron & Wine), and evolved into a consistent studio force (most recently releasing the well-received 'Carried to Dust'). Here, Calexico performs live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

Eight albums into his Grammy-decorated solo career, Sam Bush has become a consistent heavy hitter in the world of bluegrass. On his new album, 'Circles Around Me,' Bush collaborates with giants such as Del McCoury and Edgar Meyer. And, of course, Bush rarely travels without some of the best bluegrass players in the business: bassist Byron House, drummer Chris Brown, banjoist Scott Vestal and guitarist Stephen Mougin. Here, Bush will perform live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

With a stage name that's helped him rise to the top of iTunes libraries everywhere, A.A. Bondy -- once known as Scott Bondy from the band Verbena -- writes dark songs about staying a half-step ahead of damnation and doom. Fortunately, Bondy's gentle voice and low-key arrangements help him cut through the bleakness with considerable warmth and pop appeal. Expect him to showcase songs from last year's 'When the Devil's Loose at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

It isn't easy to pin down the music of the folk-rock band Blitzen Trapper, whose collective wandering spirit has taken it down detours over some strange and even psychedelic roads. Drenched in Crosby, Stills & Nash-style harmonies, Blitzen Trapper's recent 'Destroyer of the Void' meanders through country, '70s-style soft rock and the occasional acid-rock freak-out, all held in one place with the help of singer-songwriter Eric Earley. Here, Blitzen Trapper performs live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

In 2008, The Low Anthem's members were volunteering at the Newport Folk Festival, helping to maintain the grounds. The next year, they were on stage, winning the home-state crowd's affections with their frequently gorgeous mix of folk, rock and wrenchingly atmospheric ballads. With a grab bag of unexpected instrumentation in tow, The Low Anthem again joins the Newport lineup in 2010, returning to the haunting sounds of its big-label debut, 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.'

A hardworking young folksinger with an impressive pedigree -- educated at Berklee College of Music and co-winner of the 2009 Mountain Stage New Song Contest, among many other honors -- Liz Longley is particularly highly regarded for her personal, emotionally engaging songwriting. Longley has already opened for the likes of Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin, but she takes one of her highest-profile stages yet when she performs live at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. Expect to hear songs from her brand-new album, 'Hot Loose Wire.'

The New Pornographers' latest album, Together, is a thrilling parade of infectious hooks, power-pop guitars, whistled melodies and sweet harmonies. The New Pornographers share highlights from the album, along with old favorites, in this full concert recorded live from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club on June 23, 2010.

Music from The Rock Bottom Remainders Tiny Desk Concert performance at NPR. Authors Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, Roy Blount Jr., Kathy Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry didn't bring any instruments to their performance at Bob Boilen's desk. But they were smart enough to bring a ringer: The Byrds' Roger McGuinn. You can download the video by subscribing to the All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Concert Podcast at npr.org/tinydeskconcerts

We are no longer publishing Tiny Desk videos in this podcast. To download and watch those videos, subscribe to our new Tiny Desk concerts podcast. We will, however, publish audio-only versions of the TDCs in this live concerts podcast.

After a nearly 20-year hiatus, the highly revered and often imitated post-punk group Public Image Ltd. has re-formed and launched a new U.S. tour. The band made a stop in Washington, D.C., for a full concert, recorded live at the 9:30 Club.

Hear Toro Y Moi in a full concert, recorded live from the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. May 10, 2010.

Hear Caribou recorded live in concert from the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. This program originally webcast live on NPR Music May 10, 2010.

In the calm-before-the-storm part of the day and week -- 10 o'clock on a Monday morning, to be exact -- reggae singer Tarrus Riley, saxophonist Dean Fraser and guitarist Lamont Savory showed up and performed three gorgeous, harmony-drenched reggae songs.

Fredrik's new record, 'Trilogi,' is a strange, dark concept album meticulously crafted in a studio, so there was no telling how the band might pull off its songs in a Tiny Desk Concert. With a single strummed guitar, a snare drum, a maraca and triggered odd sounds, it all came together beautifully.

Hear the Queens NY band Freelance Whales, recorded live in concert from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. They performed songs from their new album called "Weathervanes." This concert was recorded May 2nd 2010.

Hear the Swedish pop group Shout Out Louds, recorded live in concert from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. They performed songs from their new album called "Work" and a lot of old favorites. This concert was recorded May 2nd 2010.

Hot Chip came to the 9:30 Club to make a thousand people dance and scream. They succeeded. Playing many songs from their new album One Life Stand, the band headed by Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard played unwavering cheery dance music with synthesizers and electronic beats as the pulse. This podcast may be hard not to dance to. Turn it up.

The xx performing at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC. The band is at the end of a 6 week U.S. tour. playing songs from their lugubrious spacious and charming debut album. The short 35 minute set left the sold out crowd wanting more.

Listen to any Lionel Loueke record long enough and you'll wonder, "How did he make that noise?" When the unusual jazz guitarist and his drummer showed up for a video performance at the NPR Music offices — literally with bells on — they helped answer that question.

Since forming a few years ago in Milwaukee, Wis., the 10-piece group Kings Go Forth has been thrilling audiences in and around its hometown with a groove-heavy, horn-powered mix of funk and soul. Now, Kings Go Forth is taking that show on the road, with its first-ever tour of the East Coast. Hear Kings Go Forth in a full concert, recorded live from Washington D.C.'s U Street Music Hall. This performance was originally webcast live on NPR Music on April 20, 2010.

With rippling notes, intertwining melodies and a warm, lyrical tone, classical guitarist David Russell plays pieces from the baroque, from Latin America and from deep in the soul of Spain.

Carter's violin has expressed moods inspired by European classical, bebop, Afro-Cuban and Southern blues music. On her new album Reverse Thread, and in this recent performance at the NPR Music offices, Carter plays traditional African melodies, re-imagined through her own jazz sensibilities.

There have only been a handful of Tiny Desk Concerts where NPR employees have overflowed our modest office space, stepping away from looming deadlines to hear some music. Jakob Dylan and his touring companions, Neko Case, Kelly Hogan and Paul Rigby, joined those ranks when they stopped by to perform a mesmerizing, stripped-down set of songs from his latest record, Women and Country.

Joanna Newsom live from the 6th and I Synagogue in Washington, DC. Hear Joanna and her band perform songs from her new album "Have One on Me" also "Ys" and "Milk-Eyed Mender"

See the band perform three songs live, from it's self-titled album, for NPR Music, at SXSW 2010.

The Baltimore duo Wye Oak didn't have to travel far to liven up a day at the NPR Music offices. Wye Oak's four-song Tiny Desk Concert draws two songs from a new EP called My Neighbor/My Creator, another from 2007's If Children and an as-yet-unreleased song called "Civilian."

See the band, featuring members of Grandaddy and Earlimart, perform three new songs from its upcoming album, 'I Heart California.' This video was shot by NPR Music at the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX at the 2010 SXSW festival and conference.

Note: This is a three-song excerpt from the Broken Bells set at SXSW. Hear the full show at npr.org/sxsw. The Shins' James Mercer and the highly sought-after producer Danger Mouse just released their debut album as Broken Bells. Making one of its first-ever live appearances, the band appears on NPR Music's South By Southwest showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2010.

And so brings the beginning of the end. In their final late night dispatch from SXSW, Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson have met up to retrace their steps and remember their favorite moments from Saturday at the festival, including a bittersweet tribute to Big Star's Alex Chilton.

After listening to over a thousand songs before attending the SXSW music festival, a song by an unknown band called Vadoinmessico stood out just about the most. The band is from Italy, Austria and Mexico, and they're based in London. It was a delight to hear them play their song "In Spain" in the grand Maxmillian room at the Driskill Hotel in Austin during South by Southwest.

CALLmeKAT is the recording moniker of Katrine Ottosen, a singer and musician from Copenhagen, Denmark with a lovely, delicate voice backed by electronics. Austin is noisy during SXSW and Ottosen's subtle and beautiful voice could easily be buried by the distorted din of bands playing in venues along the streets. But luckily we found an intimate, quiet room at the Driskell Hotel, an historic hotel in downtown Austin for Ottosen to perform her song "Bug In A Web"

At the weary end of every night throughout South By Southwest, Bob Boilen, Carrie Brownstein, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson have met up on the Austin streets to break down all the events of the day. And then, in the cruel light of morning, we've posted these rambling and often existential recaps here in podcast form. In this third installment, the gang, recap their favorite moments including Japanese band Camisama, a new band from Jason Lytle and Earlimart, party rocker Andrew WK, The xx and so much more.

Every night — or really, early morning — during South By Southwest, Bob Boilen, Carrie Brownstein, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson will meet up on some random street corner in Austin, Texas and break down the events of the day. And every morning during the festival we'll post these lively and increasingly loopy recaps here and on the blog. In this second installment, the gang met up around 2:30 a.m. to rave about NPR Music's SXSW daytime party at The Parish, which included Brooklyn Rider, Smith Westerns, Local Natives, G-Side, Surfer Blood, and Sleigh Bells. They also talk about some of the shows they were able to catch later that night in venues all across Austin.

Written on a laptop, Sleigh Bells' songs rely heavily on bombastic beats that are pushed as far into the red as they can go. Combined with Alexis Krauss' sultry vocals and Derek Miller's trashy guitar riffs, their blown-out beats leap out of the speakers. The electro-pop duo headlines at The Parish at NPR Music's SXSW daytime party.

The Florida band's self-described "anthemic, bombastic, life-affirming indie-pop" project seems to have arisen as spontaneously as its name, which came up when one of Surfer Blood's members shouted it out in a car at random. The group performs as part of NPR Music's South By Southwest daytime party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 18, 2010.

Hailing from Huntsville, Ala., G-Side is a rap duo that rhymes about the experience of living in a midsize city in the American south. The group performs as part of NPR Music's South By Southwest daytime party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 18, 2010.

The Los Angeles band's sound synthesizes vocal harmonies influenced by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (or the more contemporary Fleet Foxes) with the reverberant rhythms of Afrobeat, indie rock and chamber pop. Local Natives performs as part of NPR Music's South By Southwest daytime party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 18, 2010.

The songs of the young Chicago band are, unmistakably, the guttural outpourings of raucous adolescents. But the group's members have talent well beyond their years, as well as an undeniable gift for writing rousing, sneakily infectious rock. The band performs as part of NPR Music's South By Southwest daytime party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 18, 2010.

Drawing from its globe-trotting experience with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider blends genres and influences seamlessly, carving out its own unique space within the world of chamber music. The string quartet performs as part of NPR Music's South By Southwest daytime party at The Parish in Austin, Texas, on March 18, 2010.

SXSW is upon us. In the first late night dispatch from South By Southwest, Bob Boilen, Carrie Brownstein, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson recap the day's events from the streets of Austin, Tex. Here they share their favorite moments from NPR Music's SXSW showcase at Stubb's that included Visqueen, The Walkmen, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Broken Bells and Spoon. They also highlight other bands they've been able to see so far and preview what's in store for the rest of the week.

Fresh off the release of its seventh album, 'Transference,' the Austin pop-rock band Spoon headlines NPR Music's South By Southwest showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2010.

The soul sensation appears on NPR Music's South By Southwest showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2010.

The ramshackle indie-rock band plays NPR Music's South By Southwest showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2010.

The charismatic power-pop band opens NPR Music's South By Southwest showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on March 17, 2010.

For much of the past year, The Antlers has stunned live audiences with its extraordinary range, moving seamlessly and gracefully from quiet, delicate moments to thundering swells of chaotic rock noise. That said, for this Tiny Desk performance, the trio pulled way back, offering stripped-down versions of songs from 'Hospice.'

Singer Omara Portuondo 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 reflection of the passion for life she instills in every performance.

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 is the sound of immense, wide-open spaces. When a very pregnant Veirs settled in for this performance behind Bob Boilen's desk, that same kind-hearted intimacy shone through.

As the frontman for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Alec Ounsworth wrote brash, poppy songs. But the singer and songwriter clearly had more music to make. In the fall of 2009, he released a solo record called 'Mo' Beauty', an album he wrote and recorded in New Orleans with a number of local musicians. Here, Ounsworth performs songs from 'Mo' Beauty', accompanied only by two guitars.

With a trove of instruments, languages and good humor, Abaji demonstrates his passion for music that reflects his numerous family roots, including Armenia, Turkey, Greece and France. Watch him perform a short concert at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

Castaneda is the sort of musician who isn't afraid to challenge the established order. He's carving out a place for himself in Latin jazz on an instrument you don't often hear in his style of music: the Colombian harp. Castaneda recently parked himself behind Bob Boilen's desk and crafted a transporting mix of tradition and improvisation.

It's hard to know what will happen when the string quartet Brooklyn Rider starts playing. Yes, these four guys love to play Debussy and Brahms, but they're just as likely to team up with a singer-songwriter or a Kurdish kamancheh player. Or write their own music. So we weren't sure what they'd do when they stopped by the NPR Music offices to play a Tiny Desk Concert. What we got was a bracing sample of their visceral fire.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Though his appearance at the NPR Music office qualifies as the first-ever hip-hop Tiny Desk Concert, Somali-born rapper K'naan isn't one to adhere to a single genre. With the help of a crack backing band, his three-song set exuded shimmery grace while incorporating the sounds of soul, pop and reggae.

Known as a varsity-level banterer on stage, Lerche puts his considerable magnetism to good use in this charming Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices. Performing three songs from his recent album Heartbeat Radio, he conveys

One of Bob Boilen's favorite discoveries of the year, Watson makes imaginative pop with a cinematic bent. So NPR Music jumped at the opportunity to record his concert at The Mercury Lounge in New York City Thursday, performed as part of the CMJ Music Festival.

At 10 members, this is the biggest band ever to play a Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices. But singers Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos still find a way to command attention, as they trade vocals amid a warm, shambling concoction of keyboards, percussion, guitars, accordion, trumpet and more.

It's hard to overstate the impact that Dr. Ralph Stanley has had on bluegrass and old-time gospel music. Now 82, he sits atop a 60-year legacy of making music, both as the preeminent purveyor of clawhammer-style banjo picking and as a singer with one of the most widely imitated (but never duplicated) voices in country music. For this short Tiny Desk Concert, Stanley performs three classic songs, all a cappella: "Gloryland," "Turn Back, Turn Back" and "Amazing Grace."

Moby's latest album, Wait for Me, is his best new release in a decade, full of beauty, sadness and celebration. The singer and electronic artist is currently on tour in support of the record, giving sold-out performances to packed arenas and smaller clubs throughout Europe and the U.S. For this stellar concert, recorded live in Berlin on June 26, Moby treated fans to nearly two hours of new songs and old favorites from a career spanning nearly 20 years.

Project Song participants only have two days to write and record a song, but Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla and Jawbox's J. Robbins had it even tougher: They had never met before entering NPR's performance studio. Watch as the two create "Mercury," a soaring song inspired by a cataclysmic scenario.

I can't think of a better way to describe the music of Rodrigo y Gabriela than with three words: "heavy metal flamenco." And yet the duo doesn't play heavy metal — its members perform instrumentals on nylon-string guitars — nor does it play Spanish dance music. But the term fits because the pair's fierce guitar riffs feel powerfully electric, and because Rodrigo y Gabriela's rhythmic style showcases a frenetic strum that conjures the energy of flamenco.

When the original lineup of Dinosaur Jr. reunited in 2005, more than 20 years after the band first formed in Amherst, Mass., skeptics figured the group was looking for an excuse to recycle its back catalog. Hear Dinosaur Jr. perform selections from their latest album 'Farm' — along with an assortment of old favorites — in a full concert, recorded live at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club.

The Gossip has built its reputation on its incredible live performances. The post-punk trio, based in Olympia, Wash., mixes incendiary guitar noise with funk bass lines and adrenaline-infused rhythms, while frontwoman Beth Ditto thrashes onstage, sometimes stripping down to her underwear. Fans can experience this sonic jolt firsthand in this full concert by The Gossip, recorded live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. The performance is hosted by All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen and Monitor Mix blogger Carrie Brownstein.

Vanderslice is a songwriter's songwriter. His music, a beautifully finessed mix of acoustic instruments, analog drum machines and digital textures, is invariably thoughtful, carefully crafted and affecting. He's prolific, too: Vanderslice has released an album nearly every year this decade, and his latest (Romanian Names) is his most inspired so far. See him perform acoustic versions of his newest songs in this Tiny Desk Concert.

Looking sharp in his tailored suit, the Grammy-nominated R&B artist performed three acoustic interpretations of his soul-inspired tunes. He was joined by guitarist Rob Bacon in this intimate performance at Bob Boilen's desk.

Reduced to a duo for this charming session in the NPR Music offices, Telekinesis is all heart: Without the insistent crunch of electric guitars or drums, the band's performance radiates sweetly awkward warmth. After opening with the unreleased "Plankton," the abbreviated Telekinesis showcases three gorgeous songs from its debut: "Coast of Carolina," "I Saw Lightning" and "Rust."

The young Swedish folksinger Kristian Matsson, a.k.a. The Tallest Man on Earth, is passionate, gruff, a great guitar picker and a damn good poet. The melodies are strong, but Matsson's imagery and stories are what make his music stand out. Here, he performs three of his best songs at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

Hear singer, songwriter and guitarist M. Ward in a full concert, recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Ward is currently on tour in support of his latest album, Hold Time. One of the year's strongest releases, the disc features a mix of country-flavored pop songs, with finger-picked guitars, upright bass and shuffling rhythms, all tied together by Ward's achy voice.

Three years after the breakup of his widely adored space-pop group Grandaddy, singer Jason Lytle has returned with one of the year's best albums, Yours Truly, The Commuter. Lytle showcased the new songs, along with some old Grandaddy favorites, in this full concert, recorded live at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City July 11.

This week we're featuring video performances of various artists doing the songs of Leonard Cohen. The video was recorded live at this year's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. Of all the bands performing at "Happy At Last," the NPR/SXSW Tribute to Leonard Cohen, Tigercity was the band that surprised me the most. To start with, they tackled the song "Suzanne."

This week we're featuring video performances of various artists doing the songs of Leonard Cohen. The video was recorded live at this year's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. Members of the London-based band The Hours decided to tackle a Leonard Cohen tune from his 1967 debut album, 'The Songs of Leonard Cohen'. "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye." There is cinematic simplicity in this version.

This week we're featuring video performances of various artists doing the songs of Leonard Cohen. The video was recorded live at this year's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. At Waterloo Records, Laura Gibson performed a song from Cohen's 1988 record 'I'm Your Man'. The track, "Take This Waltz," features accordion, a saw, some percussion and Laura's poignant voice.

This week we're featuring video performances of various artists doing the songs of Leonard Cohen. The video was recorded live at this year's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. David Garza chose one of the best-known songs from one of Leonard Cohen's lesser-known albums, "Dance Me To The End Of Love" from the 1985 album 'Various Positions.'

In February 2009, Leonard Cohen played his first U.S. concert in 15 years. Just a few weeks later, inspired by Leonard Cohen's resurgence, a group of artists at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX paid tribute to the legendary singer by performing some of his songs. We start with "Here It Is" from the album 'Ten New Songs,' performed by the French folk duo Herman Dune. Like all of Leonard Cohen's work, the poetry is potent.

We often joke about how many people we can fit behind Bob Boilen's desk for one of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts. Every month, we seem to push the boundary just a bit farther, as the bands get bigger and louder. But the first real test of our limits came when eight members of Dark Meat showed up to play.

This is the second of a two-part video featuring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo known as The Swell Season, performing live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

This is the first of a two-part video featuring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo known as The Swell Season, performing live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

Just one year after her first Newport appearance, Baez released her self-titled debut and began a decades-spanning career that traversed not only American folk styles, but also a broad assortment of social issues. It would become the mark of her music that it was inextricably linked to social and political change.

The Rhode Island band's restless experimentation and ever-changing arrangements reflect the disparate interests and careers (art, Americana and technology) of its three members.

Weathered and shot through with bursts of noise, Deer Tick's tunes could be endearingly sloppy, but the band's arrangements remain thoughtful. The lyrics tend toward folks who have it hard, but don't make things any easier on themselves.

Elliott's voice — flat, tinged with sadness, with a matter-of-fact delivery — has become a template for generations of folksingers, as well as an influence on Bob Dylan. On the day he performs at Newport, he will turn 78.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings put out Soul Journey, their last record under Welch's name, in 2003, and since then have toured under the moniker David Rawlings Machine. For most listeners, Welch may be the name in lights, but the best trick she and Rawlings play is to keep the focus shifting between their marvelously paired voices.

Son of the legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1947. The younger Guthrie has released more than two dozen albums, founded the Guthrie Center and devoted himself to numerous political causes, most recently attracting attention for his support of 2008 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Armed with an electric guitar and a sharp wit, Billy Bragg is a one-man punk band with a Woody Guthrie-sized heart. Since the mid-'80s, Bragg has tirelessly railed against injustice in his music, while remaining tethered to the intricacies of human interaction.

Neko Case and her killer live band put on an impassioned and energetic set at Newport.

Eschewing his full touring band, Iron & Wine's Sam Beam performed a beautiful solo set at Newport.

The lifelong activist and singer brought some serious soul to the Folk Festival at Newport.

Closing the day at Folk Festival 50, legendary folksinger Pete Seeger and his son, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, led a hootenanny with some of their closest friends and musicians, including members of The Decemberists and Fleet Foxes.

In the midst of pouring rain, nothing could stop the Newport audience from singing even louder at the Sunday night singalong. Pete Seeger and his grandson, Tao Rodriguez, led the festivities with Joan Baez, Ben Jaffe and members of Balfa Toujours.

Colin Meloy and his crew led the crowd in a singalong of "Sons and Daughters."

The Avett Brothers stomped and hollered high-energy songs from its new album at Newport Folk.

It's been a number of years since Gillian Welch has put out a new album or regularly performed, but she's a regular fixture at Newport no matter what. With David Rawlings, they treated fans to many Welch classics, plus threw in a cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit."

In this charming performance at the NPR Music offices, Siskind performs two of the highlights from 'Say It Louder' before closing with a requested "Lovin's for Fools." Each song finds her concocting a heady cocktail of tender beauty and winsome regret, while employing a voice that's at once honeyed and raw.

A lot of talented artists pass by Bob Boilen's desk. But this was the first time that NPR Music was serenaded by a trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba and truncated drum kit playing a Rufus Wainwright cover (and several clever originals) in rich, soulful polyphony. Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy plays music from his new album 'Spirit Moves.'

It's a high compliment to suggest that these three Bill Callahan songs may well implant themselves in your brain, lay eggs and sprout horrifically disturbing dreams at that point when you're banging on the snooze alarm in a state of anguished early-morning half-sleep. Hear and watch Callahan perform at the NPR Music offices.

After spending nearly 20 years delivering crunchy, underground guitar rock for a major label, Sonic Youth has returned to its indie roots for its 16th studio album, The Eternal. Out now on Matador Records, Sonic Youth's latest effort is among the band's finest, with a fuzzy, tightly orchestrated mix of psych-punk rock and noisy jams. The band showcased the album in a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club July 7.

If you see Canadian singer-songwriter Julie Doiron perform live, you'll hear a good deal of distorted guitars and intense drumming. Well, at least when she's not performing at the NPR Music offices. It took her a few takes, but we wound up with a bare, stark and memorable set at the Tiny Desk.

It's clear from this Tiny Desk Concert, recorded without amplification at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, that Maria Taylor has never made a go of it as a busker: In terms of volume, she's closer to a whisper than a scream. But hers is a wonderfully warm presence, and the setting brings out her songs' winsome essence.

With all due respect to its terrific albums and kinetic, frenetic live shows, if The Avett Brothers could put on a three-song acoustic concert at every workplace in America, the band would be a world-beating colossus. For proof, listen to this performance in the NPR Music offices.

The Antlers have released one of the year's best albums. 'Hospice' is s an epic but intimate album of astonishing beauty, as well as one of the most moving, heart-wrenching set of songs I've had the pleasure of hearing. It evolves and unfolds majestically, soaring from hushed moments to grand, cage-rattling swells of shredded guitar noise. This performance was recorded live at the Black Cat in Washington, DC in March, 2009.

Hear Metric in a full concert from Washington DC's 9:30 Club.

The classical guitarist has a wide ranging appetite for music, and plays with a clear, lyrical technique. His diverse set at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen mixes the baroque, Argentine dance, West African rhythms and a classic from Spain.

Passion Pit is poised to be one of the year's breakout bands. Hailing from Cambridge, Mass., the brash and high-energy electronic outfit received a ton of hype thanks to last summer's single "Sleepyhead," a concise burst of blissful electronic pop. A year later, Passion Pit follows up its debut EP, Chunk of Change, with its first full-length album: Manners pairs that glossy, ebullient music with dark, soul-searching songs. Hear selections from Manners and more in a full concert recorded live from Washington, D.C. The performance is followed by an interview with the band.

Singer Tony Dekker has a sterling track record for gentle, sweet-voiced ruminations on nature, beauty, conflict and the human body. He sheds his backing band, Great Lake Swimmers, long enough to perform three of his songs at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

Watch The Decemberists play "The Hazards Of Love 2 (Wager All)" live from SXSW. It was a bold move: Introduce the world to your ambitious concept record by performing it in its entirety to a national audience, a week before the CD release. But The Decemberists did just that at SXSW this past March, and now you can watch some beautifully shot videos from the album's live premiere at Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin, Tex. on March 18, 2009. See more videos at npr.org/sxsw.

Benjy Ferree is a character with just enough charisma to draw you into his oddball world. While his subject matter is dark (his latest album revolves around a child actor whose life ended tragically), Ferree's music often has a lilt with hints of humor, as is evidenced by his Tiny Desk Concert.

In a year of great music, the 'Dark Was the Night' compilation is near the top. Now comes 'Dark Was the Night': The Concert, a truly mammoth undertaking. Members of The National curated the event to benefit AIDS research with performances by David Byrne, The Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver, Sharon Jones and My Brightest Diamond.

Annie Clark, who writes and records under the name St. Vincent, has never been a fan of convention. Her 2007 debut, Marry Me, was filled with off-kilter rhythms, strangely melodic electronic arrangements, and cryptic narratives. St. Vincent's latest release, a candidate for one of 2009's best albums, is even more surprising and inventive. Hear selections from the album, Actor, as St. Vincent gives a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C. on Friday, May 23, 2009.

Watch a time lapse video of the entire Dan Deacon concert, condensed to four and a half minutes.

Dan Deacon has built his reputation on live shows: comically unpredictable messes of frenetic dancing, audience participation and theatrics, all powered by the Baltimore resident's wildly addictive electro-freak-pop. Since getting his start in 2003, Deacon has always performed alone. But for his latest tour, he's joined by a 15-piece backing band. Deacon conducts the traveling orchestra from the dance floor, where he plants himself in the audience with a tangle of cables, analog drum machines and vintage electronics. This concert, from the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC was recorded and webcast live on May 17, 2009.

After an extensive negotiation involving three cups of hot green tea and a late change of venue, PJ Harvey and John Parish agreed to a performance and video shoot. The two showed up, sat down, produced a steel guitar and two amplifiers, and performed two beautiful songs from their new album, A Woman a Man Walked By.

When the enigmatic rock group Animal Collective released Merriweather Post Pavilion in January, it immediately became an early frontrunner for 2009's best record. Months later, it remains the year's most wildly imaginative release, with a strangely infectious stew of tribal rhythms, pulsing synths and shimmering vocals. Here, Animal Collective stops by Washington, D.C., for a full concert — a show webcast in its entirety at NPR Music. In addition to live streaming, the performance from the 9:30 Club will remain archived on this page and in the Live In Concert podcast.

Montreal-based singer-songwriter Patrick Watson has a stunning, romantic voice that soars above precise piano work and clattering percussion played on marimbas and household pots turned upside-down. Watson and his brilliant band recently performed songs from their new album Wooden Arms at the studios of WNYC in New York.

Sweet-voiced, bearded acoustic guitarists are not a rare commodity in the Pacific Northwest, which has spawned the likes of Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Blind Pilot and countless others, just in the last few years. Horse Feathers' Justin Ringle may be the gentlest beard-wearer of them all, which made him a perfect candidate to appear in NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts series: With a voice that high and soft, the man needs a quiet room.

It was an early morning in Austin when we caught up with Micachu and the Shapes singer Mica Levi. Maybe it's the hairdo, maybe it's the look of SXSW-induced exhaustion, but she looked like she'd just rolled out of bed. Micachu, as Levi is known, is classically trained and a student of composition, but you wouldn't know that from what you're about to see and hear.

Lots of artists mix digital and acoustic sounds, but Mirah does it with remarkable control and grace. Her songs are never overly produced or overly sentimental. They're just a little dark, with something bubbling quietly beneath humming electronics and gently strummed guitars. See Mirah perform three new songs from her latest album, (A)spera, at the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas.

Through the '90s, until the group disbanded in 2006, Grandaddy built a loyal audience by making beautifully orchestrated, neo-psychedelic space-pop. Former frontman Jason Lytle returns this year with his debut solo album, 'Yours Truly, The Commuter.' He showcased some of his new songs for this NPR Music video session with Rusty Miller, recorded in Austin, TX as part of the South by Southwest festival and conference.

Emerging out of the sound of the spring peepers that close her new album, Middle Cyclone, Neko Case and her five-piece band opened the night's performance with "Maybe Sparrow." The stage was set in something out of a nature cartoon with trees painted on long banners and an owl overseeing it all. Behind them videos of cyclones, airplanes and anthropomorphic animals were projected on a screen. But the attention was clearly on Case, her stunning voice, as well as her solid backing band. She gave a full concert from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club, which was webcast live on NPR.org.

The music of Mates of State has always been playfully innocent and unabashedly upbeat. Since forming a decade ago in Lawrence, Kan., the husband-and-wife duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel has released a string of sticky-sweet studio albums with hooky synth lines, two-part harmonies and bounding rhythms. But on their latest CD, Re-Arrange Us, Gardner and Hammel show that they've grown a little older and wiser, with their richest and most reflective collection of songs to date. The band was recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on Apr. 4, 2009.

Since the 2009 South by Southwest music festival and conference ended a week ago, we've spent much of our time back decompressing and making sense of everything we saw and heard. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, Monitor Mix blogger Carrie Brownstein, All Songs Considered producer Robin Hilton and Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson discovered dozens of new bands, took in more concerts than most people see in a year, and came back with some new favorite artists. On this edition of All Songs Considered we wrap up our SXSW '09 coverage with a final look at some of the most memorable acts.

Last year's Furr found its way onto many best-of lists, including NPR's, and with good reason: It refines the rough edges of Wild Mountain Nation without losing Blitzen Trapper's natural forward motion. The band headlined NPR Music's day party from The Parish in Austin, Tex., on March 19.

David Longstreth, the visionary behind The Dirty Projectors, has a knack for deconstructing music and then reassembling it with distinct guitar-and-vocal arrangements. At The Dirty Projectors' SXSW concert, the band presented new material from Bitte Orca, a new album due June 9. Recorded at the SXSW showcase at The Parish in Austin, Tex., on March 19, 2009.

K'Naan questions the credibility of American hip-hop: After all, even the toughest American neighborhoods aren't as dangerous as his hometown of Mogadishu. His background informs a style that hits hard, with a message that hits even harder. K'Naan's latest album, Troubadour, features the talents of Mos Def, Chali 2na and Metallica's Kirk Hammett. Recorded at the SXSW showcase at The Parish in Austin, Tex., on March 19, 2009.