Bonobo: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.

Hazel Cills | March 15, 2022
The first shot of Bonobo's Tiny Desk (home) concert is a little disorienting. What looks like the official Tiny Desk at NPR's Washington, D.C. headquarters is actually an eerily accurate miniature replication. Fit with scaled-down vinyl LPs and Bob Boilen's knickknacks, it was created by Cheronda Scott of CSpykerMiniatures and Kat Williams of Real Life Miniatures. "We couldn't be at the NPR desk, but we have brought it with us," Simon Green, aka Bonobo, says, gesturing at the tiny desk, perfect for a doll.

The British-born, Los Angeles-based DJ and artist Bonobo is known for his chilling, minimalist electronica. Performing from a warehouse in Nashville, Tenn., where he says he has been rehearsing for an upcoming tour, Bonobo's digital, synth-driven sound gets rounded out with a full band, who bring a new warmth to the music.

The artist's latest album Fragments was recorded in the first years of the pandemic, and inspired by the stagnancy the Grammy Award-nominated artist felt isolated at home. He performs three songs from that album here, beginning with the quiet "Tides," featuring the breathy guest vocals of Hundred Waters' captivating singer Nicole Miglis. He then segues into "Shadows," performed with vocalist Jordan Rakei and the album's "From You." To bring it home, he ends with 2016's "Break Apart," originally recorded with the singer Rhye but with Miglis here on the mic, for a set that hits like a series of quietly arresting lullabies.

SET LIST
“Tides”
“Shadows” (feat. Jordan Rakei)
“From You”
“Break Apart”

MUSICIANS
Bonobo: artist, composer, bass, synthesizer
Nicole Miglis: vocals
Mike Lesirge: horns
Johnny Tomlinson: keys
Ewan Wallace: guitar
Jack Baker: drums

CREDITS
Sound Mixing: Tommy Williams
Monitor Engineer: Barrie Pitt
Playback Technician: Saige Rakoski
Lighting Director: Will Thomas
Lighting Technician: Jason Smith
Director: Weston Heflin
Production Company: Strange Bird Media
Producer: Paulina Drucker
Production Manager: Ben Hoffman
Tiny Desk Miniature Artist: Cheronda Scott of CSpykerMiniatures & Kat Williams of Real Life Miniatures

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Abby O’Neill
Video Producer: Joshua Bryant
Audio Mastering: Josh Rogosin
Tiny Production Team: Bob Boilen, Bobby Carter, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Ashley Pointer
Executive Producer: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

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