AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Dallas hip-hop group Cure For Paranoia was the winner of this year's Tiny Desk Contest, with its song, "No Brainer."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NO BRAINER")
CURE FOR PARANOIA: (Rapping) Me, I walk, I walk into the gallery like I deserve it all. I need 10s and 10s and 10s from judges all across the...
CHANG: But there were more than 6,000 independent artists who submitted to this year's contest with dreams of playing their own Tiny Desk Concerts. And this week on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, contest judges are revealing the best entries all across a handful of genres. And today, NPR Music's Robin Hilton is sharing the best entries for folk and rock. Hi, Robin.
ROBIN HILTON, BYLINE: How're you doing, Ailsa?
CHANG: I'm good. All right, so what do you got for us?
HILTON: OK. Well, there were so many amazing entries that we could go with for folk and rock. It is a very big umbrella. But I want to start with an artist named Lily Talmers. And the song that she sent in is called "The Big Idea." It is so playful. It's kind of deadpan. At some point, Lily Talmers sings, what the hell's the big idea? People often go swimming.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BIG IDEA")
LILY TALMER: What the hell is the big idea? (Singing) People often go swimming in their favorite notion or an ocean or a lake.
CHANG: (Laughter).
HILTON: It's so random.
CHANG: What (laughter)?
HILTON: I know. I laughed out loud the first time I heard it. But it's also, you know, it's hooky (ph).
CHANG: Yeah.
HILTON: It's a great song. It's fun and funny. And by the way, Lily Talmers - this is their eighth entry. Eight times they've entered...
CHANG: Wow.
HILTON: ...This contest.
CHANG: All right. That is persistence.
HILTON: Yes.
CHANG: OK. What else do you have for us?
HILTON: All right. This is a song that hit me on a really emotional level - really hit me. It's called "Falling Rabbit" by the singer Yuri Shin.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FALLING RABBIT")
YURI SHIN: (Singing) I drove you to places. We drank in the morning, even watched a movie at the mall. Last time you were here it was 10 years ago.
CHANG: Wow. I have chills. That's haunting.
HILTON: Right?
CHANG: Yes.
HILTON: Just hearing her voice again - it's such a simple little song and performance - no bells, no whistles...
CHANG: Yeah.
HILTON: ...Just a singer and their guitar. But that melody, the way it sort of rises and then rises again and falls back down. I love Yuri Shin's voice. It's...
CHANG: Me, too.
HILTON: ...Very honest, very direct. And in the song, she's remembering a friend she hasn't seen in a really long time. There's kind of a tinge of regret.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FALLING RABBIT")
SHIN: (Singing) How are you doing? Some time has passed since last.
HILTON: Just really beautiful - beauty and heartache. You get those two things...
CHANG: Yeah.
HILTON: ...Together in the same song, and I'm almost always in.
CHANG: Yeah. It is achy. All right. Yuri Shin, please submit again. I want to hear more. Now remind us...
HILTON: Seventh entry from her.
CHANG: Oh, my goodness. I love the persistence of these artists. And really, it does remind us that music can speak for itself. It doesn't need big, fancy production all the time. Share another one, please, with us, Robin.
HILTON: All right. This one's a little more on the rock side of folk and rock, One I was really blown away by. It's by the singer Jackie Marchal, and the song is called "Excavate The Girl."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EXCAVATE THE GIRL")
JACKIE MARCHAL: (Singing) I put all my faith in your hands, and you threw it all out.
HILTON: This is more like symphonic rock or symphonic pop. Jackie Marchal - she sticks these microphones, these flat microphones on her throat to record it to get this really unusual sound. And at some point, she gets up. She strolls across the room, and then there's this full band that's been waiting in the wings there, and she joins them, and the song just starts to build and build and build. There's flute and cello, guitar. It's just - it's symphonic.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EXCAVATE THE GIRL")
MARCHAL: (Vocalizing).
HILTON: It's absolutely captivating.
CHANG: Oh. I love it. NPR Music's Robin Hilton sharing the best folk and rock entries from this year's Tiny Desk Contest. You can watch those entries and more at npr.org/tinydeskcontest. Thank you so much, Robin.
HILTON: Thank you. My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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