Eskmo: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

We met at a ping-pong party in Iceland. Brendan Angelides introduced himself as a musician and friend of Jónsi and Alex Somers, who were hosting the party. When I came home from the Iceland Airwaves music festival, I listened to the music Angelides makes under the name Eskmo, and was intrigued.

His current record, SOL, is mysterious, but I wondered how a Tiny Desk Concert would work, as buttons getting pushed and sliders sliding don't always make for a compelling performance. But when Eskmo told me he wanted to use available objects to make his music, I knew we were in for some surprises. Which is how plywood shelving from the Tiny Desk, water bottles and a Paul McCartney doll head became percussion instruments in the hands of a man who's part musician, part magician. Enchanting.-- BOB BOILEN