Relationships are complicated, and as Cary Ann Hearst says of her marriage and musical partner Michael Trent, "It's a strange thing to be held accountable as part of the musical act."

The reunited band was made to sing and play around one microphone, so a Tiny Desk Concert seemed inevitable. All it took was a reunion tour — celebrating 25 years of Nickel Creek — to make it happen.

We're turning New York's historic Brill Building into a live venue for this one-time event. It's a perfect setting to showcase the ecstatic indie-pop group's marriage of craft and immediacy.

Danger Mouse and James Mercer recently brought their touring band to KEXP to perform songs from Broken Bells' most recent album, After The Disco. Watch the group perform "Holding On For Life."

Over memorable hooks and wickedly inventive grooves, Ahmed Gallab sings in an earnest, persuasive voice. Sinkane's music conjures East and West African music, James Brown, free jazz and shoegaze.

The last decade has seen a marked softening in Blonde Redhead's sound, to the point where the quietest moments on Barragán don't sound like songs so much as vapors infused with tunes.

Standing on a balcony in her hometown of New Orleans, the singer stops an unsuspecting crowd, and all the hustle and bustle of the French Quarter, dead in its tracks.

On this week's All Songs Considered, premieres from Lucinda Williams, Buke and Gase and Lia Ices, along with much more.

The New York post-punk band has aged into its polished sound nicely, maintaining its influences (Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, et al) while sounding more distinct from them than ever.

This rowdy, ramshackle party house of a band is built on the intersecting bedrock of post-punk and indie rock. On Poor People Are Revolting, there's something crazy going on in every room.

Nick Zammuto, formerly of the art-music duo The Books, takes a crafty, hands-on, spirit-forged approach to sound. The newer band that bears his name never bothers to stay in place for long.

A veteran of Little Joy and Los Hermanos, Amarante makes warm, tender music as a solo artist. Here, he strips songs from Cavalo down to their essence using just his voice and a guitar from the '30s.