Khruangbin: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

May 16, 2018 | Bob Boilen -- It was daylight but the music was dark and moody. And despite having the office lights turned on high, it was Khruangbin’s trance-inducing tone that set the mood and carried me away. This trio from Houston, Texas is heavily inspired by 1960s and ’70s funk and soul from, of all places, Thailand. That musical passion has taken them on a journey that, these days, incorporates music from Spain, Ethiopia and the Middle East. Khruangbin’s largely instrumental music is grounded in Laura Lee’s bass, with Mark Speer playing those melodic, richly reverbed guitar sounds and Donald “DJ“ Johnson on drums and piano. Two of the three songs performed at this Tiny Desk Concert are from their 2018 album Con Todo El Mundo, which is dedicated in part to Laura Lee’s Mexican-American grandfather. He’d often ask her how much she loved him and the response that pleased him most was when she would say, “con todo el mundo,“ (with all the world.)