There have been some great musical performances in the past few days on the late night talk shows.  First up is Iron & Wine from the Tonight Show.  The band gave a stunning performance of their song, Tree By The River, replete with female back-up singers, piano, mandolin, and clarinet.  We love this band.

Next up is the cover-happy Bon Iver from the Jimmy Fallon Show.  The band begins with Donny Hathaway’s A Song for You, before segueing into Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me, coupled with a bit of Nick Of Time.  We would have preferred their clarion new song, Calgary. But make no mistake:  the boy can sing and create a mood like few others.

In stark contrast to Bon Iver’s smooth delivery, check out the powerful Joy Formidable from Wales, performing their song Whirring on Conan.  The group starts mid-tempo, but steadily builds to an energetic, thunderous closing capped off by the bass player devolving into some sort of performance-art headstand that may end up being the butt of some jokes.  But before that end, there was some impressive and passionate playing and singing.  We were pleasantly surprised that this is a band living up to the hype.  Definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Also making the talk shows were L.A’s Foster the People on Jimmy Kimmel performing their uber-catchy songs Pumped Up Kicks and Helena Beat.  The band just released their debut album, “Torches,” this week. Check them out.

And last, but not least, Yeasayer was on Conan the other day.  The Brooklyn band debuted a new song, The Devil and The Deed, a raucously rhythmic layout, and which they plan to record and release in the near future.  Check it out.