Category: SXSWednesday
SXSWednesday: Action Bronson
Photo credit: Terry Richardson
ERMAHGERD! It is the last SXSWednesday feature! We are beyond stoked to be running wild in Austin next week, but until then check out SXSW artist Action Bronson.
If there are two things we love in this world, it is fine dining and hip-hop music. This would explain our love for Action Bronson, a former gourmet chef turned rapper. Dude sounds like Ghostface Killah on the mic and gets down like Bryan Voltaggio in the kitchen.
Videos after the jump.
SXSWednesday: Wild Belle
The last brother-sister duo to get a lot of hype from the indie crowd ended up being a married couple, but that seems unlikely for Natalie and Elliott Bergman. The family band has found a good deal of success blending pop with psychedelic rock, soul, ska and reggae. Wild Belle signed a major label deal with Columbia Records and will release its debut album, Isles, on March 12.
We got a chance to check out Wild Belle when the band opened for Passion Pit at 9:30 Club last year. Walking into the venue, our reaction was kind of like this. Despite the fact that she is super good-looking, Natalie left just as strong of an impression musically. Her voice has a haunting, airy tone to it that fits perfectly with the band’s dub-inspired music.
Elliott, on the other hand, is the key to the band’s unique sound. Baritone saxophone is an awesome instrument that is all but forgotten in most modern music. Elliott is bringing the bari sax back with style, and it adds a really interesting texture to Wild Belle’s music.
Wild Belle will participate in several showcases throughout the week at SXSW. They will also be performing this summer at Firefly Festival.
SXSWednesday: Willy Moon
We are under one month away from SXSW and cannot wait for March 12 to roll around. This week’s SXSWednesday featured artist is Willy Moon.
The New Zealand-born crooner has burst onto the indie music scene with his unique brand of retro-R&B. His music borrows from call-and-response patterns that hearken back to traditional blues and rockabilly while incorporating the musical elements of hip-hop and modern R&B. Many artists have gone for the retro-soul/blues sound to varying effects. Moon sets himself apart from the pack by creating an updated version of the genre that is more timely without sacrificing the integrity of the music.
Moon’s big break came in 2012 when Apple selected his song, “Yeah Yeah,” to help unveil its new line of iPods. Getting the Apple treatment has been a launching pad for several independent artists featured in the company’s previous ad campaigns. Let’s hope the same is true for Willy Moon. Adding to Moon’s indie street-cred, the singer linked up with modern blues visionary, Jack White, to release the singles “Railroad Track” and “Bang Bang” on White’s label, Third Man Records.
Lucky for us, Moon will hit D.C. en route to Austin, Tx. Catch him at U Street Music Hall, February 22.
SXSWednesday: Cherub
This week’s featured SXSW artist is Cherub; an electro-pop outfit with a brand of dance music that is heavy on sex and drugs, but a little lighter on the rock and roll. Though it is easy to make comparisons to fellow electronic duo, Chromeo, Cherub’s sound has a fairly different aesthetic. Where the former tends to draw from 80s disco and uber-pop artists like Hall and Oates, Cherub’s music is more of a post-modern amalgam of Parliament Funkadelic and Prince.
The Nashville-based duo has a rawness that is often lost on electronic music. The hugely popular EDM movement has subsidized the human element in most dance music, and it is refreshing to hear a group put some personality back into the genre. On Cherub’s debut album, MoM & DaD, Jason Huber’s instrumentals vary from bombastic groves to spaced-out mood music with Jordan Kelley’s falsetto fitting seamlessly throughout. The duo prides itself on its live shows and we are super excited to see if it lives up to the hype.
SXSWednesday: J Roddy Walston and the Business
We are super stoked to announce that DMVicious will be covering this year’s SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Tx. In an effort to drop some knowledge on your asses, we will be highlighting a different SXSW artist every Wednesday leading up to the event.
Photo Credit: Glynnis McDaris
In honor of the Ravens’ big game this weekend, we give you J Roddy Walston and the Business. In a world where pro-tools and auto-tune reign supreme, these Baltimore natives are fighting the good fight against shitty, over-produced music. The fearsome foursome goes out of its way to create authentic, bad-ass records and we absolutely love them for it.
The band’s piano-based rock-and-roll sound is reminiscent of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, but soaked in whisky and cigarette smoke. Though the recordings are great, you should definitely catch a live show to really appreciate what we are gushing about. Lucky for you, they play often in the Baltimore-Washington area.
DMVicious 
